After rejecting the framework agreement with the European Union last month, Switzerland must now choose the model for interacting with the bloc’s internal market, says the EU ambassador to Switzerland. In an interview with Le Temps newspaper on Fr...

A contact tracing system that alerts users of proximity to people infected with coronavirus was the most downloaded app in Switzerland last year. The SwissCovid app has been downloaded by 3,180,000 people since June 25, 2020. It has been declared a ...

Begging in the streets of the Swiss city of Basel will again be subject to strict rules amid months of public controversy. The parliament of canton Basel City agreed on a set of restrictions just short of a blanket ban on begging. It specifies areas...

Swiss scientists have developed a method for extracting water out of the air for use in countries that experience high humidity but suffer from a scarcity of groundwater. The federal technology institute ETH Zurich has designed a cone that self-cool...

The number of cross-border workers plying their trade in Switzerland has more than doubled since the mid-1990s. The rising trend continues, increasing by over 4% between 2019 and 2020. At the end of 2020, some 343,000 cross-border workers were emplo...

The Vice-President of the European Union has said that a general framework remains important for regulating relations with Switzerland. More details of the EU approach will be announced in Autumn. Speaking to European parliamentarians in Brussels on...

Swiss food multinational Nestlé has announced that it expects its products to be deforestation free by 2022 instead of 2020 as originally promised. Coffee and cocoa will also be part of the commitment but will reach the milestone only in 2025.. T...

A study commissioned by the Pro Helvetia arts council finds women are underrepresented across much of the cultural sector, especially when it comes to music. The study, the first of its kind, notes that “women are notably underrepresented, both at...

The government has approved deals with Senegal and Vanuatu on climate protection allowing Switzerland to offset carbon emissions. The accords come after Switzerland concluded similar deals with Peru and Ghana last year. “In signing these agreemen...

The use of debit cards continues to increase but cash remains the most popular payment method in Switzerland. A survey by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) found that 97% of respondents keep cash in their wallets or at home to cover day-to-day expenses,...

The Federal Criminal Court handed businessman Hans Ziegler a two-year suspended sentence on Tuesday for charges including insider trading. A co-defendant was given a year suspended. The court found Ziegler and the unnamed co-defendant – a former d...

More than 40 countries, including Switzerland, have urged China to allow the UN human rights chief immediate access to the Xinjiang region to look into reports that over a million people have been unlawfully detained, with some subjected to torture o...

Swiss people have managed to retain a high sense of security and faith in public institutions despite the difficulties of the pandemic, says the “Security 2021” report. “Swiss citizens feel safe and have a high level of trust in the country’...

A record 76,200 deaths were registered in Switzerland last year, an increase of 12.4% on 2019. Life expectancy, births, marriages and divorces all fell, with the Covid-19 pandemic affecting “various demographic events”, the Federal Statistical Of...

The risk of having a road accident varies across Swiss regions, with Ticino reporting the most incidents, according to insurance firm AXA. Italian-speaking Ticino, Switzerland’s southernmost canton and a popular holiday destination, witnesses 20% ...

Homosexual couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples, said Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter on Tuesday, presenting the government’s arguments for a Yes on the “marriage for all” referendum on September 26. “The state sh...

Switzerland is the innovation leader in Europe – ahead of all 27 EU states – according to a report by the EU Commission. The Alpine country scored best in all seven indicators used to compile the ranking. “Switzerland’s strengths are in attr...

Lockheed Martin's F35-A has come out top in a Swiss evaluation to find a new replacement fighter jet for the armed forces, Swiss public television SRF reported on Monday. The government is due to decide this month between the American F35-A, the Air...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Switzerland has managed to cope well with the coronavirus pandemic from a financial perspective. In its latest country report, the IMF applauded Swiss Covid support measures and monetary policy. “Switzerl...

Switzerland has decided to resume the deportation of rejected asylum-seekers to Afghanistan, it has been confirmed. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) confirmed to Swiss public television, SRF, on Sunday that deportation flights would take pl...

Greenpeace Switzerland has called for better policing of the sustainable investment sector after finding that many funds in this category are failing to deliver on their promises. A study of 51 “sustainable” funds marketed in Luxembourg and Swit...

The auction of a Swiss billionaire’s art collection has been cancelled at the last minute after a CHF6 million ($6.5 million) tax evasion penalty was settled. The Swiss courts had previously found Urs Schwarzenbach guilty of evading taxes by illeg...

The organisers of the Patrouille des Glaciers, an iconic ski mountaineering race between Zermatt and Verbier in the Swiss Alps, have signed a “roadmap” to ensure the continuation of the biennial event. A recent controversy had cast a shadow over ...

The Swiss consumed almost 11% less energy last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and warmer weather, according to the Federal Office of Energy. In total, Swiss residents used up 747,400 terajoules (TJ) of energy in 2020 – a fall of 10.6% compared ...

The proposed 15% minimum corporate tax rate is an opportunity for Switzerland to unite its tax code for the better, says an organisation representing Swiss cities. City finance directors have criticised cantons for trying to plug expected tax gaps u...

Switzerland gave watches to US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at this week’s historic summit in Geneva, Swiss public broadcaster RTS reports. It says Biden chose to give Putin a pair of aviator sunglasses “Made in...

One in five children in Switzerland (21%) has witnessed scenes of domestic violence at home, sometimes with lasting consequences, write two Sunday newspapers. This means that 300,000 children may have been exposed to such scenes, of whom more than 9...

Switzerland is well prepared for the Delta variant of Covid-19 and there is no reason for particular concern at the moment, says Christoph Berger, head of the Federal Commission for Vaccinations. In an interview with the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper, he...

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis says he does not rule out further talks with the European Union at some point, after the government broke off negotiations on a framework deal. This could come about through dialogue, but Switzerland would have ...

Switzerland says it views positively the outcome of the 109th International Labour Conference, which ended on Saturday. “Switzerland welcomes the decision to repeal or withdraw 29 obsolete international labour instruments,” said the State Secret...