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Three dead, seven missing after New Year's Eve attack in Peru on informal miners
A?local?mayor announced on Thursday that at least three people had been killed and seven more missing following a New Years Eve attack on informal gold miners. This was the latest in a series attacks against small-scale miners of the Andean nation. Aldo Marino, the mayor of Pataz, told local TV that the attack occurred in a city in northern La Libertad. In 'May of last year, police reported that 13 miners were killed in the same area as criminal gangs tried to gain control. Marino, who spoke to Canal N on the subject, said that he had received information from police indicating three people died in a mine entry, and seven others are still missing. He added that reports from other people living nearby suggested a higher death toll. The attack was not confirmed by the police and no government officials could be reached for comment. Pataz is now the main gold producing area in Peru, thanks to small-scale informal or artisan mines that operate under temporary government permits called REINFO. Illegal miners, who are said to be stealing the output of other miners in collaboration with criminal gangs according to sources from police and industry, exploit thousands of permits. The Peruvian government extended REINFO permits by one year in December, marking the fifth extension in the last decade. In July, it kicked out over 50,000 small scale miners, or more than half of them, and kept just over 30,000 to go through a formalization procedure. In 2024, Peru exported gold worth $15.5 billion. This is a dramatic increase from the $11 billion recorded in 2018. According to local industry estimates and the country's financial regulator, about 40% of gold in Peru is illegal. Reporting by Marco Aquino, Editing by Ros Russel and Nick Zieminski
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Petroperu, the state-owned company in Peru, is now open to private investors after a reorganization
Late Wednesday, Peru issued an urgent decree approving the restructuring of?state owned oil firm Petroperu and allowing private investments in key company assets. According to the decree signed by?Peruvian President Jose Jeri, the company may be divided into one or several asset blocks. This includes the Talara refinery which the company has spent $6.5 billion upgrading. Petroperu also operates or has concessions on six crude oil blocks that have limited production. It has a fuel marketing and distribution chain. The Peruvian ministry of energy and mines stated that the decree is intended to "?ensure compliance with financial obligations through the technical management of their assets, laying a foundation for Petroperu's self-sustainability." The ministry stated that the company's "situation is particularly sensitive" with losses accumulating to $479 million between January and 2025 and debts to vendors of $764 millions through December. This is in addition to the $774 million reported losses last year. The company's financial problems are partly due to the debt from the Talara refinery upgrade, which cost more than double the original estimate. This led to the company losing its investment grade rating in 2022. Petroperu has received government financing totaling $5.3 billion from 2022 to 2024. (Reporter Marco Aquino, Editing by Alexander Villegas & Nick Zieminski).
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Ukraine condemns Russian New Year drone attack on power Infrastructure
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the President of Ukraine, said that a Russian drone had damaged power infrastructure overnight in several Ukrainian regions. Meanwhile, Moscow accused Ukraine of a "deadly" new year's attack on a part of Ukraine under Russian control. "Russia deliberately starts war on the New Year. Zelenskiy posted on Telegram that "over 200 drones attacked Ukraine during the night." Zelenskiy stated that energy infrastructure in seven different regions of Ukraine was targeted. Russia has accused Ukraine of killing 24 people in a drone attack on a cafe and hotel where civilians were celebrating the New Year. The strike took place in an area of southern Kherson controlled by Russia. The Ukrainian military did not respond immediately to a question about Moscow's accusations. Zelenskiy stated that Russia's "holiday season" attacks demonstrated Ukraine could not afford delays in its air defence supply. "(Our) Allies have names of equipment that we lack. "We expect everything that was agreed upon with the United States for our defense at the end December will arrive on schedule," he stated, without elaborating. Zelenskiy has met with President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday to negotiate a peace framework that will end the nearly four-year war. Donald Trump met with Zelenskiy in Florida, on Sunday, to discuss a framework for peace to end the almost four-year conflict. Both leaders have said that they are close in reaching an agreement. However, there remain thorny questions regarding the post-war control of territories. Ukrainian energy minister said that a "significant" number of households in Volyn, Odesa, and Chernihiv regions, located in western and southwest Ukraine respectively, were cut off from electricity by the overnight strikes. Volant's governor said that more than 103,000 households had lost electricity as a direct result of the attack. The Volyn region lies several hundred kilometers from the frontline and borders NATO-member Poland. (Reporting and editing by Gareth Jones, Ros Russell and Max Hunder)
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Police: Dozens of people are feared dead following explosion at Swiss ski resort bar
Swiss police said that dozens of people were feared to be 'killed' and 100 others injured after an explosion tore into a packed bar during a party on New Year’s Eve in the upscale resort of Crans-Montana, located in southwest Switzerland. The police had previously said that many people were being treated for injuries. A police spokesperson confirmed that more than 100 people were in the bar when the explosion occurred. Fire broke out in the early hours of the morning in Crans-Montana at "Le Constellation", where police, fire brigade, and rescue services had been deployed to help victims. Police said in a statement that the area was completely?closed and a no fly zone had been declared over Crans-Montana. They added that the cause of the explosion remained unknown.
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Israel: Forces open fire on West Bank Stone-Throwers, One Dead
Israeli military claimed that its forces shot and killed a Palestinian in the early hours of Thursday morning as they opened fire on people throwing stones at soldiers. The military statement added that two other people were also hit by gunfire on a major road near the village of Luban al-Sharqiya, in Nablus. The statement described the individuals as militants and said that the stone-throwing attack was part of a planned ambush. Palestinian authorities in the West Bank reported that a 26-year old man named Khattab Al-Sarhan had been killed, and another victim was also injured. The official news agency of the Palestinian Authority, WAFA, reported that Israeli forces closed the main entry to Luban al-Sharqiya village in Nablus and blocked many secondary roads. The U.N. reported that more than 1,000 Palestinians were killed between October 2023 - 'October 2025 in the West Bank, mostly as a result of 'operations carried out by security forces, and in some cases by settler violence. In the same time period, 57 Israelis died in Palestinian attacks. (Reporting and writing by Ali Sawafta; Editing by Andrew Heavens).
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Berkshire, which fell on Buffett's final day as CEO and gained 6,100,000.0% over 60 years,
The price of Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares fell by $600, or 0.1%, to $754,800 on Wednesday. Greg Abel will take over as CEO on Thursday. On Wednesday, the price of Berkshire class A shares fell by $600 or 0.1% to $754,800, and that of Class B shares dropped $1.06 or 0.2% to $502.65 Standard & Poor’s 500 dropped 0.7%. Berkshire investors who have owned the company since 1965 when Buffett became CEO, saw a return that was 6,100,000.00%. This is far higher than the S&P's 46,000%. In 2025, the index was outperforming, and it has been doing so for over a decade. Berkshire, however, never had a down year as Buffett tried to acquire his $1.08 trillion company. Berkshire's subsidiaries include the insurer 'Geico', the BNSF railway, dozens manufacturing and energy companies, and retail brands like Brooks, Dairy Queen and Fruit 'of the Loom. The company ended September with cash and?equivalents of $381.7 billion. Abel, age 63, was hired by Berkshire in 2000, when the company acquired MidAmerican Energy (now known as Berkshire Hathaway Energy). Since 2018, he has served as vice chairman of Berkshire, managing the non-insurance business. Buffett will continue to be chairman. He plans to go every day to the Berkshire office in Omaha Nebraska, which is about 2 miles (3 km) from his home. Ajit Jain, vice chairman, will oversee the insurance business of Berkshire, while Abel continues to monitor the BNSF manufacturing, energy and manufacturing businesses. Adam Johnson, the chief executive officer of NetJets' luxury plane unit, will oversee Berkshire’s consumer products, services and retail businesses. Abel was doing this. Berkshire Investments has not announced who will be in charge of its equity portfolio. Apple and American Express were among the 283.2 billion dollars of stocks that Berkshire held as of September 30. Todd Combs, Ted Weschler and other people who worked on the?portfolio were thought to be in line for the position, but Combs has left JPMorgan Chase this month and Buffett stated that Abel can handle it. Berkshire didn't immediately respond to our request for comment. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, New York; Editing and proofreading by David Gregorio & Alistair Bell
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EIA reports that U.S. crude imports dropped last week, reaching their lowest level since February 2021.
The Energy Information Administration reported that the U.S. imported its lowest amount of crude oil in five years last week, as companies sought to avoid a heavy tax at the end of the year on oil stored in storage. According to EIA, U.S. crude imports fell last week to 4,95 million barrels a day. This is the lowest level since February 2021. John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital, explained that the?ad value tax was a burden on crude oil imports. Kilduff stated that "companies" will delay taking inventory of crude oil and refined products when they reach this point, especially in December. EIA data revealed that the U.S. crude inventory has increased due to lower imports, and robust refining activities. EIA data shows that oil imports from Mexico dropped to 71,000 bpd during the week ending December 26, the lowest ever recorded. This was lower than the previous all-time high for U.S. crude imports from Mexico, which reached 131,000 bpd during the week ending Nov. 28th 2025. The Mexican state oil company, Pemex, must maintain its production at 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and condensate. This is a sharp drop from the 3.4 millions bpd that it produced 20 years ago. Reporting by Arathy S. Somasekhar in Houston and Georgina M. McCartney; editing by Chizu N. Nomiyama
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Critical Metals CEO expects Greenland deals to be closed in Q1 of 2026.
Critical Metals' top boss said that the company expects to complete the remaining 25% of "offtake agreements" for its Tanbreez project in Greenland by early 2026. It will also be open to investment from Washington. Tony Sage, CEO of Rare Earths, said that the Middle East's interest, which includes potential partners in Saudi Arabia and other energy-rich countries such as Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, is a reflection of the efforts made by states with high energy costs to develop a processing capacity for rare earths, supported by lower electricity costs and quicker permits than the U.S. And Europe. Sage says that the company has pre-sold 75 percent of its planned production, divided between Europe and the U.S., in order to diversify supply to reduce geopolitical risks. Trump's administration is intensifying efforts to secure U.S. mineral supply chains, and has shifted some federal funding from grants to direct equity stakes. Washington wants to reduce its reliance on the market leader China. Trump stated last week that Greenland is vital to U.S. national security, and that an envoy that he appointed for the island will "lead" the charge. Four people with knowledge of the matter said in October that Trump administration officials had discussed taking a stake on Critical Metals. We would welcome it even though we did not ask for it. Sage stated that they had asked for a grant through the Defence Production Act. The report said that the Trump administration had considered converting this grant into equity if it were to be awarded. The White House has not responded to a request for comment. Sage stated that Critical Metals will begin mining in 2027 and first production is expected to start by mid-2028. Greenland's capital costs will likely total $500 million, while downstream processing facilities could cost up to $1 billion. Sage also said that the Austrian project for lithium remained on hold until the price of the battery metal recovered. Arunima Kumra in Mumbai, Ernest Scheyder for additional reporting; Veronica Brown and Anil d'Silva for editing.
Two people are killed in fireworks accidents in the Netherlands. A historic Amsterdam church is destroyed by fire.
In the Netherlands, two people were killed by fireworks and there was a "scattered" outbreak of violence during the New Year celebrations. A historic church in Amsterdam also caught fire.
In the Netherlands, people set off fireworks to celebrate New Year's Eve. This causes thousands of injuries every year and damages of millions of Euros. Police said that this year 250 people were arrested on New Year's Eve, and riot police in various towns were deployed.
The impact of the heavy fireworks and arson on New Year's Eve was devastating in some areas. "The targeted violence against the?emergency service and?police were intense again," said police in a Thursday statement.
Police reported that fireworks accidents had killed a man aged 38 in Aalsmeer (near Amsterdam) and a boy in Nijmegen in the east.
A fire in Amsterdam's Vondelpark destroyed the neogothic Vondelkerk. The fire started shortly after midnight.
Amsterdam's police and fire departments said that they were investigating the cause of the fire in the 1872-built?church and have not yet made any comments.
The ban on fireworks sales to consumers nationwide will be in effect by 2025.
Years ago, emergency room doctors, local and national politicians, and police and firefighters have been campaigning for the ban. (Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg Editing by Frances Kerry)
(source: Reuters)