In 2014 a Syrian family claiming asylum were turned away in Brig in the Wallis by border controllers, this despite the pregnant woman waters having broken and her bleeding heavily . She then went onto to lose the baby in Italy. She is now suing the Swiss government for non assistance to person in danger. She is asking for a total of 159 000 francs in damages for the trauma of the whole experience. The case continues.
The army bought 36 F-35A fighter jet planes from America last year. This move was very contraversial as it was seen as a snub to the European alternative. Now a new theme is heating the debate up again, the new planes are significantly louder than the older ones, especially during landing and take-off. This is a problem as the planes usually train from smaller airfields which are close to agglomerations such as Emmen for example. Civilian protection associations are calling for a solution to be found to make the new noise pollution more bearable for the local population.
The Winter Olympics are opening today in Peking. You can watch the opening ceremony around 12.30 and follow the live updates on the official website.
It will be a sunny weekend but be careful if you decide to go skiing off-piste as the avalanche risk is still high and several avalanches and accidents took place yesterday all over Switzerland, leavuing one person dead and several severely injured.
