Officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest New Year’s Eve celebration in the world, the party in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, brought together 2.6 million people. The figure surpassed that of the transition to 2025, when the event attracted 2.5 million residents and tourists. When combined with celebrations at other venues organized by the municipality, the total reached 5.1 million people who welcomed the arrival of 2026. In all, 13 stages were set up across the city. The estimates were provided by Rio’s municipal authorities.

The highlight of the celebration was the historic fireworks display in Copacabana, which used 19 barges distributed along the coastline - almost double the number used the previous year - and lit up the city’s sky for 12 minutes. According to the city administration, it was the largest ever held in Rio.

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• Guinness recognizes Rio’s New Year’s Eve as world’s largest.

In Copacabana, the audience was enchanted after midnight by a show that used 1,200 drones, considered the largest such presentation at a large-scale event in Latin America.

Everything unfolded to the sound of DJ Alok, while drones formed images in the sky honoring the city - such as Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain - synchronized with the fireworks display. One striking moment was the projection of a human face that interacted with the audience through messages displayed in the air.

Erdogan also said Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will attend a meeting of the "Coalition of the Willing," a group of nations backing Ukraine, in Paris in coming days.

Yemen's more than decade-long civil war has flared up after a United Arab Emirates-backed separatist movement swept through territory in the south, splintering the Saudi-led coalition.

The Texas Tech athletic department didn't make the news official, but it did post a photo on its website of Stephanie Okechukwu, a 7-footer from Nigeria, palming a basketball in each hand.

Gabon’s President Brice Oligui Nguema started the New Year with a major government reshuffle.

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Six bets will share the billion-dollar Mega da Virada jackpot, drawn on Thursday (Jan. 1), totaling BRL 1,091,357,286.52. In a statement, Caixa Econômica Federal announced that each winning bet will take home BRL 181,892,881.09. The numbers drawn in contest 2,955 were 09, 13, 21, 32, 33 and 59.

Of the winning bets, three were placed at lottery shops, while the other three were made through electronic channels. Two of the six winning bets were pools.

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• Lottery: Year-end Mega da Virada prize estimated at USD 180M.

According to the public bank, the 3,921 bets that hit the quina (five numbers) will each receive a cash prize of BRL 11,931.42. Finally, the quadra, which rewards those who hit four numbers, will pay BRL 216.76 to each of the 308,315 winners.

“The 17th edition of Mega da Virada recorded more than BRL 3 billion in revenue, representing an increase of 22.6 percent compared with 2024,” the bank said.

Operational problems

The draw scheduled for Wednesday evening (Dec. 31) was postponed to Thursday (Jan. 1) due to operational problems.

In a statement, Caixa explained that the record prize generated unprecedented activity across betting channels. The bank recorded 120,000 transactions per second on its digital platforms and 4,745 transactions per second at lottery outlets nationwide.

Former President Jair Bolsonaro was discharged from the hospital late Thursday afternoon (Jan. 1) after undergoing surgery at a hospital in Brasília. Bolsonaro has been in prison since November, after being convicted of participating in a coup plot to prevent President Lula from taking office.

Bolsonaro had been hospitalized since December 24 and underwent surgery for a bilateral inguinal hernia.

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• Defense requests permission for Bolsonaro to leave prison for surgery.

The hospital’s medical team then evaluated the need for additional procedures to address his hiccups. On Wednesday (Dec. 31), the former president underwent an endoscopy, which revealed persistent esophagitis and gastritis.

With his discharge from the hospital, Bolsonaro returned to the Federal Police headquarters in Brasília, where he has been imprisoned since November after being sentenced to 27 years and three months for the coup plot.

On Thursday morning, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes denied a request by the former president’s defense team for humanitarian house arrest following his release.

In his decision, Moraes ruled that Bolsonaro’s defense had not presented “any new facts that could overturn the reasons underlying the decision to deny the request for humanitarian house arrest issued on December 19, 2025.”

The document reiterates that Bolsonaro’s doctors remain authorized to have full access, along with the necessary medications, a physical therapist, and “the delivery of food prepared by his family members.”

* Lana Cristina (TV Brasil) contributed to this report.

Morocco fans are starting to get excited about their team’s chances of winning the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. But they’re wary of facing Egypt in the final.

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Traoré reaffirmed Burkina Faso’s sovereign foreign policy, welcoming partners who respect national independence while rejecting external pressures.

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The convictions stem from cases registered after violent protests on May 9, 2023, when Khan’s supporters attacked military installations following his brief arrest.

Maduro noted that when he and Trump last spoke in November, the US president had acknowledged his authority by addressing him as "Mr. President."

Israel’s recognition this week of Somaliland – a self-declared country in northeast Africa – is part of a time-honored legacy with its fair share of foresight and risk.

Israel’s recognition of Somaliland exposes global hypocrisy, rejecting a stable ally at a strategic chokepoint while rewarding terror and dysfunction elsewhere.

Ukraine's sixth-largest city Zaporizhzhia was targeted overnight by two Russian aerial strikes, causing fires and damage but no casualties.

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Libyan authorities say Britain has formally agreed to provide technical and legal support for the investigation, with findings to be made public once analysis is complete.

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