Young man seriously injured in attack with stabbing weapon
On Sunday night at 2am, a 21-year-old man was injured in a violent confrontation with a stabbing weapon in the courtyard of the Stadttheater near the Tinguely Fountain. The suspect has been arrested.
Current investigations by the criminal police of the public prosecution and the youth attorney's office reveal that a violent confrontation had occurred in the vicinity of the Stadtkino Basel for reasons that are still unknown. A 21-year-old man was seriously injured with a stabbing weapon. The alleged perpetrator, a 16-year-old Swiss citizen, tried to escape, but was held back by passers-by and consequently arrested.
The victim and the perpetrator had to be taken to the emergency ward by the paramedics of the Rettung Basel-Stadt.
The exact course of events and the reason for the violent conflict are still not clear and subject of further investigations by the criminal police and the youth attorney's office. Anyone who can provide relevant information is requested to contact the criminal police of the Basel-Stadt public prosecution or the youth attorney's office on the phone number 061 267 71 11 or at the nearest police station.
A nightmare returns: belt bags are popular in the «fashion metropolis» Basel
Older people may remember them best. Be it skiing, hiking or later even in the city - belt bags were a must in the early 1990s. They were never a thing of beauty, but now that has changed.
The so-called «kangaroo pocket» never completely disappeared. The belt bag, which was notorious as an icon of the bourgeoisie, first appeared in the 1980s as an essential asset of the hip-hop scene. Who doesn't remember the songs of the Sugarhill Gang with their well-known catchy tune «Rapper's Delight», which is still a party hit today and was ground-breaking for many rappers today. Drug dealers are also said to have carried their belt bags, but it is not known whether they contained drugs, money or a weapon.
Free hands during skiing
There was hardly a skier who had not strapped one of these - admittedly - practical bags around their stomach in the 1990s. They were made of nylon, artificial leather or even genuine leather and available in many colours, and they contained the ski lift subscription, lip balm, cigarettes, and sun cream next to a few francs for the mulled wine. Men also carried such bags, but they chose rather discreet colours such as black or dark blue.
Admittedly, these bags for the belly were very practical. They also helped people keeping their hands free for cigarettes while waiting at the ski lift.
After the end of the Second World War, there already were cheaper early versions of belt bags, which later turned into very expensive assets. They were popular in red, black, or beige, made of nylon or leather, often decorated with edelweiss made of tin and golden Appenzeller cows.
Belt bags served more practical than fashionable purposes on ski slopes, but in the late 1990s, they were worn more often in the city for a short time. Designers like MCM and others jumped on the bandwagon and sold the bags like hotcakes. Middle-aged men, who wanted to avoid having to carry a men's handbag, strapped this asset around their stomach instead, as did the young guys who were enthusiastic about sports.
Over the past decades, the belt bag disappeared from the cityscape. These bags were considered «a thing of the deep past». But last winter season, the retro wave hit us all and fashion celebrated a 90s revival. The belt bag celebrated its big comeback. Now, however, it is usually no longer carried around the stomach, but over the shoulder at chest height. Hardly any fashion designer, from Chanel to Louis Vuitton, who didn't let their models walk down the catwalks with their bags. There is no actress or model who doesn't show it on Instagram. Even if the skinny ladies don't look like they're constantly carrying provisions.
Most popular among the younger generation
Even though Basel is not exactly one of the fashion capitals of this world, more and more of us, mostly younger people or young-at-heart men and women, are again enjoying their stomach pockets, or rather their breast pockets. However, if you ask Tally Weijl on Marktplatz, the bag is not yet offered by the company with headquarters in Basel. However, the emphasis lies on «not yet», because barfi.ch did not seem to be the first customer to ask for these bags... and then promptly discovered it in the product range of competitors. As the German proverb goes: «You always see each other twice in life.» Older Baslers are probably of the opinion that a third time would be exaggerated, however.
Sprinters Joseph and Wilson set new Swiss records
One day after Mujinga Kambundji (100m), sprinters Alex Wilson (200m) and 19-year-old Jason Joseph (110m) set national records at the Swiss Championships in Zofingen.
Alex Wilson had received a clear assignment from his 200m coach to become number 2 in the European season's best list. This achievement required a time of less than 20.20 seconds. The 27-year-old from Basel, a native Jamaican, fulfilled this assignment and improved his own Swiss record by eleven hundredths with a tailwind of 0.6 m/s and at 20.14 seconds. Only the Turkish world champion Ramil Guliyev (19.90) ran faster in 2018 among European sprinters.
On Friday, Wilson had fought a thrilling 100m duel with Silvan Wicki, which he won by three hundredths in 10.14 seconds. He wanted to avoid a similarly exciting development of the race over twice the distance, which he managed impressively even though he did not risk everything in the turn - Wicki lost 48 hundredths on him. Wilson made it clear, however, that the focus will be entirely on the European Championships in Berlin (7th to 12th August). He aims to win at least one medal there.
For the fourth time this year, Wilson set a Swiss record for half the track lap. However, he had already run 20.23 seconds in regular conditions one year ago in Zurich. The time did not go into the record books because he had started under protest after a false start and was subsequently disqualified. Mujinga Kambundji did not run for the women over 200m, as she felt a bit tired after the races of the day before.
Amazing Jason Joseph
Jason Joseph remained two hundredths below the previous national best over 110m hurdles (which Andreas Kundert had set ten years ago) in the semi-final with 13.39 seconds. In the final, it was measured as 13.38 seconds, but the tail wind was too strong with 2.2 m/s – a total of 2.0 m/s are allowed. "The measuring instruments were correct. I ran very hard in the back and was able to keep up the pace», Joseph said.
The record was no coincidence after the 13.46 seconds a month ago in Bern. Nonetheless, it is an astonishing performance, as the Baselbieter is only 19 years old and only competed in one race before this year with the high hurdles – for juniors, the hurdles are 7.6 centimetres lower. «It's incredible», Joseph said. «It shows that I am capable of something.» However, he knew that the high hurdles would not be difficult for him. He sees more potential at the start, and even between the hurdles, there are certainly still some minor improvements to be made. He aims to reach at least the semi-finals (Top 16) at the European Championships.
Sprunger without competition
Lea Sprunger remained below 55 seconds for the third time this year with 54.86 seconds over 400 m hurdles - the 28-year-old from the canton of Vaud leads the European season's best list with 54.79 seconds. Although the third-placed European Championships competitor of 2016 would have liked to have run faster, she was satisfied with her performance in view of the difficult conditions with headwind on the first 200m. The lack of competition was aggravating the situation, Sprunger said.
Selina Büchel, who made up some ground at the 800m European Championships, started in Zofingen over 400m and won the bronze medal with 54.14 seconds behind Fanette Humair (53.66) and Rachel Pellaud (53.97) from Western Switzerland. The 26-year-old from Toggenburg had hoped to run as fast as a year ago in Zurich (52.97).
All in all, however, Büchel drew a positive conclusion, as she managed a marked increase over the «markedly disappointing» preliminary run (55.40). «Such an improvement is good for your self-confidence», stated the two-time European indoor champion over 800m, who recently had to fight a stubborn cold.