Switzerland Today
Hello from Bern!
Swiss women suffragists and other pioneers are being honoured in Bern with Hommage 2021 – a panoramic projection exhibit on the Federal Parliament building every evening for two weeks.
Switzerland was late to grant women the right to vote (it’s been 50 years). But one of the historians who conceived the exhibit stresses the women who came before 1971 were no failures.
“Anyone who sacrifices themselves on a small scale every day is just as heroic,” as the knights and generals who dominate history, says Franziska Rogger in an interview with the Berner Zeitung.
Someone who will surely be written about in the tennis history books is Roger Federer. But is he the Greatest of All Time?
In the News: Women gain ground in the Swiss film industry.
- Women can get funding to make their films as easily as men, but they generally earn less than their male colleagues, according to a study unveiled at the Locarno Film Festival. While women are on equal footing with men in editing roles, they are less visible as screen writers (34%), directors (29%) or camera operators (13%).
- The Afghan government wants Switzerland to suspend deportations of rejected asylum seekers to Afghanistan due to renewed fighting and the Covid-19 pandemic. Some 168 rejected asylum seekers in Switzerland are awaiting deportation. A change in policy does not appear to be in the cards.
- Climate activists are still camped out in Zurich, after blocking the entrance to UBS and Credit Suisse and putting up a giant poster at the Swiss National Bank. More “acts of civil disobedience” are expected later this week.
Weigh In: Who is the GOAT?
Few things whip fans into a frenzy as much as debating who’s the best of the best in a particular sport. There are the numbers – the number of Grand Slams – and then the subjective stuff. Beauty, talent and sportsmanship. How to decide? With Roger Federer’s 40th birthday this weekend, our unofficial sports reporter Thomas Stephens breaks down the greatest tennis players of all time.
Who gets your vote?
More
Word on the Street: “No”. That’s the answer from the Swiss government about sending Covid vaccines to the Swiss Abroad.
My colleague looks at why the government can’t send doses to its citizens living in countries where the health situation is worrying and there aren’t enough vaccines.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
