A fire has torn through Guryong Village, Seoul’s last shanty-town, forcing more than 100 people to evacuate, though no injuries have been reported. The shanty-town is vulnerable to fires because of its tightly packed homes and highly flammable building materials.
Published On 27 Oct 202627 Oct 2026
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No injuries were reported at the building, known locally as the Kehlsteinhaus, while police said a ‘suspicious person’ has been taken into custody.
Published On 24 Oct 202624 Oct 2026
German police have detained a suspect after a fire engulfed the Eagle’s Nest, Adolf Hitler’s notorious Nazi-era mountain retreat in Bavaria, prompting an overnight emergency operation involving about 200 firefighters.
No injuries were reported at the building, known locally as the Kehlsteinhaus. Police said investigators were examining whether a “suspicious person” taken into temporary custody was connected to the blaze.
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The fire alarm was triggered by a smoke detector at about 9:50pm (19:50 GMT) on Friday. Emergency crews could see flames rising above the building as they approached and found it “completely ablaze”, according to police.
The retreat’s remote Alpine location, at an altitude of more than 1,800 metres (about 6,000 feet), complicated efforts to extinguish the fire, police spokesperson Lisa Maier said.
While authorities have not announced a cause, German media reported that investigators suspected arson.
The newspaper Bild said emergency responders had encountered a motorcyclist travelling towards them on their way to the scene and that he was subsequently detained. His possible involvement remained under investigation.
Maier said inquiries were continuing, with police planning a news conference later on Saturday.
Built between 1937 and 1938, the stone-and-granite retreat stands on the Kehlstein mountain above Obersalzberg, near Berchtesgaden in southern Germany.
Designed as a monument to Hitler’s rule and a setting for receiving foreign diplomats, it offers sweeping views across the Bavarian Alps. Hitler himself visited the resort.
The site, which remains part of the legacy of Nazi Germany, survived World War II undamaged. It has operated as a restaurant since 1952 and also houses an exhibition examining its Nazi history.
Offices at the Supreme Court in Tirana were set ablaze as anti-government protests over corruption, education, and unemployment entered their fifth day.
Published On 18 Oct 202618 Oct 2026
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The fast-spreading Norte Fire in Orange County is fuelled by intense warm winds and unseasonably high temperatures.
Published On 17 Oct 202617 Oct 2026
A fast-spreading wildfire in Orange County, in Southern California, has engulfed several coastal properties and prompted widespread evacuation orders.
The Orange County Fire Authority said on Friday that the Norte Fire had scorched about 188 hectares (465 acres), with the state’s Cal Fire agency putting it at about 231 hectares (570 acres) by the evening, and that at least six homes had been damaged or destroyed in the San Juan Capistrano area.
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The fire authority said firefighters were “aggressively attacking the fire from the ground and air” and issued pleas for people to stay clear of the area.
Unseasonably high temperatures and low humidity are fuelling the rapid growth of the fire, the AFP news agency reported.
The Norte Fire started in the coastal city of San Clemente on Friday and moved to the city of San Juan Capistrano, with some 6,000 homes and 16,000 residents under evacuation orders by the evening. An evacuation shelter has opened in each city while helicopters attempt to douse the flames.
The Norte Fire is one of several in the region driven by Santa Ana winds, intense warm gusts that blow from the southwest US interior towards the California coast.
The Santa Ana winds typically arrive in the autumn, right when Southern California’s vegetation is at its driest after a long, rainless summer, according to The Weather Channel.
Forecasters said winds blew at between 55km/h and 90km/h (35mph and 55mph) within coastal areas.
The strongest winds were expected through Friday, but the high heat and low humidity conditions that contribute to the growth of the fire are expected to last through Saturday night.
Tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles County were left without power as authorities attempted to lessen the possibility of electrical sparks that the heavy wind gusts could carry.
California firefighters were also busy battling the Bryson Fire, which broke out on the outskirts of the Malibu beach community in Los Angeles County on Thursday. As of Friday, the fire had burned about 59 hectares (147 acres) and was 17 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.
The Henderson Fire was 20 percent contained and had burned 842 hectares (2,080 acres) in San Diego County by Friday, Cal Fire said. The blaze impacted Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and prompted freeway closures.