Global News

By REGINA GARCIA CANO AP At least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard around 2 a.m. local time Saturday in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. The government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations in multiple states. Pentagon referred requests for comment to the White House, which didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment. Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration has banned U.S. commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace over “ongoing military activity” ahead of explosions in Caracas. Calls to the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military operations in the region, went unanswered. Explosions rock Caracas The explosions in Caracas occurred within less than 30 minutes. People in various neighborhoods rushed to the streets. while others took to social media to report hearing and seeing the blasts. Two hours later, various areas of the city remained without power, but vehicles continued to move freely. Smoke could be se...

 Islamic State-linked rebels killed at least 15 people in three villages in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Lubero territory, two officials said on Friday, 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...

By JAMEY KEATEN, STEFANIE DAZIO and JOHN LEICESTER AP Axel Clavier felt like he was suffocating inside the Swiss Alpine bar where moments before he’d been ringing in the new year with friends and dozens of other revelers. The 16-year-old from Paris escaped the inferno, which broke out after midnight Thursday, by forcing a window open with a table. But about 40 other partygoers died, including one of Clavier’s friends, falling victim to one of the worst tragedies in Switzerland’s history. The blaze also injured about 115 people, most of them seriously, as it ripped through the crowded Le Constellation bar at the ski resort of Crans-Montana, police said. Clavier told The Associated Press that “two or three” of his friends remained missing hours after the disaster. Fire’s cause remains under investigation Valais Canton  police commander Frédéric Gisler said during a news conference that work is underway to identify the victims and inform their famil...

A fire at a bar in the Swiss Alps has left people dead and injured during New Year’s celebrations, police said early Thursday. Multiple people were killed in the blaze and many others were injured in the Alpine ski resort municipality of Crans-Montana, Switzerland, police said. “The fire started around 1:30 a.m. this morning in a bar called ‘Le Constellation,’” police spokesperson Gaëtan Lathion said. “More than a hundred people were in the building, and we are seeing many injured and many dead.” A reception center and helpline have been setup for impacted families, Lathion said. “We’re just at the beginning of our investigation, but this is a internationally renown ski resort with lots of tourists,” Lathion said. A news conference was scheduled by police for 10 a.m. in Crans-Montana. The community is in the heart of the Swiss Alps, just 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Matterhorn. SOURCE: AP AND AGENCIES from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/uJSiFws

As Wednesday turned to Thursday, people around the world said goodbye to a sometimes challenging 2025 and expressed hopes for the New Year to come. Midnight arrived first on the islands closest to the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean, including Kiritimati (Christmas Island), Tonga and New Zealand. FIREWORKS LIGHT UP SYDNEY In Australia, Sydney began 2026 with a spectacular fireworks display, as per tradition. Some 40,000 pyrotechnic effects stretched 7 km (over 4 miles) across buildings and barges in its harbour and featured a waterfall effect from the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This year, it was held under an enhanced police presence, weeks after  gunmen  killed 15 people at a Jewish event in the city. Organizers held a minute’s silence at 11 p.m. local time for the victims of the attack, with the Harbour Bridge lit up in white and a menorah – a symbol of Judaism – projected onto its pylons. “After a tragic end to the year for our city, we hope that New Year’s E...

By Malick Rokhy BA AFP Guinea’s junta chief Mamady Doumbouya, who had pledged not to run for office after seizing power four years ago, has been elected president after securing a sweeping majority of the vote, according to initial results by the country’s election commission published on Tuesday. Doumbouya, 41, faced eight rivals for the presidency but the main opposition leaders were barred from running and had urged a boycott of the vote held over the weekend. In standing, the general reneged on his initial vow not to run for office and to hand the mineral-rich but poor west African nation back to civilian rule by the end of 2024. He secured 86.72 percent of the first-round vote, according to the General Directorate of Elections, well over the threshold that would trigger a runoff vote. Voter turnout stood at 80.95 percent, according to Djenabou Toure, head of the General Directorate of Elections. Doumbouya had placed well ahead in districts of the capital Conakry, often winni...