Keystone-ATS wishes you an excellent start to the day and gives you a first overview of the news, with the latest news unearthed in the press. Without forgetting birthdays and the saying of the day!
Today's highlights
SWIMMING: More than 4,400 people, a record, are participating this weekend in Geneva in the 86th Christmas Cup, “one of the world's largest cold water swimming events”. Chilly people refrain. You have to swim 100 meters in the waters of the harbor which, in this season, have a temperature of less than 10 degrees. You have to swim 100 The event was recently included in the Swiss Intangible Cultural Heritage (UNESCO).
ALPINE SKIING: The spotlight will be on Lindsey Vonn on Saturday and Sunday in St. Moritz. The American is making her return to the World Cup at the age of 40 during the two super-Gs scheduled in the Graubünden resort, almost six years after her last race. But it is Lara Gut-Behrami who is the favorite, along with Sofia Goggia. The Ticino finished 3rd in downhill then 2nd in super-G last weekend at Beaver Creek, where the Italian took 2nd place in downhill before triumphing in super-G.
SKI JUMPING: The Jumping World Cup, as usual, stops in Engelberg just before the end-of-year holidays, for the last two competitions before the Four Hills Tour, Saturday and Sunday. All eyes will be on Lucerne's Gregor Deschwanden, who at 33 is ripe for a first success at this level. Remarkable in his consistency since the start of winter, he has already finished 2nd twice, notably at Titisee-Neustadt last Saturday. But the favorite remains the German Pius Paschke, leader of the World Cup.
TODAY IS…: Like every December 21, today is International Basketball Day. According to the United Nations, basketball has global impacts on trade, peace and diplomacy, and it creates a unique space of cooperation, physical activity and interdependence that allows stakeholders to consider each other others as human beings above all. All the information on the UN website: https://www.un.org/fr/observances/world-basketball-day
Seen in the press
EXPLOSION – GE: Patek Philippe had received ransom demands in the parcel bomb affair in Geneva. The management of the watch factory received an anonymous letter on July 4, demanding a ransom of 10 million francs within five days, under penalty of killing an employee, a customer or a family member, write the Tribune de Genève and the 24 Hours. In total, the company received three threatening letters. The packages that exploded in August and November in Geneva targeted two tenants working at Patek Philippe. Migros also received a similar letter of intimidation on May 2.
HEALTH: Doctors and insurers are saving the emergency tax for on-call duty outside the opening hours of medical offices. The umbrella of insurers Prio.swiss, that of doctors FMH and the association which defends the interests of family and childhood doctors Mfe signed an agreement on Friday, indicates Le Temps. Firms and offices can therefore once again benefit from compensation from the emergency tax, prohibited by the Federal Court in July. The future Tardoc medical tariff will have to be adapted and the project presented to the Federal Council at the end of January.
BUSINESSES: Caps reading “Credit Suisse Risk Management 2022” have become a bestseller. These accessories marketed by the Zurich collective Plakativ are among the best-selling products, with four-digit sales figures, writes the Tages-Anzeiger. They are particularly appreciated in the financial sector and by the general public. On social networks, however, some considered the humorous slogan in bad taste.
REAL ESTATE: The designer Zep has just acquired a property with access to Lake Geneva for 8.73 million francs, according to the Tribune de Genève. The villa, located in Bellevue, in the canton of Geneva, extends over a plot of land of almost 200 m. This purchase comes as the comic book author seeks to sell his Geneva property. The sale, however, encountered difficulties, the right of the Municipal Council opposing a purchase by the City of Geneva and having launched a referendum.
UKRAINE: Feminist activists arrested in Geneva after attacking the Broken Chair sculpture with a chainsaw last week received suspended fines of 60 days for damage to property. The three Ukrainian women were also detained two days after their coup, writes the Tribune de Genève. Handicap International, sponsor of the work renovated in July, is invited to take action before the civil courts to obtain compensation. But the NGO indicated that it wanted to stop there.
Birthdays and jubilees
– 5 years ago (2019): Death of French fashion designer Emmanuel Ungaro. He was born in 1933.
– 10 years ago (2014): Austrian-Swiss crooner Udo Jürgens dies following heart failure during a walk in Gottlieben (TG). Living in Switzerland since 1977, the singer-songwriter has written more than 900 songs, including the famous “Merci, cherie”.
– 200 years ago (1824): Death of British doctor, pharmacist and paleontologist James Parkinson, author of the first treatise on Parkinson's disease. The characteristic symptoms of this neurological disease are lack of movement, muscle rigidity and tremors.
Saying of the day
“December snow is fertilizer for the earth”
