Great Progress' at US-Iran Says US Vice-President JD Vance | BBC News

Jun 21, 2026 | Switzerland has hosted a first round of talks on a long-term peace deal between the United States and Iran.

The US Vice President, JD Vance, called them 'historic' and said that great progress had been made.

Iranian media are reporting that the delegation from Tehran refused to share a photo opportunity ahead of the negotiations, and they've been angered by renewed threats from President Trump to bomb Iran if it fails to rein in Hezbollah, its proxy in Lebanon.

Israel is insisting its troops will continue to occupy southern Lebanon to protect northern Israel from Hezbollah attack.


When it comes to peace deals, the Trump regime seem to be such amateurs. — © Mark Alexander

Swiss Officials Say Iran Talks Are Off, for Now

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The announcement raised immediate questions over the fate of the agreement President Trump signed this week, with key details left to be worked out.

Officials in Switzerland said on Friday morning that the next stage of peace negotiations between the United States and Iran, focused on issues including Iran’s nuclear program and meant to begin on the shores of Lake Lucerne, had been postponed.

The announcement did not include any information about when the negotiations might now begin, raising immediate questions about the memorandum of understanding that President Trump and Iran’s president had signed earlier this week. That agreement left crucial terms unsettled and called for an immediate 60-day negotiating window to hash them out.

Vice President JD Vance had been scheduled to fly to Bürgenstock Resort Lake Lucerne, about an hour outside of Zurich, for a meeting on Friday that was originally meant to be a signing ceremony. He abruptly canceled his trip late Thursday night, in Washington. » | Jim Tankersley | Reporting from Zurich | Friday, June 19, 2026

Almost 55% Oppose Proposal to Limit Swiss Population to 10 Million | DW News

June 14, 2026 | After an intense campaign, Swiss voters have rejected a proposal by the right-wing Swiss People's Party to cap the country's population at 10 million. Critics said the measure threatened economic growth and relations with the EU, while supporters argued migration levels were putting pressure on housing and resources.

Should Switzerland Cap Its Population at 10 Million? Voters Will Decide.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: One of the world’s richest countries is about to hold a referendum on a measure that would curb migration and most likely the economy. It is being sold in warm tones.

This screenshot is from this NYT article. | Campaign posters ahead of the population cap vote. President Trump’s face is on a no poster, with the slogan, “Now, of all times, a break with Europe?” The yes slogan shown is “Protect Switzerland.” | Sebastien Bozon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
For 50 years, Walter Nef has carved toys and cheese boards from maple trees that grow near his quiet village outside Zurich, which seems louder to him by the day. There are more cars, more construction cranes, more people, and not just in this valley. Switzerland, Mr. Nef says, seems just about full.

That is why Mr. Nef says he supports a nationwide initiative, in an election this Sunday, to cap the resident population at 10 million. The measure aims to drastically reduce immigration as the country approaches that level, which it could reach in the next decade. But Mr. Nef, like many supporters, describes the measure less in terms of migrants than in terms of infrastructure, ecology and density.

“It is simply not good when an organism grows so fast,” Mr. Nef, 79, told me at his workshop this week.

The election on Sunday is a product of Switzerland’s form of direct democracy, which allows groups that can gather 100,000 signatures to send major policy questions to voters with relative ease, in a way that echoes states like California. Polls suggest a tight contest that could go either way.

It is the latest chapter in Europe’s backlash against migration, which has helped right-wing parties surge across the continent, including in Switzerland, a country with four official languages that has been shaped by migrants for nearly two and a half centuries.

But this chapter comes with several twists, starting with its sales pitch.

The measure was put to voters by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, which has sent other anti-migration measures to the ballot in the past, including a successful effort to ban the construction of mosque minarets. This time, it has spent much of the campaign appealing to centrist voters’ concerns about traffic jams, crowded trains and high housing costs. It calls the measure a “sustainability initiative.” » | Jim Tankersley | Reporting from Zurich, Bern, Basel and Bauma, Switzerland | Saturday, June 13, 2026

How Capping Its Population at 10 Million Could Reshape Switzerland »

Swiss wait to hear result of ballot on capping population at 10 million: The far-right proposal would require the government to put restrictions in place to limit the population by 2050 »

LESEN SIE AUCH:

Macht die Schweiz den Deckel zu?: Die Abstimmung über eine Obergrenze der Bevölkerung von zehn Millionen lässt die Schweizer Wirtschaft zittern. Sie ist auf Arbeitskräfte aus dem Ausland angewiesen und fürchtet um den Zugang zum europäischen Binnenmarkt. » [€]

À LIRE AUSSI :

« Pas de Suisse à 10 millions d’habitants » : avant le référendum sur l’immigration, que disent les sondages ? : Attachés à la démocratie directe, les Suisses sont appelés aux urnes pour se prononcer sur une initiative visant à limiter l’expansion de la population. La démographie helvète a été bouleversée par l’immigration depuis 2002. »

Switzerland in Summer

Visit Switzerland in summer! Put it on your bucket list! It’s the only paradise we can be sure ever of visiting! 😊

Crans-Montana Fire Bereaved Ask for Murder Charges against Bar Owners

THE GUARDIAN: Lawyers ask prosecutors to upgrade charges from manslaughter in light of text messages discussing fire risk

Lawyers for victims of the deadly New Year’s Eve fire in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana have formally asked prosecutors to upgrade the charges against the bar’s owners after text messages emerged discussing the danger.

Forty-one people were killed and 115 injured in the blaze at Le Constellation bar, which investigators believe started in the basement when sparklers attached to champagne bottles were held too close to sound-insulating foam on the ceiling.

The bar’s owners, Jessica and Jacques Moretti, face charges including manslaughter by negligence and arson by negligence over the blaze. Another 12 suspects, including several current and former local officials, are under criminal investigation.

Lawyers for some of the victims, most of whom were teenagers, told the Swiss public broadcaster RTS on Wednesday they had asked investigators to upgrade the charges against the Morettis from manslaughter by negligence to murder with possible intent. » | Jon Henley | Europe correspondent | Thursday, June 11, 2026

Four Stabbed ‘by Man Shouting Allahu Akbar’ at Swiss Station

THE TELEGRAPH: 31-year-old arrested after three people taken to hospital in Winterthur, near Zurich

Several people have been stabbed by a man wielding a knife at a Swiss railway station.

Police arrested the suspected attacker, a 31-year-old Swiss national, outside the station in Winterthur, about 12 miles from Zurich.

At least four people were stabbed by the man. Witnesses said he was shouting “Allahu Akbar”, according to local reports.

Three people were taken to hospital, one with serious injuries and two with moderate injuries. One man waiting for a train was stabbed in the thigh, the Swiss SRF news agency reported. » | Robert White | Thursday, May 28, 2026

The Lure of St. Moritz - From Sleepy Mountain Village to Luxury Resort | DW Documentary

May 9, 2026 | St. Moritz is the birthplace of alpine winter tourism, as well of many winter sports. The village, with its magnificent location in the Swiss Engadin mountains, was already attracting celebrities in the last century.

St. Moritz is one of the most exclusive winter sports resorts in the world, with a burnished history. Located in the picturesque Swiss Engadin mountains, the village attracted many celebrities in the last century: including Charlie Chaplin, Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Gunter Sachs, Andy Warhol and Herbert von Karajan. Coco Chanel sought refuge here, during the war. Alfred Hitchcock was inspired to write his first classic in one of St. Moritz’s grand hotels, and returned many times over the decades. The Shah of Persia temporarily ruled his empire from a chalet on the Suvretta slope.

Just 150 years ago, St. Moritz was still a simple mountain village. Then, adventurous Englishmen arrived, invented new winter sports and laid the foundation for the town's fame.

Five-star hotels sprang up in the village of 5,000 inhabitants, which suddenly became a winter hotspot for the rich and famous.

Numerous winter sports originated here, some of which are unique to this location: in Cresta, participants race headfirst down into the valley on low sleds - on the longest natural ice track in the world. The Cresta Club, founded over 100 years ago by Englishmen, is still one of the most exclusive clubs in the world.

In skijoring, skiers are pulled across the frozen Lake St. Moritz by horses. Winter sports, tradition and sophisticated lifestyle, luxury and cosmopolitanism characterize the history of St. Moritz.

Switzerland’s New Deal with the EU Explained

March 21, 2026

Sarah Ferguson Checked into Mental Health Clinic after Epstein Emails Surfaced

THE TELEGRAPH: Ex-wife of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor stayed at £13,000-a-day wellness centre in Zurich, say reports

Sarah Ferguson checked into one of the world’s most expensive wellness clinics after the Epstein scandal broke, it has been reported. Ms Ferguson, the former wife of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, is understood to have booked a stay at the £13,000-a-day Paracelsus Recovery Clinic in Zurich, Switzerland.

She was last seen in public on Dec 12, after the christening of her granddaughter Athena at St James’s Palace in London. Reports of her stay at a clinic follow the arrest of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor in Norfolk on his 66th birthday.

A Swiss source told the Daily Mail: “Sarah left for Zurich just after Christmas, and stayed until the end of January. She always feels at home at Paracelsus, and knows she’ll get love and attention there, as well as expert health treatment when she’s feeling at her most vulnerable.”

Another said she was “absolutely crushed” when email exchanges between her and Jeffrey Epstein were made public, adding: “Sarah has built up a strong relationship with Paracelsus, so it was the obvious place for her to get away from everything.” » | Liz Perkins | Saturday, February 21, 2026

Switzerland to Vote on Capping Population at 10 Million

THE NEW YORK TIMES: After a campaign by a right-wing opposition party, the government will hold a referendum in June that would require measures to limit immigration.

Switzerland will hold a referendum in June on whether to cap its population at 10 million until 2050 by limiting immigration, sharply illustrating how anti-foreigner sentiment in Europe has hardened since the continent’s migration crisis a decade ago.

If successful, the vote on June 14 would oblige the government to take measures over the next quarter-century to limit immigration to Switzerland, where the population currently stands at roughly 9 million.

Supporters of the initiative say those measures should include making it harder for foreigners to gain permanent residency, once the population passes 9.5 million, and revising the country’s agreement with the European Union that allows for free movement between Switzerland and the rest of the continent. (Switzerland is not part of the E.U.)

Both the government and Parliament voted to oppose the initiative but the referendum has been triggered automatically because more than 100,000 citizens have signed a petition in support of a vote. » | Tatiana Firsova | Reporting from Berlin | Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Owner of Swiss Bar Detained in Fire Investigation

January 9, 2026 | Prosecutors in Switzerland ordered Jacques Moretti to be detained after investigators questioned him and his wife, Jessica Moretti. Officials are looking into whether negligence played a role in last week’s deadly fire at their bar, Le Constellation.
Watch the NYT video here. | By Meg Felling

Managers of Swiss Bar Are Suspected of Negligence in Deadly Fire, Police Say

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Swiss authorities say the fire was probably sparked by small fireworks on champagne bottles that ignited foam insulation on the bar’s basement ceiling.

The two managers of a bar in the Swiss Alps where at least 40 people died in a sudden fire this week have been placed under criminal investigation because of allegations of negligence, Swiss police said on Saturday[.]

The investigation was opened on Friday night over suspicions of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm, and causing a fire by negligence, according to a statement from the police in the Valais canton, the area of Switzerland where the bar is located.

The police statement did not detail what evidence had led to the criminal investigation, nor did it name the managers of the bar, an establishment called Le Constellation in the center of Crans-Montana, a popular ski resort town in southern Switzerland.

Public business records identify the owners of the bar as a French couple, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, who opened it in 2015. As of Saturday, the Morettis had not responded to earlier requests for comment from The New York Times. In brief interviews with the Swiss media this week, they said they were fully cooperating with investigators and denied any wrongdoing. » | Aurelien Breeden | Reporting from Crans-Montana, Switzerland | Saturday, January 3, 2026

Swiss Ski Resort Fire: Champagne Sparklers Likely Caused Deadly Tragedy, Officials Say

Jan 2, 2026 | Sparklers on champagne bottles that came too close to the ceiling likely caused the Swiss ski resort bar fire that killed at least 40 people during a New Year’s party, officials said today. This appeared to lead to a flashover, in which everything in a room ignites almost simultaneously. Swiss prosecutors have opened an investigation into possible criminal responsibility

‘Horrific’ Ski Resort Fire: Police Struggle to Identify Bodies of Dozens Killed

Jan 2, 2026 | “With third degree burns over so many bodies, in some cases they’re going to need to provide DNA samples just to find out who is who.”

Investigators have warned families they may have a long wait before formal identification takes place after dozens of people died in a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, explains journalist Alan Friedman.

How a Fire Ripped Through a Swiss Bar and Broke a Village’s Heart

THE NEW YORK TIMES: It was a haven for the young, where they could find hot chocolate when they wanted quiet and affordable drinks when they did not. Then it turned into a place of death.

When Bruno Martins headed through the streets of his Swiss mountain village after midnight on New Year’s Day, he expected to meet old friends celebrating in one of their favorite haunts.

Instead, Mr. Martins, 17, arrived at Le Constellation, a two-story bar popular with the village’s younger residents, to find it in flames, and surrounded by police officers. A scrum of people were trying to escape the blaze, he said. One of his friends was badly burned and sent to hospital. Others were missing, he said.

“It was total panic, people were trampling each other,” Mr. Martins said in an interview. “It’s not real,” he recalled thinking. “It’s a bar we know so well.”

The blaze, which Switzerland’s president called one of the worst disasters in Swiss history, tore through the bar, trapping many of its customers inside, killing around 40 people, and leaving the resort village of Crans-Montana in a state of shock. » | Ségolène Le Stradic | Photographs by Til Bürgy | Reporting from Crans-Montana, Switzerland | Published: Thursday, January 1, 2026. Updated: Friday, January 2, 2026

Swiss Fire Horror - Claims Fireworks Set Ceiling Ablaze - Around 40 Dead and 115 Injured | BBC News

Around 40 people are known to have been killed and 115 injured in the fire that tore through a packed Swiss bar filled with New Year revellers. The blaze began at around 0130 local time at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, high in the Alps in south-west Switzerland. The region is a tourist and skiing destination popular with visitors from across the Europe and beyond.

60 survivors are being treated at hospital in the nearby town of Sion. Others have been transferred to hospitals in other Swiss cities. A doctor at Geneva University Hospitals said patients are suffering from severe, third degree burns and the effects of breathing in smoke. He said many of the patients were "very young... between 15 and 25 years old". A significant number of those injured are in a critical condition.

Some witnesses have said that birthday candles or flares carried on top of champagne bottle set fire to the ceiling, starting the blaze. Videos show fire spreading quickly across the bar’s dimly-lit ceiling. However the Swiss Attorney General Beatrice Pilloud said the cause of the blaze was not yet confirmed. She said teams were working to establish answers as quickly as possible. The authorities have ruled out a deliberate attack.

Neighbouring countries Italy and France - as well as the European Union - are providing medical support including the use of hospital burns units. The French foreign ministry has said eight of its citizens remain missing following the fire. Three Italian citizens have been transferred to hospital in Milan while two others in critical condition are being treated in Switzerland.

Survivors have been describing desperate scenes as people trapped inside the building tried to escape the inferno. One man described how he managed to break a window and escape with much of his clothing burned away. The Swiss President Guy Parmelin said the fire was “one of the worst tragedies that our country has experienced”.

Sophie Raworth presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Sarah Rainsford and Silvia Costeloe.

Swiss Authorities Confirm around 40 Dead in Ski Resort Tragedy, Many of Whom Were Youth | DW News

Jan 1, 2026 | Swiss authorities say around 40 people were killed in a New Year's fire - and more than 110 injured - many severely. The president has described it as one of the worst tragedies the country has experienced. The blaze broke out in a bar in the Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana. Eyewitnesses say it was caused by a sparkler being held too close to a basement ceiling - though authorities say it's too early to determine the cause.

Dozens Confirmed Dead in Fire at New Year’s Party in Swiss Alps

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The local police said that their preliminary toll was about 40 dead, with roughly 115 injured, in the early morning blaze at a bar in the resort town of Crans-Montana .

About 40 people were killed and more than 100 injured, many gravely, in a fire in a bar at a ski resort in the Swiss Alps during a New Year’s celebration on Thursday. The Swiss president said it was “one of the worst tragedies our country has ever experienced.”

The blaze broke out in the early morning hours at Le Constellation, a bar in Crans-Montana, in the canton of Valais. Officials said they were still investigating the cause of the fire and an explosion that followed, but ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack.

“We have no suspects,” said Beatrice Pilloud, the prosecutor general for the region. “An investigation has been launched — not against anyone, but to shed light on the circumstances surrounding this tragic fire.”

Many of the victims were young people who had gathered to celebrate the New Year. “This tragedy occurred in a place that is naturally associated with life and joy,” said President Guy Parmelin, who postponed a scheduled New Year’s address to travel to the scene.

The authorities said they were working to identify the dead and return their remains to their families. They were also interviewing witnesses and planned to analyze cellphones that were left at the scene, a prosecutor said. Live Updates » | Christopher F. Schuetze, Aurelien Breeden and John Yoon | Thursday, January 1, 2026

'Several Dozens' Believed Killed in Fire at Swiss Ski Resort Bar, Say Authorities | BBC News

Jan 1, 2026 | "Several dozens" are presumed to have died in a fire in a bar at a Swiss ski resort, authorities have said. Around 100 have been injured, with "several nationalities" involved.

The fire began at around 01:30 (00:30 GMT) in a bar called Le Constellation, police said. The cause is not known, although police initially said there had been an explosion.

The local prosecutor says there is "no question" of an attack.