Sunday, October 20, 2024
Published: Sunday, Oct 20th 2024, 06:10
Volver a Live Feed
Excessively high electricity prices, tax disadvantages in old-age provision and problematic horse keeping: this and more can be found in the Sunday newspapers. The headlines in unverified reports:
"SonntagsZeitung":
PENSIONS: The Federal Council wants to drastically reduce the tax benefits on third pillar payments and pension fund capital. According to an analysis by the "SonntagsZeitung" newspaper, this would hit the middle classes and high earners particularly hard. As a result, taxes would double for middle-income earners and quadruple for high earners. The newspaper gives the following example: Anyone earning 140,000 francs and having 350,000 francs paid out will pay 17,800 instead of 6580 francs in future. The Federal Council's aim is to generate around a quarter of a billion francs in additional revenue each year. The plans were met with criticism, for example from Erich Ettlin, a member of the Center Council of States, who spoke of a "breach of good faith". Experts fear that the measure could lead to less being paid into the third pillar, particularly in cantons such as Zurich, Vaud and Ticino.
"NZZ am Sonntag":
ENERGY: Swiss consumers have to pay hundreds of millions of francs too high grid fees every year. Price watchdog Stefan Meierhans told the NZZ am Sonntag that around CHF 400 million a year was being overpaid during the low-interest phase. According to the newspaper, the Group of Large Electricity Customers (GGS), which includes companies such as Migros and Swiss Steel, also criticized that such high profits by grid operators are not right, even though it is a monopoly business. Swissgrid and the electricity companies are forecasting profit skimming of around CHF 900 million for 2024. GGS Managing Director Roger Ambort spoke of "boundless greed" and criticized the current calculation method, which allows excessive profits. The Federal Council has recognized the need for action and is planning to adjust the profit formula. However, the electricity industry is vehemently opposing this, as it sees the urgently needed investments in infrastructure as being at risk.
"SonntagsBlick":
ANIMALS: There are problems with animal husbandry in the stables at Einsiedeln Abbey. SonntagsBlick" has uncovered several abuses reported by horse owners. One owner reported that her sick horse had not received any medication, while another said that her animal had been forgotten and was severely emaciated. A stable assistant and other owners also confirmed the allegations. Two horses had died due to inadequate care. After a report in the "Einsiedler Anzeiger" led to initial public unrest last fall, the monastery responded with a statement on Facebook denying all allegations. According to "Sonntagsblick", however, authorities found space deficiencies during unannounced inspections in April 2023 and asked the monastery to enlarge the exercise areas. A further inspection in 2024 revealed that medicines had expired and were not correctly labeled. Einsiedeln Monastery continues to deny any allegations and states that the farm is in good condition.
"NZZ am Sonntag":
ROAD TRANSPORT: Congestion hours on the six planned upgrades to the national road network rose to a total of 6039 last year. This is according to data from "Viasuisse", which is available to the "NZZ am Sonntag". This means that congestion hours have increased by 25 percent since 2019. In the Bern region, where the A1 between Wankdorf, Schönbühl and Kirchberg is to be expanded, Viasuisse recorded a total of 2178 hours of congestion in 2023 alone. In the Basel section, which is to be relieved by the Rhine tunnel, the figure is 2934 hours, and 522 hours in the area of the St. Gallen Rosenberg tunnel. Green Party National Councillor Franziska Ryser put the evaluation into perspective. The figures for 2019 are not comparable with those for 2023, she told the newspaper. In addition, in some places, renovations such as on the A1 in St. Gallen would lead to additional bottlenecks. Thanks to better measuring devices, more hours of congestion are now automatically recorded.
"SonntagsZeitung" / "Sonntagsblick"
PARTIES: The Juso's decision to join the BDS movement has been met with harsh criticism. Daniel Jositsch, member of the SP Council of States in Zurich, described the support in the "SonntagsZeitung" newspaper as irresponsible. BDS is "extremist" and in part even "anti-Semitic". He called for the SP presidency to condemn the resolution. In a statement, the SP Switzerland emphasized that it is not part of the BDS movement and that the Juso makes its own decisions. The SP rejects boycotts against Israel and supports peace forces in Israel and Palestine, while calling for targeted sanctions against all parties to the conflict that violate international humanitarian law. Juso leader Mirjam Hostetmann defended the decision to support the BDS movement, arguing that the criticism was not directed against Jews, but against the ultra-right-wing Israeli government.
"Sonntagsblick":
ESC: Artists are to be given a so-called "safe space" at the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Basel in 2025. A retreat where they will not be filmed, as ESC Supervisory Board Chairman Bakel Walden said in an interview with "Sonntagsblick". They have a duty of care and will place more emphasis on well-being in future. The SRG manager had admitted mistakes at the last ESC in Malmö, which was overshadowed by the Middle East conflict, and promised better communication in the future. "In future, we will have our own crisis management, strengthen communication and work very closely with the SRG project team. We at the EBU are organizing the competition, SRG is organizing the event together with Basel," Walden continued. The aim is to make the ESC as neutral as possible, as wars and conflicts around the world cannot be resolved during the event.
"SonntagsZeitung":
CRIME: The case of an attack on an orthodox Jew in Davos has caused a stir. Now the "SonntagsZeitung" newspaper reports that one of the attackers is no longer in the country. The perpetrator, an Algerian, was transferred to Belgium at the end of September as part of a Dublin repatriation, as Georg Carl, Head of the Asylum and Enforcement of Measures Department of the Canton of Graubünden, confirmed to the newspaper. The second suspect, a North African, has since left Switzerland unchecked and there is no longer any contact with him. It is unclear whether he has left Switzerland. The attack took place at the end of August, when the two men, aged 24 and 29, beat, spat at and insulted the Jewish tourist from Great Britain. The Graubünden authorities initially released the two perpetrators after the attack, as the conditions for pre-trial detention were not met.
"Le Matin Dimanche
Switzerland's four-pillar drug policy has saved the country from violent conflicts between drug dealers. Experts told Le Matin Dimanche that the model introduced at the end of the 1990s, which focuses on prevention, therapy, risk reduction and repression, has calmed the situation. Sandro Cattacin, professor of sociology at the University of Geneva, emphasized that prevention plays a central role in this. Thomas Herquel, Director of the Geneva-based drug aid organization Première Ligne, believes that turning away from pure repression is the key to the success of Swiss policy.
©Keystone/SDA
Spanish 
English 
German 
French 
Arabic