Solitary confinement in prisons is ineffective or even counterproductive, according to a study, whose authors are calling for the abolition of this form of detention in Switzerland. The research was carried out by Thierry Urwyler, a professor of crim...

After successfully campaigning before the European Court of Human Rights against racism and discrimination, a 52-year-old Swiss man of Kenyan descent was himself convicted by a court in Bern on Friday for incitement to violence. "Freeing the Jews fro...

The risk of forest fires remains high in Geneva. It now stands at 4 out of 5, the Department of Territorial Planning said on Friday, urging people to exercise caution. The authorities’ assessment is based on factors such as temperature, humidity, w...

On Wednesday Swiss train maker Stadler Rail inaugurated an extension to its US factory in Salt Lake City, Utah. It now has an additional 245,000 square metres of floor space, bringing the total to 475,000 square metres, according to a press release i...

Over 77,600 meals served, as well as around 2,300 beds and accommodation places for homeless people, those with mental health issues and refugees: the Salvation Army’s work in 2025 was dominated by the housing crisis and rising poverty. The demand ...

The hantavirus outbreak, which claimed three lives in April, is now over. As the quarantine period for those who had been in contact with infected individuals has ended, the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Thursday that this ...

The combined market capitalisation of the world’s 100 most valuable listed companies rose significantly in the first half of 2026. Switzerland is represented four times in the ranking, by Roche, Novartis, Nestlé and, for the first time, ABB. The c...

Swiss retailer Migros has opened its first supermarket in Switzerland with 24-hour opening hours. The shop in Herisau, the capital of canton Appenzell Outer Rhodes in northeastern Switzerland, is a standard Migros branch, staffed until the usual "clo...

On Thursday Swiss Solidarity raised over CHF10 million ($12.5 million) in donations for the earthquake victims in Venezuela. Tens of thousands of people from all parts of the country took part in the fundraising day, as Swiss Solidarity officials ann...

The city of Chur in easter Switzerland held a memorial service on Thursday to commemorate the arson attack at 38 Alexanderstrasse on July 2, 1989. Four people from Sri Lanka lost their lives, including two children. It is believed the attack was raci...

Swiss footballers Breel Embolo and Dan Ndoye helped Switzerland advance to the Round of 16 at the World Cup on Thursday night with a 2-0 victory over Algeria. However, a red baseball cap worn by Swiss President Guy Parmelin is attracting almost more ...

Switzerland did not violate the right to privacy of the Ukrainian Yuriy Ivanyushchenko by ordering the freezing of his funds and those of his relatives. This was the ruling handed down on Thursday by the European Court of Human Rights, thereby dismis...

On Thursday, the Federal Office for the Environment raised the forest fire risk in parts of the canton of Valais to warning level 4 out of 5. There is also a high risk of forest fires in the cantons of Aargau, Zurich, Lucerne, Uri, Glarus and St Gall...

Food security and access to clean drinking water: the committee behind a people’s initiative is calling for changes to Swiss agricultural policy. On Thursday, it launched its campaign ahead of a nationwide vote on September 27. The initiative “Fo...

Climate models may overestimate the resilience of forests, if they fail to distinguish controlled leaf senescence from damage caused by heat and drought, say Swiss scientists. Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape ...

A new free trade agreement, described as “ambitious” by its stakeholders, has been signed between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), of which Switzerland is a member, and Vietnam. The agreement, announced on Thursday in Reykjavik, Icelan...

In Switzerland, foodborne illnesses increased in 2025. With 8,654 laboratory-confirmed cases, campylobacteriosis was the most common infection, followed by salmonellosis, with 2,280 cases. Last year, infections caused by the Shiga toxin-producing bac...

On Thursday, the Vatican confirmed the excommunication of six bishops linked to the Society of Saint Pius X, thereby confirming the ultra-conservative movement’s “schism” with the Catholic Church. The Society consecrated four bishops in the Swi...

On Thursday, the Swiss pharmaceutical and diagnostics giant Roche announced the success of a pivotal clinical trial for its drug divarasib in the treatment of a form of lung cancer as a second-line therapy. Following the completion of the Krascendo 1...

The banking giant UBS, along with banks focused on the Swiss market, would be able to absorb losses resulting from “adverse scenarios”, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) said in a new report published on Thursday. "The Swiss banking sector is, on the...

The Lucerne-based art dealer Angela Rosengart, who was founder and director of the Sammlung Rosengart Museum in Lucerne, died on Tuesday at the age of 94. The Rosengart Foundation confirmed her death on Wednesday evening in response to an enquiry fro...

Canada will take part in the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest, the organisers announced on Wednesday. The world’s biggest live televised music event is thus expanding to the Americas. "The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and its newest member, CBC/Ra...

A natural lake has formed over the past few weeks on the Glacier 3000 in Les Diablerets in canton Vaud in western Switzerland. This temporary lake, with its turquoise-blue hues, is fed by meltwater from the glacier. The lake forms between May and Jul...

Lonza is expanding its collaboration with an American biopharmaceutical company, the identity of which has not been disclosed. The Basel-based pharmaceutical contract manufacturer is set to commence production for two new biologics programmes, with a...

The Swiss agrochemical company Syngenta Group is getting a new chief executive. The Board of Directors unanimously appointed Hengde Qin as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) starting August 1, the Basel-based company announced on Wednesday. The cu...

The Federal Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a Russian oligarch to be removed from the sanctions list in connection with the war in Ukraine. In a judgement published on Wednesday, the judges in Lausanne rejected his request to lift the freeze...

The trial of a teenager who is accused of stabbing an Orthodox Jewish man in the street in Zurich in March 2024 began on Wednesday morning in Dielsdorf, in canton Zurich, before the Juvenile Court. The young defendant declined to answer the judge’s...

The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, is in Moscow. Over the next two days, she is due to discuss “crucial humanitarian issues” with the Russian authorities related to the conflict in Ukraine. Du...

Six months after the devastating fire in Crans-Montana, Mayor Nicolas Féraud takes stock of the situation. “I felt there was a lack of humanity at a time when so many people needed it,” he said in an interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. He ...

After a first quarter of 2026 that was virtually at a standstill, the Swiss initial public offering (IPO) market rebounded in the second quarter with three new listings. However, according to consulting firm EY, many prospective issuers prefer to wai...