World News

Recovery crews began stabilizing the remains of Amsterdam’s historic Vondelkerk after a massive blaze tore through the neo-Gothic landmark shortly after the New Year began, forcing evacuations but causing no reported injuries, authorities said.

Senior officials in Iran have acknowledged the Islamic Republic has been “thrust into survival mode” as the country faces its largest and most violent wave of protests in three years, with unrest spreading across most provinces and mounting international pressure on the regime.

At least 41 young men have died in South Africa from complications linked to circumcision procedures performed during annual traditional initiation rites, authorities said, reigniting debate over the practice.

As Switzerland was plunged into mourning, Swiss prosecutors said Saturday they have placed under criminal investigation the two managers of a bar where a blaze on New Year’s Day killed at least 40 people.

Indonesian authorities have intensified the search for a Spanish father and his children missing after a traditional wooden tourist boat sank near Padar Island, off the coast of eastern Indonesia, close to the world-famous Komodo National Park.

Bulgaria has formally consigned its longtime national currency, the lev, to history after entering the euro zone on New Year’s Day, becoming the 21st member of the single-currency bloc despite lingering concerns among citizens that the move could fuel higher prices.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump said Saturday that the United States will temporarily “run” Venezuela after American forces carried out large-scale military strikes in the capital Caracas and detained Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, according to U.S. officials.

At least two people were killed and more than a dozen injured after a powerful earthquake struck southern and central Mexico, briefly halting President Claudia Sheinbaum’s first press conference of the year, officials said Saturday.

Two teenage asylum seekers were shot and killed on New Year’s Day in a park of the Dutch capital’s Nieuw-West (New West) district, raising concerns about tensions within migrant communities and public safety in Amsterdam and across the Netherlands, Dutch police said Friday.

Swiss investigators have begun the grimming process of identifying victims of a blaze that ripped through a bar in the Swiss Alps town of Crans-Montana, killing at least 40 people and injuring some 115 persons.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump confirmed early Saturday that the United States has “successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolás Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the country.”

Firefighters and police rushed to a major blaze at one of Amsterdam’s most famous churches, the Vondelkerk (Vondel Church), less than an hour after the New Year began in the Netherlands. It came in a night when two people died, and numerous others were injured in firework accidents, officials said.

Violence between protesters and security forces intensified across Iran on Thursday, leaving at least five people dead as nationwide demonstrations entered a fifth consecutive day, according to Iranian state-linked media and human rights groups.

The U.S. military conducted five more strikes on drug boats in the Caribbean in the last days of 2025.

Swiss police say “several dozen” people were killed and about 115 injured, many critically, after a devastating fire tore through a crowded bar in the Alpine resort town of Crans-Montana during New Year celebrations. Authorities have ruled out terrorism.