The village of Brienz in the Graubunden area is in danger of being covered by up to 2 million cubic meters of rocks, which is why the close to 100 inhabitants have until Friday 6 p.m. to evacuate their homes and hope for the best. Geologues have been observing a particular plateau known as the island which is situated on the mountain above the village. As smaller rock slides have begun the geologues are pretty certain that the whole side will give away in the coming 3 weeks. Whether the rock slide will spare the village or not cannot be said with certainty which is why the evacuation order has been given.
Half a million people could live in and around Lucerne with the current infrastructure, that’s nearly 100 000 more than currently reside here, according to a study from the Hochschule.
An 83 year old Iranian man went to the European Court of Justice in Strasbourg to fight his deportation from Switzerland. The man has been living and working here since 1969, however he has been prosecuted and found guilty for various crimes several times, the last time being in 2006 when his deportation was pronounced. Since then the government has been unsuccessful in deporting him, although they searched through his apartment, they never could find his passport. Since 2006 he has not been found guilty of any further crimes, his two sons have children and also live here. The court in Strasbourg found that the man now poses no threat to Switzerland, that he has a strong social network here and none in Iran so it would not be possible for him to adjust to living there again. They ordered Switzerland to reinstate the man’s residency permit and pay for his legal costs. The Swiss prosecution fears that this will set a precedent for anyone who faces deportation, to just play the waiting game.
The LUGA and the Luna Park closed on Sunday and the next big fair will be the Luzerner Määs in October. The town had initially said that the fair would be moved to the Allmend as they have new plans for the Inseli downtown. However after a petition asking for the fair to stay downtown, the town has changed its mind. So you can look forward to enjoying your share of food, fun and thrills this autumn by the lake.
Last night the Eurovision first half final took place and Remo Forrer representing Switzerland with his antiwar song “Watergun” made it through to the final which will take place on Saturday.
