Free Republic

Bars and nightclubs in the eastern Swiss city of Winterthur are introducing a new alert system to help tackle sexual harassment, news agency ATS reported on Thursday. Women who feel unsafe or uncomfortable due to unwanted attention on a night out can simply go up to a member of staff in the bar or club and ask ‘Is Luisa there?’ The set phrase is a discreet way for women to ask for help. Staff can then act to protect the affected woman either by getting security staff involved, calling her a taxi or taking her to a safe place. …

The association that runs the An’Nour mosque in Winterthur has lodged a complaint with police against two members of the congregation thought to have reported their imam for inciting murder — a day after ten people were arrested for allegedly beating up the duo in revenge. On Tuesday morning, police in the canton of Zürich arrested ten suspects in a raid on a dozen houses in Winterthur. One was later released, but eight adults and one juvenile remain in custody, accused of having beaten up and threatened two individuals at the mosque last November. The pair are thought to have...

Prosecutors have opened criminal proceedings against four people associated with a mosque in the city of Winterthur for public incitement to crime and violence. Police descended on the An’Nur mosque on Wednesday morning to conduct a search of the building and three other houses in the area after receiving evidence against four people, Zürich’s public prosecutor’s office said in a statement. The investigation relates to a sermon given by the mosque’s Ethiopian imam on October 21st in which he “called for the murder of Muslims who refuse to participate in communal prayer”, said the statement. […] Winterthur is considered a...

WINTERTHUR, DE - Winterthur Museum recently acquired one of the earliest known American depictions of the Easter Bunny, which was sold at Pook & Pook auction house in Downingtown , Pennsylvania . Together with the Christmas tree, the custom of the Easter rabbit and colored eggs was brought to America by immigrants from southwestern Germany in the 1700s, and has become a favorite American tradition. This delightful image is attributed to schoolmaster Johann Conrad Gilbert (1734–1812), who emigrated from Germany in 1757 and ultimately settled in Berks County , Pennsylvania . He likely made the drawing as a gift for...