Friday, January 2, 2026

Good morning and welcome to your daily news briefing from The Independent.

New Years celebrations turned into tragedy as a deadly fire ripped through a  Swiss ski resort bar, 233 prisoners serving IPP sentences have been transferred to secure units for their mental health and Labour chancellor’s freeze on tax thresholds means those earning £50,000 would be £505 worse off.

Top stories

1 | Driven to mental ill-health: The 233 prisoners trapped on indefinite jail terms in secure hospitals 

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2 | Reeves stealth taxes ‘hammering’ workers while pensioners and benefits claimants ‘better off’

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3 | Met Office issues ‘risk to life’ weather warning as snow to blanket UK

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4 | How New Year celebrations turned to tragedy as deadly fire ripped through Swiss ski resort bar

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5 | Inside the impoverished Welsh communities abandoning Labour and turning to Farage’s Reform

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Editors’ picks

‘A recruitment crisis is coming’: Readers on teacher strike threat

I’ve never understood why teachers agree to do so much unpaid overtime. They face abuse all day, then go home and spend the evenings marking work, planning lessons and answering questions from parents. I’m surprised there are any left.

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