Yesterday, the government announced that it was going to bail out one of the largest electricity provider in the country, AXPO, to the tune of 4.5 billion as the company is facing a liquidity issue. At the same time, the company’s management is scheduled to receive 2. 5 million francs in bonuses. This is deemed unacceptable for many politicians who are asking for a bonus freeze.
Meanwhile ordinary households can expect to pay an extra 27% on their electricity bill as of January 2023.
Yesterday morning the police in Nidwalden were doing a checkpoint on the highway near Hergiswil when they pulled over a white van. Upon opening the back of the van they found 33 asylum seekers crammed into the small space. They were on their way to France. The men came from Afghanistan, Syria, India and Bangladesh and were aged between 20 and 50 years old. The police made sure that they received food and water and took them to an asylum seeker centre where they were looked after. However, they will be expelled from Switzerland as they have no identity papers with them. In average the police catch between 30 and 50 people smugglers per month, but with over a million cars transiting through Switzerland daily it is hard to make much of a dent in human trafficking.
Neighbours, everybody loves good neighbours. Unfortunately neighbourhood quarrels can easily turn nasty and end up in court. Which is what happened when two neighbours in Kastanienbaum quarelled over the right to have parasols and play loud music in the garden. The plaintiff is claiming that the neighbour in front of his property is blocking his view of the lake and mountains whith his parasol and also playing his radio too loud. The justice system agreed with him and the culprit now has to pay CHF 5000.- in court fees, remove his parasol and turn his radio down.
If you go to Helvetiaplatz be sure to stop by the “Autormat”, a very special bus ticket machine. Instead of buying a ticket, for 50 rappen you will receive an author’s text, to read and ponder on. The money raised will go to “Writers in exile”, supporting writers who are persecuted in their home countries for their writings.
