An international eye on Swiss news collated by Peter Hulm for NuseReal
Tourism events in Switzerland — myswitzerland — (LINK)
News events in Switzerland — swissinfo — (LINK)
Loetschental, Valais: Blatten avalanche and aftermath summary (LINK)
Moving away? swissinfo's guide
September 2025
European Aquatics joins World Aquatics in uprooting out of Switzerland in favor of a cheaper location closer to the action of the sport: Belgrade, Serbia (LINK) 30 September 2025
Some 60% of customers tip at restaurants in Switzerland (LINK) 30 September 2025
— In German-speaking Switzerland, most guests tip around 10% of the bill amount, while in French-speaking and Italian-speaking Switzerland it is 5%.
Roger Federer on Switzerland and his foundation (LINK) 30 September 2025
UBS says government proposals for Switzerland's biggest bank to hold more capital would weaken the bank, the Swiss financial sector and the country's economy (LINK) 29 September 2025
Bankers Association sounds alarm as UBS stands firm on new big bank regulations (LINK) 29 September 2025
UBS Group has seven years to meet new capital rules under Switzerland's 'too big to fail' framework, starting in 2028. (LINK)
Swiss voters back electronic identity cards in close vote (LINK) 28 September 2025
Swiss voters back e-ID and abolish rental tax for homeowners — (LINK)
— Final figures show 50.4% of voters backed e-ID and 57.7% approved a reform of home ownership taxes.
Zurich votes to restrict leaf blowers in pollution row (LINK) 28 September 2025
— Noisy gas-powered leaf blowers will become a thing of the past, after more than 61% of citizens voted in favor of banning them in a referendum. Only electric devices will be used to blow away dirt and debris. This will only be possible from October to December, three months out of the year.
Fromagerie la Côte-aux-Fées' Le Gruyère AOP Vieux is officially the best cheese in the world, according to the 2025 Mondial du Fromage (LINK) 27 September 2025
Delta to drop Geneva, Switzerland, on 20 October after 3 years as transatlantic travel shifts (LINK) 27 September 2025
— The drop in passengers to the U.S. from Switzerland between May and August was over 9% compared to the previous year, as against nearly 2% from Western Europe.
Swiss central bank keeps zero-rate as tariffs take their toll (LINK) — ground.news: 28 media reports (LINK) 25 September 2025
The Transformation Office (Bureau de la transformation) of the University of Geneva replaces the Digital Transformation Office (BTN). It supports teams and projects in their strategic, organisational, and collaborative change initiatives. (LINK) 25 September 2025
— "Our projects are like open-air laboratories, allowing us to explore new ways to support change, raise awareness about complex issues, and test innovative approaches before rolling them out more widely. Serious games, participatory design, collective intelligence, visual storytelling... each project mobilises different tools, but pursues the same goal: to help our community transform in a thoughtful, creative, and engaging way."
— Some recent projects:
- A generative AI worskhop to promote best practices in the use of AI tools at the university
- A card game to raise awareness about digital sobriety and ethics
- A mini video series highlighting extra-curricular activities intended for students
Swiss Senate revises and approves bill for foreign investment controls (LINK) 24 September 2025
— The project aims to introduce a review of purchases by foreign state investors of Swiss companies operating in a critical sector. Examples include military equipment, electricity production and hospitals. Eighty percent of EU and OECD countries already have such a system. The dossier will now go back to the House of Representatives.
Swiss 2024 storm-costs biggest in 20 years: CHF904m, almost 85% concentrated in June. 13 storm-related fatalities, worst for 25 years (LINK) 24 September 2025
UBS pays France €835 million to settle tax dispute case dating from 2004 to 2012 (LINK) 23 September 2025
— The French courts convicted UBS in 2021 of aggravated tax fraud and illegal canvassing in France. UBS has set aside the necessary provisions to meet these costs: €730 million fine and €105 million in damages to the French state.
Switzerland's Senate has approved a plan to give local radio and TV stations a larger share of the licence fee, endorsing a slightly revised draft already backed by the House of Representatives (LINK) 23 September 2025
Police are warning of a new trend in the country: paedophile vigilantism. Zurich police recently arrested 6 teenagers after they'd beaten up a middle-aged man. They'd lured the man to a park through social media, pretending to be a girl under 16 (LINK) 22 September 2025
The Geneva alternative cultural spot, the Usine, has closed for the time being after two separate violent attacks on Friday night. Two men were injured with machetes and taken to hospital. (LINK) 22 September 2025
Around two thousand anti-abortion protesters marched through Zurich-Oerlikon on Saturday, carrying crosses, singing hymns, and even pushing an oversized stroller. Dozens of counter-demonstrators tried to block the rally, setting off firecrackers and pushing containers into the road. Zurich police in full force intervened with water cannons and tear gas to keep the groups apart and reopen the streets (LINK) 20 September 2025
Switzerland unites with Canada, South Korea, Hungary, Denmark, France, Japan, and more in setting skyrocketing hotel occupancy records with exceptional tourism growth last winter: 2.8% increase in overnight stays, the highest level ever recorded for the season (LINK) 20 September 2025
Landslide village: foundation stone laid for new Blatten: the symbolic act for Blatten 2020 took place on the scree covering the old buildings (LINK) 19 September 2025
— Various houses will be built. "The aim is for the first residents to be able to return to their homes by the end of 2028, and the majority of the others by 2029," explains Matthias Bellwald, mayor. “The current lake that has formed will eventually disappear" and the site will become increasingly secure.
US tariffs on Rolex, Cartier & Patek Philippe will eventually impact your country (LINK) 19 September 2025
xStocks (digital transferable stocks) issuer chose Switzerland to avoid whitelisting (restricting holders of) tokenized Tesla and Nvidea shares: CEO (LINK) 17 September 2025
September 28 vote: Swiss set to back e-ID but undecided on cantonal property tax (LINK) 17 September 2025
Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point buys Swiss AI company (LINK) 17 September 2025
— Founded in 2021 by former Google and Meta engineers, Lakera develops security solutions for large language models and AI agents. It has R&D offices in Zurich and San Francisco and about 70 employees. Lakera's technology includes real-time protection and red-teaming tools for AI systems. Its Gandalf platform is used to test vulnerabilities in AI models.
Swiss economy minister signs Mercosur agreement in Brazil (LINK) 16 September 2025
— The free trade deal will enable tariff savings for Swiss companies of over 155 million Swiss francs ($197 million) per year in commerce with the bloc.
The 10 most innovative countries: Switzerland still no 1: 66 vs Sweden 62 (LINK) 16 September 2025
Work on U.N.-Ferney tram beginning: line due to open in December 2028 (LINK) 15 September 2025
Police arrest 20 thieves and pickpockets in Swiss tourism hotspots (LINK) 15 September 2025
China News: Youth forum in Geneva, organized by civil associations in the country with support from the Chinese Embassy in Switzerland, calls for peace, cooperation (LINK) 15 September 2025
— marked "the 80th anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War". World Trade Organization Deputy Director-General Zhang Xiangchen stressed that "rules-based trade is a necessity for peace", while United Nations Correspondents Association President Catherine Fiankan Bokonga highlighted the event's symbolic timing ahead of the International Day of Peace.
Melting glaciers mean an uncertain future for Europe's rivers: Zurich ETH research (LINK) 15 September 2025
UBS threatens relocation to US over Swiss capital demands that would force the bank to hold an additional $26 billion in reserves (LINK) — ground.news: 15 media reports (LINK) 14 September 2025
8 best European cities for expats: where to live, work, and thrive: 1. Zurich, satisfaction rate 97% (LINK) 15 September 2025
The most expensive for expats (1. Switzerland) and the cheapest (1. Mexico, 2. Lithuania): (LINK) 10 September 2025
Nature study from ETH Zurich ties 180 fossil-fuel and cement producers to heatwave intensification worldwide (LINK) — ground.news: 126 media reports (LINK) 12 September 2025
— The research has been hailed as a "leap forward" in the legal battle to hold big oil accountable for the damages being caused by the climate crisis.
Swatch sells watch lampooning Trump's 39% tariffs on Switzerland, flips the location of the 3 and 9 numerals (LINK) — ground.news: 31 media reports (LINK) 12 September 2025
David Bowie's 90,000-piece archive opens in London. It's as dazzling as he was (LINK) 11 September 2025
French group to buy Chaplin Museum in Switzerland (LINK) 10 September 2025
Climate change was responsible for 1,700 heat-related deaths in the Swiss canton of Zurich between 1969 and 2018, according to new research from the University of Oxford's Smith School of Enterprise: nearly one third of all heat-related mortality in the region during that period (LINK) 10 September 2025
— ECtHR's finding was that the implementation of adaptation measures is insufficient to offset the increased number of heat-related deaths driven by rising temperatures. Emission reductions are therefore required for Switzerland to meet its legal obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Is Fall the best time to visit Switzerland? Roger Federer thinks so (LINK) 9 September 2025
Fewer apartments vacant in Switzerland: 1%, a fall in the vacancy rate of 6.8%. The lowest vacancy rate was in Geneva (0.34%), followed by Zug (0.42%) and Zurich (0.48%) (LINK) 9 September 2025
IWC Schaffhausen launches Curated: a new digital collectibles platform for watches (LINK) 7 September 2025
— This initiative creates a secure digital certificate for each registered timepiece. IWC Curated acts as a digital vault for every IWC watch.
Some 6% of Swiss surface area suitable for solar plants (LINK) 6 September 2025
— But Basel and Geneva have hardly any suitable areas available.
Swiss minister heads to Washington to relaunch trade talks (LINK) 5 September 2025
Discover Switzerland's 100 most promising startups (LINK) 5 September 2025
Switzerland and France sign accords to manage shared waters such as Rhône River and Lake Geneva, almost 14 years after discussions began (LINK) 4 September 2025
On company criticised for Swiss cross on its shoes made in Asia (LINK) 3 September 2025
— Swissness Enforcement (SE), an association campaigning for compliance with the legislation protecting the indication of Swiss origin, lodged the complaint with Chinese authorities. On defends its use of the Swiss cross, stating it is only used in conjunction with the phrase "Swiss Engineering", which emphasizes its Zurich location where more than 300 are employed. The dispute may end up in the Swiss courts, with potential implications for other Swiss companies using the Swiss cross for advertising abroad.
Zurich-based firm, which boasts tennis great Roger Federer as an investor, in 2024 was accused of making high profits at the expense of Vietnamese workers and Swiss customers — (LINK)
— The company started in 2010 as a partnership among three friends to commercialise a cushioning technology developed at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich. On is now the fifth most valuable shoe company in the world in market capitalization. The company has been criticized for high markups, with some On shoe models selling for over 10 times the factory price. On denies exploiting workers, claiming to pay them a fair wage and conducting regular audits to ensure compliance with labor guidelines.
Official opening of Geneva Watch Days 2025 at the Palais Eynard (LINK) 3 September 2025
The Fondation Haute Horlogerie livens up Geneva Watch Days 4-7 September (LINK) 28 August 2025
Insider's guide, historian's perspective (LINK)
Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a 2000-year-old Roman bridge on a construction site in Aegerten in canton Bern. More than 300 oak piles, which have been preserved in the groundwater, came to light during the construction work. (LINK) 3 September 2025
Switzerland launches its own open-source AI model Apertus: trained only on publicly available data, it says (LINK) 2 September 2025
The Swiss government has accepted a proposal in principle to end the option of not paying a fine, and going to prison instead (if the fine is under CHF5000) (LINK) 2 September 2025
Nestle dismisses CEO Laurent Freixe after code of conduct breach for failing to disclose a romantic relationship with a direct subordinate, appoints veteran insider Philipp Navratil (LINK) 1 September 2025
— Freixe had initially denied the relationship to the board, a spokesperson said. The ousted executive will not receive an exit package after his dismissal, Nestle told Reuters. The CEO's abrupt removal comes exactly one year after Nestle ousted his predecessor Mark Schneider.
August 2025
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