Europe Switzerland The Swiss voted on reform of the occupational pension scheme and on a biodiversity initiative; neither proposal was accepted at the ballot box, and the text were rejected with 67% and 63% votes against, respectively
Europe Switzerland Several cantons have cancelled the traditional firework displays for the national holiday on 1 August due to fire risk, including Basel, that reinforced ban on any fire in the city except the beloved lantern parade, involving several hundred children
Europe Switzerland Draught is having multi-faced consequences in Switzerland: while in St Gallen in some cases water has to be transported to the Alps by helicopter, high temperatures and lack of rainfall seem to curb ticks and invasive beetles like Takahashia japonica
Europe Switzerland Ten years of the Gotthard rail tunnel, at 57,1km the would's longest, have been celebrated; it is now a key freight passage across the Alps, passengers have doubled to 16.400 in 2025; but experts wonder if all promises have been kept
Europe Switzerland Hundreds of people queued outside Swatch shops in Switzerland in the hope of being able to buy one of the newly launched 'Royal Pop' watches; scuffles broke out in some places and the producer introduced a worldwide policy of quotas for queuers