Switzerland’s Migros Bank has agreed to pay €2.4 million (CHF2.65 million) to clear up cross-border tax evasion issues with Germany. Migros is one of several Swiss banks that have shelled out a penalty to avoid prosecution in the neighbouring co...

The Swiss foreign ministry has ended sponsorship agreements with dozens of companies including mining and trading giant Glencore and chocolate maker Läderach because of image concerns. “Mining is currently so controversial that a partnership with...

Swiss luxury fashion company Richemont has confirmed the death of designer Alber Elbaz, saying the former creative director at French fashion house Lanvin had died from Covid-19. He was 59. Elbaz, who was known for his work at fashion house Lanvin f...

Covid-19 stories in the Sunday newspapers include government estimates that almost three million people in Switzerland have had coronavirus, that poverty increases one’s chance of contracting and dying from it, and that recruitment problems are aff...

Some 4,000 people have gathered at an illegal demonstration in Rapperswil-Jona, northeastern Switzerland, protesting against Covid-19 restrictions. The police didn’t break up the peaceful rally, citing proportionality. The central Fischmarktplatz ...

The first case of the Indian variant of Covid-19 has been discovered in Switzerland, the Federal Office of Public Health has announced on Twitter. The case involves a passenger who was in transit at an airport. The addition of India to the list of c...

The chances of an agreement on future ties between Switzerland and the European Union range from “less likely than ever” to “brace for impact”, according to the Swiss media, who largely place the blame on the Swiss government’s indecisivene...

Around 800 Swiss citizens living in Australia, Brazil and Thailand will receive their voting papers through their embassies as part of a trial to test how well the system works. The voting papers will be sent via diplomatic courier to the respecti...

Archaeologists have, for the first time, found traces of a Bronze Age lakeside village under the surface of Lake Lucerne. The find shows that the city of Lucerne area was already populated 3,000 years ago. This is 2,000 years earlier than previously...

Former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker says Bern and Brussels need to reach a deal on their framework agreement. He made the comments ahead of key talks in Brussels on Friday between the two sides. Swiss president Guy Parmelin arr...

The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) is set to take place in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos again next year. However, reasonable hotel rates are a prerequisite and the Covid-19 situation is also a decisive factor, according to org...

The global proportion of parliamentarians under the age of 30 has risen by 0.4 percentage points over the past two years to 2.6%. In the Swiss House of Representatives the figure is 4%, putting it 33rd position overall. With half of the world’s po...

The Federal Criminal Court has given the former logistics chief of the Schwyz cantonal police a 28-month suspended prison sentence for the illegal sale of weapons and ammunition. Eight months of this must be served. He must also pay a conditional fi...

Swiss banks paid out CHF1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) in negative interest rates last year compared to €8.5 billion from competitors in the eurozone. There is increasing evidence that banks are passing on a greater share of these charges to customers....

Climate change is the greatest long-term threat to the global economy, according to a study by insurer Swiss Re. Without measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, temperatures are likely to rise by more than 3°C in the next 30 years and global gr...

There are “strong indications” that the Swiss army did not overpay for hygiene and respiratory masks last year, according to an internal investigation by the defence ministry. Defence Minister Viola Amherd tasked the internal audit department in...

Switzerland is under pressure to repatriate two young Swiss girls living in a makeshift camp established in northeast Syria after the fall of the Islamic State group (ISIS). The United Nations human rights experts issued a statement on Thursday urg...

The likelihood of a child needing to resit a school year in Switzerland is higher for boys, children with a migrant background and those living in French-speaking cantons. Only 1.3% of students in Switzerland have to repeat a year between the third ...

Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse is under the scrutiny of regulators over massive losses from the bankruptcies of British financial firm Greensill and US hedge fund Archegos. Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) on Thursd...

The new Rhaetian Railway (RhB) trains have won two Red Dot Awards for product design. Designed by studio NOSE in Zurich, the “Capricorn” trains were created according to the specifications of the narrow-gauge railway in Graubünden in eastern Sw...

The Swiss government has presented a detailed timetable for relaxing Covid restrictions over the next few months. The proposals foresee three stages which are largely defined by the percentage of the population that has been vaccinated against the v...

The government has pledged CHF7.8 million ($8.5 million) over the next three years to help Swiss companies participate in major infrastructure projects abroad. The aim is to coordinate cooperation between the private sector and the government admini...

Gianni Infantino has condemned the “closed shop” European Super League and warned the clubs involved of the consequences. “We can only strongly disapprove of a Super League which is a closed shop, a breakaway from current institutions,” Infa...

German drugmaker CureVac has submitted an application for the approval of its Covid-19 mRNA vaccine with Swiss drugs regulator Swissmedic. Until now Switzerland has approved three vaccines, two of which are being used. Switzerland has already placed...

The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) says it is worried about Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's health. The opposition leader has been transferred to a prison hospital near Moscow after 20 days on hunger strike. The Swiss foreign ministry ...

Switzerland’s only national park, located in canton Graubünden, has been included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s ‘green list’ of best governed protected areas in the world. Only 59 protected areas feature on...

Christoph Franz said he was in favour of compulsory jabs if vaccination coverage rates were insufficient and if there was a social consensus on the issue. "Solidarity is needed to overcome this crisis together," Franz said in an interview with the ...

The traditional burning of the Böögg snowman effigy bodes well for a warm, dry summer in Switzerland this year. Explosives planted in the Böögg’s head took 12 minutes and 57 seconds to decapitate the stuffed effigy. According to legend, the so...

For the first time in Swiss history, women make up the majority in a cantonal parliament. Voters in Neuchâtel have elected a local parliament compromising 58% women. In 2013, the Neuchâtel parliament was made up of 23% women while in 2017 it was 3...

Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny has been honoured by 25 NGOs in Geneva for his courage. He is currently imprisoned in Russia and has been on a hunger strike for three weeks. Navalny, a prominent opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin,...