Weather forecast: colder, with rain on the plain, snow in the mountains
Details, MeteoSwiss
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The greater Lausanne area has seen its second murder-suicide in one week, with the death of a couple north of the city. A thermal door is being tested at the north end of the St Gotthard tunnel, to increase road safety. A Christmas present in Martigny: 10 new St Bernard puppies arrived for the holidays.
Kitchen knife used to kill in St Cierges
A 40-year-old Swiss man appears to have taken the life of his 48-year-old companion, using a kitchen knife, before turning the knife on himself and committing suicide, Saturday morning in St Cierges, north of Lausanne. The couple had been together for a number of years and each had children from previous relationships. Their bodies were found Saturday.
The murder is the second in less than a week, with a 25-year-old man using his military gun, a rarity in the country, to shoot his companion, a 26-year-old Swiss woman, in Montreux 5 January. He then used the gun to fatally shoot himself.
St Gotthard testing new door until end-January
The St Gotthard tunnel has benefitted from a thermal door at the south end, designed to isolate trucks that are overheating and risk catching fire. In 2014, the system, user lasers, detected 24 trucks that were then taken off the road. A similar door is being tested at the tunnel’s north end.
The first door was installed in 2013 and has proven its usefulness, says the Swiss Highway Office. The second was installed in December 2015 and will complete its test phase at the end of January, at which point it will become a permanent part of the tunnel.
Two litters of puppies preparing for visitors
Two litters of puppies, a total of 10, will be ready to receive visitors at the St Bernard centre in Martigny, starting 26 January. The Barry Foundation notes in a press release that the little dogs are spending their first six weeks learning about life in the puppy park, under the close guidance of their parents:
“The long-haired bitch “Gipsy du Grand St. Bernard” and short-haired male “Fun dit Faccia d’Amore de la Maison des Tartarin” became the parents of five fit and healthy male puppies on the 15th December 2015. And just ten days later, on the evening of 25th December, Christmas Day, five more puppies were born to the short-haired parents “Thelma vom Hellenstein” and “Georges de Viloden”.