Switzerland and China have concluded negotiations on an upgraded trade agreement that would remove tariffs on almost all Swiss exports to China. Guy Parmelin, Switzerland’s economy minister, and Wang Wentao, his Chinese counterpart, announced … [Read more...]
News and Features
Swiss tourist jailed for insulting Bali’s sacred day of silence
A court in Bali has sentenced a Swiss tourist to a year in prison for insulting Nyepi, the Indonesian island’s sacred Hindu Day of Silence. The 26-year-old was convicted on Thursday, August 20, 2026 under Indonesia’s new criminal code after … [Read more...]
Switzerland’s inflation problem is that it barely has one
Consumer prices declined in July, underscoring how different Switzerland’s inflation story is from much of the world. Over the month the consumer-price index fell by 0.1% from June, leaving prices just 0.4% higher than a year earlier, according to … [Read more...]
Swiss unions want a 2% pay rise. Employers are unconvinced
With inflation running at just 0.4%, the battle over wages in 2027 may be as much about productivity growth as lost purchasing power. In any case Switzerland’s wage negotiations for 2027 are shaping up to be contentious. Travail.Suisse, a … [Read more...]
FILM: FJORD ***1/2 – was this film worthy of its Palme d’Or at Cannes this year?
21 August 2026 FJORD ***1/2 (vo Norwegian, English, Romanian) The question is: was this film worthy of its Palme d’Or at Cannes this year? It’s been released this week, so let’s take a look at what it’s all about. A loving, quite religious … [Read more...]
Guides
10-step guide to hiring an employee in Switzerland
Brought to you by quitt.business. For startups and small companies, hiring and onboarding new employees can be a real hassle. In Switzerland especially, there is a significant amount of admin to deal with. The following is a guide to all the … [Read More...]
Language requirements for Swiss citizenship and visas – what you need to know
Brought to you by Swiss French School. On 1 January 2019, Switzerland’s federal government tightened and harmonised the rules on language requirements to qualify for some residence permits, B and C permits in particular, and … [Read More...]
Activities
Taking a trip back in time on a Swiss steam train
Trains run Saturdays and Sundays from 4 May until 27 October 2019. On 21 May 1966, the local rail company closed the line between the two small towns of Blonay and Chamby, in Switzerland’s Riviera region, on the eastern reaches of … [Read more...]
How Switzerland’s best river swim became a summertime commute
Most people float down the Aare River in Bern just for fun. For Evelyn Schneider-Reyes, it was her summertime commute home. “I only had like 30 seconds walking from my office to the river,” she recalls. “I had an ‘Aare Bag’, where I put all my … [Read more...]
The Rhaetian Railway – probably Switzerland’s best train journey
Rounding another curve on the Bernina Express, sometimes we glimpse something – an ancient stone hut, a cliff naturally carved with a quizzical face, a shimmering snow-covered village – then wonder later if it was really there. Sitting … [Read more...]
