SBB Halts Service To Italy; Far Right Candidate Never Rests; University Hospital Unveils Long Term Plan

News For 8 December 2020

Starting Thursday, December 10th, SBB - The Swiss Railway operator will indefinitely suspend train service to Italy.  Citing a decree by the Italian government requiring additional control measures the SBB responded they would not seek to address the controls, suspending service instead.  The Italian government requires that spot checks of individuals' temperatures be made of passengers riding on the trains, which the SBB was unwilling or unable to enforce.  Service will continue to the Swiss side of the border.

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The only far-right politician in Basel's Parliament, Eric Weber, a known Neo-Nazi was just elected to his fourth term in office.  Mr. Weber was first elected to two terms in the Basel city council in 1984 and then again in 2012.  Unfortunately, Mr. Weber has apparently not had time to celebrate his win, having checked-in to a German clinic for symptoms of over-exhaustion. The next day however, he "discharged" himself.  Apparently, Mr. Weber was banned from the clinic for attempting to indoctrinate a fellow patient with his far-right propaganda and ideals. The hospital's report states "He presented himself in a manipulative and boastful manner and tried to indoctrinate a fellow patient by advertising a YouTube film with right-wing extremist content."

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With the backing of the canton, the University Hospital of Basel unveiled its 1.4 billion Swiss Franc plan called the Campus Health project.  The first phase of the project is planned to begin in 2022 with the construction of a tower and annex building called Clinic 2, followed by almost 20 years of additional construction, planned to end in 2038.  Although the project is already estimated to cost 200 million more than the initial plan presented to the city in 2018, proponents are hopeful that the project will be self-sustaining and economically profitable in the long term.

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