Zurich councilor indicted for shooting at Madonna and child poster
The Zurich public prosecutor's office confirmed the indictment of Sanija Ameti to The Associated Press on Monday. Her actions in September caused an uproar, prompting her to resign from the local leadership of the Green-Liberal party. Ameti is now listed as an independent on the website of the municipal council.
A redacted copy of the indictment, posted by the activist group Mass Voll, said Ameti was accused of 'disturbing religious freedom' and that prosecutors were seeking a fine and penalty equivalent to 12,500 Swiss francs (about $15,600).
The Swiss criminal code says anyone who 'publicly and maliciously insults or mocks the religious convictions of others' or 'maliciously desecrates objects of religious veneration' is liable to a monetary penalty, the indictment copy stated.
A top leader with Operation Libero, a political movement Ameti co-founded that describes itself as liberal and progressive, did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
Ameti apologized at the time and quickly pulled down the images after posting them on Instagram and reportedly sought police protection against threats after the incident. She later said she had been practicing shots and found the poster 'big enough' for a suitable target.
The poster, an advertisement, showed details of the work 'Madonna with Child and the Archangel Michael' by 14th-century Italian painter Tommaso del Mazza before a sale.
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Daily Mail
4 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
'Get your act together': Bullish Donald Trump touches down in Scotland to inaugurate his new golf course and immediately warns Europe it 'won't exist' unless it cracks down on immigration
President Donald Trump said Europe 'better get your act together' on immigration, US President Donald Trump said as he landed in Scotland. Mr Trump landed in the country earlier today for a four-day visit to both of his golf clubs in Aberdeen and Ayrshire. Jetting in at around 8.30pm, the president was greeted by Scottish Secretary Ian Murray before speaking to reporters. Asked about illegal immigration - which successive UK governments have sought to curb - Mr Trump said: 'On immigration, you better get your act together. You're not going to have Europe anymore, you've got to get your act together. 'As you know, last month we had nobody entering our country - nobody, (we) shut it down.' He added: 'You've got to stop this horrible invasion that's happening to Europe' add that immigration was 'killing Europe'. Some European leaders, he continued, 'have not let it happen' and are 'not getting the proper credit they should', though the president did not say who he was talking about. The president also praised Sir Keir Starmer ahead of a meeting between the two at one of his courses in the coming days, describing him as a 'good man'. 'I like your Prime Minister, he's slightly more liberal than I am - as you probably heard - but he's a good man. He got a trade deal done,' he said. 'You know, they've been working on this deal for 12 years, he got it done - that's a good deal, it's a good deal for the UK.' Mr Trump also suggested he would be meeting Sir Keir 'tomorrow evening', although it is understood the pair will not meet until Monday. As well as the Prime Minister, Scottish First Minister John Swinney will meet with the president, as will European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who confirmed on X she will come to Scotland on Sunday in a bid to hash out a trade deal between the US and Europe. Mr Trump told journalists there was a 'good 50/50 chance' of a deal being struck, adding that it would be the 'biggest deal of them all'. The president and Sir Keir are expected to discuss potential changes to the UK-US trade deal which came into force last month. Mr Swinney has pledged to 'essentially speak out for Scotland'. Speaking as he boarded Air Force One in the US, Mr Trump said he would be having dinner with the Prime Minister at Turnberry, before 'going to the oil capital of Europe, which is Aberdeen'. He said: 'We're going to have a good time. I think the Prime Minister and I get along very well.' Mr Trump added: 'We're going to be talking about the trade deal that we made and maybe even approve it.' He also told journalists he was 'looking forward' to meeting with the 'Scottish leader' Mr Swinney, describing him as a 'good man'. A huge security operation codenamed Operation Roll 2, involving police from across the UK and expected to cost £3million, is underway – with protests planned in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and at both golf courses. A 10ft-high metal barrier 'ring of steel' has been installed at Turnberry to protect the President. Mr Trump's family have spoken of their excitement over his visit with Eric Trump, the executive vice-president of his father's Trump Organization, saying the President had waited 'years' to come back to the country of his late mother's birth. Eric Trump told the Scottish Daily Mail: 'We have just completed the greatest course on Earth and waited years for this day to come. I've never been more proud to have my father arrive in Scotland to see his original dream come to fruition.' Kirsty Haigh, of the Scotland Against Trump group, told Sky News: 'He should not be welcomed by us.' Along with protests, Trump' visit has been overshadowed already by the Jeffrey Epstein case, with daily revelations and new legal developments. He chided reporters for pestering about the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, whose case has roiled his administration. 'You're making a very big thing over something that's not a big thing,' he said. Asked about Ghislaine Maxwell's meeting with a top Justice Department official, Trump responded: 'I don't know anything about he conversation. I haven't really been following it.' He isn't ruling out a presidential pardon. 'This is no time to be talking about pardons,' he said. He pushed back when asked about infrastructure issues that the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews has raised about Turnberry being able to handle a massive tournament. 'The best course anywhere in the world, is Turnberry. The players all want to be a Turnberry. Everybody wants to be a Turnberry,' Trump said. He said the course infrastructure 'is good,' and said the Royal and Ancient 'spent a lot of money, hundreds of thousands of dollars, or probably into the millions of dollars, and they've laid all the wire for television and for electricity under the holes of Turnberry. 'So when the Open gets there, they have it all done. They paid for that,' Trump said. Trump's windmill grudge is familiar to many Americans. He raised the issue while calling Aberdeen the 'oil capital of Europe.' 'You fly over and you see these windmills all over the place, ruining your beautiful fields and valleys and killing your birds, and if they're stuck in the ocean, ruining your oceans,' Trump fumed. 'Stop the windmills.' Trump, 79, has made golf an important part of his life and his business empire – visiting courses more than 60 times in his second term. He is doing so again six months into his second term, with planned visits to both of his Scottish courses. Back in D.C., the president spoke reverentially about his Turnberry course as he left the White House – but still got hit with questions about whether he would pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, who met with top DOJ officials this week amid new scrutiny of the convicted sex offender who died in his jail cell. He issued a new iteration of his denial of a sensational report in the Wall Street Journal that he drew a picture of a woman for Epstein as part of a special birthday volume. 'Somebody could have written a letter and used my name,' Trump posited. He said he has the 'power' to pardon Maxwell, who is serving jail time after being convicted of assisting Epstein in his sex trafficking network. Here in Scotland, Trump is set to inaugurate a new course in Aberdeenshire, on a trip where squeezing his hosts to bring the British Open to his Turnberry Course is also on tap. The new MacLeod course in Menie is named for his late mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born in Scotland and emigrated to the U.S. Trump is already predicting victory on that front. 'I think they will do that,' he said of bringing the Open to his Turnberry course. 'Turnberry is rated the number one course in the world. I think they'll do that.' But he pushed back when asked if he was going to convince anyone of his stance on the trip. 'No, it's not about that,' Trump said. 'It's the best resort in the world, I think, Turnberry, and it's one of the greatest courses in the world.' A potential championship isn't the only dealmaking on the horizon. Trump and British PM Keir Starmer, who inked a trade deal at the G7 in Canada shortly before Starmer dropped it on camera, still must negotiate substantial details. That puts prices for cars, auto parts, chicken, beef, and digital clicks in play, after a U.S.-UK trade deal in May set only broad parameters but left many details to be worked out. Trump set off confusion before he even left the White House when he told reporters that 'We're meeting with the prime minister tonight' and that 'We're going to be talking about the trade deal that we made and maybe even improve it.' There was no expectation that Trump would even see Starmer until later in his visit. There was, however, a new addition to his schedule. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she would meet with Trump Sunday to 'discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong' – setting up another high stakes negotiation. Trump has been flouting his ability to bring other nations to heel by publicly releasing trade letters announcing what tariffs they will face. The White House said the number had reached 25 before he left Washington. Trump blasted out yet another threat Friday when he said there was a 'fifty-fifty' chance of a deal with the European Union, while saying the powerful trade block must 'buy down' the threatened 30 percent tariff. But the lure of his upcoming State Visit and meeting with King Charles is preventing Trump from playing full hardball, one insider tells the Daily Mail. Trump's language as he left town was very much in keeping with that stance. Trump called it 'more fine-tuning.' 'And also we do a little celebrating together, because, you know, we got along very well. UK has been trying to make a deal with us for like 12 years, and haven't been able to do it. We got it done.' He called Starmer a 'good prime minister' and a 'good guy' who was 'doing a very good job. 'So we're going to see. We're going to meet at Turnberry and we're going to meet at Aberdeen. So two beautiful places.' But he said there was 'not a lot' of wiggle room on steel and aluminum tariffs he has imposed using Section 232 authority. The absence of detailed information on the weekend schedule released by the White House makes clear that there is plenty of golf in Trump's future. He has no public events Saturday or Sunday, when he will be at Turnberry. His Starmer meeting comes Monday, after which the pair are expected to tour Trump's new course. Trump is also expected to meeting First Minister John Swinney, who is scoring the face time despite publicly backing Trump's rival Kamala Harris in the election. Also greeting Trump: protests. During his 2018 visit to Scotland during his first term, Trump was trailed by a Trump baby balloon. This time, the Stop Trump Coalition is among groups planning to make a public statement, with protests expected at both of Trump's courses. Trump's former national security advisor John Bolton is among those positing that Trump's trip is more than a weekend getaway. He noted that Trump hadn't been there in seven years, and said maybe it would 'kick up a little free advertising after he comes and goes.'
Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump says he was never briefed on his name being in Epstein files
President Donald Trump on Friday denied ever being briefed by Attorney General Pam Bondi that his name was in the Jeffrey Epstein files. 'No, I was never briefed. No,' he told reporters after he landed in Scotland to visit his golf courses. But Bondi briefed Trump during a May 2025 meeting that his name was found in the Epstein documents 'multiple times,' according to reports. Other high-profile individuals are also named in the investigation about Epstein's [sexual] crimes. Just because the president is named in the files does not implicate him in any wrongdoing or connect him to Epstein's child [sexual] trafficking crimes. The Wall Street Journal originally broke the news of Bondi's briefing to Trump. The Justice Department told the news outlet that Trump was made aware of the findings of the Epstein files as part of the 'routine briefing.' Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche reportedly said that nothing was found in the files that would mandate an additional investigation - or even prosecution. 'As part of our routine briefing, we made the President aware of the findings,' they told the Journal. White House communications director Steven Cheung slammed the report as 'fake news' in a statement to the Daily Mail. 'The fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep. This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was right about,' he said when the report came out earlier this week. But, try as he might, Trump cannot move on from questions about Epstein, who died in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting charges related to [sexual] crimes. His death, ruled to be a suicide, sparked endless conspiracy theories that questioned how he may have really died and who among the rich and powerful would have benefitted from it. The most recent questions came as Ghislaine Maxwell, the only person currently behind bars for Epstein's child [sexual] trafficking ring, wrapped a second day of meetings with the Justice Department. Maxwell, 63, appears to be angling for a pardon from the president after she 'didn't hold back' during secret questioning session. Her attorney David Oscar Markus claimed that she spoke with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche about '100 different people' related to Epstein's child [sexual] trafficking ring. 'They asked about every possible thing you could imagine – everything,' Markus claimed. He also said Maxwell is being used as the 'scapegoat' in the entire Epstein case and has been 'treated unfairly for the last five years.' Her attorney said that they had not put in a formal request with the White House for a pardon for Maxwell following the conclusion of Day 2 of questioning. But Markus didn't rule out taking that action in the future, saying 'things are happening so quickly.' 'The president said earlier he has the power to do so, we hope he exercises that power in the right way,' he said of a potential commutation. Trump refused to rule out invoking his presidential pardon powers for Maxwell when asked on Friday morning. 'I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I haven't thought about,' he said. But, asked again about the matter later Friday, Trump, meanwhile, declined to talk about Maxwell and said 'this is no time to be talking about pardons.' 'I really have nothing to say about it. She is being talked to by a very smart man, a very good man, Todd Blanche. And I don't know anything about the conversation. I haven't really been following it,' he said. 'A lot of people are asking me about pardons. This is no time to be talking about pardons. But a lot of people have asked about pardons. This is just not the time to be talking about it,' he added.
Times
6 minutes ago
- Times
Two in five phones stolen across Europe taken in Britain
Nearly two in every five mobiles stolen across Europe are taken in the UK as British police struggle to contain an epidemic of phone theft. London is the centre of the problem and nearly one in every six phones stolen across the continent is snatched in the capital, according to insurance claims data. The figures show that thefts in Britain peak over the summer months and at Christmas, coinciding with travel, festivals and shopping. SquareTrade, an American company that offers gadget insurance across Europe, analysed claims data across its 12 European markets and found that Britons now make 39 per cent of all phone theft and loss claims, despite making up less than 10 per cent of its European customers.
