New 20 Swiss Franc Note; FCB Joins E-Sports Fray; Bricklive Lego Event Opens; Band Courts Controversy at Basel Summerstage

News For 16 May 2017

Following on last year's roll-out of the new 50 CHF bank-note, the Swiss National Bank is set to roll-out the new 20 CHF note tomorrow into circulation.  At a press conference last-week, SNB Vice President Fritz Zurbruegg unveiled the new denomination and boasted of it being the world's most secure bank-note.  The new 20, like the new 50, is made of cotton paper with an inner plastic polymer core and features 15 security features meant to prevent counterfeiting.  Continuing in the new design themes adopted by the SNB, the 20 features images related to light and culture as opposed to the traditional pictures of Swiss luminaries.  The traditional red color associated with the Swiss 20 will remain.

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The FCB has hired their first E-sports player, swiss Fifa champion Luca Boller.  The soccer club's marketing director has stated that they would also like to be a contender in the virtual soccer world. They are not the first soccer club in this endeavor, but rather the 5th Superleague team represented on Fifa, the video game that simulates a soccer game. E-sports teams in France, the UK and Germany are already larger and more professional, also playing at a higher level. It seems that the big, influential soccer clubs have realized that they can reach even bigger audiences by using their resources for E-soccer as well as the real-life version. 

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Bricklive, the largest Lego conference event in the world, opened last Friday at the Messeplatz alongside the MUBA Consumer Show.  Over 2 million bricks are on hand for Lego fans along with unique Lego sculptures only on display at Bricklive.  In addition to immersive and interactive experiences, and giant brick-pits there is a giant sculpture of wooly mammoth and of the Bismarck war ship.  

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The Swiss political Party "Juso" are calling for the cancellation of a concert at this year's Summerstage festival in June at Baselland's Grün 80, which will feature acts like Passenger and the Lovebugs. The act in question is Xavier Naidoo and his band "Söhne Mannheims", whose songs the Juso criticizes as conveying the "wrong message". Apparently, Xavier Naidoo has been associated with antisemitic and homophobic comments and statements in the past. Juso has requested that Migros, the organizer of the festival, un-invite Naidoo and his band.  Migros has issued a statement showing understanding for the Juso’s concerns but also noting that they can’t forbid “creative freedom” as long as songs and artists abide by the law.