Bitesize News

Switzerland’s World Cup dreams are over after a 6-1 drubbing by Portugal last night – its worst result since 1963.

Police in canton Aargau are hunting for mysterious pumpkin throwers.

Hundreds of people in the Calanca Valley in southern Graubünden remain cut off from the world after a rockfall blocked the main road heading to three villages on Sunday evening.

We won’t make enough butter next year, so the Federal Agriculture Office is allowing 3,000 tonnes to be imported next month.

A new forest is being created in Geneva. 400 trees are being planted around the development of the educational centre at CERN,

A postman in Lausanne has been fined for hitting the same person twice in the same day with his electric tricycle last year.

Campaigners for asylum seekers in Geneva say they will hold a demonstration on Thursday following the death of 18-year-old Alireza from Afghanistan.

Police in canton Vaud have released the details of an operation to break up a child porn ring.

It was a good summer for the Swiss hotel sector. Over 22 million overnight stays between May and October according to the Federal Statistics Office.

Renovation work at the Lausanne train station is set to last for at least a further 10 years – but despite tough questioning from several politicians from Geneva and Vaud, more detailed answers were not forthcoming.

There may soon be an end to unwanted junk in your mailbox.

The plan to impose a fee on all vehicles entering the centre of Geneva has taken a step forward with the Federal Department of Transport now examining the plan.

A young Afghan asylum seeker in Geneva has killed himself after a court ordered him to be returned to Greece.

A massive amount of snow fell on the southern Alps over the weekend – triggering avalanche alerts and closing mountain passes.

40,000 runners pounded the streets of the Geneva Old Town for the first full-strength Course d’Escalade since the pandemic.

Inflation means all prices are going up - but so are rents.

Although the pay discrepancy is a major problem in Switzerland with women regularly earning less than their male counterparts, the City of Geneva has been given a clean bill of health.

A truck driver who crashed through a fence and into a field from the A1 autoroute near Oensingen in canton Solothurn on Friday afternoon was found to be high on drugs.

A petition has been launched in canton Valais to stop a planned CHF 1m donation to renovate the Swiss Guards’ barracks in the Vatican.

A massive CHF 46bn of Russian assets are dormant in Switzerland.

Genevans need to do more to save energy.

The Swiss federal structure is hampering police in the fight against organised crime.

More and more raccoons are spreading across the country, especially in canton Aargau. They're devastating forests, farmers’ fields and gardens.

A study by the University of Zurich is raising concerns about the effectiveness of professional dish washers.

An elderly man had a stroke of luck after he dropped CHF 20,000 in cash on the street.

France is suffering a major nursing crisis – and Switzerland is being partly blamed.

Experts are worried as a cheap drug is spreading fast, especially in French speaking Switzerland.

The Vernets ice rink in Geneva is going to be renovated after the city agreed to pay CHF 29m.

A strike by French rail workers this weekend will mean there’ll be several TGV cancellations from Switzerland to France.

Residents of the Zurich commune of Stäfa have the singer Tina Turner to thank for a tax cut.

The amount of energy being used to power Christmas lights has been a major topic this season, but in Geneva there are Christmas trees will only be lit when you pedal.

The federal government wants to keep some of the covid laws on the books for the next couple of years.

Geneva is running out of emergency beds for the homeless as more families with children are ending up on the streets.

The Geneva public transport company, the TPG, says it will have a complete electric fleet of buses by 2030.

We’re littering less.

Motorists travelling between Nyon and Geneva on the A1 autoroute could not have failed to have noticed new green coloured pillars being set up along the road.

We’ve run out of eggs.

Chimney sweeps are overwhelmed in Geneva as many want to bring their long ignored fireplace back into action.

One man has been found guilty and two others acquitted following a fatal cable car accident in canton Schwyz in February 2020.

There will be a festive spirit in Lausanne this year – but only for a more limited time.

Canton Vaud is issuing advice to walkers if they come across a wolf.

A figure that may surprise you – a Geneva bus takes a wrong turn at least once a day.

Plans for a new tram line running from Nations, through Grand Saconnex and then ultimately crossing the border into Ferney-Voltaire has cleared a major hurdle after the residents of Saconnex have given the go ahead to cede the land needed.

Hundreds of healthcare workers demonstrated outside the Federal Palace in Bern over the weekend - saying there’s an exodus of staff.

Hygiene standards in Swiss hospitals are getting worse. That’s the conclusion of a government inspector, Rafael Moreno.

The motoring organisation, the TCS, is launching a new app today which will be able to track the cheapest fuel in the country.

Canton Geneva has green lit a plan to build more than 100 km of new cycle lanes by 2030.

The head of the troubled Swiss bank, Credit Suisse, says very few Swiss clients have closed their accounts – although the bank does say globally there has been a significant outflow of funds.

Nearly half of young people under the age of 20 in Switzerland have been victims of sexual harassment online or in text messages, according to a study by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in partnership with Swisscom. 

Measures to prevent the spread of bird flu have been announced following the discovery of two cases of the virus in the canton of Zurich.

The solar energy sector is set to break all records with predictions that new photovoltaic installations, or solar panels, will have produced around 50 per cent more power this year than in 2021, according to the Federal Office of Energy.

The marsh warbler, who’s known for imitating 200 different species of birds, has been named as Bird of the Year 2023 by BirdLife Switzerland.

Another set of sanctions against Russia has been announced by the Swiss Federal Council, the eighth round of sanctions imposed since the war against Ukraine began.

Limited heating and public lighting, reduced shop opening hours, quotas and power cuts are part of the Swiss Government’s plan - if there’s an imminent electricity shortage.

Swisscoy, a unit of the Swiss Armed Forces, must remain engaged in Kosovo until the end of 2026,

A doctor from Bienne in the canton of Bern is to jet off into space, having been chosen to be an astronaut with the European Space Agency.

An investment of nearly CHF 180 million has been given the green light by authorities in the canton of Vaud.

The Swiss economy is expected to grow by 2.1% this year, down from the previous forecast of 2.5%.

Women in Switzerland earn, on average, 18% less than their male colleagues, according to the latest report by the Federal Office of Statistics.

Two people have been arrested after customs officers found more than two kilogrammes of cocaine in what appeared to be an unremarkable bag of food shopping.

The parent company of Swiss International Air Lines has announced a recruitment drive that could see Swiss taking on 1,500 new staff, with a large majority of those being cabin crew.

The luxury Swiss watchmaker Rolex is to build a new production site in Bulle in the canton of Fribourg, a move expected to create 2,000 jobs and dozens of apprenticeships.

The exploration phase of a geothermal project at Vinzel in the canton of Vaud got underway yesterday, 20 years after planning first began.

Nespresso, a subsidiary of Swiss multinational Nestlé, has announced that it’s launching a paper-based coffee capsule that will be compostable at home.

COP27 was "not a success", says Swiss Minister of the Environment, Simonetta Sommaruga, a day after the UN Climate Summit ended in Egypt.

Six members of the far-right extremist group, Junge Tat, have been arrested after climbing onto the roof of Basel train station and setting off firecrackers and smoke bombs yesterday afternoon.

Schools across Switzerland are letting pupils down by ignoring the fact that children have the right to be heard in all decisions that concern them.

It’s been reported that Qatar, the controversial host of the FIFA World Cup, wanted to buy surveillance technology from a Swiss company.

The Geneva University Hospital is taking part in a trial to test a promising treatment for long-covid.

A man has been arrested in Basel on suspicion of stealing a dog and drowning it in a river in Germany.

The Geneva branch of the Swiss People’s Party has launched an initiative it hopes would cut down what is describes as petty complaints against the police.

The City of Zurich has banned all public viewings of the World Cup in protest of the tournament being held in Qatar.

Swiss lottery officials are dismissing claims Wednesday numbers must have been a mistake – and say it was a coincidence.

Geneva is debating on borrowing a billion francs to allow for the renovation of hundreds of buildings to cut their energy use.

The Confederation will compensate Geneva for the cost of hosting the summit between US president Joe Biden and the Russian leader Vladimir Putin in June last year.

The Geneva University Hospital is changing its policy and will allow assisted suicide on its premises – but only in rare cases.