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Taiwan Reports Second Large-Scale China Air Force Incursion This Week

A Taiwanese soldier holds a Taiwan national flag near a group of soldiers with red markings on their helmets to play the role of an enemy during the annual Han Kuang military exercises simulating an attack on an airfield at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Northern Taiwan, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (AP)
A Taiwanese soldier holds a Taiwan national flag near a group of soldiers with red markings on their helmets to play the role of an enemy during the annual Han Kuang military exercises simulating an attack on an airfield at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Northern Taiwan, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (AP)
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Taiwan Reports Second Large-Scale China Air Force Incursion This Week

A Taiwanese soldier holds a Taiwan national flag near a group of soldiers with red markings on their helmets to play the role of an enemy during the annual Han Kuang military exercises simulating an attack on an airfield at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Northern Taiwan, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (AP)
A Taiwanese soldier holds a Taiwan national flag near a group of soldiers with red markings on their helmets to play the role of an enemy during the annual Han Kuang military exercises simulating an attack on an airfield at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Northern Taiwan, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (AP)

Ten Chinese air force aircraft entered Taiwan's air defense zone on Wednesday accompanying five Chinese warships engaged in "combat readiness" patrols, the island's defense ministry said, the second such incursion this week.

Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, has repeatedly complained of Chinese military activity near it over the past three years, as Beijing steps up pressure to try to force the island to accept its sovereignty.

Taiwan's defense ministry said that starting at around 9 a.m. (0100 GMT), it detected a total of 25 Chinese aircraft engaging in operations out at sea, including J-10 and J-16 fighters, as well as H-6 bombers.

Of those aircraft, the ministry said 10 had either crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which previously served as an unofficial barrier between the two sides, or entered the southwestern part of Taiwan's air defense identification zone, or ADIZ.

Those aircraft were acting in coordination with five Chinese warships engaging in "combat readiness" patrols, it said.

Taiwan's military dispatched ships and aircraft to keep watch, the ministry said.

The ADIZ is a broad area Taiwan monitors and patrols to give its forces more time to respond to threats, and Chinese aircraft have not entered territorial Taiwanese air space.

On Sunday, Taiwan reported a similar level of activity by Chinese warplanes and warships near the island.

China staged war games around Taiwan in April after President Tsai Ing-wen returned home from a visit to the United States where she met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Last August, it also held war games around Taiwan to protest against a trip to Taipei by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Taiwan Vice President William Lai leaves for the United States this week on his way to Paraguay on what is officially only a transit but which has angered China.

It was China's "priority" to stop Lai from visiting the United States, Beijing's ambassador to the US said last month.

Taiwan's democratically elected government rejects China's sovereignty claim and says only the island's people can decide their future.

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World

Thousands Stage Pro-Gaza Rally in Istanbul

Demonstrators gather on the Galata Bridge holding Palestinian and Turkish flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Demonstrators gather on the Galata Bridge holding Palestinian and Turkish flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
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Thousands Stage Pro-Gaza Rally in Istanbul

Demonstrators gather on the Galata Bridge holding Palestinian and Turkish flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Demonstrators gather on the Galata Bridge holding Palestinian and Turkish flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Thousands joined a New Year's Day rally for Gaza in Istanbul Thursday, waving Palestinian and Turkish flags and calling for an end to the violence in the tiny war-torn territory.

Demonstrators gathered in freezing temperatures under cloudless blue skies to march to the city's Galata Bridge for a rally under the slogan: "We won't remain silent, we won't forget Palestine," an AFP reporter at the scene said.

More than 400 civil society organizations were present at the rally, one of whose organizers was Bilal Erdogan, the youngest son of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Police sources and Anadolou state news agency said some 500,000 people had joined the march at which there were speeches and a performance by Lebanese-born singer Maher Zain of his song "Free Palestine".

"We are praying that 2026 will bring goodness for our entire nation and for the oppressed Palestinians," said Erdogan, who chairs the board of the Ilim Yayma Foundation, an educational charity that was one of the organizers of the march.

Türkiye has been one of the most vocal critics of the war in Gaza and helped broker a recent ceasefire that halted the deadly war waged by Israel in response to Hamas' unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023.

But the fragile October 10 ceasefire has not stopped the violence with more than more than 400 Palestinians killed since it took hold.

World

Ukraine Says Overnight Russian Drone Attack Damaged Power Infrastructure

In this handout photograph taken by the Ukrainian Emergency Service and released on January 1, 2025, Ukrainian firefighters extinguish a fire at the site following an air attack in Odesa region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken by the Ukrainian Emergency Service and released on January 1, 2025, Ukrainian firefighters extinguish a fire at the site following an air attack in Odesa region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE / AFP)
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Ukraine Says Overnight Russian Drone Attack Damaged Power Infrastructure

In this handout photograph taken by the Ukrainian Emergency Service and released on January 1, 2025, Ukrainian firefighters extinguish a fire at the site following an air attack in Odesa region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken by the Ukrainian Emergency Service and released on January 1, 2025, Ukrainian firefighters extinguish a fire at the site following an air attack in Odesa region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE / AFP)

A Russian drone attack damaged power infrastructure in several Ukrainian regions overnight, Ukraine's energy ministry said on Thursday.

The ministry said a "significant number" of households in the ⁠Volyn and Odesa regions - in northwestern and southwestern Ukraine, respectively - were disconnected from power supplies by the ⁠strike, as well as some in the Chernihiv region north of the capital Kyiv.

The governor of Volyn said more than 103,000 households in that region had ⁠lost power as a result of the attack. Volyn region is several hundred kilometers from the front line and borders NATO member Poland.

Meanwhile, the Ilskiy oil refinery in Russia's southern Krasnodar region was hit by debris from a Ukrainian drone, causing a fire which ⁠had been put out overnight, local authorities said on Thursday.

Ukrainian drones also struck an energy storage facility in the Russian city of Almetyevsk, causing a fire that has since ⁠been extinguished, Russian media cited the press service of the local governor as saying.

Almetyevsk ⁠is located around 1,700 km from Ukrainian-held territory, in the oil-rich Volga river region of Tatarstan.

Kyiv has since August stepped ⁠up drone attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure in an effort to squeeze Moscow's ability to finance its military campaign in Ukraine.

The Russian-installed governor of Ukraine's southern Kherson region accused Ukraine on Thursday of killing at least 24 people, including a child, in a drone strike on a hotel and cafe where New Year celebrations were being held.

The governor, Vladimir Saldo, made the allegation in a statement on the Telegram messaging service. A local pro-Russian news outlet published pictures of a badly damaged building, where it said the strike took place.

Ukraine's military did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Reuters was not able to ⁠immediately verify the images or the allegation.

World

‘Several Tens’ Dead, About 100 Injured in Fire at Swiss Alps Resort During New Year’s Celebration

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
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‘Several Tens’ Dead, About 100 Injured in Fire at Swiss Alps Resort During New Year’s Celebration

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

“Several tens of people” are presumed dead and about 100 injured, most of them seriously, following a fire at a Swiss Alps resort town bar during a New Year’s celebration, police said Thursday.

Specific casualty figures were not immediately available from the fire at the bar called bar called Le Constellation.

Beatrice Pilloud, attorney general of the Valais Canton, said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire. Experts have not yet been able to go inside the wreckage.

Police said they could not immediately be more precise about how many people had been killed in the blaze.

The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, according to regional councilor Mathias Rénard.

Helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene to assist victims, including some from different countries, officials said.

“We are devastated,” Frédéric Gisler, commander of the Valais Cantonal police, said during a news conference.

The municipality had banned New Year’s Eve fireworks due to lack of rainfall in the past month, according to its website.

In a region busy with tourists skiing on the slopes, the authorities have called on the local population to show caution in the coming days to avoid any accidents that could require medical resources that are already overwhelmed.

The community is in the heart of the Swiss Alps, just 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Matterhorn, one of the most famous Alpine peaks, and 130 kilometers (81 miles) south of Zurich.

The highest point of Crans-Montana, with a population of 10,000 residents, sits at an elevation of nearly 3,000 meters (1.86 miles), according to the municipality’s website, which says officials are seeking to move away from a tourist culture and attract high-tech research and development.

The municipality was formed only nine years ago, on Jan. 1, 2017, when multiple towns merged. It extends over 590 hectares (2.3 square miles) from the Rhône Valley to the Plaine Morte glacier.