All Zurich care facilities are to allow assisted suicide on their premises; Zurich wants to become a hub for overnight trains; and more Swiss news in our Tuesday roundup.
All Zurich care facilities are to allow assisted suicide on their premises
Since 2023, all public elderly care homes and hospitals in Zurich must allow assisted suicide.
However, private institutions can deny access to their premises to organisations providing this service.
The cantonal parliament now wants to change this, pointing out that if a resident wishes to end their life with the help of an assisted dying organisation, private care facilities must grant these requests.
For the majority of MPs, the constitutional right to self-determination takes precedence over the ethical and religious concerns of private operators.
READ ALSO: What you should know about assisted dying in Switzerland
Zurich wants to become a hub for overnight trains
A study carried but by the municipality and local tourism office shows that Zurich has a potential of becoming a hub for night trains, enabling sustainable rail travel throughout Europe.
“Our central location in the heart of Europe makes us ideally suited for this,” the study pointed out.
It sees a “great potential” for train trips of up to 1,500 km, which would cover numerous European metropolises, including Berlin, Vienna, and Barcelona.
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Swiss authorities are powerless against certain speeding foreigners
Foreign drivers who exceed the speed limit on Switzerland’s roads fail – more often than not – to appear in court, and are therefore sentenced in absentia.
The A2 motorway, a central transit route to the south, is particularly affected, news media reported on Monday.
But while Switzerland has mutual agreements to this effect with neighbour countries – which means that errant drivers from those states have to pay their fines – it can’t, however, enforce collections from countries that are not bound by the same rules.
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Pollen is already present in Switzerland
The first pollen, which used to be an early-spring phenomenon, is already spreading across the country, the Swiss Allergy Centre said in a press release on Monday.
This early start is no longer an exception, as the beginning of the pollen season in January has become “the new normal,” the Centre said.
The return of sunshine and temperatures above 5C will mark the true start of the pollen season in the coming days.
Allergy sufferers should therefore already begin their preventative treatment, the Centre recommends.
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