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In UN Watch's press release, the NGO cited the UN's Economic and Social Council's (ECOSOC) recent nomination of Iran to the UN’s Committee for Program and Coordination. UN Watch demanded an explanation on Saturday from democratic countries for why they'd allowed "serial abusers of human rights" to be elected to key positions in the United Nations. In UN Watch's press release, the NGO cited the UN's Economic and Social Council's (ECOSOC) recent nomination of Iran to the UN’s Committee for Program and Coordination, which would include an active role in shaping policy on women's rights, disarmament, and terrorism prevention, as...

A halal butcher in Zurich, Switzerland has sold 3.1 tons of pork labeled as veal to Muslim customers, who haven’t noticed any difference for three years. https://x.com/AzatAlsalim/status/1925558828701024355

A halal butcher sells – in theory – halal meat, that is to say, meat permitted by Islamic law and therefore, a fortiori, not pork. This Zurich butcher doesn't seem to share that opinion. In three years, he allegedly sold 3.1 tons of pork, passing it off as veal , according to the Swiss version of 20 Minutes , which broke the story. The deception is twofold. Scam On the one hand, the religious men who bought their meat from his shop unwittingly broke their tradition . On the other hand, the butcher made significant profits since pork is much...

For three years, a butcher in Zurich (Switzerland) sold pork to customers who believed they were purchasing veal. Following an inspection by a food safety officer, the butcher has now been held accountable. A halal butcher sells—in theory—halal meat: that is, meat permitted under Islamic law, and therefore, *a fortiori*, not pork. This Zurich-based butcher, however, does not appear to share that view. Over a three-year period, he allegedly sold 3.1 tons of pork while passing it off as veal, according to the Swiss edition of *20Minutes*, which broke the story. The deception was twofold. **Fraud** On one hand, religious...

A bus fire in Switzerland killed at least six people and left three others hospitalized with severe injuries, police said Tuesday. They said they were investigating whether the blaze was intentionally set by someone on the bus. Police spokesperson Frederic Papaux of Fribourg canton, or region, said the inferno broke out Tuesday evening on a bus in the town of Kerzers, about 15 miles west of Bern, the Swiss capital. "At this stage, we have elements suggesting a deliberate act by a person who was inside the bus," Papaux said at a news conference, according to Reuters news agency. Police...

Swiss citizens will head to the polls this summer to vote on whether to limit the country’s population to a maximum of 10 million, with the stated goal of restricting immigration. The proposal was put forward by the far-right Swiss People’s Party, which calls for capping the population at 10 million. Under the proposed law, the Swiss government and parliament would be required to take action if the country’s population, currently 9.1 million, exceeds 9.5 million. Measures would include limiting the entry of immigrants, including asylum seekers and family members of foreign residents. If these steps fail and the population...

I’m at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland where I saw Chrystia Freeland, the disgraced former MP and cabinet minister. Actually, I think she saw me first and tried to hide from my sight.So I decided to ask her some questions.Now, if I had been in Canada, she would have had me arrested. That’s what she did to our reporter, David Menzies. And of course, she had no compunction about seizing bank accounts from hundreds of her political enemies during the trucker protest. (snip)I also asked her about her accepting a job working for the Ukrainian government, while also...

Top business leaders this week delivered an expletive-laden plea in defense of climate action, describing the backlash to Europe’s green transition as an “aberration.” In an interview with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Allianz CEO Oliver Bäte said he disagreed with the suggestion that it may just be a matter of time before net zero is dismissed in Europe, saying short-term thinking on this issue is “bulls---.” Asked about political leaders backtracking on their much-vaunted European Green New Deal and Norway’s oil fund reportedly defending a push from companies to water down their climate goals, Bäte...

During a speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in Davos, Switzerland, President Donald J. Trump asserted that the conflict in Ukraine would not have occurred if he had remained in office in 2022. He attributed the war to the alleged rigging of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.(snip)The America First leader went on to say that legal action over election rigging is imminent, warning, “People will soon be prosecuted for what they did, that’s probably breaking news.”

Violent protests erupted in several Swiss cities as American flags were burned and riot police clashed with demonstrators ahead of President Trump’s arrival in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum. Trump is scheduled to arrive Wednesday and is expected to deliver a speech at the annual gathering of global political leaders and corporate executives. His visit comes amid heightened tensions with European leaders after Trump doubled down on his push to acquire Greenland for U.S. national security reasons and declined to rule out military options. The Davos forum, held in eastern Switzerland, is one of the world’s most high-profile...

Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a frank assessment of how he views the world in a provocative speech in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, where he said the longstanding U.S.-led, rules-based international order is over and middle powers like Canada must pivot to avoid falling prey to further "coercion" from powerful actors. Without invoking U.S. President Donald Trump by name, Carney referenced "American hegemony" and said "great powers" are using economic integration as "weapons." "Canadians know that our old, comfortable assumption that our geography and alliance memberships automatically conferred prosperity and security is no longer valid," Carney said. As it grapples...

President Trump trolled European leaders over Greenland by sharing an AI-generated picture of himself planting a US flag on the autonomous Danish territory — as he leaked fawning text messages from world statesmen ahead of the high-stakes Davos summit this week. The image, shared by the president early Tuesday on Truth Social, shows Trump marking his territory, followed by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. It also features a sign declaring Greenland a “US territory est. 2026.” In a separate AI-generated picture shared by the defiant commander-in-chief, European leaders — including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer,...

Trump to ban large institutional investors from buying up single-family homes Trump said that he would discuss the announcement further at his speech in Davos, Switzerland, in two weeks. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he is taking immediate steps to ban large institutional investors from purchasing additional single-family homes, arguing that corporate ownership has pushed homeownership out of reach for many Americans. In a post shared Tuesday afternoon, Trump said buying and owning a home was long considered “the pinnacle of the American Dream,” but claimed that record-high inflation under the Biden administration and congressional Democrats has made that...

Live Science reports that two 2,300-year-old gold coins have been recovered from the Bärenfels bog in northern Switzerland by a pair of volunteers working with the local archaeology department, Archaeology Baselland. These Celtic coins imitated Greek gold staters minted during the reign of Philip II of Macedon (reigned 360–336 B.C.), and feature an image of the Greek god Apollo on one side and a two-horse chariot on the other. The Celts added a triple spiral known as a triskele, or triskelion, beneath the horses on the smaller coin's reverse. These gold coins, and the 34 silver coins that had previously...

The Swiss federal government announced on Monday that it has frozen “any assets held in Switzerland by Nicolás Maduro and other persons associated with him, with immediate effect.” Maduro was taken into custody by the U.S. military on Saturday to face narco-terrorism and weapons charges. The Federal Council, which is the seven-member cabinet that serves jointly as head of state for Switzerland, said it was acting quickly to “prevent an outflow of assets.” “The asset freeze does not affect members of the current Venezuelan government,” the statement noted. “Should future legal proceedings reveal that the funds were illicitly acquired, Switzerland...

Around 40 revelers were killed and another 100 injured, most of them seriously, after an explosion ripped through a packed bar in a Swiss Alps resort town during a New Year’s celebration, officials said. The deadly blaze erupted around 1:30 a.m. at the Le Constellation bar in the ritzy ski resort town of Crans-Montana in the Valais Canton. While the cause of the fire remains unclear, it appears to have been an accident. Witnesses believe the explosion was triggered by sparklers being held too close to the ceiling, which set the roof on fire, according to reports. “At the moment...

Swiss police say they've identified two bodies found among an Alpine glacier as a couple missing for nearly 75 years. Valais canton police said Wednesday that forensic experts using DNA analysis identified them as Marcelin Dumoulin and his wife, Francine. They were 40 and 37, respectively, when they disappeared on Aug. 15, 1942. The couple's daughter, now 79, has said her parents set off on foot to feed their animals but never returned. Police were alerted on Friday to the bodies on the Tsanfleuron glacier at 2,615 metres above sea level. Regional police have a list going back to 1925...

A Swiss man, Emanuel Brünisholz, is serving 10 days in prison in Switzerland for saying on Facebook that skeletons are either male or female. For that remark I was fined 500 Swiss francs. I refused to pay, and so, on the 2nd of December 2025, I will serve ten days in prison. It is worth noting that, legally speaking, this prison sentence is not a punishment for refusing to pay the fine. Instead, the prison sentence is an alternative way to be punished for the Facebook post itself. I have chosen to trade a monetary fine for time behind bars....

Ludwig Minelli, the head of Dignitas, is 77. A trained lawyer, he founded the assisted suicide organisation 12 years ago.The organisation, whose slogan is '"live with dignity, die with dignity", has helped over 1,000 people to die. Many of them are people who have travelled to Switzerland because assisted suicide is not permitted in their own countries. Dignitas has the status of an association under Swiss law, with two active members, Mr Minelli and one other. The identity of the other member has not been revealed. These two active members control the policy and financing of Dignitas.Question: You have been...

Two sisters are selling tickets for a party to raise money to enable their mother to commit suicide at a Swiss clinic. Jackie Baker, 59, wants to travel to the Dignitas euthanasia clinic after developing motor neurone disease in February. Her daughters Tara O'Reilly and Rose Baker are desperately trying to raise £8,000 so their mother can "die with dignity" in Switzerland. Hairdresser Tara, 40, is selling tickets for a girls night out with drag artist and playboy waiters to raise the funds for her mother. Tara said: "It's what she wants. We were very upset at the beginning but...