Bitesize News

The Swiss National Bank halved interest rates yesterday at 0.25%.

A major study by the Comparis website shows there are thousands of Swiss French families considering moving out of Switzerland and into neighbouring France.

Tesla sales are plummeting in Switzerland – as well as Europe – but is it all down to an anti-Musk feeling?

Tomorrow is Earth Hour – we’re being encouraged to switch off all our lights between 8.30 and 9.30 tomorrow evening.

Parcel thefts are becoming a major problem – and a parliamentarian is pushing to bring in a solution.

Parliament has rejected an initiative which was put forward at the end of last year.

Three soldiers have been injured after their tank crashed into the Aare River in canton Bern.

Tobacco shops in Geneva are doing a good job on recycling disposable electronic cigarettes.

Parliament is discussing a motion from Carlo Sommaruga which is calling for a special immigration quota for the descendants of Swiss nationals but are no longer eligible for a passport.

Staff at Geneva airport made an unusual discovery last week – a large elephant tusk.

Military experts say the army is lacking essential equipment – and it’s currently unable to respond if necessary.

Economists are downgrading their predictions for growth for this year and 2026.

Parliament is demanding the government to study the effects of social media on the young and bring in restrictions on its use if necessary.

Public health experts are trying to persuade Migros to keep the coloured Nutri-Score label on their products.

The Paléo Festival has released its line up – and critics are hailing the adventurousness.

Police say they’ve discovered an arsenal of weapons and explosives at the apartment of the man suspected of planting bombs around Geneva, seemingly in an effort to blackmail the watchmaker Patek Philippe.

The fate of Geneva as an international city is under such threat it needs a rescue package like the Marshall Plan that was used to rebuild Europe after the Second World War.

A large independent study has shown local businesses do better with the surrounding streets are closed to traffic.

Bar owners in Geneva are demanding they should be able to have their terraces open until 2am every day – saying the forced closures at midnight is costing them money – and so jobs.

A woman was injured by a 15-year-old boy wielding an axe after a local football match in Geneva on Sunday.

A SWISS International Airlines flight heading to Washington from Zurich had to turn back over the Atlantic as half of the toilets stopped working.

Europe is embarking on a massive rearmament campaign, spending billions of euros on new weapons – but Swiss arm makers look likely to lose out.

The International Organization for Migration is making hundreds of job cuts as funding from the United States dries up.

A Liberal Party member of parliament is proposing new arrivals to Switzerland should pay an extra 3% tax for their first 11 years in the country. Such a tax could raise a billion francs a year.

New drivers will need to know how to use driver assist technology to pass a test from July.

A Tunisian man who’s been living in Switzerland for the last 30 years looks set to be expelled.

A short video on TikTok is causing a stir. It shows a mouse making itself at home in the bread section of the Coop store in Thun in canton Bern.

Parliament is discussing if executive bankers pay should be capped at CHF 5m.

A mixture of cantonal and federal police officers continued to search the marital arts centre and the apartment of the man who’s been arrested under suspicion of planting several parcel bombs in Geneva for the last few months.

Last year was a bad year for deaths on the road. 250 people died, the worst level since 2015.

Road safety campaigners are demanding regulations be changed that currently allow 16-year-olds to ride a 125 cc motorcycle.

Residents in a building in Eaux-Vives are complaining the elevator has been broken for over a month. Many say they have difficulty getting out of the house.

Campaigners against a new electronic ID system are struggling to get enough signatures to force the proposals to a referendum.

Geneva police investigating a series of parcel bombs in the city, seemingly targeting the watch maker Patek Philippe, have made an arrest.

The health minister from canton Zug, Martin Pfister, has been elected as the new member of the Federal Council.

Switzerland did experience a mini baby boom in early 2021 with births hitting a level not seen since 1972.

Be careful about what you order online – it may not be legal.

French authorities have confirmed long running speculation – the section of the A40 autoroute running from Annemasse to Saint-Julien-en-Genevois will be tolled from 2029.

All international organisations in Geneva, including UN agencies, have been given a questionnaire by the Trump administration.

Business stress is thought to be behind the murder of a manager of a paint shop in the town of Vögelsang in canton Aargau.

A massive computer failure brought the airport to a standstill yesterday afternoon.

Geneva’s population grew modestly last year.

Research by Swiss French Television is revealing how much rents in Geneva climb each time a property changes hands – even if no renovation work has been carried out.

Geneva will host a World Cup qualifier in November.

Motorists are likely to be in for a shock this year as car insurance rates are set to rise – may be by as much as 20%.

The autoXpérience show which took place at the Palexpo over the weekend has been hailed a success and organisers say it will return next year.

After years of struggling, fast food franchises are beginning to take hold in Switzerland – but not without controversy.

A driver caught speeding on the A40 autoroute in France admitted to police that he’s an idiot.

The Swiss entry for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest is receiving wide praise – some online commentators are even suggesting Switzerland could be a two-time winner.

It is officially spring in Geneva.

More than 2,000 marched in Geneva on Saturday in support of International Women’s Day, but a survey says Switzerland is one of the worst countries in the OECD for women’s rights.

A former teacher and dean of a private school in Geneva has been convicted of exchanging messages of a sexual nature with a student who was 15 years old at the time.

Geneva police are asking for information to find a white Volkswagen van which was involved in a hit and run on Tuesday morning last week.

Salaries for federal government workers have breached CHF 130,000 on average for the first time.

A fire broke out in a private garden next to the train tracks in Creux-de-Genthod after a power cable snapped.

A small van on the A1 autoroute swerved off the road and ended up in the woods near the Coppet exit at 6am on Sunday morning.

Should the explosives that had been installed in thousands of bridges and tunnels across the country be put back in?

More people travelled by train last year than ever before.

After the release of the Swiss rail profits, the SBB gave journalists an insight into it’s thinking for the future.

The Post Office is issuing a new series of stamps – mainly celebrating the planets in the solar system – but not forgetting Switzerland will be hosting the Eurovision Song Contest this year.

Travellers to the UK are being warned that they will need an Electronic Travel Authorisation or ETA from April.

One of the biggest music events in the country, Frauenfeld, has released the line up for this summer – and it’s not going down well.

Inflation is down to levels not seen since 2021. The latest figures from the Federal Statistics Office show in February the rate stood at 0.3% - down from 0.4% in January.

Zurich may have beaten another world record – having the most expensive airport parking.

Parliament discussed the importance of cash yesterday. The debate was in response to an initiative which would put the right to use cash in the constitution.

A man who has a serious gambling addiction has been convicted of stealing 10 Rolex watches from unwitting owners.

Blue tongue disease is spreading rapidly in some parts of the country – so far, in canton Aargau alone, 300 farms have been hit.

Swiss singer, Zoë Më, will be representing Switzerland at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest which will be held in Basel.

Sales of Teslas in Switzerland have collapsed – and it’s believed it’s due to Elon Musk’s close relationship with the Trump administration.

SWISS International Airlines was within its rights to fire employees who refused the covid vaccine.

Many politicians are concerned that this country may lose the ability to produce its own ammunition.

The lowering of the tax-free limit or cross border shopping has not increased queues at border crossings – which was a fear, but it has had an unexpected consequence.

A plumber in Zurich is now going viral on social media after he commentated people tend to look down on tradesmen and women. However, he points out that without them, nothing would work.

As parliament meets for the first time for the spring session, the reverberations following the contentious meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House on Friday have hit Bern.

Switzerland is expressing its concern over plans in the United States to expand the use of the death penalty.

The tenants’ association, ASLOCA, is launching an initiative to increase state owned housing in Geneva.

It’s expected the two football clubs involved in the confrontation on Saturday will face severe sanctions.

Around 40 soldiers are in isolation at an aviation school in Payerne in canton Vaud after one was diagnosed with tuberculosis.

The former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and vice-president, Michel Platini, are back in court fighting allegations of corruption.

Voters in canton Valais have elected a new Grand Council and parliament, and the Greens are main losers.

A battle between football fans and police broke out in Lausanne on Saturday during a local derby.

From the beginning of this month, laws governing self-driving cars have changed, but don’t expect to see people sitting behind the wheel, while reading just yet.

The fishing season opened in most of the French speaking areas over the weekend.

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