News from across Asia

[Northern Light]

The death toll as at 2:50am is confirmed to be at least 55 from the above fire.

Three men, apparently construction executives overseeing work on the renovation of the above buildings have been arrested and charged with suspicion of manslaughter for what the police called gross negligence. .

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

And each time these towers goes up in flames it is due to inappropriate materials used in the building envelope/exterior (tarps, styrofoam window covers).

AoD

 

[Admiral Beez]

A profound tragedy is unfolding in Hong Kong at this hour as 7 residential towers are ablaze.

At this hour, 36 confirmed dead, 29 in hospital, but 279 uncontactable. It seems likely this will be worse, possible much so than the Grenfell disaster in London some years ago.

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/hong-kong-tai-po-buildings-fire-11-26-25

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Source: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/wor...re-apartments-wang-fuk-court-tai-po-district/

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Credit: Bertha Wang/CNN Source: https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/bwp08536.jpg?c=original&q=w_1280,c_fill/f_avif

What a disaster. My sympathies to those affected/victims.

This is akin to St. Jamestown (all of it) going up in flames at once. Even if every ladder truck in Toronto was sent it wouldn't be enough.

 

[wopchop]

Death now is being reported 75+ with 300+ unaccounted for ... Awful.

What we know about the Hong Kong apartment fires

As the last flames are extinguished, many are now asking who is to blame for the deadly blaze.

www.bbc.com

On the surface this looks like Grenfel but it is a actually much different. For Grenfel, the design of the building and material chosen led to the fire being disastrous. In this case it looks like the material used for window protection and enclosing the scaffolding during the renovation is the cause. The latter generally has much less oversight.

Lessons from Grenfel affected my industry significantly, so I am hopeful that this has the same impact.

 

[Mihairokov]

Lee proposes 4 major projects to China, including Seoul-Pyongyang-Beijing high-speed rail

The South Korean president reportedly asked for China’s cooperation and mediation on four major inter-Korean and international cooperation projects

www.hani.co.kr

Lee proposes 4 major projects to China, including Seoul-Pyongyang-Beijing high-speed rail
2026-01-13

During the South Korea-China summit last week, President Lee Jae Myung reportedly asked for Beijing’s cooperation and mediation while outlining four major inter-Korean and international cooperation projects aimed at improving inter-Korean relations and enhancing Northeast Asia cooperation.

According to multiple senior officials familiar with the details of the South Korea-China summit spoken to by the Hankyoreh on Monday, Lee requested China’s cooperation and mediation on four inter-Korean and international cooperation projects during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Jan. 5: construction of a Seoul-Pyeongyang-Beijing high-speed rail line; a tourism initiative involving Wonsan-Kalma coastal resort area; health care cooperation with North Korea; and the Greater Tumen Initiative.

A day later, during a meeting and luncheon with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Jan. 6, Lee reportedly once again pitched his vision for those four projects and asked for China’s cooperation and mediation.

Lee revealed during a luncheon with the press corps in Shanghai on Wednesday that he had requested Xi to “act as a mediator to alleviate tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” but did not disclose specific details about what sort of cooperation projects had been proposed at their meeting.

Xi reportedly responded positively to Lee’s requests for cooperation and moderation, calling it a “welcome proposal,” while still advising that patience would be needed, considering the chill on inter-Korean relations following Pyongyang’s declaration of the relationship as one of “two states hostile to each other,” and the fact that China only has so much influence over North Korea.

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Along with the various other lines throughout the world that the Chinese have helped build, including the recently opened Kunming-Vientiane line which connects Laos with HSR and may potentially run as far as Singapore, this is surely the most ambitious geopolitically-speaking.