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Switzerland fires hockey coach who admitted to faking vaccination status for 2022 Beijing Olympics
Patrick Fischer, the Swiss hockey coach who admitted he received a fraudulent vaccination card to coach the men’s hockey team in the 2022 Olympics, has been fired.
Urs Kessler, president of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation, hinted that the “public discussion about values and trust” wound up playing a role in the firing despite the case being “legally closed.”
“Trust and integrity are central to our sport and to our organization. From today’s perspective, our initial assessment — that the matter was closed — fell short. This is about values and respect, which are fundamental to Swiss Ice Hockey, and were not upheld by Patrick Fischer in 2022,” Kessler said in a statement.
“The federation regrets that it did not give this aspect enough consideration in its initial assessment.
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“At the same time, the federation thanks Patrick Fischer for his undisputed major sporting achievements. Under his leadership, the Swiss national team has developed steadily over more than a decade, moved up from eighth to second place in the world rankings, and won three silver medals, thereby leaving a lasting mark on Swiss ice hockey.”
Fischer admitted he used a certificate falsely claiming he’d been vaccinated against COVID-19 to get around China’s strict travel restrictions.
Swiss public broadcaster SRF said it confronted Fischer with documents showing he was fined nearly 39,000 Swiss francs ($50,000) by local authorities in 2023 for document forgery after buying the certificate on social media. SRF said he went public with his admission shortly after.
In a statement late Monday, Fischer said he made a “serious mistake in this matter” by traveling to Beijing with the Switzerland men’s team using false paperwork.
“I’m very sorry if I’ve disappointed people with this situation,” Fischer said. “I was in an extraordinary personal crisis because I didn’t want to be vaccinated. At the same time, I certainly didn’t want to let my team down at the Olympic Games.”
Ahead of the 2022 Olympics, China had some of the strictest COVID-19 rules in the world. It insisted any athletes heading to the Games had to either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or sit out a three-week quarantine in a hotel as Swiss snowboarder Patrizia Kummer did.
Switzerland hosts the world championship next month. Fischer was already due to step down after that.
Fischer is one of Switzerland’s most successful hockey coaches ever. He’s been in the post since 2015 and took the team to three Olympics and won three silver medals at the world championships.
Fischer played for the Swiss national team in the 2002 and 2006 Olympics and also played for the country’s 1994 World Juniors team. He spent most of his career playing for EV Zug of Switzerland’s National League A, where his jersey number is retired.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Ex-CENTCOM commander warns against ‘risky’ US ground operation to seize Iran’s enriched uranium
Ret. U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus said assassinating more of Iran’s leadership will not end ongoing issues while warning against a U.S. ground operation to seize Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.
“This would be a very, very tall order, it would be exceedingly risky. And the casualties could potentially be quite substantial,” he said Monday on “Jesse Watters Primetime.”
“Assassinating a few more leaders is not going to bring this issue to a close,” he added.
Petraeus’ comments come as the two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is set to expire Wednesday, with President Donald Trump asserting an extension is “very unlikely.”
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The former CENTCOM commander, who led troops into battle during the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, said the deployment of U.S. ground troops to Iran would be very risky.
“We’re not really sure where these canisters are, of this thousand pounds of 60 percent enriched uranium,” he said. “They’re going to have to excavate very, very substantially. And by the way, that’s what makes the idea of a forced ground operation very, very challenging.”
Petraeus noted that while Iran has felt the damage of the United States’ military campaign, the regime is not hopeless.
“They’ve seen lots and lots of damage that we can inflict,” he said.
“They know what we can do… They’re also trying to figure out how much they can give on these other issues that traditionally have been very, very difficult to negotiate.”
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Trump said he will enforce the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports until a deal is reached. However, Petraeus said the economic pressure has not made Iran completely hopeless.
“They’re not at the point of desperation,” he argued.
The former CIA director argued that both the U.S. and Iran want the war to end, citing economic challenges that both nations have experienced amid the 52-day conflict.
“I don’t think that either side really wants to return to full-on combat,” Petraeus said. “There has been damage to infrastructure in the Gulf states. And we certainly don’t want to see more of that.”
Vice President JD Vance and senior White House officials are set to depart for Pakistan on Tuesday for a new round of peace talks, though recent reports from Iranian state media cast doubt on such meetings.
“I think both sides, frankly, really do want an agreement,” Petraeus said. “Obviously, there are challenges domestically for us if this continues. Obviously, there are huge challenges for them [Iran] economically and financially if it continues.”
The former CENTCOM commander said the two main points of discussion in the talks will be Iran’s uranium enrichment and the restoration of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
“We’ll see if there is trade space,” he said.
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Nancy Sinatra slams Trump’s use of father’s song ‘My Way’ as ‘sacrilege’
Singer Nancy Sinatra called President Donald Trump’s reference to her father Frank Sinatra’s song “My Way” a “sacrilege.”
On Saturday, Trump posted a video to Truth Social of Frank Sinatra singing his classic song in light of his renewed threats to destroy Iranian infrastructure for the country allegedly violating a ceasefire agreement.
The song begins with the opening lines, “And now/the end is near/And so I face/the final curtain” which resemble Trump’s past threats to destroy the nation.
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“Omg, @NancySinatra will not be happy about this. Trump goes against everything that Frank stood for. He was a big champion for equality and supported the Civil Rights movement,” one person commented on X.
The 85-year-old “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” singer later responded to this comment, adding, “This is a sacrilege.”
She reposted users’ comments criticizing Trump’s post and use of the song, insisting Frank Sinatra would not agree with Trump’s politics.
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“Trump may love Sinatra, but Sinatra did not love Trump,” one person wrote.
“This is just sickening. Frank Sinatra would never have allowed that monster in the White House to use his music or put his lyrics in his mouth. Sinatra was a man of honor, a man who never had to lie about who he truly was because he WAS the greatest. trump is a loser,” another wrote.
Sinatra also responded to a fan asking if she could do anything to stop Trump from using the song.
“Unfortunately no. The only people who can do something are the publishers,” she responded.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
Trump previously danced with first lady Melania Trump to the song “My Way” at the Liberty Ball after his first inauguration in 2017. At the time, Sinatra joked about the news writing, “Just remember the first line of the song.”
She later deleted the post and denied that she was “angry” that Trump used the song.
“What a rotten spin to put on a harmless joke,” Sinatra tweeted.
She also wrote, “I’m not sure why this became such a big deal. It was really just a joke.”
When asked whether she was upset over her father’s song being used by Trump, Sinatra wrote at the time, “Actually I’m wishing him the best. A good president helps the entire world. I don’t believe anyone tries to be a bad president.”
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Mom, pregnant teen and 12-year-old found bound and murdered as police hunt multiple suspects
An Alabama woman, her pregnant teenage daughter and her 12-year-old son were found brutally murdered in their home, authorities said.
Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch said deputies responded to a home in Wilmer just after 2:30 a.m., where they discovered the three bodies in separate rooms with their hands tied behind their backs.
The victims were identified as 46-year-old Lisa Gail Fields, who was stabbed; 17-year-old Keziah Arionna Luker, who was shot; and 12-year-old Thomas Cordelle Jr., who had his throat cut and was nearly decapitated.
“It was a brutal scene,” Burch said. “If you’ve got a beef with an adult… there’s nothing worth killing over, but to murder two children brutally… I hope and feel comfortable we’ll have this animal or animals off the streets soon.”
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An 18-month-old child was found unharmed in the home.
“At this point, we don’t suspect any kind of domestic or family-type situation,” Burch told reporters.
Burch noted that the home was “left in disarray,” suggesting the perpetrators may have been searching for something. Investigators believe more than one person was involved in the killings because the victims had been subdued.
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Luker was seven or eight months pregnant, the sheriff added.
“The mother was stabbed, the 17-year-old was shot, and the 12-year-old’s throat was cut as was the mom,” Burch said. “It tells me that they had a plan coming in to bring zip ties or flex cuffs with them so they had a plan.”
The father-to-be, who works offshore, triggered the discovery after he grew concerned when he could not reach Luker after he saw her cell phone activated on Life 360, the sheriff said. Another family member went to check on her and found all three victims in separate rooms with their hands bound behind them.
The Mobile County District Attorney’s Office will determine whether the death of Luker’s unborn child warrants an additional murder charge once a suspect is arrested.
Burch said investigators currently have “positive leads” in the case.
Luker’s father told WALA-TV that his daughter had just received her GED.
“It’s a senseless murder,” he said. “She was a bubble of sunshine. A person that makes you smile; a person that’ll make you laugh whenever you’re down. She had empathy for everybody. She loved her brothers; she loved her mom; she loved all of us.”
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