Month: January 2026

A catastrophic fire tore through a packed bar in the Swiss Alps shortly after the start of the new year, killing at least 47 people and leaving 115 others seriously injured, authorities said Thursday. Officials warned the toll could climb as many victims remain in critical condition, with local police confirming that many of the victims are expected to be identified as foreign nationals. Italy’s Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, who has been in regular contact with Swiss authorities, said that the confirmed death toll was 47 – with the youngest victim a 16-year-old who is being treated in a hospital.

The blaze erupted around 1:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day at Le Constellation, a popular nightlife spot in the ski resort town of Crans-Montana, in the canton of Valais. Police described the incident as an “unprecedented tragedy,” with emergency crews confronting scenes of chaos inside the crowded venue.

Valais cantonal police commander Frédéric Gisler said the immediate focus is on identifying those who died. Many of the victims were young people, Swiss President Guy Parmelin said, and they include both local residents and tourists from neighboring countries and beyond: “Behind these numbers are faces, names, families, destinies brutally interrupted,” Parmelin said, calling the fire one of the gravest disasters Switzerland has faced in recent years.

Investigators have launched a criminal probe to determine how the fire started, though officials stressed there is no suspicion of terrorism. Valais canton attorney general Beatrice Pilloud said an explosion was not believed to be the initial cause, though authorities think a widespread fire may have triggered a blast-like event inside the building. “At no moment is there a question of any kind of attack,” Pilloud said.

Witness accounts suggest the fire spread with alarming speed. Axel Clavier, a 16-year-old from Paris who survived, told The Associated Press he saw waitresses carrying Champagne bottles with sparklers moments before flames engulfed the bar. One of his friends was killed and “two or three were missing,” he said. “I’m still in shock.” Other witnesses described people trapped in a basement area, scrambling up narrow stairs as smoke filled the space. Some smashed windows to escape, while others collapsed inside. A local journalist dining nearby said he saw people lying motionless on the floor as others screamed and tried to flee.

Firefighters and paramedics arrived within minutes, launching what officials called a massive rescue operation. By early morning, all injured victims had been evacuated to hospitals across Switzerland, and some burn patients were expected to be transferred abroad because local facilities were overwhelmed. A temporary no-fly zone was imposed over Crans-Montana to allow medical helicopters to operate freely, and authorities also opened a reception center and hotline to assist families searching for loved ones. Several victims could not be immediately identified due to the severity of their injuries, officials said.

Parmelin, who began his term as Switzerland’s rotating president on Thursday, said that the fire was “one of the worst tragedies that our country has experienced.” Parmelin announced that flags would fly at half-staff nationwide for five days. He also postponed a traditional New Year’s address out of respect for the victims’ families, writing that what should have been a celebration had become a moment of national mourning.

Local officials urged residents and visitors to exercise caution in the coming days, noting that medical services remain stretched thin in the busy ski region. Crans-Montana, located about 25 miles north of the Matterhorn, is scheduled to host an international Alpine Ski World Cup event later this month, though authorities said their immediate priority remains responding to the disaster and supporting those affected. Mathias Reynard, president of the Valais state council, said “this evening should have been a moment of celebration and coming together, but it turned into a nightmare.”

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Zohran Mamdani was sworn in Thursday as New York City’s 112th mayor, marking a historic moment as the city’s first Muslim mayor and one of its youngest leaders at age 34. The democratic socialist formally assumed office just after midnight in a private ceremony and later used his public inauguration speech to outline an ambitious, left-leaning vision centered on affordability, public services and expansive government action.

New York Attorney General Letitia James administered the oath shortly after the New Year began in the long-closed original City Hall subway station. Mamdani placed his hands on two Qurans: one from his grandfather and another from the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, believed to date back to the 1800s. He paid a required $9 fee and signed the city ledger, formally becoming mayor of the nation’s largest city.

Mamdani said after he was sworn in that “this is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” and described the ornate, decommissioned station as “a testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health and the legacy of our city.”

Hours later, spectators gathered outside City Hall for the public inauguration. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont delivered a ceremonial oath, while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York offered opening remarks. The event also featured performances by Grammy-winning singer Lucy Dacus, actor Mandy Patinkin and New York City schoolchildren. Addressing the crowd, Mamdani said: “I was elected as a Democratic socialist and I will govern as a Democratic socialist,” he said, promising an aggressive approach to lowering costs and expanding city services. “We will govern expansively and audaciously. No longer will City Hall hesitate to use its power to improve New Yorkers’ lives.”

Sanders echoed that message, arguing that policies aimed at lowering housing, food and child care costs are mainstream, not extreme. “Demanding that the wealthy and large corporations start paying their fair share of taxes is not radical. It is exactly the right thing to do.” Ocasio-Cortez suggested that New York could become a testing ground for progressive policies nationwide. “If we can make it here,” she said, “we can make it anywhere.”

Mamdani’s election last year capped a crowded race in which he defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo running as an independent and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. During the campaign, he faced skepticism over his experience and the feasibility of his proposals, and he struck a more moderate tone on public safety, pledging to retain Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Throughout his remarks, Mamdani emphasized unity, saying he stood with both those who supported him and those who did not. The new mayor ran on a platform focused on affordability, including freezing rents for certain apartments, eliminating bus fares and making child care free and universal for young children. He has said much of the funding would come from higher taxes on New Yorkers earning more than $1 million annually — a move that would require approval from state lawmakers. While legislative Democrats have shown openness to such measures, Gov. Kathy Hochul has consistently opposed raising taxes, signaling instead that she prefers alternative revenue sources.

Following the ceremony, Mamdani joined supporters at an Inauguration Day block party along the Canyon of Heroes, the Broadway corridor known for ticker-tape parades. Tens of thousands were expected to attend, far beyond the roughly 4,000 invited to the formal event. Mamdani had said ahead of the festivities: “We wanted to ensure that as we celebrated the beginning of our administration, it was a celebration that was not simply for the typical people who would be invited to an inauguration, but in fact, for everyone. This is not my success. It’s our success. It’s not my administration. It’s our administration. Similarly, it’s not my inauguration. It’s for all of us.”

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com