1. Japan’s Emperor Naruhito said he was praying for the happiness of people in Japan and the world in his New Year’s greetings at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
2. Zohran Mamdani from the Democratic Party has become the mayor of New York City. At his inauguration ceremony on Thursday, the 34-year-old vowed to improve the lives of New York residents. Mamdani was born in Uganda. He is the first Muslim mayor of the city.
3. Swiss police say a fire at a bar in the southern ski resort of crans-Montana has left about 40 people dead. They add that more than 100 other individuals have been injured, many of them severely.