Around 40 people are believed to have died in a bar fire that broke out in southwestern Switzerland, with the number of injured rising to 119, police said at a news conference.

Among the injured, the identities of 113 people have been confirmed. But some European countries still reported missing nationals in the fire, which broke out overnight at "Le Constellation" bar in the Crans-Montana ski resort in Valais Canton.

Swiss authorities said the death toll is expected to rise in the coming days.

Two people died and 12 others were injured after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck southern Mexico, local authorities said.

A 50-year-old woman was killed after her home collapsed in the state of Guerrero on Friday, the epicenter of the earthquake, said Evelyn Salgado, the state's governor.

In addition, a man in his 60s died after stumbling and losing consciousness in Benito Juarez municipality, Mexico City, during an evacuation prompted by the earthquake, news agency reported.

 An explosion followed by a violent fire ravaged the 'Le Constellation' bar in Crans-Montana ski resort in Valais Canton of southwestern Switzerland on New Year's Eve, causing numerous deaths and injuries, the local authorities said on Thursday.

Reports cited that several dozen people are feared dead and around 100 injured due to the explosion and fire. Those injured in the blast and subsequent fire suffered serious injuries and were taken to hospitals in Sion, capital of Valais canton, as well as in other cities, Valais Canton Police Chief Frederic Gisler said at a press conference.

Authorities on Thursday morning issued an emergency warning for a life-threatening bushfire burning near the Perth Airport in Western Australia (WA).

A warning issued shortly before 6 a.m. local time by the WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said that residents in the Kalamunda region, 15 km east of central Perth and 5 km from the city's international airport, should leave immediately.

US President Donald Trump has said that “peace on earth” was his New Year’s resolution as he addressed guests at a gathering at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, striking a brief note of aspiration before turning to a wide-ranging reflection on the state of the country.

When asked about his New Year’s resolution at the New Year’s Eve gathering on Wednesday, the President replied: “Peace. Peace on earth. Peace on earth.” He did not respond to questions about the CIA’s role in an attack on Venezuela or whether he would put boots on the ground in Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump warned Hamas to disarm within a “very short period of time,” cautioned Iran against rebuilding military capabilities, and reaffirmed an exceptionally close US–Israel partnership.

“We talked about Hamas and we talked about disarmament and they're going to be given a very short period of time to disarm,” Trump told reporters during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Mar-a-Lago on Monday.

He said Hamas had already committed to doing so.

A five-year-old boy died after his right arm was caught in a travelator at a ski resort in Japan's northern prefecture of Hokkaido, local authorities said.

The accident occurred at the Asarigawa Onsen Ski Resort in Otaru on Sunday morning (local time), when the boy became trapped in a moving walkway connecting the parking area to the ski slope. His mother called emergency services to report the incident, reports.

The boy, a resident of Sapporo, was rescued but was unconscious when taken to the hospital, where his death was later confirmed, according to local police and firefighters.

Indonesian police are conducting identification procedures for 16 people killed in a fire that broke out at a nursing home in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, local authorities said on Monday.

The victims' bodies are being identified at Bhayangkara Hospital of the North Sulawesi Regional Police (Polda Sulut), according to Alamsyah P. Hasibuan, head of public relations of Polda Sulut.

He said the identification process is aimed at establishing the victims' full identities before further coordination with their families, reports.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen a test launch of long-range strategic cruise missiles, calling for the "unlimited and sustained" development of state nuclear combat forces, state media reported on Monday.

The drill took place Sunday in the Yellow Sea, demonstrating "the absolute reliability and combat readiness of the North's strategic counterattack capability," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The strategic cruise missiles flew along the preset flight orbit for 10,199 seconds and 10,203 seconds to hit a target, it said.

At least four people, including two children, were injured after an explosion rocked a madrasa in the South Keraniganj area near Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, local media reported.

The blast occurred on Friday afternoon at the Ummal Qura International Madrasa in the Hasnabad area.

According to the police, explosives and materials used for making bombs were recovered from the premises, Bangladeshi media reported.

At least 4,791 people have lost their lives in road traffic crashes (RTCs) across Pakistan's Punjab province in 2025, marking a sharp 19 per cent rise in fatalities compared to the previous year, local media report citing data from the country's emergency response service Rescue 1122.

As per the annual statistics released by the emergency service, Punjab recorded 482,870 road traffic accidents in 2025, leaving nearly 570,000 people injured.

In comparison, 467,561 accidents were reported in 2024, leading to 4,139 deaths, while 420,387 crashes in 2023 resulted in 3,967 fatalities.

The number of babies born increased for the past 16 consecutive months as of October, but the pace of growth slowed to the lowest since the start of this year, government data showed on Wednesday.

A total of 21,958 babies were born in October, up 2.5 per cent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, News Agency reported.

It marked the 16th consecutive month of increase since July 2024 but also the slowest on-year growth of the year, the data showed.

The US authorities have filed federal charges against a 29-year-old Afghan national in connection with the shooting that killed National Guardsman Sarah Beckstrom and critically wounded Guardsman Andrew Wolfe in the nation’s capital.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who resided in Bellingham, Washington, was charged in a criminal complaint in US District Court with transporting a firearm in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony and with transporting a stolen firearm across state lines, according to an announcement by US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

The Hanbit-Nano, South Korea's first commercial orbital rocket, crashed shortly afterward due to an abnormality in the vehicle, its operator Innospace said.

The company noted that the rocket blasted off from the Alcantara Space Center at 10:13 p.m. Monday (local time) in Brazil, Yonhap news agency reported.

However, the vehicle fell to the ground 30 seconds after liftoff, said Innospace.

The rocket crashed within a ground safety zone, with no casualties or additional damage reported, it added.

Drought is affecting an estimated more than 4.6 million people in Somalia, around a quarter of the population, a UN spokesperson said.

UN partners indicate that at least 120,000 people were displaced between September and December, as water prices soar, food becomes increasingly scarce, livestock die, and livelihoods collapse, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, at a daily briefing on Monday.

US President Donald Trump has said that South Korea's Hanwha will work with the US Navy for the construction of new frigate warships as he announced plans to build a new "Trump-class" of battleships.

The remarks come as South Korea has sought to deepen shipbuilding cooperation with the United States through its key shipbuilders, including Hanwha Ocean Co, reports news agency.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday issued an apology to the nation's Jewish community following the mass shooting at Bondi Beach as he announced new laws that will target hate speech.

Albanese said at a press conference in Canberra on Monday afternoon that he feels the "weight of responsibility" for the fatal shooting of 15 people at an event celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah at Sydney's Bondi Beach on December 14.

As many as 2.17 million Afghans have been forcibly deported from Iran and Pakistan, with children comprising more than 60 per cent of returnees, according to the United Nations.

According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Afghanistan has been facing one of the world's largest displacement and returnee crises as Iran and Pakistan have been forcibly deporting Afghans.

The suspect who launched a reign of terror at two elite US institutions with a mass shooting at the Ivy League Brown University and the murder of a nuclear science professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has killed himself, officials said.

The man was identified as Claudio Valente, a 48-year-old former Brown student from Portugal, and he was found dead in a storage facility as law enforcement closed in on him, Oscar Perez, the police chief of Providence in Rhode Island, said Thursday night.

US President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping prescription drug price cuts under a “Most Favoured Nation” policy has put India’s pharmaceutical industry in focus, as Washington moves to benchmark US drug prices against those paid in other countries.

In an address to the nation on Wednesday (local time), Trump said his administration had negotiated sharp reductions in drug prices by directly confronting pharmaceutical companies and foreign governments, using trade pressure to force changes in global pricing.

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.2 struck off Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan on Tuesday, the country's weather agency said.

The temblor occurred at 2:38 p.m. local time (0538 GMT) off Aomori's Pacific coast at a depth of 20 km, measuring 3 on Japan's seismic scale of 7 in Hakodate City, Hokkaido Prefecture, said the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

The quake's epicentre was located at a latitude of 40.9 degrees north and a longitude of 143.1 degrees east. No tsunami advisory was issued.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday praised Ahmed al Ahmed as an Australian hero for his bravery during the Bondi Beach terror attack.

In a post on X, the Prime Minister wrote: “Ahmed, you are an Australian hero. You put yourself at risk to save others, running towards danger on Bondi Beach and disarming a terrorist. In the worst of times, we see the best of Australians. And that’s exactly what we saw on Sunday night. On behalf of every Australian, I say thank you.”

A rapidly developing low-pressure system has brought a blizzard to Hokkaido on Monday, with violent winds and heavy snowfall also affecting parts of northeastern Japan, causing disruptions to transportation and prompting warnings of storm surges and flood risks from high tides.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), gusts of wind recorded over a three-hour period up to 6 a.m. on Monday reached about 32.9 metres per second in the city of Abashiri and 32.7 metres per second in Kushiro, both in Hokkaido.

Japan's weather agency issued a tsunami advisory for northern Japan's Pacific coast after a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck off Aomori Prefecture on Friday.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the temblor occurred at 11:44 a.m. local time off Aomori's Pacific coast at a depth of 20 km, measuring 4 on Japan's seismic scale of 7 in the hardest-hit areas.

South Korea's exports jumped 17.3 per cent from a year earlier in the first 10 days of December, bolstered by robust global demand for semiconductors and an increase in working days, data showed on Thursday.

Outbound shipments reached $20.58 billion in the December 1-10 period, compared with $17.54 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. It marked the largest figure ever for any 10-day period, reports news agency.

Average daily exports climbed 3.5 percent on-year to $2.42 billion, according to the customs office. The number of working days during the period came to 8.5 days, compared with 7.5 days a year earlier.

At least 30 people were injured after a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck Japan, triggering tsunami waves that reached heights of up to 70 centimetres along the Pacific coast, local media reported on Tuesday, quoting the government.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake struck at 11:15 p.m. local time on Monday off the eastern coast of Aomori Prefecture at a depth of 54 kilometres.

At least two passengers lost their lives and 20 others sustained injuries when a bus overturned in northern Afghanistan's Kunduz province, local police reported.

The incident occurred in the Ali Abad district along the highway linking northern Badakhshan province to the capital Kabul late on Sunday, and was caused by reckless driving, provincial police spokesman Jumaddin Khaksar said, News Agency reported on Monday.

Police and emergency services quickly responded, transporting the injured to nearby health centers for treatment, Khaksar added.

More than 30 homes have been damaged or destroyed by a bushfire in the Australian island state of Tasmania, with evacuated residents advised that it is not safe to return.

Authorities on Sunday night said that 19 homes had been destroyed and another 14 had been damaged by the fire in the small coastal town of Dolphin Sands, located 105 kilometres northeast of Hobart, the state capital.

Tasmania's Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner, Jeremy Smith, said at a press conference that over 120 assets, including outbuildings, garages and electricity infrastructure, had sustained damage.

New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS), the lead combat agency for bush fires in the Australian state of NSW, confirmed that multiple homes have been destroyed by fire, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on Saturday afternoon.

This confirmation came after a live video from the network news helicopter showed at least six properties destroyed on Nimbin Road, near Koolewong, ABC added.

NSW RFS had put an emergency warning in place on Saturday afternoon for Nimbin Road due to a bush fire burning in a southerly direction behind Glenrock Parade towards Lara Street, reports news agency.

Indian Ambassador to South Korea Gourangalal Das and Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) Administrator Yoon Youngbin on Saturday explored areas of space cooperation and ways to build business-to-business (B2B) engagements in both countries.

The Indian envoy and KASA administrator met at the Indian Embassy in Seoul and held talks on enhancing space cooperation between India and South Korea. According to the Embassy, the discussions stemmed from the recently concluded Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between KASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The Pakistani and Afghan forces engaged in a heavy exchange of fire along the border amid mounting tensions, with both sides accusing each other of igniting the clash, local media reported on Saturday.

The latest confrontation on late Friday comes after renewed efforts by Saudi Arabia to broker a ceasefire between Kabul and Islamabad, which reportedly failed to yield results.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the caretaker Afghan government, took to his social media platform, stating that Pakistan carried out attacks in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province in Afghanistan on Friday, triggering a response from the Afghan forces.

 A Christmas event in Sainte-Anne in the French overseas region of Guadeloupe turned tragic when a vehicle drove into a gathering preparing for festive celebrations, leaving at least 19 victims, including 10 deaths.

Radio Caraibes Internationale Guadeloupe reported that three of the injured were in serious condition. The incident occurred at Schoelcher Square, located opposite the town hall and the church, where preparations were underway.

The cause of the incident remains unclear, and authorities have launched an investigation. Further details are awaited.

A man has died following a targeted shooting in the Australian state of Queensland in the early hours of Friday morning.

The Queensland Police Service (QPS) said that emergency services attended a property in the suburb of Slacks Creek, 20 km southeast of the state capital of Brisbane, at around 1:15 a.m. local time on Friday and located a man with an apparent gunshot wound.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited several regional factories ahead of their official opening, stressing the construction of such facilities is a "gigantic revolution" designed to improve people's livelihoods, state media reported Friday.

Kim inspected regional-industrial factories in several counties of South Phyongan Province, including the Sinyang and Pukchang counties, on Wednesday, as their official openings are nearing, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

President Donald Trump cast China as a central factor in his administration's economic and national security strategy, arguing that tariffs, tightened technology rules, and new domestic manufacturing incentives had put the United States "in the hottest country anywhere in the world."

As he rolled back Biden-era auto-efficiency regulations at an Oval Office event, Trump on Wednesday (local time) repeatedly cited China in the context of trade, artificial intelligence, semiconductor controls and lawsuits targeting his tariff program.