The Swiss ski resort nightclub’s owners may face murder charges following a massive fire that trapped 40 people inside.

The married couple who purchased the venue in 2015 transformed it from a shabby café into a party hotspot for the après-ski crowd in Crans-Montana.

The nightclub is currently undergoing renovation. and soundproofing materials are visible on the ceiling.

Jacques Moretti, 49, did most of the renovation work on Le Constellation himself.

At Le Constellation, a luxurious bar in the popular ski resort of Valais, more than 200 young people were celebrating the New Year when “Flashover” erupted, resulting in 40 deaths and hundreds of third-degree burns.

The Municipal Attorney General said an investigation has been launched into how the massive fire broke out in the basement of the bar in the early hours of New Year’s Day and spread so rapidly.

Beatrice Pillaud, Valais’s top lawyer, said investigators had begun the serious work of examining the blackened ruins at the site, reviewing videos on social media and interviewing survivors for clues.

bar blaze

The NYE fire video shows revellers partying as flames spread…as officials confirm cause.

fear for teenagers

A British-educated teenager is among those missing after a fire at a Swiss bar killed 40 people.

The investigation will also focus on past renovations and the materials used.

Jacques previously told media outlets that he had spent six months renovating the complex into a dazzling niterie.

Police questioned him and his 40-year-old wife Jessica, both French citizens, who later shared their grief with media outlets.

Although Moretti was not present at the venue that night, reports indicate that Jessica’s arm sustained burns.

Pillaud said further investigation will determine whether there are grounds for criminal liability on any individuals.

“If this is indeed the case and these persons are still alive, an investigation for arson by negligence, murder by negligence and causing bodily harm by negligence will be initiated against them,” he said.

Pillaud stated that police did not question the pair under caution, but they could take action if they posed a flight risk.

We will also check the availability of adequate fire extinguishing systems, escape routes, and patron numbers.

Horrified witnesses believe that a deadly fire broke out when the ceiling of the packed venue caught fire due to champagne sparklers.

In the advertising material released by Le Constellation, bottle service waitresses, wearing quirky neon motorcycle helmets, can be seen carrying glowing candles from glass bottles to revellers’ tables.

Pillaud said everything pointed to sparklers being the cause of the fire.

“From there, a very fast and widespread fire broke out,” he said.

ski resort power couple

According to numerous reports, Jacques and Jessica fell in love with Crans-Montana after their first visit in 2011.

Following the success of Le Constellation, Moretz expanded his business ventures into the glam ski resort town, opening a gourmet burger restaurant called Senso in Crans-Montana in 2020 and opening Le Vieux Chateau, a Corsican-style inn in the nearby village of Lens, in 2023.

The couple, who have one child together, previously told Le Noveliste that he feels at home in the Alps because he grew up in the mountains of Corsica.

He said, “We are first and foremost hill people. We are stubborn, but above all, we are very kind people.

A shocked couple has spoken publicly for the first time since the horrific fire.

Jacques told Swiss outlet 20 Minuten: “We can neither sleep nor eat; we are all very unwell.”

French citizen Jacques also spoke briefly for 24 hours, saying, “Everything was done according to standards.”

He said that since he took charge at the venue, it has been inspected thrice in the 10 years.

Jacques said he and his wife would do “everything possible” to help the investigation.

“We are making every effort to assist the investigation.” Our lawyers are also involved,” he said.

Donald Trump has been threatened by Iran with a “swift, decisive, and comprehensive” response if the US intervenes following growing unrest in the country, which has left at least 10 people dead and dozens arrested, according to reports.

Iranian officials are reacting to this US president’s vow to “protect” protesters if they were killed while protesting on the streets over the rising inflation crisis.

If Iran “kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States will come to their defence. Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, “We are fully prepared and ready to act.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the “intimidating comments.”

In a statement on Friday evening, the Foreign Ministry of Iran condemned the “intimidating comments” and accused the US of “escalating tensions in the region.”

“The response to any aggression by the Islamic Republic of Iran will be swift, decisive and comprehensive,” it said.

The US State Department shared a video of some of the protests on X; it said that “the courage of the Iranian people is undeniable” and praised the protesters’ “determination in the face of repression.”

This week’s protests are the largest demonstration since the nationwide protests that erupted following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was taken into custody in 2022.

The unrest has spread across the country, with deadly confrontations with security forces concentrated in the western provinces.

State-affiliated media and rights groups have reported at least 10 deaths since Wednesday.

including two people who officials said were members of the elite Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Basij paramilitary force.

According to information verified by the Hong Kong Organization for Human Rights, there have been 132 arrests during the recent unrest, including at least 12 women and 8 children.

Protests broke out in the capital, Tehran, on Sunday, with crowds largely chanting slogans about economic grievances.

Iran’s economy has been hit by years of sanctions, and rising prices have pushed the country’s currency to record lows against the US dollar.

Read more from Sky News:
Trump threatens Iran if it backs down
Yemen’s independence plan
Why is there a water shortage in Tehran?

protests turn deadly; I have seen unrest. Students took to the streets of Tehran on Tuesday; on Wednesday, protesters attempted to sabotage government buildings, and the situation became deadly as the violence escalated throughout the night until Thursday.

Rights groups and social media posts reported protests in several cities across Iran late Friday, including three districts of the capital, Tehran.

Iranian hardline politician Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said in a post on X that Mr Trump’s threat “makes all US bases and forces throughout the region a legitimate target in response to any potential misadventure”.

Mr Trump did not specify what action the US might take in support of the protests, but the US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities in June, joining an Israeli air campaign that targeted Tehran’s nuclear programme and military leadership.

Gaza City—In the last two years, we have stopped counting the seasons, days, and passing time.

Days are no longer days; life as we knew it before the outbreak of Israel’s genocidal war is gone.

Instead, the days dissolve as we taste every shade of suffering and drink every bitter cup, except the one that will give us our life back.

We observe the world marking the end of 2025, commemorating accomplishments, and embracing a fresh start to usher in the new year.

But the new year in Gaza means we are entering the third year of the war and its consequences.

It’s as if Gaza has had its own calendar since the genocide began.

with tears and disbelief

Those who survived this year are physically intact, but their souls are gone, as seen in the faces of any displaced person.

We were hopeful at the beginning of 2025 when we returned with our tears and disbelief to northern Gaza.

to our destroyed homes, where we lived our entire lives.

In that ceasefire in January 2025, we thought the war was over and we could start afresh.

But we were wrong. Just six weeks later, as people were trying to absorb life in northern Gaza after the war, it became even more brutal.

In mid-March, we woke up to the sound of bombs – a sound that had never left us. This time, Israel added the weapon of starvation.

blocking the entry of everything, even aid.

And so it went on: war, bombing, blood, hunger, and a constant race to secure one meal at a time.

The season of abundance passed, the days of Eid and feast days, while the tables were empty. No holiday cookies, no coffee, no chocolate. Nothing.

People made do by offering water and some, hiding their poverty, stopped welcoming visitors.

On this year’s Eid, supermarket shelves remained empty for months.

A vendor decorated a table with thin fingers filled with sweets made at home by his wife from sugar, sesame seeds, and flour.

A small piece sold for 10 shekels (about $3).

I was not surprised. Sugar and flour were priceless, sold by the gram like gold.

That day, I wandered from place to place with my children trying to locate any sign of celebration.

I was surprised at my own feelings because I harboured a subconscious hope that celebrating Eid might change things and that perhaps food would help improve the situation.

But I said to myself, ‘What will be the significance of Eid in Gaza?’

Nothing changes. It’s just another day, same reality. A day in Gaza means bombs in the sky and hunger and joylessness on the ground.

I decided not to go to meet my family in the north for Eid and came back home.

This was not only because I stood on the side of the road for more than an hour and a half looking for a car or even an animal-drawn cart to take us north,

but also because I felt that happiness was dead, no matter how hard I tried. So I returned, broken, with my children following me.

I had enough money to buy him new clothes, but all my money couldn’t even buy him a cookie.

I collapsed on a sofa at home and thought about how much anger has been heaped upon us in Gaza, while the rest of the planet continues to celebrate Eid, while famine consumes us.

days are passing by

As days passed, they finished us off.

Day by day, my desire to work, to write, and to listen to people’s stories began to fade away.

What’s the point of hearing stories of the hungry when the world has become accustomed to our exposed bones?

What’s the point of covering a never-ending genocide?

I had no energy left. I’ll think of a story, but my brain will tell me to conserve what energy I have left.

My days were spent counting how much flour, rice and sugar we had left. I cooked dal for my children on an open, smoking fire.

I worried about the last of the yeast, about how to find more firewood, craved a cup of coffee like it was a dream, and scrolled through photos of the once abundant tables.

We were seeing people dying for a bag of flour or a food parcel, and crowds gathering at night to get to the aid distribution centres.

Throughout the war I never stopped contemplating leaving Gaza, but as the thoughts became more intense, my motivation changed.

I dreamed of taking my kids to a place where they could eat whatever they wanted.

I want to entitle all this humiliation and suffering in my memory: “So that we do not forget.”

How could I forget this when even now, whenever I pass by a shop full of fruits and vegetables, I gasp and stare, my heart pounding with prayers that this blessing will not disappear again?

How could I forget when I still remember my shock and emotion at the end of September when I went to a supermarket and saw the shelves of food? I entered a frenzy of shopping.

I had a small amount of everything: canned goods, chocolate, chips, cream cheese, flour, and beans. I felt like I was walking away with a treasure, even at double the price.

Since then, anxiety, fear, and exhaustion overwhelm me every time I go to a grocery store. I buy only what I need and what I don’t need.

Food is more available, yet my mind tells me that this abundance will not last. We are accustomed to scarcity, empty shelves and cut supply lines.

It is a deep trauma, a constant feeling that food will disappear. I can’t say I hate food, but I hate the terror and fear surrounding it.

That feeling comes back with every door slam, every carpet movement, every sound of a passing truck or the sound of gunfire. All this puts us in a state of emergency, waiting for the missile to sound.

‘Achievements’

The other night, just before the end of the year, I was joking with my father and my siblings, who have been sheltering with us since September, when Israel forced people out of the north.

We wanted to emulate the social media “achievements” trend, where friends and family gather around a cake, and each person lights a candle and details an accomplishment for the year.

We started – without cake – under dim LED lights, as the power had been cut for months.

When it was my turn, I said that my biggest achievement this year was maintaining my mental and psychological abilities.

I had not even finished my sentence when everyone started laughing loudly.

“Who told you that you still have mental and psychological abilities?” My sister’s laughter choked her.

I fell silent, stunned by his reaction, then laughed with him when I realised the weight of what I had said.

What is this, idiot? What is the mind, and what is the conscience? May God forgive you, Maram.

After everything you mentioned above, and everything you didn’t mention, and everything you’ll never mention, is there still room to talk about mental and emotional stability?

It was the most honest ending this year.

It was an ending where I fully realised the limits of my strength and had reached the end of it, yet somehow I managed to move forward.

This is neither defiance nor strength. Surviving in this state for long consumes the soul and mind.

Day by day, our humanity diminishes until we are no longer fit for life, no matter how many years pass.

This month, UK cinemas will host a film based on the death of a five-year-old girl during Israel’s war in Gaza.

The January 2024 killing of Hind Rajab shocked the world after her desperate telephone calls with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) emergency services were recorded in real time and made public.

Hind and six of her relatives (the Hamada family) had been attempting to escape the fighting in Gaza City when their car came under attack.

The Voice Of Hind Rajab, directed by Kaouther Ben Hania,

fuses Hind’s actual voice with a dramatised performance to tell the story of her desperate cries for help.

Set inside the charity’s West Bank call centre,

The film reconstructs the resolute efforts of Red Crescent workers during a hopeless negotiation with the Israelis over a safe route for their rescue.

Over 90 minutes, an avoidable tragedy is played out from the perspective of the call handlers who listen.

The call handlers refuse to abandon hope and occasionally argue about the rules governing the dispatch of an ambulance on a dangerous mission.

The film invites an audience.

The film invites an audience that already knows how the story ends to feel the long and frustrating wait and to experience the complex Israeli protocols Palestinians have to live by.

What unfolds is an uncomfortable watch as day turns to evening and the child’s voice pleads, “Please don’t leave me; I’m afraid of the dark.”

‘The magical power of cinema’

Director Kaouther Ben Hania says the film was not about investigating the death. Speaking to Sky News,

She said she wanted to let audiences feel what life is like for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.

“This story was investigated by The Washington Post and Sky News, so in terms of explaining what happened, this was done,” she said.

“I asked myself, what can cinema offer? Cinema has a magical power of empathy – you experience ‘otherness’, and you live the life of others.

And I thought, We are done explaining; now let’s feel.

“What does it mean to be Palestinian, working in the Red Crescent? Your mission is to save lives, and you have this system making your life impossible.”

Sky News investigates Hind Rajab’s death

PRCS staff kept Hind on the line for hours through multiple calls before an ambulance could finally be dispatched.

By 6pm, the ambulance crew were close to the family car, telling dispatchers they had their emergency lights on but no siren.

“Oh, there she is,” a paramedic said, just before communication ended abruptly with the sound of heavy gunfire. Both paramedics were killed, and all nine bodies were found 12 days later.

‘I felt my heart going to explode.’

Palestinian actor Motaz Malhees plays Omar, the first call handler to take Hind’s call.

He revealed to Sky News that the constant exposure to the child’s voice during the film’s production had a profound impact on both the cast and crew.

“I felt so powerless, thinking about it and hearing her voice begging for rescue,” he said. “There were some moments I felt I had panic attacks, and during one of the scenes I felt my heart was going to explode.”

Awards buzz and big-name backing

The film is a contender at this year’s Oscars and received a record 23-minute standing ovation at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize.

Hollywood elites Brad Pitt and Joaquin Phoenix signed on as executive producers, which Malhees said felt like “a great honour”.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it was not in the area on the day of Hind’s death, but it made its presence there public, perhaps mistakenly.

Twelve days after the attack, on the same day the car and ambulance were found,

The IDF published a press release about its activities in Gaza, saying “over the last two weeks” it had “conducted raids on terror targets” with forces operating in the Shati and Tel al Hawa neighbourhoods in Gaza.

Tel al Hawa is the same neighbourhood where Hind Rajab, the Hamada family, and the paramedics were killed.

The press release was later deleted from the IDF website and a Sky News investigation found several Israeli tanks were indeed present and likely to have fired at civilians.

The Voice Of Hind Rajab is set for UK and Irish theatrical release on 16 January.

NCM issues safety warning for low visibility early Sunday / Image: File

 

The National Center of Meteorology (NCM) has issued a weather advisory for dense fog and significantly reduced visibility over parts of Dubai and some interior and coastal areas of the UAE between midnight and 10 am on January 3, 2026

If youintend to get an early start this Saturday, January 3, 2026,

might want to double-check your Windows first. This atmospheric “whiteout” is not just a beautiful morning scene; this is a serious security concern.

The NCM warns that the combination of high humidity and specific pressure systems is creating the perfect recipe for dense haze

. Whether you’re in the heart of Dubai or travelling through the desert of Abu Dhabi, the message from authorities is clear:

Remain vigilant and expect the unexpected.

Today’s weather warning for the United Arab Emirates

The National Center of Meteorology (NCM) has issued a weather advisory for dense fog and significantly reduced visibility over parts of Dubai and some interior and coastal areas of the UAE between midnight and 10 am on January 3, 2026.

Drivers and residents should prepare for potentially near-zero visibility, especially during the morning commute.

Humidity levels are expected to increase at night, creating ideal conditions for fog and mist to form over many areas.

The NCM alert emphasises that these conditions can make driving difficult and dangerous, especially on highways and open roads.

According to the NCM forecast:

Looking ahead:

These conditions follow previous patterns where fog, haze and dust events have become frequently repeated in the UAE.

leading to both safety alerts and traffic adjustments.

impact on travel

Officials are advising motorists to use extreme caution:

Similar fog alerts in previous fog incidents have often produced red and yellow warnings.

with local police reminding drivers to obey posted speed limits and avoid distractions when driving on foggy roads.

Although the fog is expected to clear by Saturday morning, the weather “drama” is not over yet.

The NCM’s five-day bulletin indicates that the UAE is entering a transition period. As the fog clears,

Changes in air pressure will result in strong north-westerly winds, reaching speeds of up to 50 km/h by Sunday.

This means that the “white” fog is likely to be replaced by “yellow” dust clouds.

affecting visibility for the remainder of the weekend. Boaters and beachgoers should exercise extreme caution due to the predicted rough to very rough sea conditions in the Arabian Gulf.

A massive earthquake struck southern and central Mexico on Friday, resulting in the deaths of at least two people and injuring several others.

Officials said the earthquake caused no major damage.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.5.

Its epicentre was near the city of San Marcos in the southern state of Guerrero, near the Pacific coastal resort city of Acapulco.

It occurred 2.5 miles north-northwest of Rancho Viejo, Guerrero, at a depth of 21.7 miles. The earthquake was felt in Mexico City, more than 250 miles away.

Residents and tourists in Mexico City and Acapulco ran into the streets as soon as the tremors began.

Karen Gomez, a 47-year-old office worker who lives on the 13th floor of an apartment building in Mexico City, told Agence France-Presse that a siren woke her up.

“I woke up in panic. My cellphone alert said it was a powerful earthquake,” she said.

The Civil Protection Agency reported various landslides around Acapulco and on other highways in the state.

A 60-year-old man in Mexico City died from injuries he suffered after falling while emptying his second-floor apartment in the capital, local authorities said, AFP reports.

Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada confirmed the death in a statement on social media, and in a separate statement,

She said that at least 12 people were injured in the earthquake.

A second death was recorded nearby in Guerrero. Governor Evelyn Salgado told reporters that a 50-year-old woman died after her house collapsed.

President Claudia Sheinbaum, whose first press conference of the New Year was interrupted by the quake, said she spoke to Salgado, who initially told her no serious damage was reported.

José Raymundo Díaz Taboada, a doctor and human rights defender who lives on one of the peaks that surround Acapulco, said he heard a loud rumbling sound, and all the dogs in the neighbourhood started barking.

“At that very moment, a seismic alert went off on my cellphone,” he said, “and then the tremors started with a lot of noise.”

He said the tremors were mild compared to some previous earthquakes and he had prepared a bag of essentials so they would be ready to leave if the shaking continued.

He said he was unable to reach some friends living in Costa Chica, southeast of Acapulco, because communications were cut.

Mexico lies between five tectonic plates and is one of the most seismically active countries in the world.

In January 2025, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake shook an area in southwestern Mexico.

About five miles from Colcomán de Vazquez Pallares, a municipality of about 20,000 people, and about 372 miles west of Mexico City, the shock struck.

The earthquake occurred at a depth of 53 miles.

In 1985, an 8.1-magnitude earthquake on the Pacific coast devastated much of central and southern Mexico, killing thousands and causing severe damage to Mexico City.

On September 19, 2017, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake killed 369 people, most of them in the capital.

On the same date in 2022, just hours after millions of people participated in a mock earthquake safety drill, another earthquake struck central Mexico exactly five years later.

The 7.6 magnitude earthquake’s impact spread 1,500 miles north, causing four-foot-high waves to rise inside a Death Valley cave known as Devil’s Hole.

Technology billionaires were at the forefront of the advance, with sustained enthusiasm around artificial intelligence driving gains in US mega-cap shares. (AI image)

Did you know that the world’s wealthiest and richest 500 people added a whopping $2.2 trillion to their wealth in 2025?

The rise was a result of powerful rallies across global markets ranging from stocks and digital assets to precious metals, data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows.

As a result, the aggregate net worth expanded to $11.9 trillion in 2025. Technology billionaires were at the forefront of the advance, with sustained enthusiasm around artificial intelligence driving gains in US mega-cap shares.

Roughly 25% of the total increase tracked by Bloomberg’s index was generated by just eight people. Among them were Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Alphabet co-founder Larry Page, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Even so, their share of overall gains was smaller than a year earlier.

when the same group accounted for 43%. This surge got a booster shot after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election in late 2024.

while concerns over tariffs caused only a brief interruption. In April, a sharp market sell-off triggered the largest single-day erosion of billionaire wealth since the pandemic.

But the setback proved temporary. At the start of the year,

Musk stood clearly apart as the most influential person among the ultra-wealthy.

He stepped into the political arena in a significant way after contributing close to $300 million to Trump’s re-election bid and spent much of early 2025 in Washington.

DC, leading efforts aimed at reducing government spending. By year-end, however, it was Ellison who emerged as the standout.

A sharp rise in Oracle’s share price, driven by increased investment in artificial intelligence by the cloud computing firm,

briefly pushed him past Musk in September to become the world’s richest person.

Although Oracle stock later retreated by about 40% from its highs, Ellison remained in the spotlight due to his role in the Paramount Skydance Corp.

The offer to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. was led by his son, David Ellison.

The US was not the only place where wealth expanded.

While the S&P 500 Index gained 17% for the year through December 30, it lagged behind a 22% rise in Britain’s FTSE 100 and a 29% advance in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index.

Performance across other asset classes was even stronger.

Precious metals delivered one of their strongest showings in decades as investors sought safety, while copper and rare earths gained strategic importance amid geopolitical tensions.

This boosted the fortunes of major commodity holders such as Australian mining tycoon Gina Rinehart and Chile’s Luksic family by billions of dollars.

Cryptocurrencies also appeared set to outperform equities for much of the year.

Bitcoin jumped to record levels following Trump’s election victory and extended its rally after the administration rolled out policies considered supportive of the sector.

That momentum reversed sharply in October.

when a steep selloff erased all earlier gains and more, sharply cutting the wealth of crypto-focused billionaires, including the Winklevoss twins, Changpeng Zhao and Michael Saylor.

Here is a list of 2025’s biggest winners and losers, as prepared by Bloomberg: Larry Ellison – Winner

At 81, the Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has stepped more deeply into the company’s daily operations.

steering its aggressive and highly leveraged expansion into artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Ellison’s personal wealth jumped sharply on September 10, rising by $89 billion in a single day after Oracle posted blockbuster quarterly results linked to its AI strategy.

This marked the largest one-day increase in net worth recorded by Bloomberg’s wealth index at the time.

Beyond technology, Ellison has been channelling capital into the media space, including personally backing the equity component of his son David’s $108 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros.

Oracle’s ambition to play a central role in the proposed $500 billion Stargate AI infrastructure initiative,

along with plans to take an ownership stake in TikTok’s US business, could further influence Ellison’s fortune well into 2026 and beyond. Elon Musk – Winner

Elon Musk emerged as the largest political contributor during the 2024 election cycle and spent much of the spring in Washington.

where his Department of Government Efficiency drove deep budget cuts and large-scale workforce reductions across federal agencies.

That period weighed on his personal wealth, as Tesla shares came under pressure.

partly reflecting consumer backlash against his political involvement.

His fortunes improved after he exited the White House following a very public rift with Donald Trump.

A recent insider transaction at SpaceX lifted the company’s valuation to the highest level ever for a private firm, pushing Musk’s net worth past the $600 billion mark for the first time.

Separately, Tesla investors approved a revised pay package that positions him to potentially become the world’s first trillionaire.

The electric vehicle maker achieves an ambitious set of performance milestones in the years ahead. Gina Rinehart – Winner

Australia’s wealthiest individual emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the global push to secure access to strategically critical rare-earth minerals.

Through her privately owned firm Hancock Prospecting, Rinehart has built the largest rare-earth holdings outside China.

placing her at the centre of an intensifying geopolitical contest over materials that underpin industries such as semiconductors and electric vehicles.

Her influence has extended beyond mining.

Rinehart has appeared at events hosted at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and holds an investment in Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.,

the listed company that operates the social media platform Truth Social.

In the three months through June 30, she expanded that stake by roughly two-thirds. Donald Trump and family – Winner

Since launching his campaign for a second term,

Donald Trump and his family have pursued a wide range of commercial ventures that have significantly boosted their collective wealth, reaching levels rarely seen in modern US political history.

Despite a recent pullback, the family’s fortune has risen by around 70% over the past 15 months. In the period leading up to Trump’s second inauguration,

He and First Lady Melania Trump promoted two memecoins branded with their names.

While those tokens initially surged before retreating, the Trump-branded coin alone has contributed more than $200 million to the family’s net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Weeks before the 2024 election, Trump also helped launch the crypto platform World Liberty Financial alongside his sons.

Since then, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump have expanded into digital asset ventures, including cryptocurrency mining company American Bitcoin Corp.

A major holding for the family, their stake in Trump Media, jumped in value in December following the announcement of a merger with nuclear fusion firm TAE Technologies.

though the shares remain more than 70% below their January peak.

Trump also notched a legal win in August when an appeals court overturned a $464 million civil fraud penalty.

even as it upheld findings that he had violated the law by overstating the value of assets such as the Mar-a-Lago resort. Manuel Villar – Loser

Manuel Villar, who previously held the title of the Philippines’ richest individual, suffered a dramatic erosion of wealth after shares of his real estate firm, Golden MV Holdings Inc.,

collapsed shortly after trading resumed in November.

The stock fell by more than 80% within days of the end of a six-month suspension, wiping out over $18 billion from Villar’s fortune.

The trading halt had been imposed when Golden MV failed to submit financial statements following disclosures that the company had purchased a parcel of land from Villar for $93 million.

Golden MV later marked its value at over $23 billion.

Adding to the pressure, Villar earlier this month exited his entire holding in water utility PrimeWater, selling the stake to retail magnate Lucio Co.

PrimeWater had come under government scrutiny in July over alleged “irregularities”. Bob Pender and Mike Sabel – Loser

The long-anticipated revival in US initial public offerings suffered a setback with the underwhelming market debut of liquefied natural gas exporter Venture Global Inc.

After several slow years for new listings, the company’s January IPO was widely considered a potential catalyst for a stronger issuance pipeline, supported by a pro-business administration and a sizable backlog of deals.

Ahead of the flotation, co-founders Bob Pender and Mike Sabel were expected to each hold equity stakes valued at close to $30 billion.

Venture Global positioned itself to deliver the largest energy IPO in over a decade.

That optimism quickly faded.

Weak investor appetite forced the company to scale back the offering, and the share price has since plunged more than 70%, weighed down by underwhelming quarterly results and the loss of a major arbitration case against BP Plc.

one of its largest customers. Michael Saylor – Loser

For much of the first half of the year,

Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy Inc. stood out as a major beneficiary of the cryptocurrency boom.

Digital assets surged to record levels following Donald Trump’s election victory in November 2024 and extended those gains as the new administration implemented a series of policies supportive of the sector.

Strategy was at the forefront of the so-called crypto treasury approach, accumulating large quantities of Bitcoin on its balance sheet while repeatedly issuing equity to fund further purchases.

That strategy delivered outsized gains through early October, when Bitcoin reached new peaks. Momentum then reversed.

A sharp pullback in the cryptocurrency triggered a steep sell-off in Strategy’s shares, which fell by more than 50%, erasing nearly $6 billion from Saylor’s wealth compared with its earlier high. Wang Xing – Loser

Wang Xing, co-founder and chairman of Meituan, experienced a significant drop in personal wealth during 2025 as pressures mounted on China’s leading food delivery company.

His net worth slid close to 31% after Meituan reported its first quarterly loss in nearly three years in November.

The setback came despite a strong year for Chinese equities, with the Shanghai Composite Index rising 18%.

Meituan has been weighed down by softer domestic consumer spending and intensifying competition from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and JD.com Inc.

To counter slowing growth at home, the company has accelerated its push into international markets, recently expanding operations in Brazil and the Middle East.

An exclusive photo obtained by the Mirror shows Lisa Stocker, 40, and her partner, John Collier, 39, at the Priority counter in Bali – just four months after they were jailed for a £300,000 cocaine plot.

Jonathan Collier and Lisa Stocker, both British nationals, were imprisoned on drug trafficking charges, but they were spared the firing squad (Image: AFP via Getty Images).

After escaping a firing squad in Bali, drug mule Brit Lisa Stocker and her partner check in for their flight home at the business class desk.

Our exclusive picture shows mom-of-three Stoker, 40, and her partner, John Collier, 39, at the Priority counter – just four months after being jailed for a £300,000 cocaine plot.

Along with partner Phineas Flot, 31, they feared they could be hanged under Indonesia’s tough drug laws before being sentenced in August.

Instead, laws that allow cuts over the Christmas and Independence Day holidays significantly reduced their sentences to just one year.

The move left them free to board flight QR963 from Bali to Doha at 6.50pm on Tuesday and then allowed them to connect for a flight to the UK.

On December 30, Stocker and Collier checked in at Denpasar International Airport before boarding an 8,000-mile flight to the UK.

 

If they were travelling on business, each seat would have cost at least £2,000. A source said, “It is surprising that they have been allowed to leave already given Bali’s stance on drug crime. But it is surprising to see them checking in at the premium counter.

Whatever cabin they ended up in, they must have considered it an incredible Christmas present to be released so early. They were almost certainly at home to celebrate New Year’s Eve.”

They were caught trying to bring 992 grams of cocaine hidden in 17 packets of Angel Delight to Paradise Island. But a judge at the Denpasar Central Court decided not to impose the death penalty after he admitted trafficking charges.

The court heard that Float had agreed to take part in the conspiracy for a “reward” of 500,000 Indonesian rupiah – the equivalent of just £22.50.

Prosecutor Med Umbara had urged Judge Herianti not to impose the death penalty, despite Indonesia’s famously strict laws.

Indonesian authorities viewed this as a dramatic display of tolerance. On February 1, a routine X-ray of their luggage revealed suspicious packages, leading to the arrest of Stocker and Collier at Bali’s international airport.

He had travelled from the UK to Bali via Qatar.

The couple told police they did not know the packages contained drugs and believed they were giving the British delicacies to a friend.

After their arrest, Stocker and Collier became informants for the Indonesian police and agreed to lure their partner into the ambush.

Stoker and Collier were jailed along with Phineas Floate, who the Mirror understands was deported back to Britain in early December. (Image: AFP via Getty Images) )

 

Floate was arrested on February 3 when he arrived at the Grand Mass Airport Hotel car park to collect his luggage.

The Mirror understands that Floate was released from prison on December 5 and held at a detention facility until he was deported on December 10.

An FCDO spokesperson said, “Three British nationals detained in Indonesia have now returned to the UK.”

His release and deportation come just weeks after British drug lord Lindsay Sandiford, 69, was freed after 13 years on death row.

The legal secretary spent more than a decade in Bali’s notorious Kerobokan prison after being caught with £1.6 million worth of cocaine in 2012.

But Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper struck a bilateral deal with Indonesian authorities to secure their release in October.

Lindsay Sandiford was released last year after spending more than 13 years on death row in Bali’s notorious Kerobokan prison. (Image: Coordinating Minister of Indonesia)

 

Sandiford was repatriated along with fellow British citizen Shahab Shahabadi, 35.

Shahab Shahabadi has been serving a life sentence since 2014 after his arrest during an investigation into an international drug trafficking network.

Officials say both Britons have suffered serious health difficulties.

The Foreign Office has refused to say whether Sandiford will be detained or immediately released because he is at home. But Indonesian authorities claimed he would be sent to jail after being sent back to Britain.

As part of the deal, an official stated that Sandiford’s “custody will be transferred to the United Kingdom,” indicating that he would still spend some time behind bars.

The Foreign Office was contacted for comment regarding the withdrawal of Stoker and Collier.