Switzerland today

Greetings from Bern,

living in the Swiss capital sometimes means you see more action than other parts of the country. Protesters of all stripes want to demonstrate in front of the federal parliament but lately expressions of discontentment have become more confrontational.

As a result, residents of Bern and other Swiss cities have to deal with heavy police presence, frequent disruption of buses and trams, and closure of certain streets. Like Covid-19, is this the new normal?

Clashes with the police have become more common. Keystone / Marcel Bieri

New normal? Rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas.

• Yesterday’s protest in Bern against Covid restrictions – and the police reaction – is making the rounds today on the Twittersphere. Some are comparing the Swiss police’s actions to Australian-style law enforcement.
• Bern is not the only city dealing with confrontational protests. Radical climate group Extinction Rebellion has been disrupting traffic on Zurich’s streets this week and a demonstration is planned today as well. It is part of a weeklong action to persuade the government to declare a state of climate emergency. Michael Perricone of public broadcaster SRF questions the point of trying to bring Zurich to a standstill External linkwhen the majority of the city’s residents have always voted in favour of climate-friendly initiatives. “It may have been fun for the rebels and flattered their conscience. There was nothing more,” he concluded.

Less space to maneuver for those not keen on vaccines. Keystone / Alexandra Wey

Carrot or stick? Proposals for the unvaccinated stir debate.

• From this week, those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons will be able to request a medical exemption certificate. This will give them access to spaces normally out-of-bounds for them. Critics are warning against the potential abuse External linkof such medical exemptions.
• A few French-speaking cantons are toying with the idea of offering free immune response tests for those reluctant to be vaccinated. The theory is that knowledge of current immunity levels is more likely to boost vaccination rates than a CHF50 referral fee currently proposed by the government.

When cutting-edge research meets Medieval building principles. Roman Keller/Empa

Architecture fans rejoice: One more cool Swiss building to drool over.

Energy efficient building have acquired a bad rep for being ugly and sterile boxes. An exception is the HiLo (high performance, low emission) building that was inaugurated near Zurich this weekExternal link. It has all the green bells and whistles like an adaptive solar façade and lightweight construction. But its crowning glory is a doubly curved concrete roof that reminds me of the Sydney Opera House.