The Wire - Janaury 1, 2026

//The Wire//2300Z January 1, 2026//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: MULTIPLE STATES OF UNREST CONTINUE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. MAJOR FIRE RESULTS IN MASS CASUALTIES AT SWISS NIGHTCLUB. NEW YEAR'S RIOTS STRIKE EUROPE.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----
 
-International Events-

Switzerland: Last night a significant structure fire was reported at a New Year's celebration event hosted by a nightclub in Crans-Montana. A fire broke out at the Le Constellation nightclub, which consumed most of the facility. Approximately 40x fatalities have been reported due to the fire, along with dozens of others suffering severe burns. Most of these casualties are assessed to have resulted from the challenges in evacuating the structure.

Netherlands: Overnight a major fire was reported at the historic Vondelkerk Church in Amsterdam. The fire completely destroyed most of the church, which was serving mostly as office space due to a decline in the parish population over the years.

Analyst Comment: The cause of the fire has officially not been released, however local authorities have stated that the fire is under investigation, which is itself and indicator that there is something to investigate.

Europe: New Year's festivities resulted in many riots around the continent. Various Moroccan enclaves in Belgium were observed rioting overnight, many of which involved parading around Brussels with weapons in the open, and generally trying to destroy things with fireworks. Actual explosives and incendiary devices were also used throughout the night in Belgium, as a few firebombings took place in Antwerp. France reported around 1,173x vehicles set on fire around the nation, and about 500x arrests were made by riot police throughout the night. Arson attacks were also reported throughout the Netherlands, with migrants attacking Dutch police vehicles with Molotovs.

Middle East: The situation in Iran is deteriorating as protests continue to grow throughout the nation. Protests began in Tehran a few days ago, and have spread to several other major cities around the country.

Analyst Comment: As with any crisis in the region, there is a significant amount of deception and propaganda afoot. However, based on the videos that are making it out of the country, the protests are indeed real. The point of debate is how significant these demonstrations are. The Israeli's have claimed what they always do, that the Ayatollah has fled the country in disgrace, and revolution is underway. The Iranians have likewise done what they always do as well, and not even acknowledged what's happening at all. The truth is probably somewhere between these two extremes, and only time will tell how significant these protests become over the next few weeks.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: Right now it looks like the nightclub fire/explosion in Switzerland was probably not a terrorist attack, as the start of the fire was highly documented. A considerable amount of fireworks were noted at this location, many of which were being set off in a risky manner, such as the fireworks which were ignited indoors and held very close to extremely flammable soundproofing tiles. Shortly after the investigation into the fire was launched, Swiss authorities stated that they think it was an accident.

Witnesses that took videos of the aftermath might also shed some light on why there was an  exceptionally high casualty count for such a small venue. Videos of the fire (which are too graphic for mixed company) confirm that many people were trapped inside the building, and unable to escape. Only one staircase served as an egress method for the basement, where the fire first began. Additionally, once the fire broke out, many people did not evacuate, either out of ignorance or inebriation. As such, many people only thought about evacuating after the fire was already consuming the entire structure, and it was impossible to u