Ship Crash Collapses Part of Bridge in China, Killing at Least 2

Part of a bridge in the southern Chinese manufacturing hub of Guangzhou collapsed after a container ship crashed into it, killing at least two people as vehicles plummeted, the local authorities said on Thursday. Three people were missing, according to the authorities, who said an empty container ship had hit one of the supporting columns of the two-lane Lixinsha Bridge, fracturing the surface. The crash occurred at about 5:30 a.m. Thursday in the Nansha district, and its cause was under investigation, the district said in a statement. Photos published by…

China Building Fire Kills at Least 39, With Others Trapped

A fire in a commercial building in southeastern China killed at least 39 people on Wednesday, as emergency workers raced to rescue people still trapped inside. The fire broke out around 3:30 p.m. local time in Xinyu, a city in Jiangxi Province, in the basement of a building that housed an internet cafe on the ground floor and an educational center upstairs, according to Chinese state media and a local government announcement. A video posted on social media by the Communist Party-affiliated outlet Beijing News showed thick black smoke billowing…

Landslide in Southern China Buries Dozens and Sends Hundreds Fleeing

A landslide in southwestern China’s Yunnan Province on Monday left at least two people dead and another 45 people buried, according to Chinese state media, as a cold wave blanketed much of the country. State media said that more than 500 people had been evacuated. Aerial footage of the disaster site from the state broadcaster, China Central Television, showed a dark, gaping furrow gouged out of a snowy mountainside, which had carved through wide swaths of terraced fields and into a cluster of low houses. The landslide occurred just before…

Dormitory Fire Kills 13 in Central China

A fire in the dormitory of a kindergarten and elementary school in central China killed 13 people, Chinese state-owned news media reported on Saturday. A 14th person was being treated for injuries in a hospital after the fire broke out late Friday night, China Central Television said. The blaze was extinguished quickly, and the head of the school was taken into custody, the report said. No further details were provided, including whether any of the dead were children. It was not immediately known whether all the students at the school…

U.S. Strikes Houthis Again, and China’s Population Decline

The New York Times Audio app is home to journalism and storytelling, and provides news, depth and serendipity. If you haven’t already, download it here — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter. The Headlines brings you the biggest stories of the day from the Times journalists who are covering them, all in about five minutes. NYT

China Earthquake: In Bitter Cold, a Struggle to Help Survivors

Rescue workers strained to plow through eight-foot piles of frozen sludge, which blocked the entrances to destroyed villages. Emergency vehicles struggled to navigate icy, damaged mountain roads. Victims with serious injuries were rushed to hospitals in cities, as demand for medical care overwhelmed the villages’ limited capacities. In the wake of China’s deadliest earthquake in nearly a decade, emergency workers raced to find survivors and distribute aid in Jishishan County in China’s northwest. They were running up against the challenges of rescue work in bitter cold in a remote part…

Fire at Coal Firm Office in China Kills at Least 26

At least 26 people were killed and 38 others were hospitalized when a fire broke out in a coal company’s office building in a provincial city southwest of Beijing on Thursday, China’s state-run news media reported. The fire began around 7 a.m. in the offices of Yongju Coal Company in Lüliang, a city in the northern province of Shanxi, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The building is four stories high. The fire, which broke out on the second floor, was extinguished by 3 p.m., according to the broadcaster China…

Iran and Saudi Arabia Demand Gaza Cease-Fire

After the Saudi and Iranian leaders finished their speeches, they left the main conference hall for a bilateral meeting. Prince Mohammed’s welcoming of Mr. Raisi amounted to a remarkable departure for the Saudi leader, who once bluntly warned Iran not to pursue expansionist policies in the region. “We won’t wait for the battle to be in Saudi Arabia,” he said in a televised interview in 2017. “Instead, we will work so that the battle is for them in Iran, not in Saudi Arabia.” He also once likened Iran’s supreme leader,…

The Sunday Read: ‘The Ongoing Mystery of Covid’s Origin’

By David Quammen Produced by Adrienne Hurst and Aaron Esposito Edited by John Woo Original music by Aaron Esposito Engineered by Corey Schreppel and Brian St. Pierre Listen to and follow “The Daily”Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher Where did it come from? More than three years into the pandemic with untold millions of people dead, that question about the origin of Covid-19 remains widely disputed and fraught, with facts sparkling amid a tangle of analyses and hypotheticals like Christmas lights strung on a dark, thorny tree. One school of…

When Tragedy Strikes in China, the Government Cracks Down on Grief

Many innocent lives were lost to tragic events in China in the past month. So far we haven’t learned a single name of any of them from China’s government or its official media. Nor have we seen news interviews of family members talking about their loved ones. Those victims would include a coach and 10 members of a middle-school girls volleyball team who were killed in late July when the roof caved in on a gymnasium near the Siberian border. Despite an outpouring of public grief and anger around the…