New Residential Tower Rises In Dreispitz; Switzerland Takes Sides; Party Loses Control, Ends In Blaze

News For 1 March 2022

The company Warteck Invest will complete construction of a new residential and retail tower at the corner of the Dreispitz tram stop in early 2023.  Just across from the Job Factory building, the influx of residents to the neighborhood means that Coop has already contracted to take lease of the ground floor to serve the anticipated patrons.  Also planned in the building are commercial offices and a health center.

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Notoriously neutral Switzerland has taken sides in the recent conflict between Russia and its neighbor Ukraine, by joining the rest of the industrialized world in imposing sanctions on Russia. Yesterday, Swiss president Ignazio Cassis called Russia's attack on Ukraine an attack on "sovereignty, democracy and freedom" and went on to say that it was not "neutral" for Switzerland to "play into the hands of an aggressor nation" as he announced that Switzerland would be joining other EU countries in blocking the assets of 363 Russian individuals and four companies.  In addition, Switzerland will now close its airspace to Russian flights.  Swiss National Bank information shows that as of 2020, Russian individuals held approximately 10 billion Swiss Francs in the country.

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At 2 AM last Sunday, the Basel fire brigade was dispatched to the Westfeld neighborhood on Burgfelderstrasse to respond to a fire that went out of control at a party.  Fortunately, only 3 of the 25 partiers required medical attention related to smoke inhalation, the rest left the scene.  Apparently, the fire broke out in the apartment hosting the party after midnight, and after those in attendance failed to extinguish it, the fire department was called. The apartment is no longer habitable and will require complete renovations.