Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

French couple Jacques and Jessica Moretti's bar, Le Constellation, in the ski resort of Crans-Montana, caught fire early on January 1 as partygoers celebrated. Forty people, mostly teenagers, were killed in the blaze, and 116 others were injured. The Morettis are under criminal investigation, facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence. Prosecutors believe the fire started when revellers raised champagne bottles with sparklers attached close to sound insulation foam on the ceiling of the bar's basement level.

Warring ex-lovers who settled a bitter dispute over the ownership of valuable horses were once business partners with a man who has been dubbed "Britain's Bernie Madoff".

On Wednesday, after a meeting with Nato's secretary general, Mark Rutte, the US president, Donald Trump, backtracked on his threats to slap tariffs on countries that got in the way of his annexation project. As European leaders huddled together over dinner for a post-crisis debrief in Brussels on 22 January, they congratulated themselves on their unity and appreciated the intervention of Rutte, or Daddy diplomacy.

Russia, which has pummelled Ukraine's power grid since its full-scale invasion in 2022, is conducting its heaviest bombardment campaign on energy facilities this winter, leaving people across Ukraine with only a few hours of power a day and some without heat or water. Over 800,000 people in the capital and another 400,000 in the northern region of Chernihiv were without power after the latest attacks, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said.

Our Association is a broad church and Croke Park must make decisions for the overall good - let's be transparent about the process

The Oxford Dictionary defines it as "support by one person or group of people for another because they share feelings, opinions, aims".

She continues to work remotely for a German company in the energy sector. Her company, which is based in eastern Germany, pays her an ordinary German salary, even though Borisova works from Bulgaria. She now enjoys a higher net income, thanks to the country's lower taxes and social security deductions. She does not pay rent in Pomorie because she lives with her parents, which allows her to put more money aside each month. After all expenses, she has just over 700 left.

Four people were killed and five were injured in Russian attacks on Cherkasy, in an area of Ukraine's Donetsk region that is still controlled by Ukraine, Governor Vadym Filashkin said on the Telegram messaging app. Filashkin said that Russian forces shelled settlements in the Donetsk region 10 times over the past day, and that 109 people, including 17 children, were evacuated.

Juha Kujala no longer knows how many reindeer will return to his farm from the forest each December. The 54-year-old herder releases his animals into the wilderness on the 830-mile Finnish-Russian border each spring to grow fat on lichens, grass and mushrooms, just as his ancestors have done for generations. But since 2022, grisly discoveries of reindeer skeletons on the forest floor have disrupted this ancient way of life.

The incident happened at the junction of Dame Street and George's Street in Dublin 2 at approximately 9.45am on Saturday morning. Gardaí and emergency services were at the scene of an accident involving a car and a motorbike, while Dublin Fire Brigade paramedics attended to a motorcyclist on the ground. The motorcyclist, who was injured in the accident, was brought to St James Hospital for treatment.

"After careful research and thought, my design for the Queen's monument will emphasise her role as head of state and proudly follows a sculptural tradition that shows kings and queens from the House of Windsor in a standing position," said Jennings. The previous horse-riding images had been for illustrative purposes only to show the size, scale and location rather than the final design, says the Cabinet Office.

"It's in that spirit that we can still talk about a fracturing, more dangerous, world, in which the U.S. is less vaunted, the USD loses its reserve currency status, and where the U.S. focuses instead on the Western Hemisphere as its sole and defendable redoubt," the pair explained.

Although the AGO had planned to jointly purchase Goldin's moving-image work Stendhal Syndrome (2024) with the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) and Minneapolis's Walker Art Center, it pulled out in mid 2025 after its modern and contemporary curatorial working committee voted 11-to-9 against it. The move was unexpected, especially as the AGO already had three Goldin works in its collection. (The VAG and Walker Art Center proceeded with the joint acquisition.)

A failed December effort to bring down parts of Poland's energy grid was the work of Russian government hackers known for causing past energy disruptions, according to a security research firm that investigated the incident. Last week, Polish Energy Minister Milosz Motyka told reporters that the attempted cyberattack on December 29 and 30 saw hackers targeting two heat and power plants, as well as trying to disrupt the communication links between renewable installations, such as wind turbines and power distribution operators.

According to the article, written by RTE's Niall McCoy and labeled as "Exclusive," members of the Dublin sides decided "to refuse to appear in front of Allianz-branded signage" this season because of the insurer's business dealings in Israel since the Gaza invasion. The RTE story inspired other Irish athletes to chime in with support, generated related protests, and overwhelmed all other opening weekend news.

The Italian snowmaking expert is responsible for perfecting several of the courses that will feature in the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games, and he takes his job seriously. It's the most important race of their life, Cerato said. Our duty is to give them the best, to deliver the best courses where they can perform their best after training so hard.

Paris-based fintech Pennylane has just pulled off one of Europe's most noteworthy funding rounds of the year, announcing €175 million in new capital to accelerate its push into artificial intelligence and expand its footprint across the continent. The round was led by growth investor TCV, with participation from Blackstone Growth and a group of existing backers that includes Sequoia Capital, DST Global, CapitalG and Meritech Capital.

The dollar has continued to sink, and top investors in Northern Europe are reportedly re-evaluating their exposure to U.S. assets, while Danish pension funds have already dumped Treasury bonds. Part of that is because of concerns over U.S. debt, but Trump's Greenland crisis and his continued unpredictability have also fueled calls for Europe to weaponize its capital. In fact, European investors own $8 trillion in U.S. stocks and bonds, with $3.6 trillion of that in Treasury debt alone.

I was already a mother of three when I lay back for my 10-week ultrasound in 2019. At first, seeing the gel on my stomach and the flickering black and white image on screen was familiar and soothing. Then I saw the look on the sonographer's face. She dropped the probe and ran out of the room without a word.

A review of the 2005 shooting death of the journalist Hunter S Thompson has confirmed authorities' original finding that his death was a suicide, Colorado investigators said on Friday. The review by the Colorado bureau of investigation (CBI) was announced in September after Thompson's wife, Anita Thompson, contacted authorities with new concerns and potential information regarding the investigation into Thompson's death, the agency said in a news release.

Germany and Italy are deepening defense and economic cooperation with the leaders of the two countries signing an agreement in Rome. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni agreed on closer cooperation in the production of drones, naval vessels, underwater systems and air and missile defense systems. The leaders are also looking to collaborate in the development of electronic warfare and aerial combat defense systems.

In December, 19 residents of Dartmouth Square in Ranelagh withdrew judicial review proceedings after Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) agreed to purchase 10 properties. While no sale price has been agreed, Mr Sweeney says each of the residents have agreed to the process. Mr Sweeney confirmed that they have also offered to buy another five properties in the area after people raised concerns about the impact of construction. The houses involved will back on to the proposed station at Charlemont.

BBC Jodie was surrounded by smiling faces at her 21st birthday party, but most were people she had not known for more than a month. The party had been organised for her by the London International Christian Church - a Bible-based non-denominational church, according to their website - into which she had recently been baptised. She was told by her "discipler", or church mentor, she says, that she could not invite any friends from outside the church - only a handful of family members.

Staff at Ergo were told the news just after US investor Presidio completed an acquisition of the business for an estimated €100m. Mr Purdy was aged 63. During more than three decades in business he was a winner of the prestigious EY Industry Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014, among other accolades, and backed and supported a number of start-ups as well as his own core businesses.

The idea of getting paid to move abroad sounds too good to be true, yet it's becoming a reality for many people. Around the world, countries and smaller regions are offering financial incentives to attract new residents. Whether it's to fight population decline, stimulate local economies, or revitalize rural towns, these programs are creating opportunities for adventurous individuals and families in 2026.