DAVOS, Switzerland: Some 300 people including two millionaires protested in Davos Sunday ahead of next week’s gathering of the global elite at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss Alps.
Demonstrators carried placards with slogans such as “Tax the rich,” “Shut up! Pay taxes” and “Smash colonial capitalism,” blocking the road to the glitzy mountain resort.
Police moved in after the demonstrators ignored two calls for them to leave, a spokeswoman for the Graubunden cantonal police told the Keystone-ATS news agency.
With the blockade causing a major traffic jam, the authorities deployed a specialized vehicle to clear the highway ahead of the WEF’s Monday start.
Among those attending the protest was Austrian-German heiress Marlene Engelhorn, who gave away the bulk of her multi-million-euro inheritance to dozens of organizations working on social issues.
“The WEF symbolizes how much power wealthy people like me hold,” she told AFPTV.
“Because just because we are born millionaires, or because we got lucky once — and call that self-made — we now get to influence politicians worldwide with our political preferences,” she added.
“It’s a huge lobbyism effort. It’s a huge lack of transparency that we witness here, no accountability... I just think we need accountability, we need transparency, we need democracy to be in place here.”
Engelhorn also denounced the pollution being caused by private jets flying in for the summit.
Also at Sunday’s protest was Britain’s Phil White, part of a group called Patriotic Millionaires.
Many observers have expressed concern about the so-called “broligarchy” surrounding US President-elect Donald Trump, which includes billionaire Elon Musk.
Founded in 1971, the WEF offers a yearly opportunity for hundreds of business executives, politicians and other leading figures to mingle in the ski resort-turned-conference center over the course of a week.
More than 60 heads of state and government will be among those attending this year, according to the WEF.
Top of their minds will be Trump’s imminent return to the White House.
Trump is due to address the forum by videolink on January 23, according to the organizers, just three days after his inauguration Monday for a second term in office.
Swiss police clear hundreds of anti-Davos protesters
https://arab.news/vzv7j
Swiss police clear hundreds of anti-Davos protesters
- Many observers have expressed concern about the so-called “broligarchy” surrounding US President-elect Donald Trump, which includes billionaire Elon Musk
Germany takes delivery of Israeli-made underwater drone
- "The army said the Blue Whale was the navy’s “largest and most advanced unmanned underwater vehicle to date“
- The device was tested in the Baltic Sea
BERLIN: The German navy on Wednesday said it had taken delivery of an Israeli-made Blue Whale underwater drone intended for reconnaissance and detecting “hybrid threats at sea.”
The autonomous underwater vehicle, developed by Israeli company IAI together with German submarine- and warship-maker TKMS, was received in the northern port of Eckernfoerde, the navy said in a statement.
The army on its website said the Blue Whale was the navy’s “largest and most advanced unmanned underwater vehicle to date.”
The device was tested in the Baltic Sea, a flashpoint for tensions between Russia and NATO since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the army said.
Military experts and European leaders say Russia has ramped up its “hybrid war” in the strategic region — now bordered entirely by NATO members, with the exception of Russia — through airspace incursions and suspected sabotage of undersea cables.
TKMS said the Blue Whale was capable of “conducting reconnaissance operations, detecting targets above and below the sea surface, collecting acoustic information, and locating sea mines on the seabed.”
Israel and Germany have upped their defense cooperation in recent months and in January signed a security pact to expand joint work on counterterrorism and cyber defense.
In December, Germany approved a $3.1 billion expansion of a contract for the Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile defense system, which is Israeli-made and developed with US support.
