Free Republic

A duck gets flashed flying at 52km/h in a 30 zone sets off a speed camera, and it might not be his first offence. A duck has done what no one expected: triggered a Swiss speed camera. But the real twist? This may not have been his first time. On April 13th 2025, in the quiet town of Köniz, near Bern in Switzerland, police reviewing routine radar footage were surprised to spot a mallard duck clocked at 52km/h in a 30km/h zone. The feathered flyer was snapped mid-air, in full flight — and clearly not respecting local traffic laws. Just...

But there's a catch.Late Stone Age jugs tell us that a form of “beer,” loosely defined as represented by residues of fermentation, has been with us for 10,000 years. And the earliest evidence of wine production is 6,000 years old — so we’ve had a little time to grapple with alcohol and its bodily effects. More precisely, we’ve had several thousand years in which alcohol in its many fine forms has always gotten the better of us. Humans are, by definition, really, really good at getting drunk. Understanding the chemistry of that metabolic transaction – the immediate absorption of the...

ZURICH -- Switzerland has vowed to prevent UBS from handing over client information to U.S. authorities, in an attempt to defend bank secrecy, saying a tax case targeting its main bank is souring diplomatic ties. Wealth management giant UBS is facing a court hearing in Miami next week after refusing to disclose data on 52,000 Americans holders of secret Swiss bank accounts to U.S. tax authorities. The Swiss Justice Ministry said on Wednesday that Swiss law prevents UBS from handing over client information and the government would seize UBS client data, if necessary, to stop that happening. The case, which...

MOSCOW - Boris Berezovsky, Russian tycoon who was granted refugee status in Britain after fleeing Moscow, said the opening of a Swiss money-laundering investigation against him was an "anti-Semitic act". The oligarch accused Swiss authorities of applying double standards. "Swiss authorities try to hide the crime of the Nazis in Swiss banks. I think it is just a continuation of the same game," Mr. Berezovsky, who is Jewish, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from London. He said he did not believe it was an independent decision of Swiss prosecutors. According to Mr. Berezovsky, he has direct evidence...