The right-wing Swiss People's Party has officially launched its initiative, which aims to largely prohibit Switzerland from entering into defence alliances and participating in sanctions. The campaigners have 18 months to collect at least 100,000 si...

The former FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, says the choice of Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup was a mistake as the Gulf country is too small. "Football and the World Cup are too big for that," the former president of the world football's governing bo...

At the opening of the COP27 climate forum in Egypt, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has stressed the need to maintain the 1.5°C target and the “special responsibility” of the large emitters. He also announced additional contributions from ...

Infections with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) continued to decline in Switzerland in 2021. The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) recorded 318 cases last year, down from an average of 1,300 cases a year in the 1990s. The 318 cases are w...

Switzerland and North Macedonia are expanding their cooperation on migration issues. Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter and North Macedonian Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski signed a declaration of intent in Bern on Monday. Northern Macedonia li...

Benoît Carcenat, chef at La Table du Valrose hotel restaurant in Rougemont, has been named “Chef of the Year 2023” by GaultMillau Switzerland. The gastronomic guide awarded him 18 points out of 20. French-born Carcenat, 42, has been running the...

Forty-eight people were bitten by snakes in Switzerland last year, one of whom showed severe symptoms. One dog died but there were no human fatalities, said Tox Info Suisse, the national poisons information centre. Venomous snakes native to Switzerl...

More than 70,000 people have fled to Switzerland from Ukraine and applied for refugee status, say the Swiss authorities. As of Monday 67,621 people had been granted special “S protection” status, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) said. T...

The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) will submit seven demands to political parties and actors with the aim of making the voice of Swiss citizens who live abroad heard in the federal parliament. “In view of the 2023 federal elections, the OS...

Around 40% of the world’s coal is bought and sold in Switzerland, according to a study. Swiss banks are among the top lenders to the coal business. This year, coal production should exceed eight billion tonnes worldwide, an all-time high, accordin...

People in Ukraine do not understand the Swiss concept of neutrality, says Claude Wild, Switzerland’s ambassador to Ukraine. In Ukraine you have to constantly explain to people Switzerland’s position and its stance on neutrality, Wild told ArcInf...

The Swiss Football Associatioin is among several European football bodies that are calling on FIFA to provide “concrete answers” on issues related to migrant workers ahead of the World Cup in Qatar. In a joint statement, the associations acknowl...

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk issued an open letter to Elon Musk, urging him to ensure human rights are central to the management of Twitter. “Twitter is part of a global revolution that has transformed how we communicate. But...

Chinese-Swiss relations will suffer if Switzerland adopts European Union sanctions against China, says the country’s ambassador in Bern, Wang Shihting, in an interview in the NZZamSonntag. More than a year ago, the EU imposed sanctions on selected...

A large-scale computer spying operation allegedly targeted Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis and interior minister Alain Berset according to an investigation published in the British paper the Sunday Times. The report, published on Saturday even...

Several thousand people gathered in front of the federal government building on Saturday demanding the Swiss government take “significant measures” against the Iranian regime. The demonstrations were initiated by the Free Iran Switzerland organi...

Researchers from the University of Geneva have found that an anti-herpes drug discovered more than 50 years ago can make it easier for the immune system to attack a common and deadly bacteria. The bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae is very common in hos...

Switzerland has made progress in reforming tax rates for multinational companies but still has work to do when it comes to turning a blind eye to tax avoidance. In an interview in the French-language paper Le Temps, Paul Tang, who led a delegation o...

A Swiss citizen was among the more than 100 tourists freed a day after being taken hostage by local residents demanding action after a recent oil spill in a river in the Peruvian Amazon. On Friday, Peru's tourist minister Roberto Sanchez confirmed t...

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, who also holds the rotating presidency this year, will join Environment Minister Simonetta Sommaruga at the COP27 climate forum in Egypt next week. Switzerland will “advocate for an effective work programme t...

Swiss drugs regulator Swissmedic says there are no risks in connection with bubbles that appeared in vials of Covid-19 vaccine boosters retooled to target the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. "Laboratory analysis of the vials did not reveal any i...

Switzerland has provided CHF1.5 million ($1.48 million) in emergency aid to flood-stricken Nigeria and Chad. The two African countries have experienced devastating floods since the summer that have killed hundreds of people and left thousands displa...

Some 2,000 archeological objects, some dating back to the Stone Age, have been uncovered during a spring clean of a monastery attic in central Switzerland. The artefacts are part of a large collection assembled by Benedictine monk, Father Emmanuel S...

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has drafted digital versions of its red cross and red crescent emblems to ward off cyber attackers. The physical versions of the red cross and crescent insignia are displayed on hospitals and ambul...

FIFA, world football’s Zurich-based governing body, has urged the 32 teams preparing for the most political World Cup in the modern era to focus on the game in Qatar and avoid handing out lessons in morality. A letter urging teams to “let footba...

A Gruyère from Vorderfultigen in Bern has been named the 2022 World Champion Cheese, beating a Gorgonzola from Italy. It is the fourth time that Le Gruyère AOP, a hard cheese made from unpasteurised milk named after the town of Gruyères in Fribou...

For the first time the city of Bern has told participants of violent demonstrations to pay up. Six opponents of the government’s Covid-19 measures are to contribute between CHF200 and CHF1,000 ($198-$990) to the cost of police operations. Fines wi...

The pandemic has had an impact on the sporting habits of the Swiss population, with physical activity declining, but outdoor activity rising. The decline in sporting activity is particularly marked among young men and women aged 45 to 59, according ...

Barely two weeks ahead of the World Cup kickoff in Qatar and just days ahead of the UN climate summit, several NGOs, including a civil society group based in Switzerland, have filed complaints with consumer protection agencies alleging that global fo...

Bilingual education, especially at the upper secondary level, is widespread in Switzerland, a report has summarised. However, experts reckon the growing popularity of English could represent a threat to the national languages. The 373 bilingual prog...