World

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland — The death toll from the New Year’s Day bar fire at the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana rose to 41 after an 18-year-old victim died from injuries in a Zurich hospital, regional prosecutors said Saturday. “An 18-year-old Swiss national died at a hospital in Zurich on January 31,” 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.” The inferno, which tore through the basement…

QUETTA, Pakistan — Pakistani forces are hunting separatist fighters across Balochistan after a wave of coordinated attacks left more than 190 people dead over two days, officials said, as the government vowed to strike back and the Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility. Authorities said around a dozen sites remained sealed off Sunday as troops combed banks, jails, police stations and military installations struck by militants a day earlier. At least 31 civilians and 17 security personnel were killed in the assaults,…

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that any U.S. attack on Iran would trigger a regional war, state media reported, as Washington moves additional naval assets into the Middle East and both sides signal that indirect talks are underway. Khamenei dismissed President Donald Trump’s repeated threats and the U.S. carrier-led deployment as psychological pressure. “The Iranian nation shall not be scared by these things,” he said. “We are not the initiators and do not want to attack any country, but the Iranian…

Trump says India will buy Venezuelan oil as U.S. eases curbs, aiming to replace Russian supplies President Donald Trump said India will begin purchasing Venezuelan oil, a move he cast as helping the world’s third-largest oil importer pivot away from Russian crude as Washington loosens restrictions on Caracas. “We’ve already made that deal, the concept of the deal,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he traveled to his Florida residence from Washington. The comments followed a Reuters report that the United States…

Norway’s royal family faces a fresh test as Marius Borg Hoiby, the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship, goes on trial Tuesday in Oslo accused of 38 counts, including four rapes and multiple assaults against former girlfriends. The 29-year-old, who grew up in the royal household but holds no official role, was arrested on Aug. 4, 2024, on suspicion of assaulting his then-girlfriend and damaging her apartment the previous night. In the weeks that followed, several ex-partners came forward with…

Zelensky announces Feb. 4–5 Abu Dhabi talks with U.S., Russian envoys as strikes hit Ukraine Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday’s two-day talks among U.S., Russian and Ukrainian envoys will open in Abu Dhabi, describing the latest bid to halt the Ukraine war as Russian strikes again hit civilians and critical infrastructure. “The dates for the next trilateral meetings have been set — February 4 and 5 in Abu Dhabi,” Zelensky wrote on X. “Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested…

Israel moves to shut down Doctors Without Borders in Gaza as Rafah crossing set for limited reopening Israel said it is terminating the humanitarian operations of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) in the Gaza Strip after the group failed to provide a list of its Palestinian staff, as authorities prepare a partial reopening of the Rafah crossing for people. The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism said it is “moving to terminate the activities of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the Gaza…

Gaza’s Reconstruction, Between Vision and Reality: Why Rebuilding Will Take Decades Mountains of rubble, thousands of unexploded munitions and a gutted web of water, sewage and power lines define Gaza’s landscape today. More than 80% of structures are damaged or destroyed, according to United Nations assessments, and the price tag to rebuild runs to more than $70 billion over several decades. Against that backdrop, a glossy vision of a “New Gaza” rising in three years—skyscrapers, beach tourism and data centers—has landed…

Xi’s military purge narrows China’s command — and raises the risk of miscalculation China’s sweeping purge of senior generals has shrunk the country’s top command to a bare minimum, concentrating power around Xi Jinping just as Western leaders intensify outreach to Beijing. The shake-up, which removed Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia and Joint Staff chief Gen. Liu Zhenli for “violations of discipline and law,” has alarmed analysts who see both short-term caution and longer-term volatility in the world’s…

LISBON — Portugal braced for another bout of heavy rain and gale-force winds as nearly 200,000 homes and businesses remained without electricity days after Storm Kristin swept the country, killing five people, officials said. The national weather agency, IPMA, placed all of mainland Portugal on alert through Monday for persistent downpours accompanied by gusts up to 100 km/h. With rivers already swollen and soils saturated, authorities warned that the new system could bring flash flooding in urban areas, as well as…