International

Authorities investigating a New Year's blaze at a club in the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana have identified 24 of the 40 people killed, including 11 minors and six foreign nationals, police said Sunday as its owners were probed for negligent manslaughter.A heavy pall of grief hung over the town as hundreds of people walked in silence to a chapel of rest near the scene following a memorial service for the victims of an inferno which also left 119 people injured – many badly burned – and left the local community distraught."It's to be together with the people who are suffering, who have lost somebody in the family, children or friends," said 76-year-old Charlotte Schumacher, a participant in the procession. "I know people who have lost their grandchildren.""The world's media are focused on our resort. We thank them for seeking the compassion which the families of the injured and deceased so desperately need," said Bishop Jean-Marie Lovey of Sion during the service – one of a number planned.Switzerland has declared a national day of mourning for January 9, with all the church bells in the country poised to ring at 2pm (1300 GMT).A moment of silence is also planned."Many of the victims were apprentices, high school students, and university students," said Pastor Gilles Cavin, representing the Reformed Church of Switzerland at the memorial mass.Local police, who had already identified eight Swiss victims, earlier announced that they had identified 10 more Swiss nationals – four females and six males aged 14-31, as well as two 16-year-old Italians, a 39-year-old Frenchman, a 16-year-old dual national of Italy and United Arab Emirates, an 18-year-old Romanian and an 18-year-old Turk.The fatalities identified to date include 11 minors.With Crans-Montana a popular destination for international tourists, many foreign nationals are among those hurt in the blaze.They include 71 Swiss nationals, 14 French – the French foreign ministry gave a tally of 16 on Saturday – 11 Italians, four Serbs, a Belgian, a Bosnian, one person from Luxembourg and also a Pole and a Portuguese.At the memorial mass Pastor Cavin told a packed church that "we are here to say that in the face of the unspeakable, in the face of the brutality of death and suffering, we refuse to look away. We are here to express our compassion, our solidarity”.The church, located some 300m from the club, was packed well before the start of the mass, which was broadcast on a giant screen outside.Despite temperatures dropping to -9° Celsius, hundreds of people stood outside, some holding bouquets of flowers, others a single red rose.Regarding the likely cause of the fire, authorities have pointed the finger at lit sparklers attached to beverage bottles igniting foam on the ceiling.French couple Jacques and Jessica Moretti owned and managed Le Constellation club, which was crammed with young partygoers when a blaze began in a packed basement around 1.30am (0030 GMT) on Thursday.**media[400995]**A criminal investigation has been opened against the pair.They are charged with manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence.Investigations will focus on whether safety standards were respected.Jacques Moretti insisted to the Swiss press on Friday that all safety norms were followed at the club, which according to the Crans-Montana website had a capacity of 300 people plus 40 on its terrace.Video footage which has emerged from the tragedy shows young people desperately trying to flee the scene, some breaking windows to try to force their way out.One video shared on social media showed the low wooden ceiling – covered with soundproofing foam – catching fire and the flames spreading quickly, as revellers continued to dance.Looking at the images of the event, experts suggested the "highly flammable" foam may have caused a flashover – a near-simultaneous ignition of everything in an enclosed space.The mayor of Crans-Montana, Nicolas Feraud, assured Swiss public broadcaster RTS that there had been no negligence on the municipality's part.For Patricia Mazzoni, a 55-year-old Swiss on holiday in Crans-Montana, what happened is simply incomprehensible."How is this possible, especially in Switzerland? I never would have imagined it. I'm filled with a cold anger," she told AFP.The toll might have been worse if emergency services had not acted so quickly, residents said."Within minutes you had ambulances; within minutes you had the police that did their job and they did it unbelievably well," said Max Haus, a local business owner who witnessed the harrowing aftermath of the blaze.As the sombre procession Sunday reached its conclusion, applause began rippling from one end to the other as dozens of police and emergency services workers, some of them in tears, came up through the middle to be celebrated as heroes."It's unimaginable what they did, what they have seen," Bruno Huggler, the director of tourism ⁠for Crans-Montana, said of the rescue workers. "And now it's very important to take care of them."

The United States lifted airspace restrictions over the Caribbean late on Saturday after barring commercial flights during a US military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.Maduro and his wife were flown by helicopter to New York City, where they face drug-trafficking and weapons charges.They were seized by US special forces during a pre-dawn attack in which air strikes pounded sites in and around the Venezuelan capital Caracas late on Saturday.US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on social media platform X that the initial restrictions expired at 12am (0500 GMT), when flights could resume as scheduled."Airlines are informed, and will update their schedules quickly," Duffy said.The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) notified commercial airlines on Saturday to avoid Caribbean airspace, citing a "potentially hazardous situation”.The notice said the closure was issued due to "safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity”.**media[400999]**Key carriers United Airlines, American Airlines , Spirit and Delta were readying to resume flights to the Caribbean.In a statement, United said a flight to San Juan in Puerto Rico was planned for Saturday night, adding: "We expect to operate most scheduled flights to the region."Delta Air Lines expects to fly its normal Carribean schedule, it said in a statement, but adjusted to reposition resources.American Airlines said in a statement that it was preparing for the Eastern Caribbean airspace to reopen and had added more than 3,700 extra seats to and from the region on top of resuming scheduled service.It said it was operating extra flights and deploying larger aircraft, including widebodies, to "add as much lift ⁠as possible" to help customers affected by the FAA-mandated closure.Spirit Airlines said in an e-mailed statement that it had resumed flights to and from the Caribbean on January 4, following the expiration of the FAA's airspace closure directive.Even after the removal of curbs, however, airlines will need several days to restore normal operations, said airline analyst Robert Mann, adding: "They have a day's worth of passengers basically" already stranded in the Caribbean.American Airlines, Delta, United, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways began cancelling flights, in line with the FAA airspace closures in the Caribbean.JetBlue canceled 215 flights, an airline spokesperson said.The company said Sunday that it would resume normal operations.Several European and South American airlines also canceled flights.Air Canada said its Caribbean and South American operations were normal, under guidance from Transport Canada, and it was monitoring the situation, adding: "We will update as required if the situation changes."

Flights at Greek airports were cancelled or delayed Sunday after a technical problem knocked out airspace radio frequencies, the country's civil aviation authority said, calling the outage "unprecedented".At Greece's main airport, Eleftherios Venizelos in Athens, passengers were stuck in long queues as several domestic and international flights were delayed or grounded altogether, an AFP reporter saw.The radio frequency loss was first reported around 0700 GMT."No plane landed or took off for at least two hours," said the press office at Athens airport, where 31.6mn passengers transited in the first 11 months of 2025.For up to three hours, most aircraft headed for Greek airports were redirected to Turkiye, according to Greek public television ERT.Air traffic had been resuming progressively since 1100 GMT, authorities said.**media[401009]**Panagiotis Psarros, head of Greece's air traffic controller union, called the incident "very serious" and blamed what he said was "obsolete" airport equipment."For some ⁠reason all frequencies were suddenly lost. We could not communicate with aircraft in the sky," the chief of the Association of Greek Air Traffic Controllers, told state broadcaster ERT.The association later said the breakdown affected all frequencies used on the ground, and some frequencies used by Athens Approach, an air traffic control unit responsible for managing aircraft arriving in and departing from Athens's Eleftherios Venizelos airport.Among its responsibilities is radar monitoring for safe separation of aircraft in the sky as well as issuing instructions on speed, and altitude levels.The Air Traffic Controllers Association said controllers were using all means at their disposal to ensure ⁠the safety of flights, calling the scale of Sunday's incident "unprecedented and unacceptable" for an air traffic control system.Psarros said the problem seemed to be a collapse of central radio frequency systems at the Athens and Macedonia area control systems, the largest air control facility in the country.It monitors the Athens Flight Information Region, a vast expanse of airspace under the control of Greek authorities."We haven't been informed about the cause of this problem... certainly the equipment we have is virtually ancient. We have raised this many times in the past," Psarros said.

South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung arrived in China Sunday for a four-day visit, eager to boost economic ties with Seoul's largest trading partner while keeping a lid on potentially explosive issues such as Taiwan.Lee is the first South Korean leader to visit Beijing in six years, and his trip comes less than a week after China carried out massive military drills around Taiwan, the self-ruled island it claims as part of its territory.The exercise, featuring missiles, fighter jets, navy ships and coastguard vessels, drew a chorus of international condemnation that Seoul has notably declined to join.Lee, accompanied by a delegation of business and tech leaders, hopes to expand economic cooperation in meetings with President Xi Jinping and other top officials.And he hopes to possibly harness China's clout over North Korea to support his bid to improve ties with Pyongyang."China is a very important cooperative partner in moving toward peace and unification on the Korean Peninsula," Lee said during a meeting with Korean residents in Beijing, according to Yonhap news agency.Lee added his visit "would serve as a new starting point to fill in the gaps in Korea-China relations, restore them to normal and upgrade them to a new level".Hours before Lee departed for Beijing, Seoul's military said the North had fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan -- its first test of the year.Seoul has for decades trodden a fine line between China, its top trading partner, and the US, its chief defence guarantor.But Kang Jun-young, a professor at Seoul's Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said Beijing was now seeking to draw South Korea away from Washington's sphere of influence."China views South Korea as the weakest link at a time when trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the US and Japan is strengthening," he said.Lee has deftly stayed on the sidelines since a nasty spat erupted between Beijing and Tokyo late last year, triggered by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's suggestion that Japan could intervene militarily if China attacks Taiwan.In an interview with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Friday, he said that he "clearly affirms" that "respecting the 'one-China' principle and maintaining peace and stability in Northeast Asia, including in the Taiwan Strait, are very important".On economic ties, Lee has called for South Korea and China to work towards "more horizontal and mutually beneficial" trade.He is bringing with him a large delegation of executives from some of South Korea's biggest and best-known firms including Samsung - one of the world's top memory chip makers which produces crucial components for the booming AI industry.Hyundai Motor Group's executive chair, Chung Eui-sun, is also part of the delegation alongside figures from the entertainment and gaming industries.A summit with Xi is planned for Monday, followed by trade talks with top officials including Premier Li Qiang Tuesday, according to top South Korean adviser Wi Sung-lac.Lee will then travel to the financial hub of Shanghai, home to a substantial South Korean business community, where he will attend a startup summit and visit the former headquarters of the Korean government-in-exile during Japanese rule.Xi and Lee last met in November on the sidelines of a regional summit in Gyeongju in South Korea - a meeting Seoul framed at the time as a reset following years of tense relations.The South Korean president plans to pitch a potential role for China in his efforts to rekindle frayed ties with the North, which is heavily dependent on Beijing as a trading partner.Officials also hope the meetings will lead to China easing an unofficial ban on imports of South Korean pop culture, in place for almost a decade."China's official position is that there is no such thing as a ban on Korean content, but from our perspective the situation looks somewhat different," said Wi, the presidential adviser.

Less than a year after watching flames raze his home in the Altadena foothills, Ted Koerner has moved into a brand new house, one of the first to rebuild in this Los Angeles suburb.It has been an uphill battle, and Koerner is visibly moved as he brings his dog, Daisy, back home."We've been through a lot this year," he told AFP.Altadena was hardest hit by the fires that ravaged parts of the sprawling US metropolis in January 2025.Thousands of homes were destroyed and 19 people died in the town – compared to 12 killed in the upscale Pacific Palisades neighbourhood.To rebuild his home, Koerner, a 67-year-old head of a security company, had to front up several hundred thousand dollars as his mortgage lender refused to release insurance payouts for months.Koerner also had to contend with the uncertainties created by the policies of US President Donald Trump.Tariffs on steel, wood, and cement, all of which are often imported, have increased construction costs, and Latino construction workers fear arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)."If ICE grabs construction crews and Trump does that to us on top of tariffs, we'll never get this town rebuilt," Koerner said.Slowly, however, Altadena is coming back to life.Amid the thousands of empty lots, a few frames are beginning to rise from the ground.The hurricane-strength 160kph (100mph) gusts of wind that spread the fire at breakneck speed last January are still fresh in everyone's minds.However, despite the destruction and the pervasive threat of climate change in California, dogged survivors refuse to move away."Where are you gonna go?" sighs another Altadena resident, Catherine Ridder, a 67-year-old psychotherapist. "There's no place around here that's not vulnerable to catastrophic weather."Her construction project has begun and she hopes to move in by August – before the $4,000 monthly rent she pays for a furnished apartment exhausts the housing allowance from her insurance.To speed things up, the Californian bureaucracy has streamlined its processes.Los Angeles County is issuing building permits within a few months.Before, it often took more than a year.However, Ridder has been frustrated by delays in inspections to verify compliance with new building codes, such as requiring a fire sprinkler system in the roof."There's a lot of chaos and delays. I mean, maybe it's faster than pre-fire stuff, but this doesn't feel easy at all," she told AFP. "I know that I'm way better off than a lot of people who were underinsured."In this high-risk area, many residents were covered by the state's insurer of last resort, and their compensation is too meager to rebuild homes that often cost more than a million dollars.So many are counting on the financial outcome of lawsuits filed against Southern California Edison, the company that owns the faulty power line suspected of having triggered the fire that destroyed Altadena.Carol Momsen couldn't wait.She was compensated only $300,000 for the destruction of her home, so the 76-year-old retiree sold her land. That paid for a new apartment elsewhere."Even if I had the money, I don't think I'd want to rebuild in Altadena, because it's just a sad place right now," the former saleswoman said.There is palpable anxiety that this diverse town, home to a sizable African American population, will lose its soul because people cannot afford to rebuild.Several empty lots display signs: "Altadena, not for sale!" and "Black homes matter."Ellaird Bailey, 77, a retired technician at a telecommunications company, settled here with his wife in 1984 so his children could grow up in this "melting pot”."So many of those people that we've known for 20 or 30 years are moving away" to more affordable communities, he said."It's hard to visualise what it's going to be like moving forward."

Vice President of Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez on Saturday said that the Venezuelan government does not know the whereabouts of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.In an audio recording broadcast on state television, the Vice President of Venezuela added that the government demands proof that President Maduro and his wife are still alive.For his part, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino stated in a video recorded today that his country will resist the presence of foreign forces, noting that an attack on Venezuela took place early today targeting civilian areas.Padrino added that efforts are currently underway to gather information about the dead and injured.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced a state of emergency in the country following aerial strikes against the capital Caracas.The Venezuelan government said that President Maduro declared a state of emergency to defend Venezuelan territory.The government said that the armed forces were deployed along with popular forces to protect sovereignty and order.The government statement accused the United States of launching the air strikes against it. Washington has not issued any comment on the matter.The statement stressed that what Venezuela was subjected to constituted a violation of the UN Charter, adding that it threatens peace and securityin Latin America and the Carribean region.The Venezuelan government said that it will make an official complaint to the UN Security Council and to the Community of Latin American and Caribbean states (CELAC).

Islamic State-linked rebels killed at least 15 people in three villages in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Lubero territory, two officials said yesterday, keeping up a pattern of lethal attacks ‌targeting mostly civilians. The Allied ‍Democratic Forces began as an insurgent force in Uganda but has been based in the forests of neighbouring Congo since the late 1990s, and is recognised ‍by Islamic State as an affiliate.Congo’s army and Ugandan forces have pursued operations against the ADF, but the group’s raids persist. Its latest attacks occurred on Thursday night in Lubero, part of North Kivu province. Nine civilians were killed in Kilonge, two civilians in Katanga ‌and two civilians and two soldiers in Maendeleo, according to Macaire Sivikunula, chief of the Bapere locality where the villages are ‍located.“The ADF rebels killed most of ‌the victims with bladed weapons,” although they also exchanged gunfire with soldiers in Maendeleo, he told Reuters. Alain Kiwewa, Lubero’s military administrator, said yesterday afternoon that 16 people had been confirmed dead.An army spokesperson, Lieutenant Marc Elongo, said Congolese troops were “pursuing the enemy”, without providing details. Kakule Kagheni Samuel, head of civil society groups in Bapere, said the militants also burnt homes to the ground.The UN peacekeeping mission ​in the Central African country, ‌known as Monusco, said in November that the ADF killed 89 civilians in a spate of ‍strikes over the course of a week. And in September, the ADF claimed responsibility for an attack that claimed the lives of more than 60 civilians at a funeral in eastern Congo.Sivikunula said local officials were waiting for ​soldiers to secure the area before organising funerals for victims of the overnight attacks because “the ADF are cunning (and) can ambush civilians who try to organise this kind of activity.”The ADF violence is separate from the war between Congo and M23 rebels that killed thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands last year, prompting mediation.

US President Donald Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he is taking a larger daily dose of aspirin than his doctors recommend.“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” Trump told the paper in an interview published on Thursday. “I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?” Trump, 79, is the second-oldest person to ever hold the presidency, following his Democratic predecessor President Joe Biden, who dropped his 2024 re-election bid amid questions about his fitness for the job and was aged 82 when he left office a year ago. Trump’s health has been in the spotlight in recent months due to bruises that have been spotted on his hands and an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) exam that he was reported to have undergone in October, as well as instances where the Republican president closed his eyes during public events. Daily use of aspirin can lower the chances of heart attack or stroke for people over the age of 60, according to the Mayo Clinic, which says a low dose of aspirin is most commonly 81mg.The president’s doctor, Sean Barbabella, told the Journal that Trump takes 325mg of aspirin daily for cardiac prevention. The bruising is the result of him shaking so many hands, according to the White House, which said last month the MRI was preventative.His right hand shows persistent bruising, often covered with thick makeup and at times a bandage, and his ankles have appeared swollen. On occasion, Trump has clearly struggled to keep his eyes open, including during an Oval Office meeting with health representatives in November.Trump told the Journal that he wasn’t dozing, just relaxing.“I’ll just close. It’s very relaxing to me,” he said. “Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink,” he added.When asked about the MRI, Trump and Barbabella told the Journal that the president actually got a CT scan. Barbabella stated that the president’s doctors had initially said they would perform either an MRI or a CT scan but decided to do the latter “to definitively rule out any cardiovascular issues”.It revealed no abnormalities, according to Barbabella. Yesterday Trump touted his “perfect health” and cognitive skills. “The White House Doctors have just reported that I am in ‘PERFECT HEALTH’, and that I ‘ACED’ (Meaning, was correct on 100% of the questions asked!), for the third straight time, my Cognitive Examination,something which no other President, or previous Vice President, was willing to take,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. Trump has based much of his political image on projecting vigour – whether through his frequent interactions with journalists, constant social media posting, or artificial intelligence (AI) memes depicting him as a superhero.

Asia's factory activity rebounds with growth in key economies; Taiwan and South Korea PMIs show expansion after months of decline; new product launches and demand boost semiconductor manufacturers Asia's ‌factory powerhouses closed 2025 on a firmer footing, with activity swinging ‌back to growth in several key ‍economies as export orders picked up, helped by new product launches and blistering demand for artificial intelligence. Purchasing ⁠managers' indexes (PMIs) released by S&P Global on ⁠Friday showed factory activity in the major tech-exporting economies of South Korea and Taiwan ‍snapping months of declines in December, while most Southeast Asian nations maintained brisk growth.They followed PMIs released for China on Tuesday, which also showed an unexpected turnaround in factory activity in the world's second-largest economy, helped by a pre-holiday surge in orders.While it is too early to say whether Asia's largest exporters are adjusting to US tariffs, a pickup in global demand had given some manufacturers ‌cause for optimism heading into the new year."Exports from most countries have surged in recent months, and we think the near-term outlook for Asia’s export-oriented manufacturing sectors remains favourable," said Shivaan ‍Tandon, Asia Economist with Capital Economics.He ⁠noted most Asian ‌economies should continue to benefit from a shift in U.S. demand away from China and strong global demand for AI-related hardware.Taiwan's PMI rose to 50.9 in December from 48.8 in November, breaking above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction for the first time in 10 months."Taiwan's manufacturing sector ended 2025 on a high, with firms signalling fresh increases in production and overall new business amid reports of firmer demand conditions," said Annabel Fiddes, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence."There were signs that companies anticipate the recovery to continue into 2026, with manufacturers building their inventories and expressing stronger ​optimism around future output."Similarly, South Korea's ‌PMI rose to 50.1 from 49.4, the first expansionary reading since September.Both economies are among the world's largest ⁠manufacturers of semiconductors, which have benefited ‍enormously from a booming market for artificial intelligence.South Korea's PMI survey showed the steepest rise in new orders since November 2024."According to manufacturers, new product launches and improved external demand drove the improvement in sales, while confidence in the outlook also improved markedly in December to reach its highest level since May 2022," said Usamah Bhatti, economist at ​S&P Global Market Intelligence. "In turn, firms were encouraged to raise both employment levels and purchasing activity."Official data released on Thursday showed exports from South Korea, a bellwether for global trade, beat forecasts in December.Elsewhere in Asia, factories mostly sustained activity growth although Indonesia and Vietnam reported slight moderations in expansion.India's factory sector activity slowed to its weakest growth in two years, although the pace is still among the region's strongest.Separately, Singapore on Friday reported a pickup in economic growth for 2025 to 4.8% from ⁠4.4% in 2024 while the quarterly growth beat forecasts.S&P Global will release the Japanese PMI on Monday.

President Donald Trump invited Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to the United States during a phone call late on Friday and they agreed to work towards a meeting early this year, officials said.Trump has already said he will visit China in April, with Tokyo and Beijing in dispute over Takaichi's suggestion in November that Japan could intervene militarily in case of any attack on self-ruled Taiwan.China claims the democratic island as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.Takaichi's comments triggered a sharp diplomatic backlash from China, which has urged its citizens to avoid travelling to Japan and suspended Japanese seafood imports.She and Trump spoke for 25 minutes, agreeing to further strengthen economic and security cooperation, the foreign ministry in Tokyo said in a statement.Trump invited Takaichi to visit the United States and "the two leaders concurred to coordinate in detail to realise the visit to the United States this spring", it said.The statement did not make clear whether they talked about China, but Trump and Takaichi also "exchanged views mainly on the Indo-Pacific region and confirmed the close cooperation between Japan and the United States", it said.China launched missiles and deployed dozens of fighter jets, navy ships and coastguard vessels around Taiwan in live-fire drills last week.The drills drew a chorus of international criticism, including from Japan, Australia and European countries.Trump advised Takaichi not to provoke China over Taiwan in their previous phone call on November 25, the Wall Street Journal reported, but Tokyo denied the report.

Two people who ran a Swiss club that burst into flames during a New Year's Eve party, killing 40, have been placed under criminal investigation on suspicion of offences including homicide by negligence, prosecutors said Saturday.Two ⁠days after the fire, in which 119 ⁠people suffered injuries including severe burns, officials were still trying to identify many of those killed and attention turned to how one of Switzerland's worst tragedies could have occurred.The club’s two operators are suspected of offences including homicide by negligence, causing bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence, prosecutors in Valais, the canton that is home to the club in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana, said in a statement, without naming them.**media[400593]**"It was an enormous tragedy. We're all so sorry that this had to happen," Swiss Justice Minister Beat Jans told reporters, adding that temperatures in the club must have reached "500°, 600° (Celsius, 900°-1,100° Fahrenheit)".Reuters was not immediately able to contact the club's owners for comment or reach the prosecutors to verify whether they were the people referred to.Witnesses had reported seeing staff at Le ⁠Constellation carrying so-called fountain candles atop beverage bottles, and questions have also arisen about a foam material used to soundproof the ceiling of the basement where revellers danced.Beatrice Pilloud, chief prosecutor of Valais, said indications were that the fire started because the sparklers got too near to the ceiling."From there, a rapid, very rapid and widespread blaze ensued," she said on Friday afternoon.Investigations will focus on renovations made to the club, the fire extinguishing systems and escape routes, as well as the number of people in the building when the fire started, prosecutors said.Police arrived quickly at the scene, according to local residents, but the fire burned victims so severely that investigators said they would need days to identify the bodies.Illustrating the painstaking nature of that work, the Valais prosecutors' office said in a statement Saturday that the police had identified the bodies of four Swiss victims aged between 16 and 21 – two female and two male – and returned them to their families.It did not elaborate on their identities.**media[400594]**On Friday, officials had only identified one of the dead, a teenage Italian international golfer, Emanuele Galeppini.According to two people familiar with the investigation, some of the victims may be under 16.Local residents said the club was popular with young people and the Swiss government said many of the dead were likely youths.One of the club's two owners, Jacques Moretti, told the *Tribune de Geneve newspaper that Le Constellation had been checked three times in 10 years and that everything was done according to the rules.Stephane Ganzer, head of security in Valais, said the investigation would determine if the club had undergone its annual building inspections, but that the town had not raised concerns or reported defects to the canton.Grieving residents continued paying their respects to the victims of the blaze, leaving flowers and tributes nearby, even after police reopened the area around the cordoned-off club in the heart of the wealthy mountain town."Courage to all the victims' families, we're thinking of Stefan and hoping he's okay; a hero," said one message.A white sheet, emblazoned with a drawing of a large heart and the words "Courage" and Thank You", had been hung outside the Crans-Montana fire station.The disaster has left Switzerland reeling, with families of the overwhelmingly young partygoers waiting for news of their loved ones.Among those bracing for the worst was Laetitia Brodard, who said that the last text she received from her son, Arthur, was "Mum, Happy New Year, I love you"."It's been 40 hours. Forty hours since our children disappeared. So now we need to know," she told journalists on Friday near the memorial.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday all countries should "uphold international law" after President Donald Trump announced US forces had captured Venezuela's leader Nicolas Maduro in a large-scale assault.Calling the situation "fast-moving", Starmer added that "the UK was not involved in any way in this operation" as he urged patience in order to "establish the facts"."I want to speak to President Trump, I want to speak to allies," the British leader said in brief comments aired on UK television hours after the US attack."I can be absolutely clear that we were not involved in that. And as you know, I always say and believe we should all uphold international law."Starmer added that "hopefully more information will come out" about the situation when Trump holds a press conference later Saturday.The UK has not recognised the results of the disputed 2024 election that handed Maduro a third term in power, and has called for a "peaceful, negotiated transition" of power there.Following Saturday's events, Starmer said his government's focus was on supporting around 500 British nationals thought to be in Venezuela."We're working with the (British) embassy to make sure that they are well looked after, safeguarded and get appropriate advice," he added.The Foreign Office in London on Saturday updated its advice to urge against all travel to Venezuela.It noted Venezuelan authorities had "announced a 'state of external commotion' due to air strikes on targets across the country"."This could lead to closure of Venezuelan borders and airspace," the advice added.The US actions prompted strong political reactions in Britain.Nigel Farage, leader of the hard-right Reform UK party and a longtime Trump ally, called them "unorthodox and contrary to international law"."But if they make China and Russia think twice, it may be a good thing. I hope the Venezuelan people can now turn a new leaf without Maduro," he added.But Ed Davey, leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats, urged Starmer to "condemn Trump's illegal action in Venezuela"."Maduro is a brutal and illegitimate dictator, but unlawful attacks like this make us all less safe," he added, arguing they give Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's Xi "a green light" to "attack other countries with impunity".

A scramble for gold reserves dug up in illegal mines is fuelling violence by criminal gangs in parts of Nigeria, officials, expert reports and local residents say, with much of it smuggled to a Middle Eastern destination.Northwestern and central Nigerian states have long been terrorised by criminal gangs locally called "bandits" who raid villages, abduct residents and loot and burn homes.While the decades-long violence started as clashes between herders and farmers over limited grazing land and water resources exacerbated by climate change, the conflict has since morphed into organised crime — at a time when the price of the precious metal has been soaring.Nigeria is well known for its oil, yet also has significant gold deposits of some 754,000 ounces (21.37 tonnes), worth $1.4bn, accounting for 0.5% of global production, according to the 2023 Gold Mining Industry report.A recent wave of kidnappings, including hundreds of school children, brought the violence into fresh international focus.Local artisans extract gold for their livelihoods, attracting others from neighbouring countries, officials, including Kebbi State Governor Nasir Idris, say.The bandits tax the miners and demand a cut from the extracted ore as a levy to allow them access to the pits, villagers and experts say."Gold has become an increasingly important revenue stream for armed bandit groups in north-west Nigeria since 2023," said the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime in an October report.Nigeria's political and business elite use mining companies as proxies to buy artisanal miners' gold through middlemen.Most of the illegally-mined gold is smuggled out to a Middle East nation, from where it is laundered into the global supply chain in Europe, the US, Asia and South Africa."This gold is almost entirely smuggled out of the country and shipped to a Middle East nation," said a 2024 SwissAid report.Solid Minerals Minister Dele Alake said Nigerian gold often ends up in the Middle East "unlawfully".Alake has previously said illegal miners sponsor "banditry and terrorism".Nigeria's counter-terrorism boss Major General Adamu Garba said recently that illegal mining "intersects with banditry, insurgency, arms trafficking and cross-border smuggling".Against the backdrop of recent kidnappings, governors and traditional chiefs from 19 northern states recently dubbed illegal mining a "major contributory factor to the security crises".They want a six-month suspension of mining to clean up the sector.But umbrella union the Nigerian Miners Association warns a blanket mining ban would disrupt locals' livelihoods, "deepen poverty and increase insecurity".Miners who resist paying levies come into the bandits' firing line. In October bandits killed 16 miners and villagers while in April 19 people were killed in different parts of the region.Supported by bandits, some miners raid gold-rich villages, pushing out residents to access deposits, said Mamman Alassan, who fled his village in Niger's Shiroro district three years ago following raids."People usually protest and the miners respond by launching deadly raids to take over the area," Alassan said after resettling in Minna city.The villages also sit on deposits of other minerals including tantalite, copper and lithium, in strong demand for its use in electric vehicles and clean energy tech.Intelligence sources say even licensed companies are forced to pay bandits to gain access to mining sites.Niger State governor Umar Bago recently questioned how miners can "freely access" sites in remote areas without getting attacked.Officials also blame the influx of foreigners for the worsening insecurity, with Kebbi state governor Idris singling out illegal miners from Mali, Chad and as far afield as Tanzania.The violence has been exacerbated by the increasing alliance between bandits and militants from the northeast who have in recent years established a strong presence in northwest and central regions, security officials and analysts say.Although they have no ideological leanings and are mainly motivated by financial gains, the bandits' alliance with militants has exposed them to better arms, tactics and brutality, they say.INEFFECTIVE BANSAround 35% of Nigeria's gold deposits lie beneath impoverished northwestern villages, according to Ismail Suleiman, who owns a mining company that extracts minerals across the northwest.Some state governments have at various times banned mining to curb banditry but the violence has continued unabated.In October, Niger state's Bago announced an indefinite ban on mining, with plans to recruit 10,000 government-sponsored militia to protect Niger's rural communities.In 2019, the federal government imposed a five-year mining ban in Zamfara state but lifted it in January, citing "improved security" despite increased killings and kidnappings there.Artisanal mining has continued on a much larger scale since the ban was lifted and violence has raged, said the miners' union.

US President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States will "run" Venezuela and tap its huge oil reserves after snatching leftist leader Nicolas Maduro out of the country during a bombing raid on Caracas.Trump's announcement came hours after a lightning attack in which special forces grabbed Maduro and his wife, while airstrikes pounded multiple sites, stunning the capital city.Trump did not go into detail what he meant but told a press conference in Florida: "We're going to be running it with a group.""We're designating people," he said, mentioning that cabinet officials standing with him would be in charge.In another surprise, Trump indicated that US troops could be deployed in Venezuela.The US is "not afraid of boots on the ground," he said.**media[400644]**Although the operation is being framed as a law-enforcement action, Trump made clear that regime change and Venezuela's oil riches are the major goals."We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure," he said."We'll be selling large amounts of oil," he said.The 79-year-old Republican posted a picture of Maduro in custody on a US naval ship wearing a blindfold, handcuffs and what looked like noise-canceling ear muffs. He and his wife were being taken to New York to face narcotics and terrorism charges.Trump dismisses opposition leaderUS-backed opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, posted on social media: "the hour of freedom has arrived."She called for the opposition's candidate in the 2024 election, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, to "immediately" assume the presidency.But Trump scotched any expectation that Machado should emerge as Venezuela's new leader. She doesn't have "support or respect" there, he said.He indicated he could instead work with Maduro's deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, saying "she's essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again."Trump also made clear that the US presence is unlikely to be short."We're there now, but we're going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place."The United Nations chief said he was "deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected."China, a backer of Maduro's hard-left regime, said it "strongly condemns" the US attack, while France warned that a solution for troubled Venezuela cannot "be imposed from outside."Black-out and bombingVenezuelans had been bracing for attacks as US forces, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, spent months massing off the coast.**media[400645]**Caracas residents woke to explosions and the whir of military helicopters around 2am (0600 GMT). Airstrikes hit a major military base and an airbase, among other sites, for nearly an hour, AFP journalists said.The bombing turned out to be only part of the more ambitious plan to topple Maduro and bring him to US soil to face narco-trafficking charges.Trump said the assault began with a partial blackout caused by US "expertise."The top US military officer, General Dan Caine, said 150 aircraft took part in the operation, supporting troops helicoptering in to seize Machado with the help of months of intelligence into the leader's daily habits — down to "what he ate" and what pets he kept.Maduro, 63, and his wife "gave up" without a struggle and there was "no loss of US life," he said.Maria Eugenia Escobar, a 58-year-old resident of La Guaira, near the heavily bombed main airport, told AFP that the blasts "lifted me out of bed, and I immediately thought, 'God, the day has come.'"Within hours of the operation, Caracas had fallen eerily quiet, with police stationed outside public buildings and a smell of smoke drifting through the streets.Shifting justificationsThe US and numerous European governments already did not recognise Maduro's legitimacy, saying he stole elections both in 2018 and 2024.Maduro — in power since 2013 after taking over from leftist mentor Hugo Chavez — long accused Trump of seeking regime change in order to control Venezuela's huge oil reserves.Trump said the extraordinary snatching of a foreign country's leader was justified because of his claim that Venezuela is responsible for mass death from drugs in the United States.But Trump has given a variety of justifications for the aggressive policy toward Venezuela, at times stressing illegal migration, narcotics trafficking and the country's oil industry.He had previously avoided openly calling for regime change — likely mindful of his nationalist political base's dislike for foreign entanglements.Several members of Congress quickly questioned the legality of the operation. However, Trump's key ally Mike Johnson, Republican speaker in the House of Representatives, said it was "decisive and justified."

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has defended his revocation of executive orders that his predecessor Eric Adams issued after being indicted in 2024 on federal charges of accepting illegal campaign contributions.The dozen orders Adams issued since his indictment included a directive to allow federal agents, including immigration officers, ⁠to use an office ⁠on Rikers Island, the city's main jail.That order was later struck down by a court.The new mayor also struck down executive orders that Adams had portrayed as addressing antisemitism.Mamdani, a Muslim who some have accused of antisemitism over his support of Palestinians in Gaza, told reporters on Friday that he would fund measures to prevent hate crimes, and would make protection of Jewish New Yorkers a focus of his administration.Mamdani recalled September 26, 2024, the day when Adams was charged with accepting ⁠illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel from foreign nationals seeking to influence him, as "a moment when many New Yorkers lost even more faith in New York City politics and the ability of city government to actually prioritise the needs of the public, as opposed to the needs of the person".In April, a US judge dismissed the charges against Adams, a Democrat, at the request of the US Justice Department, which had argued that the case was distracting the mayor from helping Republican President Donald Trump step up deportations.Mamdani, from the left wing of ⁠the Democratic Party, has clashed with Trump over the immigration crackdown.On Thursday, Mamdani revoked orders by Adams that had prevented city institutions from divesting from Israel and that defined antisemitism in a way recognised by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), an intergovernmental organisation of 35 countries that promotes Holocaust education.The Council on American-Islamic Relations is among groups that argue that the IHRA definition has been used to try to silence advocates for Palestinian rights.While Islamic organisations praised Mamdani's moves, Israel's Foreign Ministry posted on X on Friday that Mamdani "shows his true face: He scraps the IHRA definition of antisemitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel. ⁠This isn’t leadership. It’s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire”.

Venezuelan migrants around the world erupted in celebration Saturday following the US-led deposition of President Nicolas Maduro, whose government oversaw one of the world's largest migration exoduses in recent history.Chants celebrating Maduro's capture were heard in the streets of Chile's capital, where Venezuelans gathered to share their joy."We are free. We are all happy that the dictatorship has fallen ⁠and that we have a free country," ⁠said Khaty Yanez, a Venezuelan woman who has spent the last seven years in Chile."My joy is too big," her compatriot Jose Gregorio said. "After so many years, after so many struggles, after so much work, today is the day. Today is the day of freedom."Since 2014, some 7.7mn Venezuelans or 20% of the population have left the country, unable to afford food or seeking better opportunities abroad, according to the UN International Organisation for Migration.Neighbouring Colombia has received the largest share of the diaspora, with around 2.8mn Venezuelans, followed by 1.7mn in Peru, according to the R4V platform, a group of regional non-governmental organisations (NGOs) assisting migrants and refugees from Venezuela set up by the UN migration agency.In Peru's capital Lima, dozens of Venezuelans gathered, many wrapped in their country's ⁠flag, to mark Maduro's deposition.Venezuelan migrant Milagros Ortega, whose parents are still in Venezuela, said she hoped to go back."Knowing that my dad was alive to see the fall of Nicolas Maduro is very emotional. I would like to see his face," she said.Peruvian President Jose Jeri said on X that his government would facilitate the immediate return of Venezuelans, regardless of their immigration status.For years, the US was a haven for Venezuelans but many were branded criminals and forced to seek refuge elsewhere during President Donald Trump's second term.In Spain, thousands of people gathered at central Madrid's Puerta del Sol and applauded as they watched Trump's press conference live.In the afternoon, groups of Venezuelans are also expected to gather to celebrate in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires.After the initial joy, doubts about Venezuela's future also set in, as Venezuelans abroad wondered what the future would hold for ⁠their country and its citizens.Andres Losada, who has lived in Spain for three years and is among the 400,000 Venezuelans residing in the country according to official data, said he is struggling between worry and joy about the situation in Venezuela."Although what people are going through in Caracas is tough, I believe that beyond that there is a light that will lead us to freedom," he added.Venezuelan security forces patrolled largely empty streets at dawn in the capital, Caracas, Saturday.Most residents stayed home, devouring the latest information on their phones, while some went to stock up on groceries in case they need to hunker down for a prolonged period.A lingering smell of explosives hung over Caracas where a few hundred Maduro supporters gathered to clamour for his freedom."I felt the explosions lift me out of bed. In that instant I thought: 'My God, the day has come,' and I cried," Maria Eugenia Escobar, a 58-year-old resident of the city of 6mn people, told AFP.The strikes started around 2am local time, with dozens of detonations some at first mistook for fireworks.Windows rattled from the shockwaves and residents rushed out onto terraces and balconies as military aircraft zoomed overhead."It was horrible, we felt the planes flying over our house," said a resident of the Coche neighbourhood, near the city's largest military complex, which was targeted in the raid.Residents saw columns of smoke rising from several parts of the city, which was soon cloaked in a fog-like haze.Witnesses spoke of bombings in La Guaira, Caracas's airport and port, in Maracay to the west, and in Higuerote to the east.A few hundred supporters gathered in Caracas to demand news of their leader's fate."Long live Nicolas Maduro," echoed a rally cry from a hastily-erected stage with speakers blaring revolutionary music."Long live!" retorted the crowd.Katia Briceno, a 54-year-old university professor, came out to protest what she described as US "barbarism”."How is it that a foreign government comes into the country and removes the president? It's absurd!" she told AFP.Apart from the protesters, there were few Venezuelans out and about, and just an occasional car on the usually bustling streets.Those who did venture out did so under the watchful eye of black-clad agents patrolling the centre with long guns.Many stores were shuttered in the hours after the attack, while queues formed at others that were letting people in a few at a time.Damage from the explosions was mostly limited to military installations, where vehicles stood riddled with bullet impacts, others smouldering and charred.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung is set to discuss ways to strengthen economic cooperation and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula during an upcoming summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing next week.South Korea's National Security Advisor, Wiآ Sung-lak, said the leaders would explore practical collaboration across multiple sectors, including supply chain investment, the digital economy, environmental and climate initiatives, tourism, and cross-border crime prevention. "We share a common goal of achieving peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia," he added. North Korea is expected to be a central topic on the summit agenda, as Seoul seeks to build momentum for dialogue with Pyongyang. The planned visit comes less than two months after President Xi's first trip to South Korea in 11 years, which coincided with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju.

The toll of Thursday's explosion at a ski resort in southwestern Switzerland's Alps is 40 people killed and 115 injured, many critically, Swiss authorities have said.Frederick Gisler, head of police in the Valais canton, said authorities are still verifying the identities of the victims amid the scale of the disaster.President Guy Parmelin described the incident as one of the worst tragedies Switzerland has experienced, adding that New Year celebrations have turned into a period of national mourning. Officials said the blast was caused by a fire, ruling out any deliberate attack.Stefan Ganzer, Valais security adviser, said the explosion was significant and destroyed part of the resort. The number of casualties exceeded the capacity of the main Valais hospital, prompting transfers of patients to hospitals in Zurich, Lausanne, Geneva, and France.At least nine French nationals were injured, with eight others missing, and three were hospitalized in Lyon and Paris, according to the French Foreign Ministry. About 15 Italians were also injured, with a similar number reported missing, the Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said.Investigations are ongoing to determine the exact cause of the fire.

Seventeen people have died and 11 others have been injured in floods and heavy snowfall that swept across Afghanistan over the past three days. Mohammad Yousuf Hamad, spokesman for the Afghan National Disaster Management Authority, said Thursday that the first heavy rains and snowfall of the season ended a long drought but also caused widespread flooding in many areas. He added that the severe weather has disrupted daily life in the central, northern, southern, and western parts of the country. aHe said that the floods damaged infrastructure in the affected provinces, caused livestock deaths, and impacted approximately 1,800 families, further exacerbating the already fragile situation in rural and urban areas. Hamad noted that the National Disaster Management Authority had dispatched assessment teams to the worst-affected areas and was conducting surveys to determine the additional needs of those affected. Afghanistan is subject to extreme weather fluctuations, with seasonal rains often followed by waves of flooding, which further weakens the infrastructure and threaten the lives of residents and farm