Switzerland

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

After Swiss Tragedy, Skiers Create a Message

They form a giant heart on the Crans-Montana slopes to honor fire victims

(Newser) - Switzerland plans a national day of mourning on Friday for the people killed in a bar fire in the Swiss mountain resort of Crans-Montana, notes Euro News , but a group of skiers decided to send a message of their own beforehand. Video—see it here —shows dozens of skiers...

Last Safety Inspection at Ill-Fated Swiss Bar Was 2019

'Periodic checks were not carried out between 2020 and 2025,' says municipal chief

(Newser) - Fire safety inspections hadn't been carried out since 2019 at the Swiss bar where a fire that broke out at a New Year's party left 40 people dead and over 100 injured, local authorities said Tuesday. Investigators have said they believe festive sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited...

Managers of Swiss Bar Now Subjects of Criminal Probe

Investigation launched after fire kills 40, injures 119

(Newser) - Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the managers of the bar where a fire at a New Year's party left 40 people dead, authorities said Saturday. The two are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm, and involuntarily causing a fire, the Valais region's chief prosecutor,...

After His Daughter Called, Man Rushed Into Burning Bar

Paolo Campolo says he pulled about 10 young people from Le Constellation

(Newser) - After receiving a call from his daughter, a man who lives a few steps from a Swiss ski resort bar said he pulled 10 young people to safety as a New Year's fire turned the basement venue into what he called "a trap." From his hospital bed,...

'Flashover' Phenomenon Made Bar Fire Especially Deadly

Even firefighters in full gear are unlikely to survive when an entire room ignites

(Newser) - Authorities probing a fire that killed dozens at a Swiss ski-resort bar say it appears to be a textbook case of what fire experts call a flashover. Investigators in Crans-Montana believe flames at Le Constellation, where about 40 people were killed early Thursday, likely began when sparklers on champagne bottles...

Sparklers on Champagne Bottles Blamed in Deadly Fire

Swiss investigators suspect they set fire to the ceiling, starting blaze that killed dozens

(Newser) - Authorities say it appears that festive sparklers attached to champagne bottles started the fire in a Switzerland bar that killed dozens of young New Year's revelers . The sparklers were likely held too close to the ceiling of the bar, called Le Constellation, said Beatrice Pilloud, attorney general of the...

Witnesses Describe Horrific Fire at Swiss Ski Resort

'I found people burning from head to foot, no clothes anymore'

(Newser) - Witnesses are coming forward to describe the deadly blaze at a Swiss ski resort bar, one of the country's worst tragedies with an estimated 40 dead and 115 injured in the wee hours of New Year's Day. Le Constellation in the Swiss Alps resort of Crans-Montana offered a...

Police: Around 40 Dead, 115 Injured in Swiss Bar Fire

New president says it's one of the country's 'worst tragedies'

(Newser) - About 40 people were killed and another 115 injured, most of them seriously, after a fire ripped through a bar's New Year celebration in a Swiss Alpine resort less than two hours after midnight Thursday, police said. Authorities did not immediately have an exact count of the deceased. The...

'Several Dozen' Dead in Fire at Swiss Ski Bar

Blaze erupted around 1:30am in Le Constellation in the high-end resort of Crans-Montana

(Newser) - A packed New Year's Eve party at a Swiss ski resort turned into a mass-casualty disaster, with "several dozen" dead and about 100 injured, reports the Guardian . A blaze erupted around 1:30am local time Thursday in Le Constellation, a popular bar in the high-end resort of Crans-Montana in...

Assisted Suicide Pioneer Makes His Choice
Assisted Suicide
Pioneer Makes His Choice
OBITUARY
Dec 1, 2025 9:01 AM CST

Assisted Suicide Pioneer Makes His Choice

Dignitas founder, right-to-die advocate Ludwig Minelli dies by assisted suicide at 92

(Newser) - Ludwig Minelli, founder of the Swiss assisted suicide group Dignitas, has died by assisted suicide just days shy of his 93rd birthday, according to the organization. The right-to-die advocate died at one of his own facilities on Saturday, People reports. A former journalist and lawyer, he established Dignitas in 1998...

Millionaire Inheritance Tax Flops in Switzerland

Proposal to tax inheritances over $62M couldn't get majority support anywhere

(Newser) - Swiss voters have overwhelmingly rejected a 50% inheritance tax on millionaires, with more than 78% voting no in a national referendum. The measure, aimed at assets over 50 million francs (about $62 million), was designed by the Young Socialists to fund climate initiatives, but it gained little traction outside the...

Swiss Voters Reject Requiring National Service for Women

Voters also decisively turn down inheritance tax

(Newser) - Swiss voters on Sunday decisively rejected a measure to require women to do national service in the military, civil protection teams, or other forms, as men must already. In a referendum, over 84% of voters rejected the "citizen service initiative," with none of the country's 26 cantons,...

Switzerland Finally Reaches Deal to Lower US Tariffs

US tax on Swiss imports will be cut from 39% to 15% under deal with Trump administration

(Newser) - Switzerland announced plans on Friday to invest $200 billion in the United States through 2028 as it finalized a hard-wrought deal to slash US tariffs on Swiss goods. Economy Minister Guy Parmelin said the Trump administration has agreed to cut US tariffs on most Swiss goods to 15%—the same...

Switzerland Wants Special Status for Its 'Fifth Language'

Nation is vying to have yodeling put on UN agency's 'intangible cultural heritage' list

(Newser) - Yodel-ay-hee ... what?! Those famed yodeling calls that for centuries have echoed through the Alps, and more recently have morphed into popular song and folk music, could soon reap a response, all the way from faraway Paris. Switzerland's government is looking for a shoutout from UN cultural agency UNESCO, based...

Switzerland Decides It's Time to Upgrade Civilian Bunkers

Citing global tension and war, nation invests in modernizing 370,000 shelters for new threats

(Newser) - Switzerland, long known for its neutrality in global conflicts, is making a major investment in its famous network of bunkers. The country is set to spend more than $1 billion over 15 years to overhaul and modernize public and private shelters, a move driven by security concerns and the war...

Swiss Glaciers Had an Enormously Bad Year

They shrank by 3%

(Newser) - Switzerland's glaciers have faced "enormous" melting this year with a 3% drop in total volume—the fourth-largest annual drop on record—due to the effects of global warming, top Swiss glaciologists reported Wednesday. The shrinkage this year means that ice mass in Switzerland, which is home to the...

Mom Said She Was on Vacation, Got Assisted Suicide Instead

Maureen Slough actually traveled to Switzerland to die; her family found out via WhatsApp

(Newser) - When Maureen Slough informed people in early July that she was going on vacation to Lithuania with a friend, daughter Megan Royal didn't think much of it—until soon after, when one of her mom's friends got in touch with her. Royal says he told her that Slough,...

Switzerland: We Promise Not to Arrest Putin

Geneva is seen as a possible location for a Putin-Zelensky summit

(Newser) - It's about as warm a welcome as Switzerland can muster for Vladimir Putin should he travel there for peace talks: We won't arrest you. The nation's foreign minister said the Swiss would grant immunity to Putin, who Politico notes has been the subject of an International Criminal...

Swatch Accused of 'Clear Racism' in Latest Ad

Swiss watchmaker says sorry after Asian model is seen pulling eyes back in ad campaign

(Newser) - Swiss watchmaker Swatch apologized Monday for an ad campaign that upset consumers in China and elsewhere and said it had "immediately removed all related materials worldwide," per the AP . In an image for the Swatch Essentials collection, an Asian male model is shown pulling the edges of his...

Swiss Driver Draws Breathtaking $110K Fine

But he can afford it

(Newser) - The driver was clocked going 17mph over the speed limit on a street in the Swiss city of Lausanne, and now he's facing more than $110,000 in fines as a result. But he can afford it. Why the eye-popping penalty? Because the speedster, a repeat offender, is one...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Most Read on Newser