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Local News Summary of July, 14th

  • Inventive renovation of Im Höfli in Riehen despite unusable kitchen and toilet
  • Novartis defends itself in US senate in Cohen case
  • MCH participates in new art fair ART in Singapore

Inventive renovation of Im Höfli in Riehen despite unusable kitchen and toilet

The bigger the city, the more anonymous life becomes, so they say. Especially the younger generation seems to have had enough of this trend and longs for more connection to community and to having neighbours they don't just know but maybe meet in summer for a barbecue evening. A shared house therefore combines the longing for closeness and the need for privacy for the family. Those who once lived in a cooperative voluntarily move out only in rare situations. Emptying a flat because the owner requires it? This doesn't exist here because the owner is the cooperative – and therefore everyone living there has a share in his own flat. Especially young families in need of a lot of space consider cooperative flats as an attractive model – but such flats are rare and in high demand.

Cooperative flats have existed since the 1950s

In Riehen, near Rauracherzentrum, houses with cooperative flats were first built in the 1950s. And since this was 70 years ago, they are in need of renovation. In fact, this is nothing unusual. But the publication of the plans rang a bell at the barfi.ch news-desk: «Containers as a replacement for kitchen and bathrooms during the renovation of the flats.»

Showering and cooking in a container, along with other residents? Yes and no! On request, Lucien Suter, vice-president of the construction and residence cooperative RIEBA, presented a strange but also original solution. «There is a separate shower/toilet for every detached house in the container, and also a kitchen. The residents of two detached houses share the facilities. In order to avoid that people have to visit the container at night to use the toilet, the cellar of every house contains an additional camping toilet».

The complete renovation of 77 bathrooms and 47 kitchens will take an entire year - up until September 2019. The renovation time spent on each house is expected to be around three to four weeks. «The usage of containers should help to make life as easy as possible for the residents», said Mr Suter. And he added: «We have informed everyone at an early stage about the plan with the containers.» The reactions must have been mixed: «Many residents booked their holidays at the same time as the renovation works are happening». Presumably, they won‘t be spending their holidays at a camp site.

 

Novartis defends itself in US senate in Cohen case

Basel pharmaceutical giant Novartis has hit back at claims that the firm gave misleading information about their cooperation with US lawyer Michael Cohen.

A report published by US senators on the Internet claims that Novartis had a «longer and closer relationship» with Mr Cohen than they have previously admitted.

According to the senators' report, Novartis said on 11th May 2018 that after signing a contract on 1st March 2017 and following a meeting, they had come to the conclusion that Mr Cohen would not be able to provide the services they required. Therefore, Novartis had decided not to engage further with the lawyer.

Phone calls with Novartis CEO Jimenez

According to documents received by the senators, former Novartis CEO Joe Jimenez had further contact with Mr Cohen. Between April and September, it is alleged they had at least four phone calls, and several e-mails were also exchanged between the pair.

The senators also claim that Novartis had engaged Mr Cohen in order to gain access to politicians in key positions. Novartis had provided the lawyer with recommendations for drug prices, according to the document.

Novartis however kept to its the formerly stated assertions. There were requests by senators and the company had cooperated with them. Novartis remains adamant that a decision was made after a singular meeting with Mr Cohen that he could not provide the services they required.

The only additional communication with Mr Cohen occurred when Mr Cohen himself contacted Mr Jimenez several times, Novartis said. In one of these communications, Mr Cohen allegedly asked the former CEO for ideas for a lower pricing for drugs.

One-year contract

Novartis confessed in May to having agreed to a one-year contract with «Essential Consultants» on 1,2 million dollars, the company owned by the personal lawyer of Donald Trump in February 2017. From the same account, payments were allegedly processed in the context of a silence agreement with the porn actress Stormy Daniels.

The office of US special investigator Robert Mueller had contacted Novartis in November last year. As a consequence, Novartis first lawyer Felix Ehrat had to resign from his post.

 

MCH participates in new art fair ART in Singapore

The exhibition operator MCH is taking part in the new art fair ART in Singapore which takes place from 1st to 3rd November 2019.

Around 80 «established and experimental galleries» from Singapore and Southeast Asia and from all over the work will present contemporary art.

The art fair for Singapore and the South-East Asian region should take place annually, the MCH group wrote in a media release. The «ART SG» fair is expected to attract collectors from the entire region and complement the Singapore Art Week which always takes place in January. The organisers involve MCH and also the fair and event company AngusMontgomery Arts as well as Tim Etchells, who was the driving force behind the launching of «ART HK» in Hongkong.

According to the release, MCH Group had started to build up a portfolio of regional art fairs in 2016. The firm has a majority in shares of the «India Art Fair», and a minor share in «ART DÜSSELDORF». Further MCH Group has purchased the majority of shares of the «Masterpiece London».