Sunday, December 31, 2023
Published: Sunday, Dec 31st 2023, 04:50
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Israel complains about an exhibition in Geneva, ski resorts change ticket prices during the day and RTS no longer broadcasts films starring Gerard Depardieu: This and more can be found in the Sunday papers. The headlines in unverified reports:
"SonntagsBlick":
The Israeli ambassador in Geneva, Meirav Eilon Shahar, has intervened with UN Director-General Tatiana Valovaya regarding an exhibition at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Israel criticizes the dissemination of "propaganda and misinformation", as "SonntagsBlick" writes. Israel accuses Qatar of being the originator. The bone of contention is an exhibition sponsored by Qatar that purports to show six Palestinian cities - including Be'er Sheva and Jaffa, which are located on Israeli territory. "This is a denial of Israel's territorial integrity and our right to exist," the ambassador wrote in a letter to the UN Directorate. Jerusalem is also referred to as a Palestinian city. This undermines "the historical connection to the Jewish people".
"SonntagsZeitung":
Most ski resorts with dynamic price models change their prices weekly or daily. Now there are the first resorts in Switzerland that are even increasing their prices at shorter intervals, as the SonntagsZeitung writes. In Zermatt, "price changes for future ski passes can occur several times a day", confirmed Marc Lagger, spokesman for Zermatt Bergbahnen. Prices can also vary within a day in the Belalp ski area in Valais. This means that if you want a ski pass for a particular day, you should buy it in the morning. It could be more expensive in the afternoon. In the case of ski resorts, it is also noticeable that the prices for ski passes booked in advance never fall - unlike with airlines, where there are short-term low-price offers when capacity is low. There is no discount on day tickets in ski resorts, even if bad weather is forecast for one day and advance sales are therefore slow.
"SonntagsBlick":
A number of Greens considered running for the party presidency over the festive period. Now parliamentary group leader Aline Trede has also expressed her interest in SonntagsBlick: "I'm considering a candidacy." She likes to be with people and wants to know how they are doing. The affection is apparently mutual: for weeks, Trede has been receiving emails and phone calls from party friends motivating her to run for the party presidency. "I feel a certain obligation towards my party," said Trede. In addition to Trede, numerous other names are being discussed. According to reports, Lisa Mazzone is also no longer ruling out a comeback. The failed Green Party candidate for the Federal Council Gerhard Andrey is having the same thoughts. He told the newspaper: "I am indeed thinking about it." He will communicate in due course in the new year.
"SonntagsBlick":
The Federal Office of Transport (FOT) is surprised by the news from SBB that trains between Brig and Domodossola will have to be canceled due to a missing permit. "This surprises us insofar as there were no previous indications of this. As part of our regular exchanges with the Italian authorities, we also received no indications that the permit would not arrive on time," the FOT told SonntagsBlick. The FOT announced that it would take action: "The FOT has been contacted by SBB. The FOT will now support the SBB in the next steps."
"SonntagsZeitung":
Electricity for next year is currently being traded on the exchange at rock-bottom prices. "The market prices for electricity for the coming year are currently lower than at any time since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine," said Andreas Möckel, an expert at the electricity market regulator Elcom, in the SonntagsZeitung newspaper. However, according to the newspaper, this will not benefit the Swiss. From the New Year, households will have to pay an average of 20 percent more for their electricity. This is the second massive increase in a short space of time: most electricity companies already increased their tariffs at the beginning of 2023. Meanwhile, electricity companies such as BKW and Axpo are making billions in profits. Both companies claim that they are not making their profits at the expense of private households. Cantonal governments have little incentive to improve the situation. This is because the profits of the electricity companies help them to improve their budgets.
"SonntagsBlick":
In 2022, the cantonal IV offices commissioned more than 4300 monodisciplinary assessments. These are assessments that only affect one medical specialty. Of these, a single expert from the canton of Lucerne, a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy, received 150 alone - as a sideline, as SonntagsBlick writes. The specialist thus produced an average of two reports per day and received a total of well over half a million francs for them. According to the newspaper, the reports were repeatedly criticized by the courts as inadequate. Nevertheless, the Federal Council sees no need for action.
"SonntagsZeitung":
Officially, the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, based in Basel, is a non-profit organization. It carries out projects worldwide with renowned development and research partners and, according to the foundation's purpose, promotes sustainable agriculture. However, an investigation by the SonntagsZeitung newspaper has now revealed this: In Kenya, toxic pesticides from Syngenta are being sold and used without protective equipment via the foundation's so-called "Farmers Hubs" - including several that are banned in the EU and Switzerland. Syngenta does not consider itself responsible for this. The foundation had always maintained that it was independent of the Basel-based agrochemical giant. On the ground, a different picture emerged: the "Farmers Hubs" in Kenya only sell Syngenta products, the employees wear Syngenta logos on their uniforms, and in the capital, the employees of the foundation and the company work in the same room. The foundation should not actually be a marketing tool, as it is a non-profit organization according to the tax authorities of the city of Basel and therefore tax-exempt.
"Le Matin Dimanche":
Switzerland has been selected by the IOC as the preferred partner for the 2038 Winter Olympics. Despite global warming, the snow prospects for this date in the Alpine regions are "very good", as snow scientist Robert Bolognesi told Le Matin Dimanche. In February, the month in which the Olympic Games normally take place, "the snow cover is well established, often with the addition of artificial snow", he explained. The altitude of the venues chosen for the competitions will nevertheless be very important, he added. Martine Rebetez, professor at the University of Neuchâtel and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, told the newspaper: "The situation today is critical below 2000 meters, in 15 years it will be critical up to 2200 meters."
"Le Matin Dimanche":
For the time being, RTS is no longer broadcasting films in which the French actor Gerard Dépardieu plays the leading role. Complaints of sexual abuse and rape are pending against Depardieu. The actor denies the allegations, but his image has been badly tarnished since the broadcast of a documentary with misogynistic remarks. "If we have the feeling that the majority of the audience could feel hurt by a work or a previously accepted personality, we take it out of our program selectively," said Luc Guillet, TV program director at RTS, to "Le Matin Dimanche". It was a "pragmatic decision that we will review depending on how the situation develops".
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