Switzerland’s Protestant church is to commission an independent inquiry into sexual and spiritual abuse within its ranks. On Monday the parliament of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Switzerland voted unanimously to instruct its council to launch a scientific investigation into the issue, reported RTS. The synod approved funding of up to CHF 250,000 for the […]
Residents of Bern’s stretched homeless shelters mostly from abroad
Bern’s emergency shelters are under strain—and most of those using them are not Swiss. A new regulation introduced in October 2025 by the canton of Bern restricts access to emergency accommodation to people with valid papers, in an effort to ration scarce spaces. The measure, intended to ensure that limited places go to those legally […]
Swiss road deaths rise as Europe’s fall
Switzerland’s road deaths have risen by a third over the past five years, even as fatalities have fallen across much of Europe. The country’s accident-prevention bureau (BPA) on Tuesday lamented the trend and called for a more coherent road-safety policy backed by all stakeholders. According to the BPA, the number of people killed on Swiss […]
Gotthard Pass to close on Friday
With winter setting in, Switzerland’s Gotthard Pass and the hiking and cycling trail through the Schöllenen Gorge will shut for safety reasons. The closures, announced by the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO), take effect on November 7th, 2025. FEDRO said on Thursday that the Gotthard route between Hospental in Uri and Airolo in Ticino will be […]
The decline of truth as professional journalism faces an existential crisis
Disinformation and conspiracy theories, amplified by social media, are distorting minds at scale. At the same time, the rise of news deprivation—a world in which citizens are either cut off from reliable reporting or simply tune it out—has deepened public confusion and mistrust. This week, we looked at a study that shows nearly half of Switzerland’s population […]
Zurich court convicts pro-Palestinian activists of trespass
This week, five of the seven of the pro-Palestinian activists accused of taking part in an unauthorised demonstration after they occupied the main hall of ETH Zurich on May 31st, 2024 were convicted of trespassing by the Zurich District Court, reported SRF. Two others, in a separate trial, were cleared after judges found that no […]
Swiss retail staff push back against Sunday trading expansion
Retail workers in Switzerland are pushing back against plans to allow stores to open on up to 12 Sundays a year, up from the current four. A petition opposing the proposal was submitted to the Federal Chancellery in Bern on Thursday, backed by the unions Unia and Syna, which argue the change would worsen already […]
Study confirms Swiss domestic stereotypes
The Swiss, it seems, live up to their reputation for cleanliness and comfort. A new survey by the Sotomo research institute for IKEA Switzerland suggests that the home remains, for many, a reassuring refuge from an increasingly disorderly world. Nearly everyone (98%) removes their shoes upon entering the house. From there, habits diverge: older residents […]
Swiss conservatives call for tougher laws after violent pro-Palestinian protest
After a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Bern descended into violence on October 11th, centre-right and right-wing parliamentarians are demanding legal action against violent extremism, reported RTS. The proposed measures include bans on pyrotechnics, the use of facial-recognition technology, and longer detention periods. Details were presented in Bern by the Alliance Sécurité Suisse, a cross-party group bringing […]
Widespread news deprivation erodes trust in Swiss politics
Nearly half of Switzerland’s population now counts as “news-deprived”—people who rarely consume journalistic media. According to the latest Yearbook on Media Quality from the University of Zurich’s Research Center for the Public Sphere and Society, 46% of Swiss fall into this category, the highest level since records began. Switzerland’s public sphere is undergoing a new […]
