Today's Top Stories from NBC News

FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 2026

In today's newsletter: Witnesses describe the chaos as the fire that killed 40 people at a Swiss ski resort bar broke out. Trump threatens to intervene if Iran kills peaceful protesters. And Will Smith is sued over allegations he retaliated against a former employee who reported sexual harassment.

Here's what to know today.

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▼ The Lead

Witnesses describe chaos as Swiss ski resort bar fire broke out

(Byline / Source)

At least 40 people — most of them in their teens or 20s — are dead and around 115 others were severely injured after a fire broke out during a New Year's Eve celebration at a bar in a Swiss Alps resort.

While the cause of the blaze at the bar in the municipality of Crans-Montana is still being investigated, NBC News has examined video and images from the night. They include an image in which partygoers hoist what look like champagne bottles fitted with sparklers, but as they toast the occasion the foam soundproofing lining the bar's low ceiling is aflame.

A video shows the fire more advanced, the person filming quickly turning to run up the stairs toward an exit, urging others to hurry or get out of the way.

That exit would become a grim scene, according to eyewitness Samuel Rapp. "A lot of people were screaming and it was horrible," he told NBC News' British partner Sky News. "People were walking on everybody," he said, adding that he "saw a lot of people on the floor, and I think these people were dead because someone put jackets on their faces."

Here's what else we know.

Long defined by high prices, shortages and weekly injections, weight loss drugs are expected to be easier to access and afford in 2026. And new options for people averse to needles are coming. Here's what to expect:

💊 Pills: In December, Novo Nordisk won FDA approval for the first GLP-1 pill for weight loss. The medication, marketed as the Wegovy pill, is expected to be widely available this month.

💵 Prices: This year the Trump administration will launch the self-pay platform TrumpRx.gov. The website will not sell prescription drugs directly but will connect people to drugmakers' discount websites.

💪 Power: Drugmaker Eli Lilly is getting closer to finishing its clinical trials on what could be the strongest GLP-1 drug yet, called retatrutide.

Read the full story here.

More 2026 news:

A whopping three dozen gubernatorial elections are on the ballot this year. These are the 10 to watch.

From the Winter Olympics to the midterms, here's a look at some of the landmark events to come this year.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani took office vowing to "govern expansively and audaciously."

Will Smith sued over allegations he retaliated against violinist who reported sexual harassment

Violinist Brian King Joseph accused Will Smith of retaliation after he said he was fired for reporting sexual harassment while on tour with the actor and rapper, according to a lawsuit.

The suit is linked to what's described as a "hotel intrusion" in Las Vegas last March. While in the city for a performance, Joseph said he returned to his hotel room to find that someone appeared to have unlawfully entered while he was gone, the complaint states.

Joseph found wipes, an earring, HIV medication with another person's name and a note that said: "Brian, I'll be back no later [sic] 5:30, just us (drawn heart), Stone F," the complaint states.

The violinist "feared that an unknown individual would soon return to his room to engage in sexual acts," according to the suit.

After Joseph reported the apparent intrusion to hotel security, Smith's representatives and police, a representative for Smith allegedly blamed him for the incident and said he was being terminated.

Read the full story here.

Trump threatens to intervene if Iran kills peaceful protesters

President Donald Trump vowed Friday to intervene if Iran shoots or violently kills peaceful demonstrators, as economic protests spread and evolved into deadly unrest.

If Iran "kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go," Trump said in an overnight post on Truth Social.

Senior Iranian officials fired back, warning that U.S. intervention would spark regional chaos and be met with a firm response.

It comes after protests in the Islamic Republic took a sharply violent turn in recent days, with at least seven deaths reported by a human rights organization and at least three reported by a semiofficial news agency.

"I think the regime is really cornered in the sense that it cannot address any of the grievances and yet it cannot tolerate people protesting," Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, a New York-based advocacy group, told NBC News in a telephone interview.

"So violence has always been their only tool," Ghaemi said.

Read the full story here.

▼ Read All About It

Trump pushed back on critics who have questioned the state of his health, denying in an interview that he falls asleep in meetings but says he takes a higher dose of aspirin than recommended by his doctors.

Miami, Oregon, Indiana and Ole Miss are the last four teams standing in the College Football Playoff, and all have one thing in common: Their head coaches once worked for Nick Saban.

A woman has died in a suspected mountain lion attack in Colorado, officials said.

Catholic influencer Paul Kim said that his 5-year-old son died from a severe case of the flu.

A search is underway in Alabama for a 4-year-old boy who has been missing since New Year's Eve, and whose father has been arrested on a separate explosives-related charge.

▼ Staff Pick

The power of nostalgia to lure moviegoers

It's no secret that Hollywood has been looking for new ways to entice audiences back to the movie theater. Companies are leaning hard into in-person, communal experiences to coax people back. Among their efforts: the Sphere's reimagining of "The Wizard of Oz" with simulated tornadoes and apples falling from the sky on a 160,000 sq. ft. screen; film screenings featuring treadmill challenges and head shavings; and first-time IMAX re-releases of classic films like "Jaws" and "The Shining." All of these and more are done with the hope that viewers will feel a calling back to the "tactile, emotional experiences" that only the silver screen can offer.

— Austin Mullen, assignment editor

▼ NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

A fresh year calls for a cleaner, more comfortable home. We rounded up the best mini fridges for small spaces and tested space heaters that warm rooms safely and efficiently. If you're curious about grounding sheets and whether they're worth trying, we covered that too.