Firefighters and police rushed to a major blaze at one of Amsterdam’s most famous churches, the Vondelkerk (Vondel Church), less than an hour after the New Year began in the Netherlands. It came in a night when two people died, and numerous others were injured in firework accidents, officials said.

Violence between protesters and security forces intensified across Iran on Thursday, leaving at least five people dead as nationwide demonstrations entered a fifth consecutive day, according to Iranian state-linked media and human rights groups.

The U.S. military conducted five more strikes on drug boats in the Caribbean in the last days of 2025.

Swiss police say “several dozen” people were killed and about 115 injured, many critically, after a devastating fire tore through a crowded bar in the Alpine resort town of Crans-Montana during New Year celebrations. Authorities have ruled out terrorism.

World leaders rang in the New Year with sharply contrasting messages, as speeches reflected a world divided by war, shaken by tragedy, while still searching for hope and unity.

Iran was gripped by a fourth consecutive day of nationwide unrest on Wednesday as protesters clashed with security forces, torched buildings, and openly chanted “Death to the Dictator,” signaling an escalation from economic anger to direct defiance of the Islamic Republic.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia “believes in victory” in Ukraine during a New Year’s Eve address, calling on Russians to support troops nearly four years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion.

European leaders held an emergency call Tuesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would “revise” Russia’s negotiating position on ending the war in Ukraine following an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on his residence in Russia’s Novgorod region.

The historic Dutch fishing town of Volendam is commemorating the 25th anniversary of the nation’s deadliest café fire, a tragedy that killed 14 young people and injured more than 200 others, many with severe burns.

Journalists imprisoned across Russia, and other former Soviet states may have been encouraged by the faith of a Catholic reporter in Belarus who has appealed to the Vatican for help while marking years behind bars.

French President Emmanuel Macron signaled Thursday that France may take concrete action against Israel in response to the ongoing war in Gaza, warning that a decision will be made “in the coming days” regarding a possible shift in policy.

Public support for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians has reached its lowest point on record, according to a new Pew Research Center poll released this week. Only 21% of Israelis now believe peaceful coexistence is possible — a dramatic decline from the 50% recorded in 2013 when the question was first polled.

Israeli security officials have confirmed that the government has been arming a local militia operating in southern Gaza in an effort to undermine Hamas’s grip on the enclave, following public allegations made by opposition leader Avigdor Liberman.

Britain’s public broadcaster rejected what it called “incorrect White House criticism” of its Gaza coverage, describing a claim that it had taken down a story as “completely wrong.”

Britain’s prime minister threatened Wednesday to impose more sanctions on Israel over its war against Hamas in Gaza and the Jewish nation’s expansion of settlements in the West Bank, also known as Judea and Samaria.

The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday held a pivotal vote on a draft resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza — a resolution that notably made no mention of the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas. The resolution gained overwhelming support from 14 of the 15 member states, but was ultimately blocked by a veto from the United States.

A groundbreaking new study using artificial intelligence has re-dated many of the Dead Sea Scrolls to significantly earlier periods, challenging long-held views of ancient Judaism, the development of Hebrew script, and the roots of early Christianity.

The average American taxpayer will see a $3,752 tax cut in 2026 thanks to the newly enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), according to a fresh analysis by the non-partisan Tax Foundation. The law, signed by President Donald Trump in July, marks the most significant change to federal tax policy since the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

A new study has found that the vast majority of mail-order abortion pills shipped by a leading telemedicine provider have gone to women living in states where most abortions are banned–fueling calls from pro-life leaders for the Trump administration to intervene.

The Trump administration’s ambitious “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative is moving forward, with newly revealed U.S. government plans showing a four-layer shield — one space-based and three ground-based — designed to protect the American homeland from ballistic missile attacks.

A federal judge appointed by President Obama has struck a blow to religious liberty, overturning protections that allowed faith-based employers to decline covering abortion and contraceptives in their health insurance plans.

National Guard troops and hundreds of federal agents have been deployed across Washington, D.C., after President Donald Trump invoked emergency powers to take direct control of the city’s police force and launch an aggressive campaign against violent crime and homelessness in the nation’s capital.

In a revelation shaking the foundations of the Trump-Russia collusion narrative, newly declassified FBI documents confirm that former FBI Director James Comey utilized a private conduit to leak classified information in an effort to spur the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate then-President Donald Trump.

The U.S. government’s gross national debt has surpassed $37 trillion for the first time in history, according to Treasury Department figures released Tuesday, marking a critical fiscal milestone years earlier than originally forecast by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

A Christian family in Pakistan’s Sindh Province is rejoicing over the return of their 15-year-old daughter after she escaped from the Islamist who abducted her and forced her to marry him earlier this year, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.

The Christian community in northern Mozambique prepares for a violent Christmas after at least ten more Christians were killed by Islamists in the closing days of November, Worthy News learned Wednesday.

Two house church pastors in Vietnam have been wounded in separate shooting incidents they each believe are connected to their congregations not not being registered with the Vietnamese communist government, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

Three Iranian Christians, who were previously known as Muslims, have been released after ten days in detention just weeks after another Christian was freed after years in jail for his faith, Christians say.

The Pepperdine Christian university in Malibu, California is thanking God for hope after a 20-foot wooden cross set up by the school memorial survived the recent devastating wildfire that destroyed thousands of acres of land surrounding it. The Franklin Fire began on December 9 in Los Angeles county.

The US God Behind Bars (GBB) ministry has reported baptizing more than 140 incarcerated women across America in the last three months, CBN News reported on December 17.

Amid ongoing extreme violence by radicalized Fulani Islamic herdsmen and other terror groups against Christians in Nigeria, fears are growing for a retired Anglican archbishop and his driver who went missing in Anambra state on December 6, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.