An international eye on Swiss news collated by Peter Hulm for NuseReal

March 2026

Over 4,000 Swiss travellers stranded amid conflict in Middle East. So far the foreign ministry has ruled out repatriation assistance. — 2 March 2026 (LINK)

Swiss franc tumbles after SNB warning earlier: even USD/CHF is now up over 1% — 2 March 2026 (LINK)

Exit registers increase in number of assisted suicides in Switzerland — 2 March 2026 (LINK)

— In 2025, 1,421 people made use of Exit Switzerland's services in the German and Italian-speaking parts of the country. This is higher than in 2024, when 1,235 cases of assisted suicide were registered. The average age of those accompanied in 2025 was 80, slightly higher than in 2024 (79.5). The average age of women rose from 79.9 to 80.6 years old, and that of men from 78.9 to 79.2. According to its annual report, 32% of people who resorted to assisted suicide had terminal cancer, which corresponds to 461 cases. There is also a significant number of elderly people with multiple disorders (polymorbidity) who opted for an assisted death: last year there were 326 cases (23% of the total), compared to 205 in 2024.

Swiss architect Barbara Buser has won the 2026 Jane Drew Prize for elevating the profile of women in architecture through her contributions to building reuse. — 2 March 2026 (LINK)

— Buser is the co-founder of numerous built environment studios, including Bauteilbörse, a building parts exchange that encourages circular construction, which she established with her partner Eric Honegger in 1996.

Swiss designer Salla Vallotton challenges your modern heating, ventilation and air conditioning system with a device based on 500-year-old technology: terracotta. Celcius was developed at Lausanne's cantonal art school ECAL — 1 March 2026 (LINK)

Sierre, Valais: Rilke Permanent Exhibition opens 13 March 18:00 on 100th anniversary of poet's death — 27 February 2026 (LINK)