- Ronaldo scores 133rd Portugal goal in Nations League win over Poland
- 40 nations contributing to UN Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn 'attacks'
- Eight dead as heavy rain thrashes Brazil after long drought
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- Morocco crush Central African Republic, Guirassy scores hat-trick
- Dupont scores quickfire hat-trick on Toulouse Top 14 return
- Ronaldo scores in Portugal's Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
- Interim boss Carsley has not applied for England job
- Mets hurler Senga ready to take on Dodgers in game one of NL Championship Series
- Ronaldo on target again as Portugal defeat Poland in Nations League
- Guardians rip Tigers 7-3 to advance in MLB playoffs
- AFP, BBC win top French war reporting awards
- Carsley goes back to basics as humbled England face Finland
- Alex Salmond: the man who took Scotland to the brink of independence
- Scotland's former leader Alex Salmond dies aged 69: party
- UN warns of catastrophe as Israel fights a two-front war
- Croatia extend Scotland's losing streak
- South Africa, New Zealand boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes
- 'Very challenging': Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain
- Farrell begins to feel at home as Racing 92 beat Toulon
- South Africa boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes with Bangladesh win
- Samson ton powers India to T20 series sweep after record total
- Djokovic to face Sinner in Shanghai final with 100th title in sight
- UN peacekeepers to remain in Lebanon: spokesman
- Pro-Conquest film fuels debate in Mexico over colonial legacy
- Samson ton powers India to record 297-6 in Bangladesh T20
- New Zealand enjoy perfect start to America's Cup defence over Britain
- Pogacar emulates icon Coppi with fourth straight Il Lombardia triumph
- UN warns against 'catastrophic' regional conflict
- New Zealand crush Ineos Britannia in America's Cup opener
- Djokovic to face Sinner in blockbuster Shanghai Masters final
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- Sri Lanka seeks to match success in W.Indies T20s
- Sinner reaches Shanghai final, will end year number one
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Sabalenka downs Gauff in three sets to reach Wuhan final
- Israel warns south Lebanon residents to 'not return'
- Sinner tames Machac to reach Shanghai Masters final
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- Hezbollah fires at Israel as wars rage on Yom Kippur
- Analysts warn more detail needed on new China economic measures
- China tees up fresh spending to boost ailing economy
- China says will issue special bonds to boost ailing economy
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Dodgers drop Padres 2-0 to advance in MLB playoffs
- Alexei Navalny wrote he knew he would die in prison in new memoir
- Last-minute legal ruling allows betting on US election
- Despite hurricanes, Floridians refuse to leave 'paradise'
Vietnam orders apartment block checks after deadly blaze
Vietnam on Thursday ordered nationwide checks on small apartment buildings after a fire tore through a block in Hanoi, killing 56 people in the country's deadliest blaze in two decades.
The fire started before midnight on Tuesday in the motorbike parking floor of the building, located down a narrow alley in a densely populated area of southwest Hanoi.
Neighbours and residents of the block said they heard screaming as people struggled to escape through barred windows.
The building had only a single exit and no emergency ladder on the outside. One of the four sides had no windows at all, and another had only tiny ventilation slots.
Following the tragedy, police across the communist-run nation have been asked "to inspect fire prevention systems of mini apartment blocks and highly populated rent places".
"Violations must be seriously punished," the ministry of public security said in an online statement.
Hanoi police have arrested the owner of the building.
State media said Thursday that an initial investigation found the 10-storey block had breached its construction licence, given in 2015, to build six storeys.
At least four children were among the victims. Thirty-seven other people were also injured. Several are still in shock after the accident, police and hospitals said.
After the blaze was extinguished, photographs from the site showed a line of charred motorbikes in the parking area, soot-stained clothes on washing lines outside windows and a small rope ladder hanging from a balcony.
- Densely populated -
Vietnam has a population of 100 million people, a third of whom live in densely populated urban areas.
According to official figures, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are the two locations with the nation's highest population density, with 2,398 and 4,363 people per square kilometre respectively.
To meet the demands for accommodation, Vietnam in 2014 legalised small apartment blocks, known locally as "mini apartments".
They must comprise at least two fully-equipped apartments, with shared lifts or a staircase. These are mostly owned and built by private individuals, and sometimes later resold or rented to low-income and migrant workers.
The fire this week was the deadliest in Vietnam since October 2002, when a blaze killed 60 people at the International Trade Centre in Ho Chi Minh City.
But the country has experienced several serious fires in recent years, many at entertainment venues.
A year ago, a karaoke bar blaze near Ho Chi Minh City killed 32 people and injured 17. The owner was later arrested on charges related to breaching fire prevention regulations.
In the aftermath, the prime minister ordered an inspection of all high-risk venues.
But many businesses have complained the regulations are too onerous. Some have struggled to meet the requirements and remain closed.
Another 13 people died in 2016 in a karaoke venue in Hanoi following a fire.
P.Silva--AMWN