FIREWORKS KILLED TWO AT DUTCH NEW YEAR Two people died in separate fireworks accidents and a historic Amsterdam church burned down as violence marked New Year’s Eve celebrations across the Netherlands. A 17 year old boy from Nijmegen and a 38 year old man from Aalsmeer died in unrelated fireworks incidents, Dutch police reported Thursday morning. Authorities arrested one person in connection with the teenager’s death but released no additional details about the circumstances. Police made approximately 250 arrests nationwide as officers and emergency responders faced what union officials described as unprecedented levels of violence. Riot police deployed in several towns across the country to control disturbances. Nine Kooiman, head of the Dutch Police Union, told media the night saw an unprecedented level of violence against police and emergency services. Officials issued a rare nationwide mobile phone alert urging people to only call emergency services in cases of life threatening emergencies. In Amsterdam, flames destroyed the neo Gothic Vondelkerk, a 19th century Roman Catholic church that had overlooked Vondelpark since 1872. The blaze erupted shortly before 1 a.m. local time Thursday in the church tower. The 50 metre high tower collapsed and the roof was badly damaged, though Amsterdam authorities said the exterior walls remained intact. Renowned Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers designed the church, who also created Amsterdam’s Central Station and the Rijksmuseum. Cuypers devoted special attention to the Vondelkerk and moved into a house on Vondelstraat to overlook his work, according to historical records. The fire sent showers of cinders onto surrounding properties, forcing evacuation of several nearby homes. Evacuated residents found temporary shelter at a nearby yoga studio while firefighters worked through the night to contain the blaze. No injuries were reported from the church fire. Amsterdam police and fire department have opened an investigation but have not commented on what caused the fire. Local media reported the blaze was suspected to have been sparked by fireworks, though authorities have not confirmed this. The church served as a Roman Catholic place of worship from 1880 until 1977, when it was deconsecrated. A 1904 fire destroyed the original tower, which was rebuilt by Joseph Cuypers, son of the original architect. After secularization threatened the building with demolition, a foundation established in 1980 saved and restored it as a multifunctional venue for concerts, exhibitions and community events. New Year’s Eve 2025 marked the last year before a nationwide ban on the sale of fireworks to consumers comes into effect. Emergency room doctors, police, firefighters and politicians have campaigned for years for the prohibition, citing public health and safety concerns. According to the Dutch Pyrotechnics Association, revellers spent a record 129 million euros on fireworks this year, equivalent to approximately $151 million. Many Dutch residents purchased large quantities in anticipation of the coming ban. Some municipalities designated firework free zones, but enforcement appeared limited. An Agence France Presse journalist in a designated firework free zone in The Hague reported hearing loud bangs until approximately 3 a.m. The Netherlands traditionally rings in the New Year with residents setting off their own fireworks, a custom that causes hundreds of injuries and millions of euros in damage annually. Emergency services face particular strain treating severe burn injuries and responding to widespread property damage. Violence also erupted in neighboring Belgium, where police in Brussels and Antwerp were targeted with fireworks despite a New Year’s ban on their use. Police used tear gas and arrested more than 100 people in Antwerp, where minors as young as 10 and 11 targeted officers and emergency services with fireworks and stones. Vandals set fire to bikes, cars and rubbish bins in both cities. The destruction of Vondelkerk represents a significant loss to Dutch cultural heritage. Stadsherstel Amsterdam, the nation’s largest organization dedicated to restoring heritage sites, had described the building as having survived secularization and demolition threats through community preservation efforts. 2nd January,2026

AFD ON GERMANY'S 2026 AGENDA The German government, a coalition of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU); its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU); and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), will have to deal with difficult domestic policy issues in 2026. After grueling debates, the government passed its reform package for the state pension system through the Bundestag in December. The pension level is to remain stable until 2031, a commission will develop fundamental reforms to the system and submit proposals by mid-2026. Financial security in old age, in a society where people are living longer and the number of elderly people is rising, will remain a key concern for the country and its government. Young vs. old? How a fight over pensions is shaking the German government In the 2026 budget, the government subsidy to compensate for pension losses amounts to a hefty €128 billion ($150 billion) — around a quarter of the total budget. The pension commission is under pressure to develop truly practical proposals on an extremely complex issue. Raising the retirement age from 67 is on the cards. But some, like economics professor Jens Südekum, suggest doing away with a fixed retirement age for everyone. Südekum has said the size of the pension a person receives should depend solely on the number of years they have worked and paid into the system. In December, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) said the idea was "certainly worth considering," adding, "I want us to implement a comprehensive reform." At the beginning of 2026, young people in Germany aged 18 and over will receive mail from the government. Men must then complete the enclosed questionnaire, while women can do so voluntarily. The questions will focus on personal details, educational qualifications and other competences, as well as willingness to perform military service. Participation in a medical examination to assess their overall health and fitness will be mandatory. The government is counting on finding enough volunteers to increase the number of Bundeswehr soldiers from approximately 184,000 now to between 255,000 and 270,000 over the next decade, and to increase the number of reservists to 200,000. If all this does not work on a voluntary basis, the government will move to reinstate conscription, which has been suspended since 2011. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party with extremist elements, is already the strongest opposition party in the Bundestag. With several regional elections scheduled for 2026, it's expected to do well. In the eastern German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the AfD is currently polling around 40%. Will the democratic centrist parties be able to take on the far right? And if the AfD becomes the strongest party by a wide margin in both states, will the promise made by the conservative CDU to never cooperate with the AfD hold true? Both elections are not until September, but they will dominate the debates about how to deal with the AfD until then. State elections in the western states in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate will kick off an exciting election year in March. Immigration and border controls The issue of migration will continue to be high on the agenda in 2026. Since the current government took office in May 2025, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has made it clear that Germany is now pursuing a tough policy toward irregular immigrants with more people being turned back at the border. In mid-December, the interior ministers of the European Union also agreed on a significant tightening of the common asylum policy. So-called "return centers" are now planned again in countries outside the European Union, even though previous attempts, such as the one by the Italian government in Albania, have not been successful. With the common asylum policy, "...we will also manage to shift border controls to the European external borders," said Chancellor Merz in early December. This would spell the end of the time-consuming checks at all of Germany's external borders in 2026. Whether this will actually happen remains to be seen. The initiative of the EU interior ministers still needs approval by the European Parliament. 2nd January,2026

CHINA AND RUSSIA IN VENEZUELA? The actions of the US fleet in the Caribbean are increasingly causing alarm. US warships not only have alleged drug boats in their sights; since early December, they have also been targeting oil tankers. Experts differ in their assessments of Venezuela's role in drug trafficking, but they all agree that oil exports are vitally important to the South American country. Venezuela's economy may be in tatters, but it is sitting on the world's largest known oil reserves, estimated at more than 300 billion barrels. It can safely be assumed that these mineral resources also play a role in the strategic considerations of the oil-friendly US president, Donald Trump. For his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, they act as a lubricant for foreign relations. But the intensification of the US conflict with Venezuela cannot be explained by oil alone. There are numerous other interests at play. As well as the US, the other two great world powers, China and Russia, are pursuing their own aims in the country. Venezuelan oil recently constituted only 4% of Chinese oil imports, but that share has been increasing. The Reuters news agency quoted two market analysts who estimated that maximum daily import volumes will hit new highs this December. China is set to import more than 600,000 barrels a day from Venezuela, the majority of its daily production. For China, Venezuela is an important oil source, primarily because it reinforces Beijing's energy independence amid the global tug-of-war over raw materials. Venezuela's Merey oil blend is particularly well-positioned to do this, as the West has sanctioned it. In turn, a lot of Chinese money flows to Venezuela, including in the form of credits. Caracas is variously estimated to be indebted to Beijing to the tune of between $60 billion and $70 billion. Venezuela is also a market for Chinese technology. Many of its armaments are Chinese-made, and the telecommunications infrastructure is substantially based on Chinese components. In September, Maduro presented a new Huawei cellphone at a press conference in Caracas. He announced that the Chinese President Xi Jinping had personally gifted him the "best phone in the world" and that American intelligence services couldn't possibly hack it. Venezuela's authoritarian-nationalist socialism is compatible with China's state ideology. By verbally condemning the US seizure of oil tankers, as it recently did, Xi's government can present itself as an ally. This presumably also serves to keep the United States busy in its own backyard. For more than a decade now, US presidents have been more focused on the Indo-Pacific region, where China also wants to be the dominant power and is being increasingly aggressive in asserting its claim to Taiwan. It therefore plays into China's hands if the US is forced to devote more attention to the situation in Venezuela or Cuba. Presumably, it is also advantageous for Russia to increase its influence over allies in Latin America, challenging US supremacy in the region. President Vladimir Putin first received a visit from the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 2001, after which Russia became Venezuela's largest arms supplier. In 2008, Putin went to war with Georgia; the following year, Chavez supported Putin when Venezuela was one of only a few countries, along with Nicaragua and Nauru, to recognize the independence of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. After Chavez's death in 2013, Maduro tried to maintain the country's close relationship with Russia. His power was seriously threatened after the election in 2019, when the then-president of the National Assembly, Juan Guaido, declared himself the rightful interim president. Just minutes later, Guaido received the backing of the United States. Already in his first term in office, Trump had spotted an opportunity to get rid of Maduro. But then Russia sent two military aircraft carrying soldiers and equipment. "In a way, Moscow saved Maduro," Vladimir Rouvinski, a political scientist at Colombia's ICESI University, told DW. "For the first time since the Cuban missile crisis, the US was compelled to negotiate directly with Russia over a situation in Latin America." In the current crisis, though, Rouvinski doesn't think Russia will support Maduro as decisively. So far, support from the Kremlin has been verbal only. 2nd January,2026

WOMEN GET DRUNK FASTER THAN MEN At the same table, with the same drinks, women often get drunk faster than men — and alcohol can affect women's brains differently, making its effects stronger, sometimes more rewarding. But also more addictive. Even in Paris' hard-drinking intellectual circles, French philosopher and feminist icon Simone de Beauvoir found that a glass of wine hit harder than expected. De Beauvoir once joked that two glasses left her feeling quite dizzy, long before any existential debates began. Decades later, science can explain why: Women process alcohol differently from men — often faster and more intensely — and women's brains also respond more strongly to its rewarding effects, even when drinking the same amount as men. Alcohol affects the body almost immediately. Before it hits the stomach, taste buds signal the brain, causing small changes in heart rate, blood flow and brain chemistry to get the body ready. When you swallow alcohol, a little is absorbed in the stomach, but most moves to the small intestine, where it quickly enters the blood. Some of it is broken down in the stomach and liver by an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), a process known as first-pass metabolism (FPM). In 1990, researchers gave 20 men and 23 women the same amount of alcohol — adjusted for each individual's body weight. The women drank the same amount as the men — but their bodies filtered out less alcohol early on, so more of it entered the bloodstream, resulting in higher blood alcohol levels on average. But intoxication isn't only about how fast alcohol enters the blood. What happens next — in the brain — also differs by biological sex. Scientists broadly agree that women, on average, feel the effects of alcohol sooner. Where they disagree is on why this is the case. Rainer Spanagel, a German neuropharmacologist and addiction researcher, cites body weight as the dominant factor. "It's not the enzyme," he told DW, "it's body weight." Ethanol, Spanagel explained, distributes evenly throughout the body's so-called compartments — including the brain and organs. Smaller bodies mean smaller compartments. "If a man drinks half a bottle of wine, and a woman drinks the same, the same amount of ethanol accumulates in a smaller body." But other researchers argue that weight alone does not explain everything about alcohol's effect on women. 2nd January,2026

COPEC WARNS GHANA Mr Amoah cautioned economic managers against complacency, stressing that early signs of recovery should not be mistaken for long-term stability. He noted that sustained discipline and consistency are essential to consolidating the gains made so far. “I wouldn’t say we are out of the woods yet. So, for those managing the economy, now is not the time to celebrate or relax because people are saying things are improving. Once you begin celebrating before the ball enters the net, you risk losing focus,” he warned. He added that while the current economic managers appear to have found a workable approach, it is important to remain calm and committed to the path of fiscal discipline to ensure lasting stability According to him, although conditions have generally improved, Ghana cannot yet be said to be fully out of economic difficulty. “I think the past 12 months have been a mixed bag, but, fairly speaking, there has been significant improvement compared to what we witnessed four or five years ago,” he stated. The Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah, has praised the government for managing the economy prudently over the past year but warned against premature celebrations, stressing that Ghana’s recovery remains fragile. Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday, January 10, 2026, Mr Amoah described the country’s economic performance over the last 12 months as a “mixed bag,” acknowledging noticeable improvements compared to the severe challenges experienced over the past three to five years. 10th January,2026

TWO JAILED FOR 40 YEARS Stolen items included a pump-action gun, a Huawei mobile phone valued at GH¢1,200, 18 pounds of gold estimated at GH¢100,000, and GH¢2,000 in cash The Ashanti South Regional Police Command has confirmed the conviction and sentencing of two men involved in a high-profile robbery case following extensive investigations and a full trial at the Bekwai Circuit Court. In a statement on Friday, the police said the convicts, Francis Oppong, also known as Kwame Abuu, and Francis Nyamekye, also known as Amearo, were found guilty of their roles in a violent robbery that occurred in December 2023. They faced charges including conspiracy to commit robbery, aiding and abetting robbery, and robbery, under Sections 23(1), 20(1), and 149 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). The two suspects were first arraigned on January 30, 2024, at the Bekwai Circuit Court following thorough investigations by the police, who gathered evidence over an extended period. After a full trial, the court on January 5, 2026, convicted the accused. Francis Oppong was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment with hard labour, while Francis Nyamekye received a 25-year term with hard labour. Both sentences are to be served at the Kumasi Central Prison. The police said the robbery took place on December 16, 2023, at Kyekyewere near Obuasi, targeting a small-scale miner. Investigations revealed that the convicts, along with accomplices still at large, conspired to attack the victim. Francis Oppong, a resident of Kyekyewere, reportedly monitored the victim’s movements, providing crucial intelligence that enabled the gang to carry out the raid on the victim’s residence and mining site, during which the victim was assaulted and injured. 10th January,2026

CRACKS DOWN ON ILLEGAL WASSCE REGISTRATIONS “No head of school or school official has the authority to register Form Two students or private candidates for the WASSCE under any circumstances, In a statement released in Accra on January 8, 2026, and signed by Daniel Fenyi, Head of GES’ Public Relations Unit, the Service expressed alarm over reports that some school authorities are registering Form Two students and private candidates for the WASSCE, allegedly in exchange for money. According to GES, this practice is a clear violation of the rules governing WASSCE registration. The Service stressed that only Form Three students whose academic progression from Year One to Year Three can be verified in a school’s official records are qualified to be presented for the examination by their schools. GES described the alleged practice as professional misconduct and an abuse of office, especially in cases where school officials charge fees to facilitate the illegal registrations. The Service has therefore directed all school heads and administrators to immediately desist from the practice, warning that anyone found to have breached the rules will face severe sanctions. GES added that disciplinary action will be applied in accordance with both its internal regulations and those of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), stressing that no exceptions will be made for offenders. 10th January,2026

DATA DEFENDS SMART PORT The Coalition of Concerned Exporters, Importers and Traders had on December 29 rejected the planned rollout. The coalition warned the policy would impose unnecessary costs and bureaucratic burdens, defeating the government’s trade facilitation agenda. Coalition convener Michael Obiri Adjei argued the initiative appears primarily designed to generate revenue for service provider Inter Ocean Maritime and Logistics Institute rather than protect traders. The traders questioned whether Ghana Shippers’ Authority has legal authority to introduce a pre shipment notification system. They argued inspection and compliance functions fall under Ghana Revenue Authority’s destination inspection framework. The coalition also pointed to Ghana’s existing Integrated Customs Management System, which already provides cargo data, inventory history and risk profiling. ICUMS was introduced in June 2020 and processes documents and payments through a single window. Abbots maintained his technical perspective throughout his statement. Countries that align their ports with global data standards do not lose competitiveness but gain it, he concluded. Trade today runs on data visibility rather than guesswork. The Ghana Shippers’ Authority Act 2024 transformed GSA from an advocacy body into a regulatory authority, empowering it to approve or reject charges proposed by shipping service providers before they take effect. A trade data expert has publicly supported Ghana’s Smart Port Note (SPN) amid opposition from business groups, arguing the cargo tracking system aligns with global trade standards. David O.G. Abbots, describing himself as a trade data and supply chain systems specialist, issued a detailed statement commending Ghana’s decision to strengthen cargo data collection through modern port information systems. His defense comes days after a coalition of traders demanded immediate suspension of the mandatory scheme scheduled for February 1, 2026. Abbots framed advance cargo information regimes as settled components of modern global trade architecture rather than policy experiments. He argued these systems exist across continents to ensure early visibility of cargo data before shipment or arrival. The data expert cited five core reasons why advance cargo regimes operate globally. Risk is better managed before cargo moves rather than after arrival, he stated. Incomplete or late data increases delays, disputes and costs at ports. False declaration and under invoicing thrive in low visibility systems, while port congestion represents a data problem before becoming an infrastructure problem. Predictable data benefits compliant traders most, according to Abbots. He positioned advance cargo information as baseline trade infrastructure supported by major international frameworks. The World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement recognizes advance information and risk management as tools for transparency and efficiency. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development supports secure, predictable and data driven trade logistics systems. The World Customs Organization SAFE Framework of Standards promotes Advance Cargo Information to secure and facilitate global trade. Abbots provided comparative evidence from major trading jurisdictions. The United States operates Automated Manifest System and Importer Security Filing known as “10+2” rules. The European Union runs Import Control System and Entry Summary Declaration requirements. Switzerland, Singapore, South Korea, United Arab Emirates and Angola all maintain advance cargo and manifest submission systems aligned with WCO standards. From a data standpoint, no serious economy operates without advance cargo visibility, Abbots stated in his assessment. The expert challenged trader concerns about costs. Based on available implementation details, the Smart Port Note does not impose a cost on importers, he claimed. There is no charge during the pilot phase and no charge after the pilot phase. From a systems view, SPN functions as a data collection and validation layer rather than a tax instrument or customs levy. Regarding stakeholder engagement, Abbots noted engagement has been routed through the Ghana Shippers’ Authority alongside relevant government institutions responsible for trade, ports and security. This approach mirrors how similar systems are rolled out globally through pilot programs, refinement and scaling. 2nd January,2026