An international eye on Swiss news collated by Peter Hulm for NuseReal

June 2026

Median annual salary in Switzerland for a full-time job rose to CHF87,000 in 2025, CHF5K more than in 2024 (LINK) — 25 June 2026

Smarter waste sorting with AI from WasteFlow by EPFL students, Lausanne: "Our system can currently identify 66 different categories of waste, with accuracy rates reaching 98% for some plastics including PET, HDPE and LDPE," says co-founder Théophile Agresti. The company estimates that facilities using its technology could recycle around 6% more material, thus reducing the amount of waste that ends up being incinerated (LINK) — 25 June 2026

— In 2023, EPFL students Valentin Ibars, Théophile Agresti and Theo Vitupier came up with the idea for WasteFlow. Since then, they have graduated from EPFL and have grown the business into a company employing 13 people. The trio joined Blaze, the School's program for student entrepreneurs, which provided structure and a supportive environment. The founders connected with experienced mentors, whose guidance saved them valuable time. The same year, WasteFlow secured a CHF 30,000 Ignition Grant from EPFL and additional support from the Foundation for Innovation and Technology (FIT).

— A BRIDGE Proof of Concept grant from the Swiss government's Innosuisse program and a collaboration with EPFL's Computer Vision Laboratory (CVLab) helped the team move beyond the lab and test the technology in real sorting facilities. They also benefited from EPFL's internship program for master's students and recent graduates: one intern spent six months developing tools to analyze sorting-facility performance and optimize recycling processes. Further internships, funded by WasteFlow and carried out with CVLab, gave students valuable industry experience while bringing additional expertise into the company.

Swiss study finds fewer job ads for career starters as AI reshapes entry-level work (LINK) — 24 June 2026

— An analysis of 7.3 million job advertisements shows entry-level postings down sharply since the years before generative AI, with the steepest declines in roles the tools can most readily take on. The number of Swiss job advertisements aimed at career starters in 2025 was just under a third lower than the average for the period before generative AI arrived, according to a study published on Wednesday by the recruitment portal Jobs.ch.

Swiss franc holds near seven-month lows as dollar strength persists (LINK) — 22 June 2026

Art Basel: 18-21 June: over 290 top galleries presenting works by over 4,000 artists: drone tour (LINK) — 20 June 2026

Thousands flock to Art Basel in Switzerland as market outlook improves: VIP preview days (LINK)

A $35m Picasso led first-day sales (Pablo Picasso's Le peintre et son modèle dans un paysage / the painter and his model in a landscape, 1963), while galleries reported strong seven-figure results across both historic and contemporary material — (LINK)

— Bringing together around 4,000 artists. Works by leading figures including Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and David Hockney drew significant attention throughout the fair.

Swiss government wants to strengthen medicine supply: plans to make it easier to import and manufacture medicines. Online sales of over-the-counter medicines are also set to become easier (LINK) — 19 June 2026

Swiss Parliament proposes VAT increase by 0.4% to fund 13th Swiss pension payment (LINK) — 19 June 2026

— As the Constitution must be amended to implement it, the people and the cantons must give their approval at the ballot box. The referendum could take place before the end of the year.

Swiss ski resort, the Glarus mountain village of Braunwald, closes because of climate change (LINK) — 19 June 2026

Swiss central bank readies for FX intervention if safe haven franc strengthens but left its main policy rate unchanged on Thursday (LINK) — 18 June 2026

Uber and WeRide to bring self-driving taxis to Zurich, the first region in Switzerland to offer on-demand self-driving taxis (LINK) — 17 June 2026

EU states say new deals known as Bilateral Agreements III 'only viable path' in relations with Switzerland: status quo is not a viable alternative (LINK) — 16 June 2026

EU states say new deals known as Bilateral Agreements III 'only viable path' in relations with Switzerland: status quo is not a viable alternative (LINK) — 16 June 2026

Swiss police arrest three for vandalising US Consulate in Zurich (LINK) — 16 June 2026

Newsweek: Why Switzerland voted to reject population cap (LINK) — 15 June 2026

— Switzerland's population has expanded by nearly 2 million people since 2002—from 7.3 million to more than 9 million in 2025 — following the introduction of freer movement between Switzerland and the European Union (EU), according to the Federal Statistics Office.Foreign-trained doctors make up around 43 percent of all physicians working in Switzerland, according to the Swiss Medical Association. The vast majority of the 165,386 foreign nationals who moved to Switzerland last year migrated for employment, according to the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). Two-thirds of them are coming from the EU/European Free Trade Association (EFTA). "In an uncertain world, a small country at the heart of Europe was ultimately not prepared to risk a rupture with the EU, in many ways our closest and most reliable ally," said Cloé Jans, a senior project manager at the Swiss public opinion research firm gfs.bern. "For many voters, a flawed status quo was preferable to an unpredictable leap into the unknown."

Al Jazeera: Swiss right-wing plan to cap population rejected by narrow margins — (LINK limited)

Swiss tourism: summer 2026 faces difficult circumstances: weaker demand from long-haul markets. (LINK) — 15 June 2026

Exceptional winter for Swiss hotel industry: increase was fuelled only marginally by foreign demand — (LINK)

— December (+6.8%), January (+2.6%) and February (+2.9%) proved particularly successful. The outbreak of conflict in the Middle East coincided with a sudden fall in foreign demand (-4.8% in March and -5.7% in April), particularly from Asia, which weighed on the end of the season.

United States and Iran reach framework deal to end war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz: document signing Friday in Switzerland (LINK) — 14 June 2026

Switzerland-France feud erupts over G7 security costs linked to the G7 summit taking place in Evian-les-Bains. (LINK) — 15 June 2026

— France is refusing to contribute to the $25-32 million cost of securing the border and policing the protests, according to Laurent Paoliello, communications director for Geneva's security department. Several Swiss politicians have proposed withholding funds owed to France as a way of forcing Paris to pay for the security costs, including retaining tax income due to the French to compensate for lost tax income from cross-border workers. But Paoliello said such moves were "complicated" due to the fact that the exchanges of funds were enshrined in treaties. Geneva this year paid France €446 million as part of the 1973 treaty. France has not seen fit to establish designated protest sites or "counter-summits". Tens of thousands of protesters are gathering on the Swiss side of the border where they aim to stage rallies during the summit. Swiss police clashed with some 600-700 protesters on Monday, leading the protest to be forbidden after three hours. All other public rallies have been forbidden during the G7 summit. In addition to police, some 4,000 Swiss military personnel are being mobilized this week to oversee protests and staff border checkpoints.

Estimated 20,000, including some 600 so-called "Black Bloc" militants, protest G7 in Geneva as Trump, other leaders ready for summit in Evian, France (LINK) — 14 June 2026

— Clashes broke out between protesters and police near the United Nations headquarters, as protesters threw bottles, stones, pieces of cement and firecrackers at the police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons.

Swiss voters reject proposal to cap population at 10 million: (LINK) — 14 June 2026

— Some 54.79% of voters were against the proposal by the Swiss People's party (SVP) and 45.21% were in favour. Turnout was 58.86%. A different outcome would have obliged the Swiss government to limit the population, currently 9.1 million, to 10 million by 2050, enacting tough restrictions on family reunification, residency permits and asylum if the number had reached 9.5 million before that date. Under the proposals, if the threshold of 10 million people was exceeded before 2050, the Swiss government would have been obliged to withdraw from the country's free movement agreement with the EU — ending its access to the bloc's single market.

Swiss Sustainable Investments Market Study 2026: sustainable investments are holding their ground: "greatest financial impacts relating to nature-related risks are now attributed to extreme weather events" (LINK) — 9 June 2026

The most peaceful places in the world to travel to right now: of the 163 countries on the Global Peace Index, 99 deteriorated in peacefulness and 62 improved. There are now 119 countries that are less peaceful than they were in 2008 (LINK) — 9 June 2026

— Euronews: Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world for the 19th year running. In 2026, New Zealand has risen one place to second globally. Switzerland comes in third globally, while Slovenia rose two places to fourth. Russia is the least peaceful country, with Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ukraine, and Israel completing the bottom five.

Scientists from ETH Zurich injected magnetically controlled 'repair' microrobots into the injured spinal cords of fish and mice: they showed improved movement and normalized exploratory behaviour within just a few days: "after 28 days, the animals' nerve cells had reconnected" (LINK) — 7 June 2026

UBS CEO reaffirms bank's commitment to Switzerland, dismissed relocation rumours (LINK) — 5 June 2026

— The Federal Council wants UBS foreign subsidiaries to be fully covered by equity capital, but the bank strongly opposed such a measure.

Holiday homes: Gstaad tops Alpine price rankings: chalets and apartments cost around CHF25,000 per square metre on average: top five places are in Switzerland (LINK) — 5 June 2026

— They are: Engadin/St. Moritz, with prices of CHF24,000, Verbier, Andermatt and Zermatt complete the top five, with prices starting at CHF21,000 per square metre. Among foreign resorts, France's Courchevel is the priciest (about €20,000), ahead of Kitzbühel in Austria (€16,000) and Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy (€13,000).

Swiss CHF100,000 Music Grand Prix goes to yodelling singer Nadja Räss: first representative of Swiss folk music to receive the award: contributed to the inclusion of yodelling on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage last December (LINK) — 4 June 2026

Switzerland to deploy 4,000 soldiers for G7 Summit security around Evian 12-17 June (LINK) — 4 June 2026

Switzerland is building one of the most powerful batteries in the world 88 feet (26m) underground (LINK) — 4 June 2026

Israeli Supreme Court rules ban on International Red Cross visits to detainees unlawful (LINK) — 3 June 2026

Swiss World Cup soccer team travel to US without star Breel Embolo over ESTA issue (LINK) — 2 June 2026

Switzerland top wealth destination, despite taxes (LINK) — 2 June 2026