When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Switzerland

Swiss Locals Lose Patience As Davos Private Jet Traffic Multiplies

By some accounts, private jet traffic around the Swiss mountain resort of Davos has doubled for this year's edition of the World Economic Forum. Airport parking spots for lear jets are running out...just like the locals' patience.

A private jet approaches landing at St.Gallen-Altenrhein Airport, one of several arrival points for Davos (Kecko)
A private jet approaches landing at St.Gallen-Altenrhein Airport, one of several arrival points for Davos (Kecko)

*NEWSBITES

ZURICH - The preferred mode of transportation for arriving at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos is, unsurprisingly, private jet. But this year there appears to be an unprecedented overflow of private planes arriving in Switzerland's airports.

Zurich airport spokeswomen, Sonja Zöchling, said they were counting on 1,000 extra flights coming in and out during the forum, which runs through Jan. 29. There is space to park 54 planes. "Anything over and above that has to be distributed to other airports," Zöchling said.

One of the alternative parking spots in past years has been the military airport in Dübendorf. Stefan Hofer, head of communication for the Swiss army's high command, said demand for space has risen. "We usually make space for 15 planes available," said Hofer. "This year, depending on the size of the plane, we're making room for 25 to 30 planes."

Normally, the planes would stay parked until the end of the five-day meeting, "but there are exceptions." Normal operations at the airport are not affected by the extra traffic, Hofer said.

As they have been in the past, communities near the Dübendorf airport were informed that there would be extra traffic during Davos week. But locals, who tolerated air traffic for military necessities, are losing patience with all the WEF air and noise pollution. In nearby Volketswil, town clerk Beat Grob expressed astonishment that traffic at the airport had doubled during the WEF meeting, but said that only after the meeting was over would they be able to establish exactly how much extra traffic there had been.

The town clerk of Wangen-Brüttisellen, Christoph Bless, said that when the army starts using the field again in 2014, with the exception of Rega rescue helicopters, "there should be no civil aviation at all there."

Read the full story in German by Tina Fassbind

Photo – Kecko

*Newsbites are digest items, not direct translations

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Society

Sleep Divorce: The Benefits For Couples In Having Separate Beds

Sleeping separately is often thought to be the beginning of the end for a loving couple. But studies show that having permanently separate beds — if you have the space and means — can actually reinforce the bonds of a relationship.

Image of a woman sleeping in a bed.

A woman sleeping in her bed.

BUENOS AIRES — Couples, it is assumed, sleep together — and sleeping apart is easily taken as a sign of a relationship gone cold. But several recent studies are suggesting, people sleep better alone and "sleep divorce," as the habit is being termed, can benefit both a couple's health and intimacy.

That is, if you have the space for it...

While sleeping in separate beds is seen as unaffectionate and the end of sex, psychologist María Gabriela Simone told Clarín this "is not a fashion, but to do with being able to feel free, and to respect yourself and your partner."

She says the marriage bed originated "in the matrimonial duty of sharing a bed with the aim of having sex to procreate." That, she adds, gradually settled the idea that people "who love each other sleep together."

Is it an imposition then, or an overwhelming preference? Simone says intimacy is one thing, sleeping another.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest