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Hong Kong Blaze Death Toll Rises to 128

TOPSHOT - Firemen get ready after a major fire swept through several apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate in Hong Kong's Tai Po district on November 27, 2025. (Photo by Dale DE LA REY / AFP)
TOPSHOT - Firemen get ready after a major fire swept through several apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate in Hong Kong's Tai Po district on November 27, 2025. (Photo by Dale DE LA REY / AFP)
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Hong Kong Blaze Death Toll Rises to 128

TOPSHOT - Firemen get ready after a major fire swept through several apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate in Hong Kong's Tai Po district on November 27, 2025. (Photo by Dale DE LA REY / AFP)
TOPSHOT - Firemen get ready after a major fire swept through several apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate in Hong Kong's Tai Po district on November 27, 2025. (Photo by Dale DE LA REY / AFP)

The death toll in a fire that ripped through a Hong Kong residential estate this week has risen to 128, the city's security chief said Friday.

Dozens were still missing, Secretary for Security Chris Tang told a press conference, adding that he sent his condolences to those affected.

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World

Netanyahu Threatens Retaliation if Israel’s Enemies Attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement to members of the press, in Jerusalem, September 8, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement to members of the press, in Jerusalem, September 8, 2026. (Reuters)
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Netanyahu Threatens Retaliation if Israel’s Enemies Attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement to members of the press, in Jerusalem, September 8, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement to members of the press, in Jerusalem, September 8, 2026. (Reuters)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday of heavy reprisals on Israel's enemies if they attacked, as he lauded the recent demolition of a Hezbollah tunnel network in southern Lebanon.

Netanyahu said Israel's destruction of Hezbollah positions at the Beaufort castle and Ali al-Taher ridge was a "massive victory" and vowed to "continue to destroy terrorist infrastructure".

"I say to our enemies: If you haven't learned the lesson by now, and you choose to attack us again, you will suffer even heavier blows. There is still work to complete," Netanyahu added, according to a video published by his office.

On Thursday, Israel blew up what it described as a vast network of tunnels under the Ali al-Taher ridge where Hezbollah kept a command center, living quarters and stocks of weapons with which to strike northern Israel and invading Israeli troops.

A huge fireball was seen in the area, with the US Geological Survey recording a tremor equivalent to a 4.1 magnitude earthquake.

The blast came a week after Israeli troops said they had seized the strategic highlands as they solidified control of an occupied "security zone" in southern Lebanon.

Israel said the tunnel network was built over two decades with the help of Hezbollah's patron Iran, whose clerical government has also backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israel and the United States attacked Iran in late February, sparking the Middle East war.

Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the wider conflict when it fired rockets at Israel in solidarity with Iran.

Israel has struck south Lebanon during the war and its forces continue to occupy what it calls a "security zone" there.

The Ali al-Taher ridge lies on the edge of Israel's security zone just a few kilometers from the UNESCO-listed Beaufort castle, another strategic site that Israel captured in recent months.

Lebanon and Israel signed a US-sponsored framework agreement in late June that involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon's south and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in test areas known as "pilot zones".

World

Trump Says Iran Wants a Deal

US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with travel executives in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, September 2, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with travel executives in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, September 2, 2026. (Reuters)
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Trump Says Iran Wants a Deal

US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with travel executives in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, September 2, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with travel executives in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, September 2, 2026. (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran wanted to reach a deal with Washington, signaling a possible diplomatic opening as fighting across the Middle East widened and threatened global oil supplies.

"The failing Nation of Iran wants to make a deal, quickly and badly. I will determine whether or not the USA will choose to engage - The concept of which we are open to," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He made his comments came after Gulf Arab states postponed a planned meeting with Iran and as the Houthis have made rapid advances in Yemen, including the capture of Mayyun Island at the mouth of the Red Sea on Friday.

Crude oil prices rose more than 4% on Monday when the market reopened after the weekend's developments, before paring some gains during US morning trade.

The politically sensitive average retail price of diesel in the United States hit a new all-time high above $6.23 a gallon.

Oman had been due to host a meeting on Monday with Iran and Gulf states to discuss ⁠negotiations aimed at reopening Hormuz, the world's most important oil shipping lane, largely closed since the US and ‌Israel attacked Iran at the end of February.

But Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi ‌announced overnight that the meeting had been postponed.

Iran meanwhile published a list of 77 ships ‌it said had violated its operating protocols in Hormuz and warned they could face fines, detention or confiscation on future transits.

US Energy Secretary ‌Chris Wright said on Monday the average number of ships crossing the strait covertly with US support was increasing. But independent monitors have suggested oil flows could have dropped off this month since fighting intensified again after a quiet August.

Trump, who attended a golf tournament at one of his resorts in Ireland, said over the weekend he expected the Iran war to end shortly after November's US midterm elections, after which oil prices would "drop like a rock".

World

Trump Says US Has Tools to Keep AI Safe, Concerns Part of ‘Sick Conspiracy’

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while in flight on Air Force One from Shannon, Ireland to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while in flight on Air Force One from Shannon, Ireland to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP)
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Trump Says US Has Tools to Keep AI Safe, Concerns Part of ‘Sick Conspiracy’

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while in flight on Air Force One from Shannon, Ireland to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while in flight on Air Force One from Shannon, Ireland to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP)

President Donald Trump said on Monday that the US already has guardrails in place to regulate and prosecute AI companies, appearing to play down concerns expressed by industry leaders over the weekend about misuse of artificial intelligence.

"The only control or 'guardrails' that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the USA has that, in spades!" Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that China would benefit from the doubt being cast on artificial intelligence development.

"We already ‌have tremendous CRIMINAL ‌and REGULATORY power over these companies! There is ‌a ⁠SICK conspiracy going ⁠on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China."

Alarm about the potential harm from AI grew last week when Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon said he had resigned, and that the "people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade."

AI-related stocks ⁠fell sharply worldwide on Monday after leaders of some ‌of the industry's largest companies called ‌for slowing the pace of the technology's development.

US Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia ‌Democrat and a leader on technology legislation, spoke with Anthropic ‌CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman about the AI safety concerns over the weekend, his spokesperson told Reuters.

On Saturday, Amodei outlined a three-step framework intended to pace development and create more time to manage its ‌risks. The proposal was immediately endorsed by several other executives at major AI companies, including Elon Musk, ⁠who runs xAI, ⁠and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Trump said the tools intended to keep AI safe had already been used on Amodei.

"The Trump Administration has stopped AI 'people' from doing bad, or potentially bad, 'things,' like Dario (Anthropic!), who is now pretending to be a 'perfect little angel' — and we will continue to do so," Trump said.

The Republican president has resisted stirring concerns about artificial intelligence and has largely embraced AI companies in his second term.

Trump is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week in Washington. Reuters previously reported that the two countries were planning a separate meeting in mid-September to discuss the risks of AI, led by lower-level government officials.