Swiss Info
Thu, 17 Jul 2025 08:17:31 GMTFormer Vatican auditor cleared of bribery in Zurich trial
The Zurich District Court acquitted a former financial markets supervisor at the Vatican of charges of corruption and bribery on Wednesday. Prosecutors had demanded a five-year prison sentence for the 52-year-old Swiss man. The court, however, ruled ...
Thu, 17 Jul 2025 07:52:02 GMTSwiss research explains dynamics of destructive debris flows
A research team from the federal technology institute ETH Zurich studied debris flows in canton Valais with unprecedented precision to better understand the factors that determine how destructive they are. The international team led by ETH Zurich stu...
Thu, 17 Jul 2025 07:16:26 GMTTop Swiss bishop wants digital register of clergy
The President of the Swiss Conference of Bishops, Charles Morerod, wants to introduce a national digital register of clergy in the interest of transparency. Such a system would allow “every parish to check via smartphone whether there are any alleg...
Wed, 16 Jul 2025 13:50:13 GMTSwiss issue arrest warrant for three pro-Russian hackers
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) is looking for three members of “NoName”, a group that has attacked various federal websites, including during a video address by Volodymyr Zelensky to the Swiss parliament in 2023. Following several DDoS ...
Wed, 16 Jul 2025 12:50:53 GMTRussian and Ukrainian politicians expected at Geneva event
Top parliamentarians from Russia and Ukraine are due to attend an international conference in Geneva at the end of July. Sanctioned members of the Russian delegation would need a special arrangement to allow them to enter the country. The Ukrainian p...
Wed, 16 Jul 2025 11:52:39 GMTSwitzerland faces fresh AT1 bond case after Credit Suisse collapse
A British law firm is bringing a case against Switzerland in connection with the writedown of AT1 bonds during the buyout of Credit Suisse by UBS. British-based Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) wants to drag the Swiss government before the World Bank’s ...
Wed, 16 Jul 2025 10:03:39 GMTRunning events boom in Switzerland
More and more people in Switzerland are taking part in races, with the number growing by over 10% in the first half of 2025. According to the Swiss Runners association, over 260,000 people took part in some 250 events nationwide in the first six mont...
Wed, 16 Jul 2025 09:43:00 GMTSwitzerland is Europe’s most innovative country, EU study finds
An annual analysis by the European Commission notes that the Swiss score dropped slightly compared to last year, but not by enough to cost it its top spot. Switzerland has headed up the European Commission’s Innovation Scoreboard for eight years ru...
Wed, 16 Jul 2025 08:33:05 GMTSwiss firms among the gloomiest globally for Q3 2025
In an international comparison, Swiss firms are much more pessimistic about the third quarter of 2025. Fears about customs duties, global uncertainties, a slowdown in trade and declining sales are depressing sentiment. The Global Business Optimism In...
Wed, 16 Jul 2025 08:20:10 GMTLess wood felled in Swiss forests in 2024
Following a drop already in 2023, the harvest volume again declined last year, as the importance of wood chips for energy production has increased. According to figures relseased by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Wednesday, 4.8 million cubic...
Wed, 16 Jul 2025 07:54:00 GMTWomen’s Euro 2025 has been largely peaceful so far
After two weeks of football fever in various Swiss host cities, no major incidents have been reported so far, police have confirmed. The group stage of the European Women’s Football Championship 2025 ended on Sunday and attracted a total of 461,582...
Wed, 16 Jul 2025 07:05:30 GMTPlanned solar park at Bern airport scaled back after talks
The ground-mounted solar plant at Belpmoos Airport outside Bern will be smaller than planned, the parties involved in the operation said on Tuesday. The plant will be reduced in size by around a third and is now set to cover 16.5 hectares. Up to 28 g...
Tue, 15 Jul 2025 13:35:57 GMTSwiss nuclear plant is off the grid for an indefinite period
The Gösgen nuclear power plant in Däniken in canton Solothurn is not producing any electricity until further notice. The operator must provide evidence of fallback in case of a possible overload in the feedwater pipework system. The supervisory aut...
Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:23:00 GMTLegal action filed against Swiss purchase of Israeli drones
Legal action aims to put an end to the delivery of the six Elbit reconnaissance drones already plagued by delays and setbacks. The civil case aims to annul the contract signed between the Federal Armaments Office (armasuisse) and the Israeli company ...
Tue, 15 Jul 2025 10:49:00 GMTHigher direct payments fail to curb scrub encroachment on alpine pastures
The encroachment of scrub vegetation on Swiss alpine pastures leads to the loss of grassland and damages the typical landscape. It is also responsible for the decline in biodiversity. Despite higher direct payments, scrub continues to spread. This co...
Tue, 15 Jul 2025 10:27:00 GMTHead of Swiss financial regulator's Banks division quits
Thomas Hirschi, head of the Banks division of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA will leave at the end of August. Hirschi will pursue a new career outside of FINMA, the regulator announced on Tuesday. According to a FINMA spokespe...
Tue, 15 Jul 2025 09:29:00 GMTSwiss olive cultivation to get a boost thanks to warm weather
More and more farmers in French-speaking Switzerland see climate change as an opportunity for olive cultivation: the number of such trees could double to 20,000 by the end of 2026, surpassing that of Italian-speaking Ticino. Because of the rising tem...
Tue, 15 Jul 2025 08:27:00 GMTSwiss population satisfied with life according to survey
In a survey, the population of German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland expressed general satisfaction with their lives. Respondents were less happy with politics and their personal finances, according to the online comparison service Moneylan...
Tue, 15 Jul 2025 07:29:22 GMTNight trains from Switzerland to Sweden planned for 2026
The Swiss Federal Office of Transport (FOT) has announced its intention to introduce a Basel-Copenhagen-Malmö night train service from April 2026. Operating three times a week, this route would be spared from government budget cuts. The FOT has anno...
Tue, 15 Jul 2025 07:08:06 GMTWHO 'extremely concerned' about growing vaccination scepticism
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), vaccination scepticism and a collapse in funding for vaccination campaigns pose a major threat to the health of the world's population. "We are extremely concerned about misinformation and disinformat...
Mon, 14 Jul 2025 13:00:58 GMTHigh-net-worth individuals prioritise well-being over material possessions
The priorities of wealthy individuals have shifted against the backdrop of ongoing geopolitical tensions and trade disputes. While spending on luxury goods is declining, demand for travel and experiences is unabated. The cost of living a luxurious li...
Mon, 14 Jul 2025 11:36:28 GMTSwiss researchers sequence genome of 1918 Spanish flu virus
Researchers from the Universities of Basel and Zurich (UZH) have sequenced the genome of the Spanish flu virus, thanks to a sample taken from an 18-year-old Swiss boy who died in the city on the Limmat in 1918, when the pandemic spread around the wor...
Mon, 14 Jul 2025 10:12:20 GMTSwiss martyr beatified in Barcelona by Catholic Church
François-Benjamin May (1870-1909), a member of the Marist Brothers congregation, has been recognised as a 'blessed' by the Catholic Church. The beatification ceremony took place on July 12 in Barcelona, the city where May was assassinated during a s...
Mon, 14 Jul 2025 09:01:33 GMTSwiss shares fall slightly after US tariff verdict against EU
The stock market started the new week lower on Monday. The reason for this is the US announcement of extra tariffs of 30% on EU goods from August 1. The market had actually hoped for an early defusing of the trade conflict. The Swiss Market index SMI...
Mon, 14 Jul 2025 07:51:46 GMTSustainable diets significantly reduce cancer risk
A sustainable diet is associated with a statistically significant reduction in cancer risk and cancer mortality rate. This was the result of a large systematic review with Swiss participation. Sustainable diets are increasingly being recommended as a...
Mon, 14 Jul 2025 07:05:01 GMTPrison escape foiled by Swiss police
Three inmates attempted to escape from Sion prison on Sunday morning. Their capture required a major police operation. In circumstances that have yet to be determined, the three inmates managed to climb onto the roof of the establishment at around 8....
Sun, 13 Jul 2025 11:57:29 GMTPrevention and tech could help save billions on Swiss healthcare costs, says Deloitte
Healthcare spending in Switzerland could rise steeply to more than CHF160 billion a year ($200 billion) by 2040, according to Deloitte Switzerland. But by focusing on prevention and technology, it would be possible to reduce the bill by CHF30 billion...
Sun, 13 Jul 2025 09:43:18 GMTEnvironment director warns of increasing climate-related risks in Switzerland
The director of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) has warned of increasing climate-related risks in Switzerland in an interview with SonntagsBlick on Sunday. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox "Natural hazar...
Sun, 13 Jul 2025 09:00:22 GMTGotthard traffic queue hits 11km at start of holiday season
The start of the summer holidays saw long traffic jams in front of the Gotthard tunnel on Saturday. Queues of traffic between Erstfeld and Göschenen in canton Uri were up to 11 kilometres long early in the morning. +Get the most important news from ...
Sun, 13 Jul 2025 08:37:40 GMTSwitzerland's highest campsite closes due to mudslide risks
Valais authorities have ordered the closure of Switzerland's highest campsite in Arolla due to the risks of mudslides. The decision was made at the beginning of July following an appeal by the campsite owners. +Get the most important news from Switze...