Authorities say firefighters have been having trouble reaching the top floors.

Item 1 of 5 A drone view shows flames and thick smoke rising from the Wang Fuk Court housing estate during a major fire, in Tai Po, Hong Kong, China, November 27, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

[1/5]A drone view shows flames and thick smoke rising from the Wang Fuk Court housing estate during a major fire, in Tai Po, Hong Kong, China, November 27, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

A huge fire still burning in a Hong Kong high-rise apartment complex that has killed at least 55 people with almost 300 missing poses the biggest test of Beijing's grip on the city it has transformed since the mass pro-democracy protests of 2019.

Hong Kong's deadliest fire in three decades has highlighted its risky use of flammable bamboo scaffolding and mesh for building work in a tradition dating back centuries to mainland China.

Pope Leo XIV is making the first stop in Turkey on Thursday and will move on to Lebanon afterward.

Staff at Lebanon's De La Croix Psychiatric Hospital are delighted that Pope Leo's visit will give its carers and residents, often abandoned by their families, recognition at last.

Investigators led by the FBI's joint terrorism task force sought clues to what drove an Afghan immigrant to open fire on two National Guard soldiers mere blocks from the White House in what officials called an "ambush" attack on Thanksgiving eve.

Afghans who fled the Taliban and have waited years for a U.S. resettlement decision say their last path to safety has shut since Washington froze all Afghan immigration cases following a shooting near the White House.

British finance minister Rachel Reeves fought back against criticism that she was raising the tax burden to a post-World War Two high to fund extra welfare spending and returning the Labour Party to its high-tax, high-spend past.

A Russian military court sentenced eight men to life in prison over their purported role in a deadly Ukrainian truck bomb attack on the bridge which links southern Russia to Crimea in a ruling celebrated by war bloggers.

Flood rescue teams in Thailand readied drones to deliver aid and helicopters dropped supplies to people marooned on rooftops, as the death toll from its worst floods in years rose and the number killed by a cyclone in Indonesia climbed to 61.

Item 1 of 5 A woman hugs her father as they reunite, on a flooded street in Hat Yai district, affected by deadly heavy rainfall, which has impacted several provinces in southern Thailand. REUTERS/Karit Chaui-aksorn

[1/5]A woman hugs her father as they reunite, on a flooded street in Hat Yai district, affected by deadly heavy rainfall, which has impacted several provinces in southern Thailand. REUTERS/Karit Chaui-aksorn

Unusually heavy rain in Perlis, which borders southern Thailand, has caused severe flooding across many parts of the state since last week, displacing more than 7,000 people from their homes.

Beijing will build on its successful Made in China 2025 plan which turned the country into an industrial powerhouse. The new iteration prioritises high-tech exports to grow the economy by 40% to $28 trln in 10 years. This will inflame trading partners and domestic tensions.

Local organisers have been forced to cap the number of tickets on sale for Winter Olympic events in Cortina d'Ampezzo in February because of concerns over transport congestion, heightened by delays in building a new cable car to take fans up the mountain.