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Hong Kong leader says ‘we must uncover the truth’ after deadly apartment fire, calls for building reform
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Hong Kong’s chief executive said he will establish an independent committee to examine and reform the city’s building-work system as part of efforts to prevent future disasters following the deadly Tai Po fire.
John Lee told reporters at a news conference Tuesday that reforms are urgently needed after at least 159 people were killed when a fire engulfed several high-rise residential towers in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district in late November.
«We will overcome the obstacles of vested interests and pursue accountability, regardless of who he or she is. We must uncover the truth, ensure that justice is served, let the deceased rest in peace, and provide comfort to the living,» said Lee.
The Hong Kong leader shared that 13 people were arrested by police for suspected manslaughter and roughly a dozen others were arrested by the Independent Commission Against Corruption for «corrupt practices which relate to this tragedy.»
TIMELINE OF THE PALISADES FIRE MANHUNT: FROM ALLEGED MIDNIGHT SPARK TO FLORIDA ARREST
Flowers are laid in front of the Wang Fuk Court apartment blocks after the deadly November 26 fire in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Dec. 3, 2025. (Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images)
The Hong Kong Police Department said Wednesday they have completed searches of all seven fire-damaged buildings and identified 140 of the 159 victims.
The Hong Kong Fire Services Department said it received reports of a blaze breaking out at the Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, a district in the northern New Territories, around 2:50 p.m. on Nov. 26.
The fire was upgraded to a No. 5 alarm, the most severe rating in Hong Kong, by 6:22 p.m.
Photos from the scene showed the bamboo scaffolding of the towers engulfed in flames and thick, dark smoke pouring out of multiple floors.
FIRE TEARS THROUGH HONG KONG HOUSING COMPLEX, KILLING AT LEAST 13 WITH OTHERS REPORTED TRAPPED
Thick smoke and flames rise as a major fire engulfs several apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court estate in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Nov. 26, 2025. (Yan Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)
Chan Kwong-tak, an 83-year-old retiree living in the community, told The South China Morning Post that the fire alarms failed to go off when the blaze broke out, even though the buildings were equipped with them.
«If someone was sleeping then, they were done,» he said.
Lee told reporters the government had «identified failures in different stages,» adding that officials must act decisively to close loopholes and hold those responsible to account.
«The bottlenecks will be addressed. And we will reform the whole building renovation system to ensure that such things will not happen again,» he said.
People offer flowers for the victims outside Wang Fuk Court following the deadly Nov. 26 fire in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Nov. 30, 2025.
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Hong Kong’s Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said last week that the Buildings Department will review the safety rules governing scaffolding and protective nets after the fatal Wang Fuk Court fire.
Hon-ho noted that the fire is suspected to have been caused by industry non-compliance rather than from bamboo scaffolding itself, though bamboo structures are less fire-resistant than metal ones.
hong kong,fires disasters,asia,world,disasters
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Spain permanently pulled its ambassador to Israel on Tuesday over its opposition to the U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran, ratcheting up an already tense diplomatic rift between the two countries.
The Spanish government formally terminated the ambassador’s post in its official gazette and said its embassy in Tel Aviv will now be led by a chargé d’affaires indefinitely.
Madrid had recalled its ambassador last September after Israel condemned Spain’s decision to block aircraft and ships carrying weapons to Israel from using Spanish ports or airspace. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the move antisemitic at the time.
When a reporter on Wednesday asked whether Spain, in general, was cooperating with the U.S., President Donald Trump replied, «No, they’re not. I think they’re not cooperating at all.»
WORLD LEADERS SPLIT OVER MILITARY ACTION AS US-ISRAEL STRIKE IRAN IN COORDINATED OPERATION
People walk past damaged buildings following a strike on a police station, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 4, 2026. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS)
«Spain, I think they’ve been very bad,» the president said. «Very bad. Not good at all. We may cut off trade with Spain.»
«I don’t know what Spain is doing,» Trump continued. «They’ve been very bad to NATO. They get protected, they don’t want to pay their fair share. And they’ve been that way for many years.»
Trump added that the people of Spain «are fantastic,» whereas the leadership is «not so good.»
TRUMP PRESSES NATO PARTNERS ON SUPPORT AS HEGSETH BLASTS HESITATION
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Wednesday criticized Spain’s decision to recall its ambassador to Israel permanently as «hard for me to absorb.»
«Spain is a member of NATO, and the United States and Israel are in joint operations against the Iranian regime who openly calls for the destruction of the Jewish State, attacks against the West, and seeks to purify Islam in its own image,» Graham wrote on X.
Spain recalled its ambassador to Israel, the latest flare-up in the rocky diplomatic relationship between the two countries in recent years. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)
«The religious Nazi regime in Iran is the problem, not the Jewish State,» the senator continued. «I hope Spain’s actions will not encourage the tyrannical, fanatical regime in Iran — that abuses its own people — to hang on.»
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Relations between Spain and Israel have deteriorated sharply since Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks.
Israel also downgraded its diplomatic presence in Spain last May after Spain recognized a Palestinian state, placing its own embassy in Madrid under a chargé d’affaires.
world politics,spain,israel,iran,world
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FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is introducing a new bill to strip FDA approval from the popular abortion pill mifepristone. The new bill builds upon proposed legislation Hawley introduced last year that would ban mifepristone and allow women to sue manufacturers profiting off of what the lawmaker deems an «inherently dangerous» drug.
The Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act was introduced in the Senate Tuesday and would prohibit the use of mifepristone for ending pregnancies.
«The science is clear: The chemical abortion drug is inherently dangerous to women and prone to abuse. Yet major companies like Danco Laboratories are making billions off it,» Hawley told Fox News Digital in a statement. «That’s why I am introducing new legislation to ban the use of mifepristone for abortion and empower women to sue its manufacturers. Congress must act now to protect the health and safety of women.»
If passed, the legislation would withdraw FDA approval for the drug and classify its distribution for abortion as a violation of federal law. In 2023, mifepristone was used in 63% of all abortions in the U.S., according to data from the Guttmacher Institute.
PRO-LIFE ORGANIZATION CALLS ON HHS AND FDA TO SUSPEND ABORTION PILL APPROVAL, TIGHTEN SAFETY RULES
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced new legislation Tuesday that would ban the abortion pill mifepristone nationwide, calling it an «inherently dangerous» drug and seeking to revoke its FDA approval. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit research organization formerly affiliated with Planned Parenthood, also estimates there were 1,038,100 clinician-provided abortions in 2024. However, that figure accounts only for states without abortion bans and does not include abortions performed outside the formal healthcare system or in states where abortion laws differ.
Hawley raised concerns about the abortion pill last May when he introduced a separate bill that would direct the FDA to create safeguards on mifepristone, allowing women who suffered complications the right to sue telehealth providers and pharmacies for damages.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., cited research from the Ethics and Public Policy Center claiming higher rates of complications from mifepristone than listed on the FDA-approved label. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)
Research by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) in Washington, D.C., showed the rate of side effects when using mifepristone is 22 times higher than indications from the FDA-approved drug label.
PRO-LIFE GROUP URGES SENATE TO PRESS RFK JR. ON ABORTION PILL SAFETY, DEMAND SAFEGUARDS RETURN
The study revealed more than 1 in 10 women have reported experiencing «infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious or life-threatening adverse event.»
EPPC assessed 865,727 insurance claims between 2017 and 2023 for women who used the medication to terminate early pregnancy. The pill can be taken up to «70 days since the first day of their last menstrual period,» according to the FDA.
During the Biden administration, the FDA revised rules allowing mifepristone to be prescribed via telehealth, meaning patients would not have to physically go to the doctor to receive the abortion drug.
SOUTH CAROLINA GOP LAWMAKERS INTRODUCE BILL TO CRIMINALIZE ABORTION AS MURDER
In 2024, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected an Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine challenge that was brought to reverse the FDA’s approval and expansion for access to the drug. The ruling allowed mifepristone to remain available through telehealth and mail.
Hawley penned a letter to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary urging him to review the data and act against the abortion drug mifepristone. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The Supreme Court’s rejection was based on the group’s inability to bring a lawsuit, saying Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine lacked the legal standing to challenge FDA approval. The merits of the abortion drug were never discussed or questioned in the ruling.
Last May, Hawley sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, whom Hawley questioned during Makary’s Senate confirmation hearing last year.
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«[D]uring your confirmation hearing, you pledged to me that you would ‘review the totality of the data and ongoing data’ to inform action on the drug,» Hawley’s letter to the FDA chief states. «I urge you to follow this new data and take all appropriate action to restore critical safeguards on the use of mifepristone.
«The health and safety of American women depend on it.»
Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston
abortion,health,womens health,senate,drugs,congress,legislation
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