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India is set for a power-packed representation at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in this Alpine resort town that will see the global elite discuss "a spirit of dialogue" in a fragmented world for five days beginning Monday. US President Donald Trump will be the biggest star among over 3,000 global leaders from government, business, academia, multi-lateral bodies, civil society, and labour unions. Trump is coming with his five cabinet members and the city has got a USA House for the first time in over five decades, it has hosted the annual WEF summit. The WEF said at least 64 heads of government or state would be present, while six out of seven G-7 countries would be represented by their top leadership. China and Pakistan will also have big delegations attending the event. Pakistan will also host for the first time a 'Sufi Night' where it will also serve 'Indus Valley' delicacies. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also be present, WEF President and CEO Borge Br
Around 1880, English people suffering from the then-fatal and raging tuberculosis sought refuge in the mountain air of Davos in the hope of getting well and also built a church here. That church is now the USA House for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting week. The historic church will host US President Donald Trump, his cabinet colleagues, businessmen, and others attending the five-day annual meeting of over 3,000 global leaders starting Monday. By far, Trump is already being seen as the biggest star of this year's congregation of rich and powerful from across the world in this Swiss ski resort town, which first rose on the global map as a health tourism destination due to the tuberculosis raging across Europe in the late 19th century. The Englische Kirche church on the main promenade of this small town was apparently to be demolished in the late 1970s to make way for an apartment complex, but locals came together to stop that. Now, it is listed as a historical monument and ha
More than 5,000 armed forces personnel, snipers at vantage points, AI-powered drones and special tools to counter spywares and espionage -- security is like never before in this small Swiss town this week. As the global elites start descending on the snow-clad skiing resort town for the five-day extravaganza of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, which begins on Monday, it is teeming with not just black business suits but also blue, black, and yellow hues - the colours of the jackets worn by the army, police, and other security personnel. Checks are common at all entry points, as well as at random places, given the high-profile nature of the attendees, who include more than 400 political leaders from across the world, comprising at least 64 heads of state or government. Then there are over a thousand CEOs, members of civil society, labour representatives, faith-based organisations, cultural luminaries and social entrepreneurs, as well as academics, experts and think tanks. Top
Fire safety inspections hadn't been carried out for several years at the bar where a fire that broke out at a New Year's party left 40 people dead, and over 100 injured, local authorities said on Tuesday. Investigators have said they believe festive sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fire at Le Constellation in the resort town of Crans-Montana when they came too close to the ceiling. Authorities are looking into whether soundproofing material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar. Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the bar managers. The two are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm, and involuntarily causing a fire, according to the Valais region's chief prosecutor. Regional authorities have said that safety inspections were the responsibility of the municipality. On Tuesday, the head of Crans-Montana's municipal government, Nicolas Feraud, said that there ha
Swiss authorities have opened an investigation into the managers of the bar where a fire at a New Year's party left 40 people dead, police said Saturday. The two are suspected of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing fire by negligence, police said in a statement. They said that the investigation was opened on Friday night, but didn't give further details. More than 100 people were injured in the blaze that broke out about 1:30 am on Thursday at the Le Constellation bar in the Alpine resort town of Crans-Montana. The process of identifying the dead and injured was still underway on Saturday, leading to an agonising wait for relatives desperate for news. Investigators said Friday that they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fatal fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the crowded bar. Many of the injured were in their teens to mid-20s, police said. Authorities planned to look into whether sound-dampening material on the ceiling ...
Switzerland's glaciers have faced enormous melting this year with a 3 per cent drop in total volume the fourth-largest annual drop on record due to the effects of global warming, top Swiss glaciologists have reported. The shrinkage this year means that ice mass in Switzerland home to the most glaciers in Europe has declined by one-quarter over the last decade, the Swiss glacier monitoring group GLAMOS and the Swiss Academy of Sciences said in their report Wednesday. Glacial melting in Switzerland was once again enormous in 2025, the scientists said. A winter with low snow depth combined with heat waves in June and August led to a loss of 3 per cent of the glacier volume. Switzerland is home to nearly 1,400 glaciers, the most of any country in Europe, and the ice mass and its gradual melting have implications for hydropower, tourism, farming and water resources in many European countries. More than 1,000 small glaciers in Switzerland have already disappeared, the experts said.
Once largely confined to spiritual use among Indians, Rudraksha seeds are now gaining popularity in Switzerland, with rising demand from both the diaspora and local Swiss, an official said. "It is a niche market now, set to be solidified by the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), which comes into force from October 1," an official said. India and the four European nations bloc, EFTA (European Free Trade Association), signed the agreement on March 10, 2024. In 2024-25, India exported the commodity worth Rs 0.97 crore. "While Switzerland's Indian diaspora of over 27,000 people provides a foundational market for these seeds, the primary driver is a burgeoning wellness and mindfulness movement among the broader Swiss population," the official said. Swiss online retailers and yoga shops now market Rudraksha malas (prayer beads) not just as religious items, but as tools for a secular kind of spirituality. A Zurich-based online yoga store sells a simple Rudraksha