Forty people died while 119 were injured in the blaze at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana early on Thursday as people celebrated the New Year. Bonvin said 55 seriously injured casualties were brought down to Sion hospital in the hours following the fire. - 'Panic' -Bonvin said crush and suffocation injuries were to be expected in such rapidly evolving scenes of horror. Eleven patients remain at Sion hospital, with 28 having been transferred to other hospitals in Switzerland and abroad. Bonvin said no patients had died at the hospital, but that survivors remained in "difficult situations".

London stocks hit record as 2026 kicks off with global gainsNEW YORK, Jan 3, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Stock markets mostly rose on Friday, the first trading day of 2026, with London's benchmark FTSE 100 index reaching 10,000 points for the first time. After indices smashed records in 2025, ending with double-digit annual gains, London continued the trend in early new year deals. It gave up much of its gains but still ended the day up 0.2 percent to set a fresh closing record. Paris and Frankfurt also rose on Friday after Hong Kong led Asian gains, closing up 2.8 percent. Also on Friday on the Hong Kong stock exchange, shares in Chinese chip designer Biren Technology soared as much as 119 percent in the exchange's first listing of the year.

MILAN, Italy, Jan 3, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Rafael Leao fired AC Milan top of Serie A with a tight 1-0 win at Cagliari on Friday. Adrien Rabiot set up Leao who fired past Elia Caprile after 50 minutes in Sardinia. Milan move two points ahead of Inter Milan who host Bologna on Sunday with third-placed Napoli at Lazio. The visitors came out fighting after the break, Ruben Loftus-Cheek heading over before Leao, who had arrived in Cagliari nursing a right adductor problem, breaking the deadlock having hit the crossbar minutes earlier. Cagliari remain 14th in the standings on 18 points.

Lens move four points clear of PSG at top of Ligue 1Lens move four points clear of PSG at top of Ligue 1TOULOUSE, France, Jan 3, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Lens notched their seventh successive win to beat Toulouse 3-0 on Friday and move four points clear of Paris Saint-Germain at the top of Ligue 1. Lens have held top spot since November 30 and will stay there for at least another fortnight as next weekend is given over to the French Cup. After an even first 20 minutes, the game turned when Toulouse striker Emersonn was sent off for an ugly challenge on Odsonne Edouard. Lens did not benefit from the one-man advantage until the start of the second half when they laid siege to the Toulouse goal. Pierre Ganiou sealed the points with a fine strike in the 90th minute.

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BANJUL, Gambia, Jan 2, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - President Adama Barrow on Friday said The Gambia was in mourning after at least seven people drowned when a boat carrying undocumented migrants capsized off the country's coast. The boat, loaded with more than 200 people, made a distress call overnight Wednesday to Thursday near the North Bank region. The Gambian Navy launched a hunt for survivors after midnight, involving several vessels and a fishing boat. Barrow said in his address that the latest tragedy was a "painful reminder of the dangerous and life-threatening nature of irregular migration". "Surely, no dream, journey or promise is worth a single loss of life at sea," he added.

Even AI being built into humanoid robots remains a work in progress, with human tele-operators overseeing their operation remotely. "The gap between AI technology hype and customer experience expectations will widen at CES 2026," predicted Forrester principal analyst Thomas Husson. "If software and AI models move at the speed of light, energy and hardware move at the speed of physics." "There's no question that some of it is going to be AI washing," Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart said of hype expected at CES. "AI is definitely a story that overlays CES in terms of new capabilities, but also new price pressures," Greengart said.

GOMA, DR Congo, Jan 3, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - A strike blamed on the Democratic Republic of Congo's army killed at least six people in territory controlled by Rwanda-backed M23 fighters in the east, a local source said on Friday. "This Friday, a drone from the Congolese armed forces bombed civilian houses in central Masisi. There were six deaths and 41 wounded, some of them seriously," Masisi territory administrator Emmanuel Ndizeye told AFP. A resident reached by telephone said the situation was "traumatising", with the strike leading to "many wounded". M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka slammed the strike as an indiscriminate bombardment by the Congolese government in Kinshasa, which the armed group wants to overthrow.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Jan 3, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry called on Saturday for Yemen's southern factions to attend a "dialogue" in Riyadh, after deadly airstrikes and a surprise independence bid. In a statement posted to social media, the Saudi ministry urged "a comprehensive conference in Riyadh to bring together all southern factions to discuss just solutions to the southern cause". Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have for years supported various factions within Yemen's government-run territories, intervening in the neighbouring country's long-running civil war. One of those factions, the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), is now pushing to declare independence and form a breakaway state, which would split the Arabian Peninsula's poorest state in two. But after a brutal, decade-long civil war, the Houthis remain in place while the Saudi and Emirati-backed factions attack each other in the south.

UN chief calls on Israel to reverse NGOs ban in GazaUNITED NATIONS, United States, Jan 3, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Friday for Israel to end a ban on humanitarian agencies that provided aid in Gaza, saying he was "deeply concerned" at the development. Israel on Thursday suspended 37 foreign humanitarian organizations from accessing the Gaza Strip after they had refused to share lists of their Palestinian employees with government officials. The ban includes Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which has 1,200 staff members in the Palestinian territories -- the majority of whom are in Gaza. Several NGOS have said the requirements contravene international humanitarian law or endanger their independence. On Thursday, 18 Israel-based left-wing NGOs denounced the decision to ban their international peers, saying "the new registration framework violates core humanitarian principles of independence and neutrality."

It was felt around 400 kilometers (250 miles) away to the north in Mexico City, where alarms sent people rushing into the street for safety, disrupting a holiday weekend. The center of Mexico City is built on the muddy subsoil of what was once the bed of a lake, making it particularly vulnerable to earthquakes. On September 19, 1985, an 8.1-magnitude earthquake devastated a vast swathe of Mexico City, leaving nearly 13,000 dead, mostly in the city, according to official figures. In 2017, also on September 19, a 7.1-magnitude quake killed 369 people, also mostly in Mexico City. Mexico City has also installed loudspeakers on lampposts to broadcast the alerts.

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Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus. File PhotoDHAKA, Jan 2, 2026 (BSS) - Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus called upon all participating countries and institutions at the Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) to work together in a spirit of mutual cooperation and partnership. In a message issued on December 31 on the occasion of the 30th Dhaka International Trade Fair 2026, the chief adviser said the interim government remains firmly committed to safeguarding economic stability and fostering desired growth. Against this backdrop, he said, the Dhaka International Trade Fair stands as an important instrument for advancing these goals. The chief adviser expressed hope that the fair would contribute to expanding economic activities, creating employment opportunities and strengthening the country's export base.

BAGERHAT, Jan 2, 2026 (BSS) - A Quran recitation, discussion and prayer meeting were held in Bagerhat today, seeking forgiveness and eternal peace for the departed soul of former Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia. The programmes were organised by BNP and its associate bodies, with Bagerhat Ward-6 BNP President Farukuzzaman presiding over the prayer meeting. Municipal BNP President Sheikh Shahed Ali Robi, Municipal Jubo Dal Convener Sumon Paik, Sadar Upazila Jubo Dal Convener Abul Hasan and Ward BNP General Secretary Haider Ali, among others, were present. Speakers said the nation had suffered an irreparable loss due to the death of Begum Khaleda Zia, adding that her contribution to establishing democracy, sovereignty and human rights would be remembered in history. They prayed for the forgiveness and eternal peace of her departed soul and for strength for the nation to bear the loss.