Fire

Bring on the night

22 Nov 2012

Fires kill 36 in China over new year festival

16 Feb 2013

Chinese state media say fires killed 36 people during China’s week-long Lunar New Year festival.

Chinese traditionally set off fireworks to welcome in the new year and ward off evil spirits...

Disabled wife burns to death after husband flees fire

16 Feb 2013

Police are investigating a fire at a Sha Tin public housing estate which killed a woman who could not walk and was left in the burning flat by her husband yesterday morning. Residents had heard...

Brazil nightclub owner blames country for fire

31 Jan 2013

The owner of a nightclub in southern Brazil where more than 230 people died in a fire last weekend deflected blame to “the whole country,” as well as to architects and inspectors charged with...

Briefs, January 26, 2013

26 Jan 2013

The UN said it needed another US$48.6 million to give "life-saving assistance" to survivors of Typhoon Bopha, which killed 1,060 and left 800 others missing in the south of the country.

Opinion

Wang Xiangwei

Super ministries may not be the right answer for mainland China

Alex Lo

Church developers remain unbowed by government rules

George Chen

A house is not a home until it becomes affordable

Cool spell gives Australian firefighters breathing space to contain blazes

Firefighters in Australia, which is emerging from last week's record heat wave, are taking advantage of cooler weather to contain bushfires that destroyed property and claimed lives.

Surviving couple rebuild their lives amid 'indescribable' grief

What Simon Watkiss and his wife, Candy, have gone through since the night fire gutted their New Territories house and took the lives of their two young sons is beyond imagination.

Grieving Yuen Long father says illegal structures blocked firefighters' access

A father whose two young sons died in a New Territories fire last year is convinced their lives could have been saved if emergency vehicles had had proper access to their village house.

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Firemen extinguish blaze in typhoon shelter

Firemen extinguished a blaze in the Tuen Mun typhoon shelter after four boats caught fire on Saturday morning.

There was still black smoke coming out of the 25 to 39 metre boats two hours...

AUSTRALIA

Fire scorches Siding Spring Observatory in Australia

Australia's top research observatory, which houses telescopes used by scientists from around the world, was damaged by a large bush fire yesterday as hot weather and storms stoked dozens of new...

SOCIAL WELFARE

Authorities to encourage adoptions in wake of fire at Henan orphanage

The Ministry of Civil Affairs will formulate rules to encourage individuals and families to adopt orphans, as well as mulling regulations to make it easier for NGOs to set up children's homes on...