The head of the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) held talks with Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing on Thursday as the coup-stricken nation enters its fifth month of crippling unrest. Peter Maurer travelled to the Myanm...

US President Joe Biden will meet with Swiss President Guy Parmelin and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis ahead of his highly anticipated summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Geneva. Parmelin tweeted on Thursday that he and his colleague from the Fed...

The Federal Electricity Commission (ElCom) has again voiced concern about Switzerland’s ability to secure sufficient power supplies in the coming years. While there is no immediate danger of shortfalls in the Alpine state, the electricity watchdog...

The operators of Switzerland’s main airport, in Zurich, have presented plans to extend two runways, re-igniting a controversy over noise pollution. Zurich airport says extending two runways would increase safety and simplify landing and take-off t...

Swiss scientists have developed a biodegradable battery that can be thrown into the compost after use. The Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) used a 3D printer to produce the battery made from carbon, cellulose, g...

A new ranking of states’ compliance with the international Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) puts Switzerland in second place, in a year in which children around the world were hard hit by Covid-19 restrictions. Iceland topped the annual...

Switzerland co-hosted on Wednesday the latest meeting of an international follow-up committee on Libya. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis stressed the importance of elections to be held in the country in December. “The holding of free and fair elect...

Switzerland has pledged an additional CHF300 million ($334 million) to the international initiative to get more Covid-19 vaccines to poorer countries. At an online summit of the GAVI alliance on Wednesday, attended by Swiss President Guy Parmelin, a...

Most of the plastic waste polluting the planet’s oceans is within ten kilometres of the coast, rather than out on the open sea, University of Bern researchers have found. “In all the scenarios we’ve calculated, about 80% of floating plastic wa...

The number of abuses of labour regulations dropped slightly last year, Swiss authorities reported on Wednesday. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) said the number of cases of illegal work practices decreased by about 15% among the 10,...

The Swiss aviation sector, which includes Swiss International Air Lines and Zurich Airport, has pledged to slash CO2 emissions and make flying net zero by 2050. On Tuesday, Zurich, Geneva and Basel airports, together with SWISS, Easyjet, and the umb...

Top health officials are optimistic about the steadily improving Covid-19 situation in Switzerland. With case numbers dropping and vaccinations growing, next week should see the launch of the Covid certificate. A day after the latest set of easings ...

The internet giant continues to grow in the Swiss city – its most important research and development location outside the United States. Google has agreed to rent new offices extending over 15,000 square metres at Müllerstrasse in the Kreis 4 dis...

A downsized Montreux Jazz Festival is set to go ahead in July thanks to the easing of Covid restrictions. Woodkid, Rag'n'Bone Man, Zucchero and Fatoumata Diawara are among the headliners, the organisers said on Tuesday. The “Small is beautiful” ...

The number of people working in the culture sector fell by almost 5% last year in Switzerland – a similar drop to that seen in the hotel and accommodation sector. Figures published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) showed a total of 298,000 ...

Swiss gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by 3.2% in 2021, upgraded from 2.2% in the previous forecast, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The organisation predicts GDP growth of 2.2% in 2022 ...

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) announced on Monday that it will require major banks and insurance companies to report transparently on climate-related financial risks in the future. Separately, a study ranking Swiss banks’...

The Swiss Federal Audit Office says it is worried by a surge in fraud cases linked to the short-time working system, a key pillar of the country’s economic response to Covid-19. The office’s director Michel Huissoud told public radio SRF on Mond...

After a slow start, the rate of vaccinations against Covid-19 in Switzerland is now among the best in the world, reports the SonntagsZeitung newspaper. At the start of the year, the Swiss authorities were criticised for dragging their heels on vacci...

It is not in the European Union’s interests to punish Switzerland following the collapse of talks on the future of bilateral relations, the Swiss president has warned. “The EU would harm itself by torpedoing trade relations with one of its most ...

Switzerland has agreed in principle to offset part of its carbon emissions reduction target by supporting green projects in Thailand. The official joint statement with the Thai authorities marks the fourth country that Switzerland has identified as ...

Several thousand cyclists took police by surprise by attending a mass demonstration in Zurich to highlight the dangers posed by motorised traffic. Two people were slightly injured during the demonstration on Friday evening. Zurich police said they h...

The debris from a crashed Swiss army fighter jet was partially removed from a mountain by helicopters on Saturday – three days after the accident. The wreckage of the Tiger F-5 jet was cut into three parts before being lifted off the mountain to b...

The Swiss authorities have launched a criminal probe into the leak of confidential documents concerning the now failed negotiations with the European Union over future political relations. “I can confirm that the Federal Council [government] has f...

The coronavirus pandemic is subsiding, Swiss government experts say. Pregnant women in the second trimester may now get vaccinated against the virus. All the important coronavirus indicators are going in the right direction, said Patrick Mathys, hea...

The outlook for the Swiss economy for the middle of 2021 can be regarded as “very positive”, provided that the containment of the virus continues to progress, the KOF Swiss Economic Institute says. The KOF Economic Barometer for May stands at 14...

The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) has approved the establishment of a national genomic surveillance programme for new Covid-19 variants. The nationwide surveillance programme will help to monitor the evolution of the various variants...

Installing wind turbines and solar panels in Alpine regions is the most effective way for Switzerland to become carbon neutral and energy self-sufficient, a study has concluded. The “optimal scenario” suggests adding new capacity in a ratio of 7...

Swiss bank Julius Bär has agreed to pay $79.7 million (CHF71.5 million) in a settlement with the US Department of Justice after being implicated in a sprawling corruption probe surrounding FIFA, world football’s governing body. Julius Bär has en...

From Thursday evening, people entering Switzerland from the United Kingdom must fill out an electronic entry form, provide a negative coronavirus test and go into ten-day quarantine after arrival. The amended quarantine list was updated on Thursday....