Category World News

A teenager injured in the fire that engulfed a Swiss Alpine bar during New Year celebrations has died in hospital, according to Swiss authorities, increasing the death toll of one of the worst disasters in the country’s modern history to 41.

Saturday’s death was announced a month after the inferno at the ski resort of Crans-Montana. Another 115 were injured, most of whom remain in various hospitals.

“An 18-year-old Swiss national died at a hospital in Zurich on January 31,” the 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.”

Pilloud said no further information would be released at this stage by her office, which is investigating the incident.

Those killed in the disaster were aged 14 to 39, but the majority were teenagers. Only four were aged over 24.

Among the dead are 23 Swiss nationals, including one French-Swiss dual national, and 18 foreigners.

Public prosecutors believe the fire started when revellers raised champagne bottles with sparklers attached too close to sound insulation foam on the ceiling of the bar’s basement.

Authorities are looking into whether the foam conformed to regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar. They say fire safety inspections had not been carried out since 2019.

Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the owners – French couple Jacques and Jessica Moretti – on suspicion of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing a fire by negligence.

The court of compulsory measures in the southwestern Valais region on January 12 ordered three months of pretrial detention for Jacques Moretti, but on January 23 ordered his release on bail.

The Crans-Montana municipality’s current head of public safety and a former Crans-Montana fire safety officer are also under criminal investigation.

Following the fire, seriously wounded patients were airlifted to various hospitals and specialist burns units throughout Switzerland and four other European countries.

Switzerland’s Federal Office for Civil Protection told the AFP news agency on Friday that at its last count, as of Monday, 44 patients were being treated abroad.

The Wallis health ministry told AFP that 37 patients were still in Swiss hospitals, as of Monday.

The picture is constantly changing, with patients moving between hospitals for different stages of their treatment, and some patients being readmitted. Some remain in intensive care.

The fire has tested relations with neighbouring Italy, which lost nationals in the blaze and has protested the release on bail of the bar’s owner.

At least 12 people have been killed in a Russian drone attack on a bus carrying miners in ​Ukraine’s southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, the country’s energy minister said.

“Today, the enemy carried out a cynical and targeted attack on energy sector workers in the Dnipro region,” Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal posted on Telegram on Sunday.

“As a result of the terrorist attack, 12 mine workers were killed and seven more were injured.”

Police said the attack took place in the ‌city of Ternivka. Footage posted by the State Emergencies Service showed a charred bus with ‌shattered windows that had veered off ⁠the road.

Energy firm DTEK said in a statement that the killed and wounded were its employees returning from a shift.

Earlier on Sunday, regional officials said at least nine people had been wounded in Russian strikes on a maternity hospital and a residential building in the ‌southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

The attacks come days after United States President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to temporarily halt the targeting of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv and other cities, amid freezing temperatures that have brought widespread hardship to Ukrainians.

The Kremlin confirmed on Friday that it agreed to suspend attacks on Kyiv until Sunday, but did not reveal any further details.

Russia and Ukraine held trilateral talks with the US in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, last month and are expected to meet for a second round this month, amid ongoing US pressure to end their nearly four-year war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that the second round of talks ‍would take ⁠place in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and Thursday.

While Ukrainian and Russian officials have agreed in principle with Washington’s demands for a compromise, Moscow and Kyiv differ deeply over what an agreement should look like.

Manchester United interim manager Michael Carrick extended his perfect start as Benjamin Sesko’s stoppage-time strike sealed a pulsating 3-2 win over Fulham on Sunday.

United took the lead through Casemiro’s first-half header and looked in command when Matheus Cunha netted after the interval at Old Trafford.

In an incredible finale, Raul Jimenez’s penalty with five minutes left gave Fulham hope before Kevin’s wonder-goal hauled the visitors level in stoppage time.

To United’s immense credit, they hit straight back as the much-maligned Sesko’s fourth goal in his last four games sealed Carrick’s third successive victory.

After new manager Carrick masterminded surprise wins over Manchester City and Premier League leaders Arsenal, this remarkable encounter suggested the former United midfielder might have the Midas touch.

Unbeaten in their last seven league matches, United moved up to fourth place as their bid to qualify for next season’s Champions League gathers pace.

Reaching the Champions League would be a significant statement for Carrick, who was sacked by second-tier Middlesbrough last year.

Only once in former manager Ruben Amorim’s turbulent 14-month reign did United win three games in a row. And Carrick has matched that run within weeks of his appointment until the end of the season.

United’s hierarchy may have to consider hiring Carrick on a permanent basis if he can continue his impressive run.

Whether that is enough to appease the 1958 Manchester United fans group is another matter after they staged a protest against the owners outside Old Trafford before kickoff.

Hundreds of fans, some wearing clown masks, gathered to express their frustration with United’s decline under the Glazer family and the lack of improvement since co-owner Jim Ratcliffe took charge of football operations.

The group claimed United are “being dragged through chaos by clown ownership” and are “run like a circus”.

Fans chanted against the owners and held aloft banners as flares filled the air on Sir Matt Busby Way.

When the smoke cleared, Carrick’s intuition paid off as he brought Cunha into the starting lineup to replace the injured Patrick Dorgu after the Brazilian scored the winner at Arsenal last weekend.

Only Arsenal had taken more points than in-form Fulham over the previous eight games, but United found the formula to end that strong spell.

United thought they had won a penalty for Jorge Cuenca’s foul on Cunha.

But a VAR check showed the offence took place just outside the area.

It was only a temporary reprieve for Fulham as United took the lead from the resulting free kick in the 19th minute.

Bruno Fernandes swung his delivery to the far post, and Casemiro rose highest to thump a towering header past Bernd Leno.

United struck again in the 56th minute with Cunha’s sixth goal this season.

It was a goal made in Brazil as Casemiro’s clever no-look pass found Cunha inside the Fulham area, and he smashed a fine finish past Leno from an acute angle.

Fulham were controversially denied a lifeline when VAR disallowed Cuenca’s 65th-minute goal.

Samuel Chukwueze was ruled offside by the narrowest of margins when he prodded Jimenez’s free kick to Cuenca.

But United were wobbling and Jimenez converted an 85th-minute penalty after the Mexican was fouled by Harry Maguire.

United looked to have collapsed in stoppage time when Kevin cut in from the right wing and curled a sublime strike into the far corner from the edge of the area.

Venezuelan rights ‍activist Javier Tarazona has been freed ‍in a prisoner release, his family says, more than four years since he was arrested.

“After 1675 days, 4 years and 7 months, this long-awaited day has arrived. My brother Javier Tarazona is free,” Jose Rafael Tarazona posted on X on Sunday. “One person’s freedom is everyone’s hope.”

Legal rights group Foro Penal said several other prisoners had been released with Tarazona from the Helicoide detention centre in Caracas. The group said it has ​verified more than 300 political prisoners freed since the government announced a series of releases on January 8.

Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodriguez on Friday unveiled a proposed “amnesty law” covering hundreds of prisoners and said the Helicoide prison – long condemned by rights groups as a site of prisoner abuse – will be transformed into a sports and social services complex.

Translation: Today, #1Feb, after 1675 days, 4 years and 7 months, this long-awaited day has arrived. My brother Javier Tarazona is FREE. THANKS BE TO GOD ALMIGHTY. Thank you to everyone who made this moment possible. One person’s freedom is everyone’s hope. #FreeToLiberate

Tarazona is the director of FundaRedes, which tracks alleged abuses by Colombian armed groups and the Venezuelan military along the countries’ border. He was arrested in July 2021 and accused of “terrorism” and conspiracy.

Government officials – who deny holding political prisoners and say those jailed have committed crimes – have given a much higher figure for the releases, saying there have been more than 600, but have not been clear about the timeline and appear to be including releases from previous years. The government has never provided an official list of how many prisoners will be released or who they are.

Families of prisoners said the releases have progressed too slowly, and Foro Penal said more than 700 political prisoners remain jailed, an updated ​count including prisoners whose fearful families had not previously reported their detentions.

Families and rights advocates have long ‌demanded the charges and convictions against detainees who are considered political prisoners be revoked.

Opposition politicians, journalists and rights activists have long been subject to charges like “terrorism” and treason, which their families have called unjust and arbitrary.

The proposed amnesty law could affect hundreds of detainees who remain behind bars in the ‌South American country as well as former prisoners who have already been conditionally released.

The releases were announced as the top United States envoy for Venezuela arrived in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, to reopen a US diplomatic mission seven years after ties were severed.

Last month, the US abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from the presidential palace in Caracas on the orders of US President Donald Trump.

Los Angeles 2028 Olympics chief Casey Wasserman has ‍apologised for communicating with ‍convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell more than 20 years ago, after the publication of a series of personal emails between the two.

New files related to late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell’s former boyfriend, published by the United States Department of Justice on ⁠Friday, included flirtatious email exchanges between Wasserman, who was married at the time, and Maxwell dating ​from 2003.

Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being found guilty in ‍2021 by a jury in New York on charges including sex trafficking of a minor. Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial.

“I never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” Wasserman said in a ‍statement on Sunday.

“I ⁠am terribly sorry for having any association with either of them.”

Maxwell was arrested in 2020 after being accused by federal prosecutors of recruiting and grooming girls for sexual encounters with Epstein between 1994 and 2004.

“I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell,” said Wasserman, adding that it took place before her and Epstein’s crimes “came to light”.

The International Olympic Committee, which works very closely with Wasserman in preparation for the Summer Olympic Games, refused ​to comment on the matter.

“I believe Mr Wasserman has put out his ‌statement and we have nothing further to add,” IOC President Kirsty Coventry said in a press conference before the start of next week’s Milano-Cortina Olympics.

Asked whether the Wasserman emails were a distraction shortly before the Milano Games, Coventry said ‌there had been past Olympics that were dogged by stories prior to their start, such as the Zika virus before the Rio de Janeiro ‌2016 Olympics.

“Anything that is distracting from these Games is sad,” ⁠Coventry said.

“But we have learned over the many years … there has always been something that has taken the lead, leading up to the Games. What is keeping my faith alive is when the opening ceremony happens … suddenly the world remembers ‌the magic and spirit the Games have,” she said.

Wasserman is a sports and entertainment executive who has been leading the LA28 Olympic project from the bidding phase and currently serves as chairman of ‍the organising committee, which is due to deliver a progress report to the IOC session on Tuesday.