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

October 2025

Shayne Coplan becomes youngest self-made billionaire at 27 after Polymarket's $2B investment (LINK) 9 October 2025

Nouvelliste: Gault & Millau: 10 Valais restaurant chefs in the guide: top is Franck Reynaud of the Hostellerie du Pas-de-l'Ours in Crans-Montana (18 points out of 20)(in French) (LINK) 8 October 2025

Hiking accidents in Switzerland double in 15 years to average of 9,000 a year (LINK) 7 October 2025

— In more than eight out of ten accidents, the people involved tripped, slipped, fell or took a wrong step. Most often, these accidents are due to unsuitable equipment, lack of attention or overestimated physical fitness, officials said.

UNHCR cuts close to 5,000 jobs amid funding shortfall (LINK) 6 October 2025

UNCHR sets up investigative mechanism on Afghanistan (LINK) 6 October 2025

Ukraine says Swiss components found in Russian drones (LINK) 6 October 2025

Pope Leo XIV attends swearing-in of Swiss Guard, first for a pope in nearly 60 years (LINK) 4 October 2025

Vatican's Swiss Guard debuts new uniform (LINK) 2 October 2025

— The new non-ceremonial uniform will be for events outside the Vatican, such as embassy parties and official dinners. This uniform, featuring a yellow and white striped belt and gold buttons, is a revival of a style worn by the guards up until the 1970s. Visitors to the Vatican will still see the guards in their traditional Renaissance-style ceremonial uniforms. More than two dozen new recruits will be sworn into the Swiss Guard this Saturday, following the election of Pope Leo XIV. The Swiss Vatican Guards were stablished in 1506 to guard and protect the pope and his official residence, the Apostolic Palace, as well as cardinals who gather during the papal conclave.

The 135 Swiss Guards don the new uniforms for the first time : The Swiss-made garments were paid for by a benefactor and cost 2,000 euros (around $2,300) apiece. isnce the election of Pope Leo, the guards have noticed "an increase in objects being thrown" at the pope, the information officer told a press confernce, and "it bothers us a bit". — (LINK)

If Earth had not collided with Theia 4.5 billion years ago to create the moon, you would not be reading this, say Berne scientists (LINK) 3 October 2025

— Scientists timed Earth's early formation using a short-lived radioactive marker, manganese-53, which decays into chromium-53. Using this chronometer, the team reached age estimates with an accuracy better than one million years – razor sharp for the dawn of planet-building. Without the delivery of a crucial payload of water and other ingredients, Earth could have remained a rocky world with little water, even while orbiting within the Sun’s so-called habitable zone. Publication in Science Advances, 1 August 2025.