Owner of Swiss bar where deadly New Year’s fire killed 40 detained by prosecutors: Officials
A general view of Le Constellation wine bar after a memorial ceremony in tribute to victims of the Crans-Montana bar fire on January 09, 2026 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Harold Cunningham/Getty Images
(LONDON) — Prosecutors on Friday detained the owner of a Swiss bar where a deadly New Year’s Day fire killed 40 people and injured 116 others, according to officials.
Jacques Moretti was placed in pre-trial detention after a meeting with prosecutors in Sion, the prosecutor’s office for Switzerland’s Valais region said.
The blaze ripped through Le Constellation, a popular bar in the resort town of Crans-Montana in the Swiss Alps, early on Jan. 1.
Moretti’s wife and business partner Jessica Moretti also attended the meeting but was not detained, according to the office. She was present at the bar during the fire and was burned on her arm.
“My constant thoughts are with the victims and those who are fighting today. This is an unimaginable tragedy,” Moretti told reporters outside the prosecutor’s office.
The bar had not had any inspections in the last five years, Swiss officials said at a press conference on Tuesday.
“There was a culture of reckless risk-taking”, Nicolas Féraud, the municipal chief of Crans-Montana, said at a press conference earlier this week. “This endangered customers and staff,” he said.
Féraud said that the municipal government had “never received any alerts” about problems in the bar. He also confirmed that there was an emergency exit in the basement, but could not say whether it was open, closed or blocked.
The blaze of “undetermined origin” broke out at the bar at about 1:30 a.m. local time on Jan. 1, the Cantonal Police of Valais said in a statement at the time of the fire.
On Jan. 2, the Valais attorney general told reporters that investigators are “pursuing several hypotheses” based on evidence they’ve gathered.
“We currently assume that the fire was caused by sparklers attached to champagne bottles that came too close to the ceiling,” she said at a news conference.
(NEW YORK) — Ukraine is sending a high-level delegation to the U.S. on Saturday for more talks on the Trump administration’s new peace plan, ahead of White House envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to Moscow expected early next week.
Ukraine’s presidential office confirmed the delegation is on its way.
The Ukrainian delegation will now be led by the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff was forced to resign on Friday amid a corruption scandal.
Ukraine’s head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, is also listed as part of the delegation, as well as senior military, security and foreign ministry officials.
The U.S. and Ukraine last held talks around a week ago in Geneva when they revised the peace plan to make it more acceptable to Ukraine.
In a post on social media on Saturday, Zelenskyy said he expects to be briefed by Umerov on the outcome of the talks on Sunday.
The talks are aimed at ensuring the results from the Geneva talks a week ago are “hammered out” and to “swiftly and substantively work out the steps needed to end the war,” he said.
“Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine and head of the Ukrainian delegation Rustem Umerov, together with the team, is already on the way to the United States. Rustem delivered a report today, and the task is clear: to swiftly and substantively work out the steps needed to end the war,” Zelenskyy said.
“Ukraine continues to work with the United States in the most constructive way possible, and we expect that the results of the meetings in Geneva will now be hammered out in the United States,” Zelenskyy continued. “I look forward to our delegation’s report following its work this Sunday. Ukraine is working for a dignified peace.”
Meanwhile, Kyiv was targeted with major attack overnight into Saturday as Ukraine’s foreign minister said last night’s attack shows how Putin is determined to prolong the war despite the peace talks and called on the international community to help out more pressure on Russia.
“While everyone is discussing points of peace plans, Russia continues to pursue its “war plan” of two points: to kill and destroy,” Andriy Sybiha, the the Ukrainian foreign minister, wrote on X.
“Putin wants to prolong the war at any cost. The war he cannot win — and the war refuses to end. But the international community has the means to ensure that this cost becomes unbearable for him,” he said. “We urge additional support for Ukraine’s defense and resilience, additional strong sanctions on Russia, and a swift decision to enable the full use of frozen Russian assets.”
Emergency teams are on the scene dealing with the consequences of a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on November 25, 2025, in which 6 people died, 13 were injured, 18 were rescued, and 57 received psychological support. (Photo by State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(KYIV, Ukraine) — A barrage of at least 22 Russian missiles targeted Ukraine overnight, with at least one striking the capital, Kyiv, in what the Ukrainian minister of energy called a “massive” attack on energy infrastructure.
Russia also fired overnight at least 460 drones, several of which flew into either Moldova or Romania, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said early on Tuesday.
“That is why all partners must not forget that every day lives need to be saved,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “Weapons and air defense are important, just as important is the sanction pressure on the aggressor.
Six people were killed and another 13 were injured in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko earlier said two people were killed and seven others were injured.
The missile-and-drone attack followed negotiations in Switzerland over the weekend on a United States-proposed Russia-Ukraine peace plan. The strike also followed a secret meeting on Monday between U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and a Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi, a U.S. official told ABC News.
“Last night, Russia launched another attack – at a time when Ukraine, together with America, Europe, and many others around the world, are working virtually around the clock to stop the bloodshed,” Zelenskyy said on social media.
Residents of the Ukrainian capital were urged to take shelter as air-raid alerts blared.
“And so this night we spend in bombshelters, listening how the missiles rain down on Kyiv,” Kira Rudik, a member of Ukrainian parliament, said on social media. “This is russia’s response to peace negotiations.”
Some areas were experiencing disruptions to power and water, the Klitschko said. A residential building in one area of the city was on fire after debris hit it, he said.
“The enemy attack on Kyiv is ongoing,” Klitschko said in a post to Telegram early Tuesday local time.
Military officials in Ukraine said 438 drones and 14 missiles were destroyed or otherwise didn’t hit their targets. Missile hits and 26 strike drones were recorded impacting across 15 locations, with falling debris reported at 12 locations.
Zelenskyy said Monday said negotiators were were working toward peace “as quickly as possible.” Though he warned Ukrainians that “Russia will not ease its pressure on Ukraine.”
“In these days and weeks, it is essential to take air raid alerts and all similar strike threats very seriously,” he said on X. “We clearly understand whom we are dealing with, and all necessary orders have been issued within the Air Force and across all other components of Ukraine’s Defense and Security Forces. We will react.”
The strikes on Kyiv come a day after Russia launched over 160 drones into the country, Ukraine’s air force said.
Air defenses shot down or suppressed 125 drones, the air force said, with 37 craft impacting across 15 locations. At least four people were killed in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv in the attack, the local mayor said.
Officials in Moldova said in a statement that 11 Russian drones entered their airspace overnight into Tuesday morning, one of which fell on a house in the northeast of the country.
Another two entered Romania, which is a NATO member, officials there said. In Romania, two German Typhoons and two Romanian F-16s were scrambled.
A Romanian Defense Ministry spokesperson told ABC News that one drone crashed in the country’s eastern Vaslui County.
It was not immediately clear if the drones were Shahed-style attack drones.
Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs, decried the drone intrusions, saying on social media that they amounted to “yet another reminder that Russian aggression directly threatens not only Ukraine but also other European nations and the transatlantic community as a whole.”
“We stand in solidarity with our Odesa Triangle partners, Romania and Moldova, and condemn these reckless Russian actions,” he added.
ABC News’ David Brennan and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns visits Ahmed al Ahmed, who was identified as the bystander who seized a rifle from one of the gunmen during the deadly shooting at Bondi Beach on Sunday, at a hospital in Sydney, Dec. 15, 2025. (@ChrisMinnsMP/X)
(SYDNEY) — A Sydney man is being praised as a hero for disarming one of the alleged shooters in the Hanukkah attack that left 15 dead and 42 injured at Australia’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, as seen in video obtained by ABC News
The video shows a man, identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, running towards one of the alleged shooters. He’s then seen disarming the alleged gunman before pointing his weapon back at him, prompting him to walk away.
The fruit seller was having lunch in the area with a friend when the shooting unfolded and he intervened, according to his brother, Huthaifa.
“I’m really proud about my brother,” he told ABC News.
“He’s a good man. He’s brave,” he said.
The father of two was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for bullet wounds. His brother said he is recovering in the hospital, but is not 100% yet.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns called him a “real-life hero.”
“Last night, his incredible bravery no doubt saved countless lives when he disarmed a terrorist at enormous personal risk,” Minns posted on Instagram while sharing a photo with al-Ahmed in the hospital.
“It was an honour to spend time with him just now and to pass on the thanks of people across NSW. There is no doubt that more lives would have been lost if not for Ahmed’s selfless courage,” he added.
At Sunday night’s National Menorah Lighting in Washington, D.C., Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the director of advocacy group American Friends of Lubavitch, praised al-Ahmed’s heroism and asked for prayers for his recovery.
“I ask all those across the community and beyond — here, and around the world — to please pray for the recovery of Ahmed al-Ahmed, someone who is not a member of the Jewish community, but gave up his safety and wellbeing to stop one of the gunmen and thus prevent even further loss of life. May he recover speedy and fully,” Shemtov said.
A GoFundMe page for al-Ahmed has raised almost $1.5 million with thousands of donations.
“We’re seeing an outpouring of love for Ahmed al Ahmed following his heroic actions at Bondi Beach,” the site posted on X.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman also shared the fundraiser on his X account Sunday, donating $99,999.
Mohamed Fateh al-Ahmed told reporters that his son is “a hero.”
“He served in the police, he has the passion to defend people,” he said.
The victims of Sunday’s mass shooting ranged in ages 10 to 87, and the alleged gunmen are father and son, aged 50 and 24, officials said. Their names have not been released, but authorities said the father is dead and the son was hospitalized.
Six firearms were collected from the scene alongside two improvised explosives, according to officials.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the attack “an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism” and “an act of terrorism,” in a video shared on his Instagram account.
