BASEL, SWITZERLAND – Airline Swiss will begin using City Airport in London rather than Heathrow for its Basel flights starting 21 May.
The airline says “the modifications to Swiss’s Basel services have been prompted by the planned sale of sister Lufthansa Group carrier bmi to the International Airlines Group.”
Parents whose jobs could see them moving abroad will have to get permission in future
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Divorcing parents in Switzerland will soon be faced with joint custody as the norm. Switzerland is changing its child custody laws to balance the rights and responsibilities of both parents, in the case of divorce but also of non-married parents who do not live together.
The Federal Council adopted measures Thursday 17 November that makes joint custody the rule; only when a child’s welfare is considered at risk will the courts be able to make an exception. Examples of this could be inexperience, sickness or infirmity, a tendency towards violence or absence.
The Swiss parliament will need to approve the new measures which were recommended to the council, or cabinet, by a parliamentary commission. They have also been reviewed by a roundtable that involved parliament and the measures are not likely to face strong opposition.
The law currently gives custody to one parent in the case of divorce but only to the mother if the parents never married. Parents who want joint custody must apply for it after coming to an agreement on visits and financial support.
Parents who are not married but who split up will no longer have custody automatically given to one parent; if they cannot resolve issues of visits and money, child protection authorities will decide which parent is given custody.
Joint decisions about domicile, daily life
Sunrise: and the time is?
Russia’s nine time zones will leap forward an hour 27 March when daylight saving time starts in much of Europe, but this year, the Russians will not change back in the autumn. President Dmitry Medvedev 11 February signed a law moving the country an hour east, timewise. Daylight saving time, which has never been very popular in Russia, will no longer be observed, reports the Moscow Times. Medvedev’s move could send a signal to the UK and France, where similar moves have been proposed, but where there is stiff opposition. Scotland in particular has said it does not want the sun to rise at 10:00.
On a brighter note for Britain, LighterLater is proposing double summer time: move the clocks to benefit from daylight saving time, but also permanently move the clocks forward one hour.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss federal government Wednesday 27 May agreed to revise the laws and regulations covering asylum, despite objections from several quarters on many of the revisions under discussion.
The Federal Council noted in its statement that to remain credible in this area, Switzerland must speed up and simplify the current system. At the same time, Switzerland must ensure it is less attractive to people who abuse the asylum system.
One of the hot issues is the return of those whose requests have been rejected. The death of a Nigerian at the Zurich airport earlier in 2010 prompted the government to call a halt to return flights, but these are gradually being started again.
Related story: Swiss migration boss stirs up refugee debate
Updated 03 March: links added Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The title of the fourth annual Lift conference, “Where did the future go?” was set long before the current global crisis started making daily headlines. The idea, Lift found Laurent Haug says, came out of a feeling that we have reached a turning point with technology, where we have a need to look back to our ideas about the future as well as forward. The topic has attracted a record attendance of some 800 people to Lift09, which kicked off Thursday morning 26 February.
