Foto: Keystone
Foto: Keystone
  • dt / keystone / barfi
  • Aktualisiert am

Local News Summary of June, 25th

  • Federer in the Final in Halle for the tenth time
  • Teen arrested after allegedly threatening taxi driver with a handgun in Riehen
  • Ahoi! The longship crosses the Rhine

Federer in the Final in Halle for the tenth time

Roger Federer has made it to the final of the ATP-500-tournament in Halle for the tenth time. The winner of the Australian Open defeated 21-year-old Russian Karen Chatschanow in the semi-final within 85 minutes 6:4, 7:6 (7:5)

Since Federer allowed his young rival a tie-break in the second set when the score was at 5:4, the Swiss player had to add a non expected loop. After defending a set point before the tie-break he prevailed in the short path to 7:5.

Federer's adversary in the final on Sunday will be the winner of the match between the experienced Franch player Richard Gasquet (ATP 30) and the number 4 of the tournament, the youngster Alexander Zverev (ATP 12).

Teen arrested after allegedly threatening taxi driver with a handgun in Riehen

A taxi driver was threatened with a weapon yesterday morning at Schützengasse in Riehen. He was uninjured. The alleged perpetrator, a 17-year-old, was arrested.

According to early investigations of the criminal police of the prosecution and the youth advocacy, the youngster got into a taxi in the Breite area at 5.45 and took a lift to Webergasse. When the taxi arrived at its destinaton, the teenager got out and asked the driver to wait for a moment. He then got back into the taxi and was driven to Birsfelden where again he asked the driver to wait since he had to apparently get something from a friend.

Since the youngster obviously did not have enough money on him for the fare and the cost of the fare was rising, the driver asked for a deposit. The youngster gave him his identity card before asking the driver to take him to Kleinbasel and from there to Schützengasse in Riehen in order to get money from his father. A short while later, the youngster returned to the car with a handgun and allegedly threatened the taxi driver before forcing him to hand over his identity card. The teenager then apparently ran away.

Shortly afterwards the police were able to arrest the alleged perpetrator, a 17-year-old Swiss citizen, in Riehen, and secure the weapon.

Ahoi! The longship crosses the Rhine

Since 10am yesterday a longship of the water farer association Rhenania St. Johann Basel has been crossing the Rhine for free. From 10am to 5pm the longship chugs acros the river with a maximum of 12 people on board. Barfi.ch went to check it out.

Since Monday, the Mittlere Brücke and Greifengasse have been turned into a construction site. The Mittlere Brücke remains closed to all traffic until 13. August. Only pedestrians can currently cross the bridge, which is an important hub for traffic, because the tram rails are to be replaced.

This situation ignited the water farers of WFV Rhenania St. Johann Basel to turn pedestrians into longship passengers. How it feels to take part in such a crossing and if it can replace the walk over the Mittlere Brücke has been tested by barfi.ch.

Barfi.ch in the self-test

When barfi.ch arrived at Schifflände just before 11am numerous people were waiting at the pier. The longship of the water farers was just on its way to the Kleinbasler bank of the Rhine. This gave us the possibility to ask passengers their opinions of the temporary ferry. A young couple with two kids said they were looking forward to the experience, but added: «It won't be much different than the traditional ferries». Also another waiting couple shares this opinion. They were «just around and anyway had to go to the other side of the Rhine to an apéro», and since they like to use the ferry, they found it practical that there was one directly underneath the Mittlere Brücke.

A sign on the self-built pier which seems a bit wonky says that a maximum of 12 people can travel on the boat together. Since there are more than 20 people ahead of us we are prepared that we have to wait our turn.

Now we have to wait

The longship reached the bank at Kleinbasel and turns back to the Hotel Drei Könige, just where the «Lällekönig» boat arrives and landed at Schifflände. Now we realise that not all people are waiting for the longship but also for the passenger ferry.

Since the «Lällekönig» leaves at 11.30am, the longship with all its passengers on board can't do anything else other than wait in the middle of the Rhine. And also we must be patient. In the 15 minutes in which more and more people enter the «Lällekönig», the «Ueli-Fähri» crosses over six times between the shores.

A wonky entrance

Then finally the «Lällekönig» has left and the longship boat can land. Due to the departure of the «Lällekönig» there are some waves which make the improvised pier wobble. After all 10 guests have taken a seat, we get unterway. The longship actually offers seats for 30 people but the regulations of the Rhine police only allow 12 guests. The water farers assume that there could be a connection to the water taxis which are in competition with the longship. After two minutes, the crossing is finished and we can leave the boat on the Kleinbasler side where the pier is less wobbly.

All in all the idea of the water farers is very nice, but the entrance on the Grossbasler side can cause difficulties to many passengers. Therefore we would recommend for families with small children or a buggy, as well as older people, that they instead use the traditional Rhine ferries.