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PRESS REVIEW – Friday, January 2: Several front pages headline on the tragic Swiss bar fire which killed dozens on New Year’s Day. It’s been described as the worst accident in recent Swiss history. In other news: the New Year brings new additions to the public domain, as cartoon Betty Boop, literary sleuth Nancy Drew and the 1930 film “All Quiet on the Western Front” all become copyright-free this year. Plus: we bring you some new travel trends for 2026.
The tragedy in Switzerland is dominating the front pages. A fire ripped through a bar during New Year’s celebrations in Crans Montana, a popular ski resort, early on New Year’s Day. At least 40 people have died and many more are seriously injured. Several victims were young revellers. La Regione, an Italian-language Swiss daily, says the “reasons for this massacre of young people are still not known.” Swiss investigators say that they are still looking into what caused the fire. Le Soir, the Belgian paper calls it the “New Year of horror” and notes that the “shock is immense”. Switzerland has declared five days of national mourning. The paper’s three-page coverage describes terrible scenes of chaos and quotes an eyewitness who said that candles in champagne bottles may have sparked a ceiling fire, which then spread very quickly.
“From party to nightmare”, the French paper Libération says on its front page. This is not the first deadly bar fire potentially caused by fireworks, which is something that Swiss news website 24 Heures and Australian website Sydney Morning Herald are looking at. Pyrotechnics have been the source of other deadly fires – including a fire that killed dozens in Goa last month and the deadly Pulse club fire in North Macedonia in March that killed 63 people.
Turning to other news: the new year also means new additions to the public domain, as the 95-year time US copyright restriction on intellectual property frees up new works each year. It means that cultural works dating from 1930 enter the public domain – their image can be used for free. This year brings some notable additions, according to the US broadcaster PBS. Cartoon character Betty Boop becomes copyright free as four of her cartoons enter the public domain this year. PBS explains that she started out as the female sidekick dog to a character called Bimbo. But she eventually outshone Bimbo and morphed into the Jazz Age flapper with the groomed curls and flashy eyelashes for which she is best known. Other works entering the public domain are Mildred Benson’s teen sleuth Nancy Drew, as her first four books appeared in 1930; Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade in “The Maltese Falcon” and Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, who solved her first mystery in “Murder at the Vicarage”. Elsewhere, the Oscar-winning film “All Quiet on the Western Front” and the song “Dream a Little Dream of Me” also enter the public domain.
Finally, we look at some new travel trends for the new year. According to the Indian Express, you can expect to see a continuation of micro-trips – travelling to nearby places, spending the day sightseeing and returning home at night. This year could also see more “glowcations”: travelling for the specific purpose of beauty treatments – to Korea for K beauty treatments or India for Ayurvedic ones, for example. There will be more slow travel too: travelling for the purpose of doing absolutely nothing. Le Parisien offers another travel trend for 2026: supermarket safaris – travelling for the purpose of discovering local supermarkets and with it, local culinary habits!
You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.
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