Bitesize News

It’s been revealed the watch maker, Patek Philippe, paid some of the ransom money demanded by a man who had been planting bombs, terrorizing the local community and employees of the company.

A cryptocurrency advisor from Biel in canton Bern has vanished after raising about CHF 7m from friends and relatives.

In Yverdon-les-Bains, a 95-year-old woman is recovering after a violent burglary at her home on December 3rd.

The Geneva commune of Vandoeuvres is turning up the heat on would be burglaries.

Two coach drivers caused havoc near the entrance of the Gotthard Tunnel yesterday afternoon.

A German start-up that turns shipping containers into compact hotel rooms is setting its sights on Switzerland.

Geneva’s Escalade Race has smashed its registration record once again – but is it now full?

The Geneva government is refusing to budge on its decision to exclude children who live in France from the cantonal schools.

The bank, UBS, is preparing a major new round of cost-cutting as it continues absorbing Credit Suisse, which is proving slower than originally planned.

Tuberculosis cases are on the rise in Switzerland.

A possible new word is entering the Swiss lexicon – Zexit.

Swiss football fans are breathing a sigh of relief after the World Cup draw.

Bargain driving lessons are raising red flags across French-speaking Switzerland.

A Geneva consulting firm that touts its political neutrality is now at the center of a major investigation.

A coordination error means a new apartment block in Geneva’s Vernets district will open – but a year before a school which should be there for the new arrivals will be finished.

All cats should be microchipped. Vets are warning that the country’s stray-cat population is growing out of control.

An elderly motorist faces jail after speeding in canton Valais.

Employees at Swiss mattress makers Superba and Swissflex may finally see relief after months without pay.

Switzerland is moving toward easing its strict rules on war-material exports.

Switzerland’s inflation rate fell back to zero percent in November, down slightly from 0.1% in October.

The Federal Intelligence Service is under fire for its wide collection of data from telecommunications.

The Swiss Federal Council is growing increasingly concerned about a 2026 referendum that would cap the country’s population at ten million by restricting immigration.

In Geneva, disturbing testimony is emerging from the trial of a former Montessori teacher accused of abusing children as young as three.

TV fans are celebrating, HBO Max is has finally announced a date for its launch in Switzerland.

The trade deal with the US is still not finalized – although talks are close to conclusion.

Geneva’s vote on free dental care is now facing new uncertainty.

In Geneva, the political fallout from the suspended Vernier municipal election is escalating.

A man behind a string of parking-meter scams has been jailed.

A German tourist has been sentenced in Switzerland after being caught using a falsified autoroute vignette.

Geneva is launching a new system to ease chronic overcrowding in hospital emergency rooms.

While summer is a few months away yet – the Guitare en Scène festival has announced part of next year’s lineup.

The head of the Geneva based commodities trader, Gunvor, has been forced out of his position after the US government claims he has links to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

New figures show a sharp rise in company bankruptcies this year.

Police in Geneva have launched a major operation after an attempted armed robbery in the city centre.

Geneva will not have a World Cup fan zone next year.

There are efforts to step up protection for victims of domestic violence.

Motorists are gearing up for the new autoroute vignette.

Voters have overwhelmingly rejected two major national initiatives.

Geneva voters have narrowly rejected a socialist initiative to make dental care more affordable – by a margin just 144 votes.

City of Geneva voters have approved the city’s purchase of the 35,000-square-meter estate once owned by Titeuf creator Zep.

A democratic crisis is deepening in the Geneva commune of Vernier.

Air travel around the world faced major turbulence over the weekend after Airbus grounded six thousand A320s for an emergency software update.

Many residents of the stricken village of Blatten are shocked after they received an anonymous letter.

A brief power outage on Thursday disrupted Geneva’s public transport network and the Léman Express.

Geneva and French authorities have signed a landmark agreement to jointly finance cross-border mobility infrastructure entirely on French soil.

A court in canton Valais has sentenced a nurse to nine years in prison and ordered him to leave the country for 15 years, after convicting him of multiple sexual offences - including rape, attempted rape, and coercion.

Switzerland is exporting its soccer violence.

Switzerland continues to attract the world’s wealthiest, even as voters prepare to decide on the Young Socialists’ “For the Future” initiative, which proposes a 50% tax on inheritances above 50 million francs.

Good news for Geneva’s four-legged friends: the cantonal dog pound in Collex-Bossy is getting a makeover.

In Geneva, a court has refused to suspend a controversial decision that will bar non-resident students from the canton’s public schools.

In a rare move, the City of Geneva has approved the demolition of an apartment building dating back to the 1870s.

Nineteen Swiss activists who were detained in Israel last month are refusing to pay the bills for their own repatriation.

In Geneva, a head-on collision between a bicycle and an e-bike has claimed the life of a 51-year-old man.

A new study shows Switzerland’s top football leagues are now generating more than a billion francs a year for the economy and supporting thousands of jobs.

Police are warning about a sophisticated online romance scam after a pensioner in canton Vaud lost nearly CHF 100,000 to someone posing as Hollywood actor Brad Pitt.

Switzerland’s median salary has passed CHF 7,000 a month for the first time.

Geneva city employees are pushing back against proposed budget cuts.

Tourist officials in the Bernese Oberland are furious at the American travel guide Fodor’s as they have listed the Jungfrau region as a no travel zone.

In Zurich, a tram driver has been convicted of driving under the influence of drugs after an accident that left a young pedestrian critically injured.

Geneva has a new river – or at least an old river that you can now see again.

The price of a simple coffee in Switzerland has hit a new record.

We’re facing several days of turbulent weather as a deep Atlantic low moves across Central Europe.

Shop keepers in French-speaking Switzerland are pushing back against the rising cost of electronic payments.

The public broadcaster SRG SSR says nearly 900 jobs could disappear by 2029 as part of a major cost-cutting plan.

On the face of it, the new policy at the former drug centre in Lausanne is working, but some fear drug taking has been pushed further underground - and therefore more dangerous – or it’s simply the cold weather.

Researchers at ETH Zurich say they’ve built the world’s smallest light-emitting diodes — tiny “nano-OLEDs” so small that a hundred of them could fit across the width of a human cell.

Talks between Ukraine and the United States have entered a decisive phase in Geneva, after what diplomats on both sides called their most productive meeting since Donald Trump returned to power.

While Switzerland didn’t actively seek to host the meeting between the Americans, the Ukrainians and the Russians – the fact that all sides chose Geneva as a venue is a shot in the arm for Swiss diplomacy – says the Tribune de Genève.

Switzerland has been hit by another polar night, with temperatures plunging across the country.

A major water main bust on Saturday, rapidly flooding parts of Chêne-Bougeries.

Television viewers in neighbouring France could soon lose access to Swiss TV channels.

Geneva’s Grand Council has overwhelmingly approved a study on the potential use of delivery drones across the canton.

Geneva is activating its Cold Weather Plan this Friday as temperatures are expected to drop as low as minus four degrees with wind chill.

Geneva’s parliament has narrowly approved a constitutional change requiring elected officials to observe religious neutrality.

Two years after ultra-spicy chips caused hospitalizations in Germany and panic in Swiss schools, whole Carolina Reaper chilies, which are among the world’s hottest, are now being sold online in Switzerland without age restrictions.

Geneva’s Escalade Race is breaking records yet again.

Geneva’s Christmas lights are on! They’ll be illuminating the city until January 4th.

Basel’s hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest has paid off handsomely.

The upcoming vote on inheritance tax looks certain to fail – by a large margin – and it could be a disaster for the Young Socialists who proposed it.

UNICEF, like many other international organisations, is scaling back in Geneva.

Could Geneva get its own underground rail system?

Switzerland is frustrated at the lack of progress to move more freight across the Alps by train.

Switzerland’s housing market is tightening dramatically. The national vacancy rate has slipped to just one percent – close to an acute shortage.

A new study from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland suggests that Geneva’s strict housing protection rules have helped push rents higher and the canton leads the country in the number of dilapidated homes.

French and Swiss authorities are investigating a French family, nicknamed the “Bagdadi clan,” for defrauding around 138 people in the Geneva area, reportedly netting up to 3 million euros.

Switzerland’s commodities trading industry generated CHF 19.2bn in added value last year, according to new figures released by the Federal Statistics Office.

Geneva is rolling out dedicated parking for cargo bikes, with a total of 270 spaces planned across the canton.

An earthquake measuring 3 on the Richter scale shook the area near the Grand St. Bernard Pass early this morning.

Clocks change at the end of the week - and it could be dangerous - as it sends more people to hospital.

**** APRIL FOOL**** Many thanks for all your comments!

Residents in the threatened village of Brienz in Graubünden were allowed to visit their homes briefly yesterday.

Courtesy of the Interlaken tourist office, you can win 2 nights for two people at the Hotel Metropole in Interlaken with fantastic views of the Jungfrau.

WRS normal programming back in January