The Swiss government said on Friday it had found “no overriding reasons” to block the export of 6,000 pieces of ammunition to Qatar. “In its evaluation of the situation, the Federal Council considered all the assessment criteria foreseen by th...

Dual-fuel installations – those which can run on either gas or oil – should be switched over to oil by October 1, the Swiss government said on Friday. The recommendation to switch has been encouraged before by authorities as a way to reduce nati...

Switzerland has joined other western nations in welcoming an interim report by the UN’s independent Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, which pointed to Russian war crimes. In its first, interim report to the UN Human Rights Council on Friday, the c...

The Swiss foreign ministry said that it called a meeting with Russia’s top diplomat in Bern on Thursday regarding “sham” referendums taking place in Ukrainian territories partially occupied by Russia. In a statement on Friday, the government ...

The Swiss government has approved migration cooperation agreements with Greece and Cyprus as part of its financial contribution to European Union (EU) member states strongly affected by migration. On Friday, the Swiss government said that it had com...

The Swiss government has given the green light to begin the construction of a temporary reserve power plant due to be operational from February next year. The executive body signed off on two decisions on Friday to speed up the approval of planning ...

Young voters in Switzerland are more critical of the value of European Union (EU) membership than they were 30 years ago, according to an analysis of voting records by Swiss public broadcaster SRF. The analysis, published on Friday, looked at post-e...

Half of Swiss residents are willing to take energy-saving measures, a survey shows. Over one-third of respondents said they were concerned by the security of Swiss energy supplies. Europe is grappling with an energy crisis stemming from Russia's war...

Checks are being stepped up on the Swiss and Italian sides of the border to combat irregular immigration. Italian-Swiss patrols are now operating near Lake Maggiore, it was reported on Thursday. Italian-Swiss border patrols will check car and rail t...

An international team of researchers has created a fleet of bee-inspired drones that work together to 3D-print structures while flying. It is hoped the technology could be used in challenging post-disaster construction scenarios or to carry out repai...

Swiss pharma giant Novartis has unveiled an updated strategy focused on high-value medicines and boosting its position in the US market. It also confirmed that its generics unit Sandoz would be spun off by the end of 2023. During the annual investor...

The Swiss National Bank has raised interest rates into positive territory for the first time in seven years with a 0.75% hike on Thursday. Switzerland’s central bank responded to the growing threat of inflation by moving the headline rate to 0.5%....

Ignazio Cassis has reiterated the offer for Switzerland to represent Ukraine’s interests in Russia. He spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. In a bilateral...

Switzerland has joined other Western nations in condemning Russian plans for referendums in four occupied areas of Ukraine. Speaking on Tuesday at the UN General Assembly in New York, Swiss President Ignazio Cassis said the planned referendums were ...

Various objects belonging to the now-shut Foundation for the History of the Swiss in the World have been sold at auction in Geneva, gathering CHF1.5 million ($1.55 million). The auction house Piguet said 95% of the 500 objects up for sale on Tuesday...

Swiss bank Julius Bär has acquired a stake in Chinese asset manager GROW Investment Group, it announced on Wednesday. The Zurich-based bank did not say how much it had paid but spoke of a “low double digit million US dollar equity investment”. ...

An internal report has confirmed media revelations about abuse and structural problems in the sport of synchronised swimming. Various reforms are planned. The report mandated by Swiss Aquatics concluded that the sport is plagued by unethical trainin...

Gas consumption in Switzerland has fallen by 20% in the past two months, but winter could be tough, says Bastian Schwark, who heads the energy division at the Federal Office for National Economic Supply (FONES). Companies have reacted to the gas pri...

By proposing its candidacy as a member of the United Nations Security Council, "Switzerland has shown that it is ready to take responsibility for safeguarding peace and security in the world", Swiss President Ignazio Cassis told the UN General Assemb...

Some 575,000 animals were used in scientific experiments in Switzerland last year, up 3% from 2020 and the first increase in five years, reports the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO). Testing involving the highest level of pain for th...

The numbers of refugees and migrants coming to Western Europe via the Balkans have again “risen sharply”, including to Switzerland, Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said on Tuesday. "People fly to Belgrade and come to Austria with smugglers ...

Swiss economic growth forecasts for 2022 and 2023 have been revised significantly downwards, amid uncertainty over energy supply and inflation. A government expert group has downgraded its expectations for GDP growth to 2% in 2022, compared with the...

Switzerland’s mountain cantons want more federal government money to protect livestock from wolves and more proactive regulation of wolf packs. There should be fewer delays in shooting problem wolves and there should be “active regulation” of ...

Some restaurants in Switzerland are passing on the cost of rising energy prices to diners with the blessing of the industry’s umbrella group Gastrosuisse, Swiss media reports. Restaurants that survived the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns now face a ne...

A people’s initiative challenging the purchase of F-35A fighter jets has been withdrawn after the Swiss government signed off the deal with the United States. Supporters of the ‘Stop F-35A’ initiative said a nationwide vote would be meaningles...

Switzerland and neighbouring Liechtenstein have recorded more than 500 cases of monkeypox since the start of the outbreak in May. The Federal Office of Public Health on Monday reported 502 confirmed cases. The canton of Basel-City has the highest in...

The Senate has voted against a change in the law that would allow Switzerland to unilaterally sanction countries and individuals in addition to following those of the European Union. At present, the Swiss government can only opt to follow sanctions ...

Swiss officials have signed a deal with the United States to buy a fleet of F-35A fighter jets in the face of an ongoing row about their procurement. The Federal Armaments Office (Armasuisse) rubber stamped the purchase of 36 jets on Monday after ye...

The world record has been broken in Switzerland for cooking the largest rösti, a popular national dish of grated potatoes. Members of the Swiss Farmer’s Union cooked up the 13 square metre rösti in the shape of the Swiss cross in front of the pa...

A restaurant built 3,000 metres above sea level in the Swiss Alps, and a favourite destination for tourists, has been partially destroyed by fire. Police have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the blaze that consumed the Botta de G...