bar

Is there anything better than a good old British pub? Well, a Dutch person may prefer a bruine kroeg (brown bar). Often nondescript from the outside and thus easy to miss, these cosy, homely, rustic cafe-style bars typically have plain dark-wood furniture, candles on the tables, aged knick-knacks and faded pictures. There will be dim lighting, usually from antique-style lamps, and they make ideal hubs – they are often referred to as a “surrogate living room”.

The name comes from the venues’ tobacco-stained walls and ceilings, which since the smoking ban started in 2008 have been topped up by dark brown paint. Beers and jenevers (Dutch gins) are the most popular drinks, and snacks such as bitterballen (meat ragout croquettes), boiled eggs and borrelnootjes (nuts with a crispy coating) are often available too. The choice of background music is a vital component; soft vintage jazz is ideal, so when I visited Cafe ’t Hooischip the Michael Jackson and Culture Club soundtrack jarred somewhat with the cosy, historic setting.

These drinking rooms used to be all-male hangouts, but today everyone, young and old, flocks to them. Few places encapsulate Dutch culture and tradition like the bruine kroegen. But in recent years they have come under threat from ever-rising rates, property prices and modern bars that are able to generate greater income.

They are still found throughout the Netherlands but it is estimated that more than a quarter have closed since 2010. That said, those I visited in the centre of Amsterdam (the city has the highest density, and boasts hundreds) appeared to be thriving.

This one, in the Jordaan district, has the usual enticing brown bar attributes and features a cute curved wooden staircase leading to a cubby-hole room above with further seating. The crowd is mainly Dutch, but I deduct a point because it feels a little too polished for a brown bar. Even worse, the English couple next to me are discussing their Ocado order for their return to London, which completely ruins the ambience. 7/10

It is delightful to approach a building so wonky that the leaded windows are positioned at a striking slant. So it is disappointing to then learn that the previous owner of Café Pieper installed them on purpose to accentuate the historic feel of this venue, which has been trading since 1665. That’s the main quandary when embarking on a brown bar crawl – how much of the old-time feel is genuine, how much is manufactured?

However, once inside the small, low-ceilinged venue, which seats about 25 with room for a few more at the bar, there is a lovely feeling of gezelligheid (conviviality) and cosiness. Locals tend to visit in the evening, tourists in the day. It’s heartening to see that here, as in most of the brown bars I visited, there’s a strong contingent of young people.

“It’s like a second home for our regulars; we know exactly what they like to drink,” says manager Chag Walvisch, who was a regular himself for 10 years before being asked to work here two years ago. “They appreciate the considerably higher service level you get in a brown bar. We are always welcoming and relaxed about guests starting a tab rather than having to pay each time they buy a round – that sort of thing. You can come here alone and easily get into a conversation; you just don’t get all that in a normal bar. We had some Americans come in for four days in a row last week because they loved it so much.” 8/10

It’s quite remarkable that a bar so homely, cosy and frozen in time is only moments from Centraal Station at the end of Warmoesstraat, one of the most garishly touristy streets in Amsterdam, stuffed with fast-food restaurants and neon signs.

Dating from 1519, it’s among the oldest bars in Amsterdam, with a name that translates as “in the monkey”, apparently evolving from when sailors would return from the East Indies with pet monkeys, sometimes paying their tabs with them, and as a result the bar would be full of apes. Around the dark, wooden bar are displays of vintage clay beer bottles, a model boat – and lots of statues and posters of monkeys, of course.

“There’s no threat to brown bars, at least in the centre of the city,” says bartender Richard Krelekamp, as he pours me a Wolf white beer for €6, although two of those euros seem to be for froth, due to the way beers in these parts are served with a big head. “If anything, more and more people are coming here,” says Krelekamp. “They are fed up of fancy bars and expensive cocktails they’ve never heard of. About half of our customers are tourists, the other half locals.” 8/10

From the outside, Café Eijlders looks like any touristy cafe, but step inside and you are transported back to the 1940s, when it opened as a meeting place for Dutch artists, writers, and bohemians in occupied Amsterdam. Centred around the semicircular bar, where stools, chairs and banquettes fan outwards, are two raised tables.

The colour scheme is in various shades of dark brown and dark red, from the burgundy upholstery on the chairs to the garish and dated floor tiles. A soundtrack of Nina Simone and Nat King Cole plays softly in the background. There’s not a tourist in sight despite this bar being metres from the hellish tourist trap that is Leidseplein. 7/10

Considered to be the smallest bar in Amsterdam, Café De Dokter has no more than 20 seats in total. The chandelier above my head, covered in dust and cobwebs, has a Miss Havisham vibe, while there’s no way of telling the time from the clock on the wall as it is so deeply layered in grime. There are several paintings, but again I have no clue what they depict due to the heavy layers of dust. The ceiling and walls look as if they haven’t been cleaned since the place opened in 1798.

And that is exactly why I love it – Café De Dokter oozes character. I love it even though the woman at the bar is terse, whereas all the staff I’ve encountered at other brown bars have been very friendly. Despite the dust, the glasses are spotless, and the floor and furniture sparkling clean. And there’s some sleepy vintage jazz playing, which is entirely appropriate for the setting. 9/10

The trip was provided by I Amsterdam. Eurostar has direct trains from London to Amsterdam from £57. Hotel Jakarta has doubles from €218 B&B; Conscious Hotel Museum Square has doubles from €114 room-only

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Dan Serafini was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Friday for the 2021 first-degree murder of his father-in-law and attempted murder of his mother-in-law in Lake Tahoe.

Serafini, who pitched for six MLB teams during a 22-year professional career that ended in 2013, killed Gary Spohr, 70, and seriously injured Wendy Wood during a burglary of their home on the west shore of Lake Tahoe.

He was convicted in July after a six-week trial and made two unsuccessful appeals, denied a new trial only a week ago. During his ruling, Placer County Superior Court Judge Garen J. Horst said Serafini, 52, was a “liar, manipulator, arrogant and someone who has a loose relationship with the truth.”

The jury also found Serafini guilty of first-degree burglary and found the special circumstance allegations of lying-in-wait and felony murder, as well as related firearm allegations, to be true.

Serafini broke into the Spohr’s home while the couple was boating with their grandsons and daughter Erin Spohr — Serafini’s wife. He waited in a closet until his family left and shot them both in the head upon their return, according to prosecutors.

Wood took her own life in 2022 at age 69. After a year of rehabilitation after the shooting, she had regained her ability to read and write, as well as to hike and ride a bicycle, according to her daughter, Adrienne Spohr. But she battled disability and depression.

Samantha Scott, a nanny employed by Serafini and Erin Spohr to watch their two young children, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the crimes. She testified in 2025 that she drove Serafini to the crime scene, believing it was for a drug deal.

Scott also testified that she saw Serafini with a gun and a silencer made of PVC pipe in his backpack. She testified that she dropped him off near the Spohr’s home and later saw him discard items from his backpack after they crossed the Nevada state line.

“When I learned that my sister’s husband Daniel Serafini and sister’s close friend Samantha Scott were arrested for the shooting of my parents, I was shaken to my core,” Adrienne Spohr said in a statement to the court. “This was a heinous, calculated crime. My parents had been incredibly generous to Daniel Serafini and Erin Spohr throughout their marriage.”

The Minnesota Twins made Serafini their first-round draft pick in 1992 out of Junipero Serra High in San Mateo, Calif., the same school that all-time home run king Barry Bonds attended. Serafini made his big-league debut in 1996 with the Twins and pitched with the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies.

Serafini pitched in Japan from 2004 to 2007 before returning to the United States. He was suspended for 50 games in 2007 for using performance-enhancing drugs that he blamed on medication he took in Japan. He also pitched for Italy in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

Serafini’s bar in Sparks, Nev., was featured on an episode of “Bar Rescue” in 2025. The bar’s named was changed from the Bullpen Bar to the Oak Tavern as part of the makeover, but not before Serafini’s financial woes were described: He blew through $14 million in career earnings and took a $250,000 loan from his parents.

Prosecutors said Serafini’s crimes were driven by anger and financial distress. Evidence was presented that he made threats and spoke about wanting his in-laws dead for many years. He and Gary Spohr also had disputes over a $1.3 million loan intended for Erin Spohr’s horse ranch business.

Actor Shia LaBeouf’s raucous Mardi Gras episode in New Orleans earlier this month has now earned him court-ordered drug and alcohol treatment.

A New Orleans judge on Thursday ordered the former Disney Channel star, 39, to begin substance abuse treatment and undergo weekly drug testing after he was arrested on suspicion of assaulting two men in the city’s famed French Quarter. He was charged with two counts of simple battery, the Associated Press reported.

“Transformers” and “Honey Boy” actor LaBeouf agreed to the updated terms of his release, including posting bond of $100,000, and underwent a drug test during his court appearance on Thursday. His attorney said the test did not show illegal substances in the actor’s system.

Orleans Parish Criminal Court judge Simone Levine criticized LaBeouf for his behavior during the Mardi Gras celebrations. In addition to striking the two men at a bar, LaBeouf allegedly yelled homophobic slurs. Levine expressed concern for “the safety of this larger community” and said LaBeouf “does not take his alcohol addiction seriously.”

A legal representative for LaBeouf did not immediately respond to a request for comment but said during the actor’s court appearance that “being drunk on Mardi Gras is not a crime.”

The actor has yet to enter a formal plea to the charges.

The New Orleans Police Department said its officers responded to a report of an assault in the 1400 block of Royal Street. The former “Even Stevens” child star was “causing a disturbance” at the business, leading staff to remove him from the premises, police said. The actor allegedly “used his closed fists” on one of the victims “several times.”

Authorities said LaBeouf left the business but returned, “acting even more aggressive.” According to the incident report, an unspecified number of people tried to subdue him and eventually let him go “in hope that he would leave.” Instead, police said, LaBeouf began assaulting the same man as before, hitting his upper body with closed fists. The actor is accused of punching the second man in the nose.

People held down LaBeouf until officials arrived. He was transported to a hospital and treated for unknown injuries and was arrested and charged upon his release.

An additional police report identified a local entertainer as one of LaBeouf’s alleged victims. The “Megalopolis” actor, whose history of violent behavior has led to previous arrests and other legal troubles, allegedly threatened the man’s life and shouted homophobic slurs.

Levine ordered that LaBeouf refrain from contacting the two victims and visiting the bar at the center of the brawl. She also denied his travel requests.

Hours after news of the brawl and his arrest spread, LaBeouf issued a brief statement on social media.

He posted to X: “Free me.”

TRYING to feed the whole family before a flight can quickly become a very expensive affair – but I’ve found a bargain way to do it (and it comes with unlimited fizz and beer).

A recent trip to London from Edinburgh meant myself and a friend, along with our kids, decided to meet for dinner before the flight at the airport.

But fully expecting to pay a small fortune – the kids take a lot of feeding – we did a bit or research before and learned about the new Escape Lounge.

The Escape Lounge in Edinburgh Airport opened at the end of last year, found near Gate 4 and joins Aspire and Plaza Premium.

Although it looked tempting, I assumed that airport lounges were reserved for business travellers and first-class flyers and would cost a fortune.

However, when I checked online, I noticed that the lounge could be booked in advance for around £35 per person (although this goes up £49 at the door).

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Crunching the numbers, I knew that the airport Wetherspoons – The Sir Walter Scott – costs around £15 for a main meal with a bottle of Prosecco costing £49.

That’s £39 each before you add on any extras like desserts, sides or coffee.

Even better? Revolut members get a 15 per cent discount, so after signing up to the free membership, meant I paid just £29 per person.

Even if that sounds like a lot, once we stepped inside, it quickly became clear we’d made the right choice.

Inside the lounge, everything was included.

There was a hot buffet, fresh sandwiches, cakes, homemade shortbread and biscuits.

There was even a Costa Coffee machine, so we could grab proper coffees before flying.

And then there was the bar. Prosecco was on tap – rose and white – alongside beer, spirits and soft drinks which were all unlimited.

So, there was no worrying about bar tabs, counting rounds or a surprise bill at the end.

We helped ourselves, settled into comfortable seats, and relaxed while the kids tucked into snacks and desserts.

It felt more like a mini break than the usual stressful airport wait.

We were allocated two hours but when our flight was delayed, the lovely staff let us stay and drink Bloody Marys instead of being squashed with the hordes of other families waiting at the gate.

We would have easily spent over £40 each at Wetherspoons and then more again in WHSmith or Costa on extra drinks and snacks.

The Escape Lounges aren’t just in Scotland either – you’ll also find them at Manchester Airport, Bristol Airport, East Midlands Airport, London Stansted Airport

This experience showed me that an airport lounge can actually be the cheapest option especially for families or anyone planning to eat and drink before flying.

Instead of rushing around busy terminals, juggling trays and watching the bill climb, we relaxed, ate well, and started our trip feeling calm.

We arrived at the gate fed, watered, and in a good mood – something that doesn’t always happen when travelling with kids.

And best of all, we did it for less than we would have spent in the pub.

Next time I fly, I won’t be heading for the bar, I’ll be heading straight for the lounge.

Hear the name the Witch’s Cottage and you might conjure a mystical vision. And inside the new North Hollywood space, here there be witches, yes. But that’s just the start of it.

In one area of the two-story cafe, restaurant and bar, constellations beckon. A guide to crystals calls forth in another. An azure booth is flanked by an abstracted mermaid sculpture, and elsewhere howling wolves are engraved into the bar tops.

Witch’s Cottage co-founder Celina Lee Surniak, left, with investor/partner Ana Lovelis and co-founder Danielle Ozymandias. The three envisioned a welcoming space that views the world through a magical lens.

Hidden wonders are everywhere. Circle the cottage’s hand-constructed tree trunks, and maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll spy a tiny door hiding a little witch. Sit at one of the tables, and don’t be surprised to hear the sounds of birds chirping from the man-made trees. Branches spring forth from paintings and every nook is a nod to something born of a fable.

A decade-long vision of the founders, the Witch’s Cottage has transformed the old Federal Bar into a colorful, whimsical fairy-tale-like forest of a gathering spot. A place where one can come for the fantasy, and stay for the chicken etouffee and the Hex Breaker, a tiki-style, rum-heavy drink for grown-up sorcerers.

“I wanted this to feel lived in,” says Danielle Ozymandias, who dreamed up the space with business partner Celina Lee Surniak, a fellow creative who like Ozymandias very much identifies as a witch. “I wanted this to be a visual feast because I think maximalism is just so interesting. That may be the ADHD talking, but I knew I wanted a lot.”

The dining room of the Witch’s Cottage aims for a fantasy forest-inspired look.

While they certainly designed the Witch’s Cottage to be family-friendly, Surniak and Ozymandias say part of their creative intent was to bring joy to adults.

“Everybody tries to shame you,” Surniak says. “Like, ‘You can’t buy that coffee. Save your money.’ No, let them have the coffee they really love. Let them get that annual pass to Disneyland. Let them have a weekly night at the movies, even if they go alone. The world is so weird right now. What we can do is find joy in tiny things.

A fairy at a media preview for North Hollywood’s new Witch’s Cottage.

“Being able to give adults the opportunity to say ‘I’m a fairy,’ is the best feeling ever,” Surniak continues. “And it’s not just at Renaissance fairs. Be a fairy here.”

Or be anyone. A sign near one of the restaurant’s restrooms makes it clear it doesn’t matter which one guests use. It asks that they simply wash their hands. “You can walk in as a witch, or a dragon, or just a FedEx worker,” Ozymandias says. “There’s no judgment.”

The Witch’s Cottage had its grand opening this weekend, and the community immediately responded with lines out the door. That wasn’t entirely surprising — the project was built by a collective. More than 200 volunteers donated more than 3,000 hours to bring the space to life, and the two founders attracted more than 100 investors via an online crowd-funding campaign that raised more than $167,000.

“We’re regular people,” Surniak says. “We don’t have a lot of money. We don’t have a nest egg. We don’t own property. If we were going to do anything, we would need help.”

Surniak says within three days of creating their campaign, they found an angel investor who offered them the funds to secure the building. Other investors followed, including Ana Lovelis and her husband Kenny Enea, known in the area for the elaborate haunted houses they have hosted at their home. The two joined as creative partners and helped with construction. Lovelis says she recognized in the Witch’s Cottage a similar outlook on life as hers. She recalled once years ago dating someone who had a skeptical and practical view of the world.

“And then there was me, being like, ‘That butterfly is a sign from my grandma,’” Lovelis says. The Witch’s Cottage, she says, is reflective of viewing the world through a magical lens. At a time of much stress for many, such a place may be needed. As Lovelis says, “What’s the harm?”

The Witch’s Cottage is a two-story space that serves as a cafe during the day and a restaurant at night. Dinner service begins at 5 p.m.

Surniak still has a day job, working as a stunt and intimacy coordinator on theatrical and Hollywood productions. Ozymandias, who previously worked in the local theater world, is focusing primarily on the Witch’s Cottage at the moment, helping to devise recipes and ensure the bakery can accommodate as many dietary restrictions as possible.

Beyond new menu items, there’s more in the works, including community events like sound baths, comedy nights and classes on composting, native plants and parenting. Or even some workshops that are more lighthearted, such as a hoped-for night on how to make a broom.

Hidden behind the upstairs bar is what’s called the Tempered Flask Tavern, and it’s an elaborate tabletop role-playing game room. Here, one will find a smoke-puffing dragon, but also digital windows that game masters can use to trigger various effects. A long table sits at its center, flanked by a knight, a digital fireplace and weaponry. Not open yet, the plan is for the room to be rented out by the hour.

The Tempered Flask Tavern is a hidden room dedicated to tabletop games inside the Witch’s Cottage. It will be available soon for guests to rent out.

Though Surniak and Ozymandias say they’ve been building vision boards for more than a decade of what the spot could look like, recent cultural shifts gave them the confidence that the timing was right. They point to “Stranger Things” and how it spawned a conversation around “Dungeons & Dragons,” or the success of Disney+ series “Agatha All Along.” More locally, they watched the rise of a game-focused bar such as the Roguelike Tavern, which is relocating to Studio City, as well as the news that experiential art firm Meow Wolf would be building an exposition in the city.

Taken as a whole, they felt bolstered that North Hollywood could support a heavily themed cafe, a home for those who have rolled a 20-sided die, once looked up the meaning of the Tower card or just enjoyed a viewing of “The Lord of the Rings.”

But one need not know the inner workings of RPGs, tarot or Middle-earth to feel at home in the Witch’s Cottage. This is a space, after all, for anyone who has ever been touched by a fairy tale, dreamed of the fantastical or wanted to believe in the power of wishing upon a star.

Views from inside North Hollywood’s the Witch’s Cottage.

So spend a little time in the Witch’s Cottage, and maybe you’ll start to imagine that cocktail is a potion, and those deviled eggs did in fact hatch from a dragon. Diners may debate between the “iron forged fondue melt” (a patty melt) or the “meze heartwich” (a white bean purée on sourdough), but childlike wonder is the specialty of the house.

“Everybody is somebody’s kid,” Ozymandias says. “And I just want a safe space for people’s kids. Even if you’re 50, or 80, you’re my kid. I want you to feel loved, and to have a cup of something warm or magical. I want you to know that whatever is outside those doors, when you’re in here, I got you.”

PARIS — France’s top diplomat requested on Monday that U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner no longer be allowed direct access to members of the French government after he skipped a meeting to discuss comments by the Trump administration over the beating death of a far-right activist.

French authorities had summoned Kushner to the Quai d’Orsay, which houses the Foreign Affairs Ministry, on Monday evening, but he did not show up, according to diplomatic sources.

Jean-Noël Barrot, the foreign affairs minister, moved to restrict Kushner’s access “in light of this apparent misunderstanding of the basic expectations of the mission of an ambassador, who has the honor of representing his country.”

The ministry, however, left the door open for reconciliation.

“It remains, of course, possible for Ambassador Charles Kushner to carry out his duties and present himself at the Quai d’Orsay,” it said, “so that we may hold the diplomatic discussions needed to smooth over the irritants that can inevitably arise in a friendship spanning 250 years.”

Kushner had been summoned following a statement by the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau, which posted on X that “reports, corroborated by the French Minister of the Interior, that Quentin Deranque was killed by left-wing militants, should concern us all.” The U.S. Embassy had posted that statement on social media.

Deranque, a far-right activist, died of brain injuries this month from a beating in the French city of Lyon. He was attacked during a fight on the margins of a student meeting where a far-left lawmaker was a keynote speaker.

His killing highlighted a climate of deep political tension ahead of next year’s presidential vote.

“We reject any instrumentalization of this tragedy, which has plunged a French family into mourning, for political ends,” Barrot said over the weekend. “We have no lessons to learn, particularly on the issue of violence, from the international reactionary movement.”

The State Department said in its post that “violent radical leftism is on the rise and its role in Quentin Deranque’s death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety. We will continue to monitor the situation and expect to see the perpetrators of violence brought to justice.”

Kushner was summoned in August over his letter to French President Emmanuel Macron alleging the country did not do enough to combat antisemitism. France’s foreign officials met with a representative of the U.S. ambassador since the diplomat did not show up.

The popular bar divides people on whether it is a good place to drink or not, so we’ve put it to the test – and found there was more to the area than just pubs

It seems to divide opinion like Marmite – to go or no go drinking in Temple Bar when in Dublin. The area is full of pubs keen to sell you drinks, especially Guinness, but at the highest prices in the city edging towards ten Euros for a pint.

On arriving in Dublin I was lucky enough to attend a connoisseurs session at the Guinness Storehouse and Morgan, our man serving us up a variety of VIP pints was clear to avoid Temple Bar.

“You don’t need to be going there,” he said, clear that it was a bit of a tourist trap. Most importantly, for him, that also meant it was not serving the best Guinness in the city. Morgan favoured pubs like The Lord Edward in the Liberties area and The Long Hall in the heart of the city centre. Over the river from Temple Bar, The Cobblestone is a great pub renowned for its traditional music too.

However Dublin tour guide Mary Phelan says whilst it should not be the only place you see in the city, there is no harm in going to Temple Bar for some drinks or at the very least a stroll. “Why not go and see it even if its just strolling the main street which brings you up towards Christ church,” she said.

Highlighting one pub on the edges if the area which is excellent and unusually named, she added: “Darkey Kelly’s is there too on Fishamble Street and bit less crowded than the rest. They do food and have some music. The Palace Bar is an original pub on Fleet St associated with writers and journalists as The Independent and The Irish Times newspapers used to be nearby.”

“There’s also the IFI (film institute)and you might like to see the area during the day. Merchants Arch brings you over Halfpenny Bridge and they also have an Icon Walk which is a wall giving you some info on writers and public figures.”

Temple Bar has been popular long before the pubs arrived. The Vikings set up camp there back in 795 AD, and the remains of their original defences can be found at Dublin Castle nearby.

The name of the area comes from British diplomat Sir William Temple who built a grand residence and gardens there in the early 1600s. After that the name stuck and so Temple Bar was born.

Officially the Temple Bar area is the square on the south bank of the River Liffey with streets shooting off in all directions and some narrow laneways taking you back out onto the river. By day it is less rowdy as Mary mentioned and there are boutiques and cafes which are busy as well as the pubs.

You also have Meeting House Square which has a stage for occasional screenings, and a weekly food market on Saturdays. It is surrounded by The National Photographic Archive and The Gallery of Photography (both free entry), and the Irish Film Institute.

But in truth it is in the nighttime the area comes to life, especially at the weekends. Temple Bar has the highest density of pubs of any area in Dublin, so there will be a buzz that many tourists will like and be happy to pay a premium for.

Live music and singalongs will be the norm and It will be lively, my message would be to also go further afield, it will be more authentic, better beer and also a lot cheaper.

For more information on visiting Dublin you can go to ireland.com

The latest victim succumbing to injuries was an 18-year-old Swiss national.

A teenager injured in the fire that engulfed a Swiss Alpine bar during New Year celebrations has died in hospital, according to Swiss authorities, increasing the death toll of one of the worst disasters in the country’s modern history to 41.

Saturday’s death was announced a month after the inferno at the ski resort of Crans-Montana. Another 115 were injured, most of whom remain in various hospitals.

“An 18-year-old Swiss national died at a hospital in Zurich on January 31,” the Wallis canton’s public prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud said in a brief statement.

“The death toll from the fire at Le Constellation bar on January 1, 2026 has now risen to 41.”

Pilloud said no further information would be released at this stage by her office, which is investigating the incident.

Those killed in the disaster were aged 14 to 39, but the majority were teenagers. Only four were aged over 24.

Among the dead are 23 Swiss nationals, including one French-Swiss dual national, and 18 foreigners.

Public prosecutors believe the fire started when revellers raised champagne bottles with sparklers attached too close to sound insulation foam on the ceiling of the bar’s basement.

Authorities are looking into whether the foam conformed to regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar. They say fire safety inspections had not been carried out since 2019.

Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the owners – French couple Jacques and Jessica Moretti – on suspicion of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing a fire by negligence.

The court of compulsory measures in the southwestern Valais region on January 12 ordered three months of pretrial detention for Jacques Moretti, but on January 23 ordered his release on bail.

The Crans-Montana municipality’s current head of public safety and a former Crans-Montana fire safety officer are also under criminal investigation.

Following the fire, seriously wounded patients were airlifted to various hospitals and specialist burns units throughout Switzerland and four other European countries.

Switzerland’s Federal Office for Civil Protection told the AFP news agency on Friday that at its last count, as of Monday, 44 patients were being treated abroad.

The Wallis health ministry told AFP that 37 patients were still in Swiss hospitals, as of Monday.

The picture is constantly changing, with patients moving between hospitals for different stages of their treatment, and some patients being readmitted. Some remain in intensive care.

The fire has tested relations with neighbouring Italy, which lost nationals in the blaze and has protested the release on bail of the bar’s owner.

Swiss authorities earlier this week said they would grant the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office access to evidence gathered.