A deadly fire in Johannesburg’s inner city was “a wake-up call” for South Africa, says President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Seventy-four people were killed – including 12 children – after a blaze in a five-storey building, which was being occupied by homeless people.

More than 50 others were injured.

Earlier, the city of Johannesburg confirmed it owned the building, but said cartels had taken it over. Officials say the cause of the deadly fire is unclear.

In a news conference at the site of the fire, Mr Ramaphosa said the incident needed to be investigated and lessons learnt to prevent future tragedies.

“It’s a wake-up call for us to begin to address the situation of housing in the inner city,” the South African leader said.

The building used to be a home for abused women and children, but once the lease expired, it was “hijacked”, President Ramaphosa explained to reporters.

Many properties around the area where the blaze happened have been deemed unfit to live in.

Yet these old blocks, abandoned by their owners or the city authorities, are full of families, often paying rent to criminal gangs who run them.

Some of those who use the buildings include undocumented migrants, mostly from other African countries.

The buildings, which lack running water, toilets or a legal electricity connection, are then said to have been “hijacked”.

South Africa faces a chronic housing shortage, with an estimated 15,000 people estimated to be homeless in Johannesburg.

“We need to get on top of this and find effective ways of dealing with problems of accommodation, of housing, and services in the inner city,” Mr Ramaphosa added.

He also commended emergency services, who arrived at the scene 10 minutes after the fire was reported.

Johannesburg city manager Floyd Brink said 200 families were affected by the fire and “all efforts” were taken to provide accommodation.

The Anzob Tunnel, sometimes referred to as Istiqlol or Ushtur Tunnel, is an important tunnel that is located on the M34 highway which connects the cities of Dushanbe and Khujand in the western part of the Republic of Tajikistan.

The great importance of the tunnel comes from the connection link it represents, since it connects Tajikistan’s capital city with the second biggest city in the country, Khujand.

Previously, in order for the Tajik people to get from one to the other city, they had to travel across the border to Uzbekistan via a dirt road which was dangerous as it had severe avalanches that blocked the road which in turn left the people with the more expensive option to fly to Khujand.

For now, Anzob Tunnel is not illuminated, it is almost always flooded and the enormous potholes represent even greater danger to the travelers as they are spread throughout the tunnel and really difficult to spot.

With total length of 5 km (3 mi), and cost of some 4 billion dollars, the tunnel was built by Iran and officially opened in 2006 with the purpose of promoting the new Silk Road which will connect Iran and China.

Despite the enormous cost, the Tajik Government had to build it due to the long-term diplomatic disputes the country had with Uzbekistan, as they were halting traffic whenever they wanted.

According to the locals, the tunnel is also known as “The Tunnel of Death” because there are some stories telling that they have seen people who were trapped inside and died due to suffocation from carbon monoxide.

Even after partial completion of the project, limited traffic was allowed to pass through the tunnel in order for the travelers to avoid being stopped in Uzbekistan, however, in May 2014 the government signed an agreement for the Iranians to finish with the construction.

The Iranian company Sabir Co. did some repair work with the hope to improve the conditions, nonetheless, there are still big problems with which the vehicles are facing.

Officially inaugurated in August 2017, and reportedly being in much better condition, Anzob Tunnel is still considered to be among the most dangerous ones in the world, and probably will stay on the list as it needs much more improvements to be done.

Greece’s prime minister said on Thursday it would launch drones and install forest temperature sensors to improve preventive firefighting after criticism from climate activists over a devastating wildfire burning for almost two weeks.

A wildfire in the northeastern region of Evros, Europe’s deadliest blaze this summer, continued to burn for the 13th day on Thursday after killing at least 20 people, destroying homes and livelihoods and scorching lush forests.

Hundreds of firefighters continued to battle the massive Evros blaze on Thursday, after further overnight evacuations.

“Although we were better prepared than any other year, we faced an unprecedented combination of incidents,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament, citing a severe heatwave in July, Greece’s longest in years, then unusually high winds.

He said authorities had initiated steps to acquire more than 100 drones to monitor wildfires in real time.

There are also plans to install temperature sensors at archaeological sites and in high-risk forests, while some 500 forest scientists and 1,000 more firefighters will be hired soon, Mitsotakis said.

Environmentalists who advocate stronger international action to curb climate change have accused Greek authorities of spending more funds on extinguishing fires than on prevention.

Mitsotakis said tens of millions of euros were spent in wildfire prevention this year but that was still not enough.

In a post on social media platform X, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service said the Evros fire had ravaged at least 812.6 square kilometres (313.8 square miles), larger than New York City’s 778.2 square kilometres (300.5 square miles).

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said at least 30% of Greece’s protected Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli Forest had been lost. Mitsotakis said he would ask European experts to assess the causes of the fire and suggest ways to help the forest grow back.

India is likely to receive an average amount of rainfall in September, the country’s top weather official said on Thursday, after the driest August in more than a century.

The monsoon, vital for the $3 trillion economy, delivers nearly 70% of the rain India needs to water farms and refill reservoirs and aquifers.

Monsoon rains were 36% below average in August and overall summer rains were 10% lower than normal since the season began on June 1, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director-general of the India Meteorological Department, told a virtual news conference.

“There have been weak monsoon activities on most days in August and rains were rather weak in most parts of the country,”

Mohapatra said. “Only some regions that were dry in June and July got better rains in August.”

Due to a weak start, monsoon rains were 9% below average in June, with rains rebounding to 13% above average in July. Summer rains again turned patchy in August.

Earlier this month Reuters reported that India was headed for its driest August in more than a century, partly due to the El Niño weather pattern.

El Nino, a warming of waters that usually stifles rainfall over the Indian subcontinent, has emerged in the tropical Pacific for the first time in seven years.

After recording the weakest August, overall monsoon rains were 10% below average between June and August. The driest August has also set India up for its lowest monsoon rains in eight years.

When El Nino hit monsoon rains in 2015, India faced widespread drought.

Patchy monsoon rains raise concern about the output of summer crops such as rice.

The erratic distribution of monsoon rains has led India, the world’s largest rice exporter, to limit rice shipments, impose a 40% tax on onion exports, permit duty-free imports of pulse, and could potentially result in New Delhi banning sugar exports.

China issued its highest typhoon warning on Thursday as Super Typhoon Saola, packing winds of more than 200 kph (125 mph), headed towards the southeastern coastline, threatening Hong Kong and other major manufacturing hubs in nearby Guangdong province.

Chinese forecasters issued a typhoon red warning at 6 a.m. (2200 GMT). China’s National Meteorological Centre said Saola, currently located about 315 km (183 miles) southeast of Guangdong province, will move northwest across the South China Sea at a speed of about 10 kph (6 mph), gradually approaching the coast of Guangdong, then slowly weaken in intensity.

Saola will make landfall along the coast somewhere from Huilai County in Guangdong to Hong Kong on the afternoon to the night of Sept. 1, the centre said, adding with its forecasted intensity, it could be among the five strongest typhoons to land in Guangdong since 1949.

Hong Kong’s government said the city would raise its strong wind signal to No.8 between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Friday, bringing the city to an effective standstill with most businesses and the stock exchange shut.

All schools will be closed on Friday, despite being the first day of term for many, the government said.

Crowds jostled at fresh food markets in the city’s downtown Wan Chai district on Thursday afternoon with many vegetables already sold out. Supermarkets saw long queues with people stocking up ahead of the storm.

Hong Kong’s Observatory said it expects heavy rain and violent winds while the city’s water level is expected to “rise appreciably” until Saturday with potential serious flooding.

Storm Idalia on Thursday inundated the Carolinas with torrential rains that threatened to trigger dangerous flash flooding, while Florida’s Gulf Coast began recovery efforts after the system tore through the region as a Category 3 hurricane.

The backend of the storm was producing heavy downpours of up to 10 inches (25 cm) in some spots along the region’s coastline on Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

The service predicted that rains would diminish during the afternoon, but warned of possible life-threatening flash flooding especially in low-lying areas and along rivers, through the evening. Storm surge watches were also in effect for several oceanfront communities as fierce winds remained in the forecast.

“Remaining efforts to protect property should be completed as soon as possible. Prepare for limited wind damage,” the service said.

As of midday, the center of the storm was moving eastward off the North Carolina Coast, about 85 miles (135 km) southeast of Cape Lookout as it carried winds of 65 mph (105 kph). Idalia was expected to curl eastward and out into the Atlantic on Thursday night.

The rough conditions in the Carolinas come a day after Idalia crashed ashore at Keaton Beach in Florida’s Big Bend region, lashing the coast with sustained winds of up to 125 mph, torrential rains and pounding surf.

Local, state and federal authorities will assess the full extent of damage in the days ahead. Insured property losses in Florida were projected to run $9.36 billion, investment bank UBS said in a research note.

While coastal communities sustained major damage, Idalia appeared to have been far less destructive than Hurricane Ian, a Category 5 storm that struck Florida last September, killing 150 people and causing $112 billion in damage.

“The community is resilient and we are going to work hard to make sure people get what they need,” Governor Ron DeSantis said during a news briefing on Thursday.

Florida has requested a major disaster declaration from the federal government for all 25 counties that fell under the hurricane warning, he said.

Deanne Criswell, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said during the news briefing that she would tour the area with DeSantis to assess the damage and that the governor and U.S. President Joe Biden have remained in close contact.