Free Republic

The bodies of five skiers have been found by rescuers near Switzerland's luxury Zermatt resort. They were recovered a day after emergency services were alerted by a group of climbers ascending the Rimpfischhorn - a 4,199-metre peak in the Valais Alps - to several pairs of skis left unattended near the summit. Aerial and ground searches led to the discovery of the bodies below the summit on the Adler Glacier, Valais local police said in a statement on Sunday. The victims were found at varying altitudes on avalanche debris in high altitude areas near the Swiss-Italian border. Three bodies were...

Vladimir Putin guzzled champagne as he blamed Ukraine for Russia's military strikes while admitting the Kremlin has struck key civilian infrastructure. "There's a lot of noise about our strikes on the energy infrastructure of a neighbouring country. Yes, we do that. But who started it?" the Russian president said at an awards ceremony. Russian President Vladimir Putin put on a grotesquely grand dinner for senior Kremlin members to award Gold Star medals to Heroes of Russia on the eve of Heroes of the Fatherland Day in Moscow. -snip- Also in attendance was Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Head of Chechnya, Ramzan...