Switzerland

Scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva announced Tuesday that they have detected hints of the Higgs boson, or the “God particle,” often described as the “most sought-after particle in modern physics.”

Scientists theorize that the Higgs boson subatomic particle has provided mass and energy to all matter since the creation of the universe, thus giving it the nickname the “God particle.” It serves as the missing link in the “Standard Model" of particle physics.

Although similar results conducted separately by the ATLAS and CMS physics teams prove promising, scientists announced Tuesday that they will need at least another year to conduct research regarding the particle’s existence. more >>

Evangelical churches understand people’s needs and are therefore attracting twice as many worshippers on Sundays as traditional Protestant churches in Switzerland, says a charismatic pastor who is also a sociologist of religion.

“The key strength of the Pentecostal movement is the idea that God intervenes in people’s everyday lives,” Olivier Favre, pastor of two charismatic churches in Payerne and Neuchâtel, told swissinfo.ch on Sunday.

Favre, who is also a sociologist of religion at Lausanne University, attributes the growth of evangelical churches to people’s loneliness in “our very individualized society” and to “the very modern style of worship.” more >>

Officials in Switzerland were plowing ahead with a controversial sexual education program for school children as young as four despite outcry from parents furious over the candid program and the use of a "sex box."

Elementary school children, including kindergartners, in Basel, Switzerland, will reportedly be learning about the pleasures of sex through the use of toys made to look like male and female genitalia, according to reports from Swiss media.

The toys are part of a kit to be given to teachers that includes dolls, books, and wooden penises, among other things. more >>

The three main bodies in Christianity, representing about 90 percent of Christians worldwide, released a "historic" agreement Monday on how Christians should conduct themselves when witnessing in a religiously diverse context.

Leaders from the World Evangelical Alliance, the World Council of Churches and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council on Inter-religious Dialogue were in Geneva on Monday to launch the document entitled, "Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct."

The document, a result of five years of cooperation, provides a biblical mandate for evangelism and outlines a set of ethics on Christian conduct in missions. more >>

Since 2009, ICANN, the Internet governing corporation, was in the works to expand domain suffixes to go beyond .com, .gov, .biz, .org or the other 18 existing ones to .missamerica2011, .netflix, or any other combination one may think of.

Today, ICANN officially announced the approval of this plan allowing worldwide entities to register a domain suffix that relates to their products or brands, such as .iphone5 for Apple or just about any suffix name they desire to possess.

There is a catch, however. To own and manage it you'll have to pay ICANN a $185,000 application fee, with no refunds if it isn't approved or rejected. But if it is approved, you'll have to pay approximately $25,000 more every year to keep it running, according to Eweek.com. more >>

The top United Nations human rights council approved a gay rights resolution Friday that called for no discrimination and violence on people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The resolution, proposed by South Africa, was adopted by the U.N. Human Rights Council, 23 to 19. The declaration was supported by the U.S. and other Western countries but opposed by African and Arab countries. Three countries, including China, abstained from the vote.

The controversial resolution marked the first time a U.N. body has backed the rights of gay, lesbian and transgendered people. more >>