Switzerland Today
Hello from Bern!
The Swiss economy appears to be bouncing back “splendidly” after the tough pandemic year. According to a survey from economic thinktank KOF, the economy is on the road to recovery across the board. Even the hotel sector is optimistic. And the big winner? Italian-speaking Ticino saw overnight stays increase by a whopping 172.5% compared to last year at this time.
The canton will get some more love these next ten days with the Locarno Film Festival, which starts tonight.
In the News: Travelling can be a headache these days with the different Covid-19 rules and restrictions.
- In July around 5-10% of long-haul passengers couldn’t board at Zurich airport due to a lack of valid Covid immunity certificate. Many of them were only in transit. In June about 700 people were stranded in Zurich airport for the same reason. Apparently, people either didn’t have certificates, they were expired, or they weren’t in English.
- It’s been exactly a year since a devastating explosion in Beirut left more than 200 dead and around 300,000 homeless. Yesterday, the humanitarian charity Swiss Solidarity announced that it had collected CHF7.6 million in donations over the past year, some CHF6 million ($6.6 million) of which has gone to relief projects, including distributing food, water and other essential goods. The remainder will be allocated in the coming months.
- Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has been on a whirlwind six-day tour of Southeast Asia. This included the first visit to Laos by a Swiss foreign minister since the countries established diplomatic relations in 1963. Before heading to Vietnam, Cassis opened a consular agency in Vientiane and signed a new development cooperation agreement with the country.
Deep Dive: Most Olympic athletes do it for the love of the sport.
But that doesn’t mean they don’t have rights. More athletes are speaking out about rules and norms governing what they can do, say, earn and wear in and out of the Olympic arena. But they often struggle to be heard by those governing sports. This is in part because of the power imbalance between athletes and the people in power in sports.
In a story I wrote, published today, I looked at some of the ways athletes are trying to come together and use their “power in numbers” to get their voices heard. The Lausanne-based International Olympic Committee has set up an Athletes’ Commission to represent athletes’ views, but Brendan Schwab, who heads the World Players Association, questions whether this is enough. He thinks athletes should take a page from professional sports teams in football and baseball, which have had success unionising. Is this the right way forward? How do you address the collective needs of athletes from different disciplines and countries?
In Olympic news, Swiss athletes just missed the podium in a few sports but there were still some highlights: Petra Klingler in the debut of sport climbing.
Culture Corner: What makes the Locarno Film Festival so special?
Many things. But above all, Locarno is about films and true film lovers. As my colleague Eduardo Simantob, who is in Locarno, wrote, “the guests at Locarno are invited because of their films and their art, not the celebrity stardust they bring to the festival”. Here are five fun facts about the festival and its 74th edition, which starts tonight!
- It’s a cosy affair. Locarno, the town, has the same size population as the number of people who attend the film festival – around 15,000 people.
- Bring the kids. The 2021 edition includes a new award – the Locarno Kids Award la Mobiliare – given to someone capable of bringing cinema to younger viewers. The first winner is the master of Japanese animation cinema, Mamoru Hosoda. The festival has also organised screenings and workshops for kids, including one on Japanese animation techniques.
- Listen and watch. The festival is holding a pre-screening event of an old silent film with a live orchestra.
- Explore space. The festival has restored the old projection booth from Piazza Grande, turning it into a virtual reality booth for the largest production ever filmed in space. Space Explorers: The ISS experience.
- A magical gathering. It’s the 50th anniversary of the big screen on the Piazza Grande town square. Before that, it was in the garden of the Grand Hotel, large enough to fit 1,200 viewers. This year, around 8,000 film lovers can enjoy the show at the Piazza Grande.
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