WORLD Radio News - WORLD Radio News: 1-2-26 (1/3)

Episode Date: January 2, 2026

The latest headlines in three minutes from WORLD updated three times throughout the day.Sign-up for the daily Sift email at thesift.org.Support sound journalism, grounded in facts and Biblical truth at wng.org/donate.

With World Radio News, I'm Mark Mellinger. Zoran Mamdani says he was elected as a Democratic socialist, and he will govern as a Democratic socialist. That governance officially began Thursday. So help me God. So help me God. Senator Bernie Sanders handled the swearing-in at Mom-Dani's midday public inauguration ceremony. Mamdani, a Democrat, is the Big Apple's first Muslim mayor, and was sworn in with his hand on the Quran.

Mamdani campaigned on making life more affordable for working-class people, and he told the crowd that under his watch, City Hall won't hesitate to use its power to improve New Yorkers' lives. Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed, but never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try. Mom Dani went on to say he won't abandon his principles for fear of being deemed radical. Around 40 people are dead and at least 115 hurt, most of those seriously, after fire roared through a New Year's celebration in Switzerland. Police say the flames broke out in a bar at a Swiss Alpine ski resort called Kranz Montana a couple hours after midnight.

A witness interpreted through a translator describes the chaotic scene. People shouted, fire, fire, and at first we thought it was a joke. Then suddenly there was a very large cloud of black smoke. We could not breathe anymore. Some witnesses say sparklers in champagne bottles carried too close to the wooden ceiling started the fire, but that is not confirmed. The protests against Iran's dictatorship have turned deadly. More demonstrators took to the streets in several Iranian towns Thursday. The protests, sparked by massive inflation, started in Tehran and have been going on for days.

According to non-state-run media, clashes between security forces and demonstrators led to at least six deaths Wednesday and Thursday, the first fatalities from the protests. The Trump administration says it's turning up the heat on vessels from countries like Venezuela that it says are trying to smuggle drugs into the U.S. World's Travis Kircher has more. The U.S. military says eight people are dead after it struck five alleged smuggling boats over a two-day period this week. We know when, but we don't know where. U.S. Southern Command says the strikes took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, but declined to reveal their locations. Previous attacks have taken place in the Caribbean Sea and in the eastern Pacific Ocean. For World, I'm Travis Kircher.

And I'm Mark Mellinger for World Radio. For more sound journalism grounded in facts and biblical truth, visit worldradio.com. Thank you.