Much ado about nothing? An unreleased governmental study shows that there should be no need for energy cuts this winter. Switzerland relies on its own hydroplants to produce electricity and these are filled at nearly 90% capacity, France’s nuclear plants should all be up and running again shortly (we import electricity from them) and we have imported enough gas to keep everyone warm this winter. Prices for electricity, gas and fuel have sunk again, but the government is still remaining cautious despite all of this good news.
In 2022, over 100 000 asylum seekers will have entered Switzerland, this is more than even the 2015 peak and the greatest refugee crisis in Switzerland since the second world war. This is mainly due to the crisis in the Ukraine with over 80 000 refugees coming from there, but the crisis in Afghanistan is also causing a lot of people to flee their country. Problems are becoming accute as there are not enough apartments available to house all the refugees and now even offices are being turned into make shift homes. Ethnic issues are coming to the forefront in asylum centres with ethnic minorities even going on hunger strikes because of bullying and threats from other groups. Although the government has hired extra help to process the cases faster, they are still only able to process roughly 1800 cases per month. The knock-on effect is also that other visa applications are being put on the backburner, which is proving a problem for schools and businesses who are unable in the short term to get their potential students or employees into the country .
A series of mismanagement errors at Credit Suisse has led the bank to lose 4 billion francs in the third quarter of this year and this has, in turn, led to a need to drastically reduce its services and regroup. The bank will reduce its staff by 9000 jobs in Switzerland until 2025, in all 20 000 of the 52 000 bank jobs could go.
9143 runners took part in the Swisscity Marathon in Lucerne yesterday. They were blessed with wonderful warm and dry weather. There were 60 000 spectators, runners from 55 countries. 1200 volunteers and 30 live bands. It was a great success by all accounts.
It was the warmest October since measurements have taken place. The temperatures were 3.2° above average, there were no frost days and you had to climb to between 3500 and 3800 meters to find 0° Celsius. November will start with cooler temperatures and we should be in the low teens by the middle of the week.
Have a great week!
