14 people were killed in a fire in an apartment building in China

A fire that broke out Sunday in a residential building in northern China killed at least 14 people, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

Deadly fires are common in China due to lax building codes and neglect of workplace safety standards.

Xinhua reported on Sunday evening that a fire broke out in a building in the city of Taiyuan in Shanxi Province at around five in the afternoon (09:00 GMT). She added that 38 people were transferred to hospitals for treatment, five of whom died, bringing the death toll to 14 by Monday morning. It was reported that the fire was extinguished on Sunday, with search and rescue operations completed. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

China launched a campaign to combat the dangers of fires in high-rise buildings last November, following a massive fire that swept through a number of towers in Hong Kong, killing 168 people. A month later, a fire in an apartment building in Guangdong Province in southern China killed 12 people. In July, a fire at a shoe factory in eastern China killed at least 28 people.

A 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Japan early Sunday, injuring dozens of people, damaging buildings and disrupting train service, according to officials and local media.

The Japan Meteorological Agency reported that the earthquake occurred at 1:04 am (16:04 GMT Saturday) in Shizuoka Prefecture, west of Tokyo. No tsunami warning was issued.

No deaths were reported, but the earthquake shattered storefronts and disrupted transportation in parts of the country.

An official in the Aichi Prefecture Emergency Authority told Agence France-Presse that the authorities received 16 reports of injuries, most of them minor.

Authorities in neighboring Shizuoka said that at least three women needed emergency medical care, including a woman in her 90s who fell from her bed during the tremor.

The local newspaper "Chunichi Shimbun" and the "Tokai" TV channel, in two separate reports, reported that at least 24 people were infected in the two regions.

The quake also led to the temporary suspension of regional train services on Sunday morning, including high-speed Shinkansen trains.

Local media reported that the impact of the earthquake extended west to the city of Osaka, where a foreign resident was taken to the hospital after falling from a second-floor apartment as a result of the shock.

It was not possible to immediately comment from officials in Osaka.

In a separate context, the meteorological agency reported that a 4.3-magnitude earthquake struck the Kumamoto region at 10:53 am (01:53 GMT) on Sunday.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from the second earthquake. Southwestern Japan is still trying to recover from a 7.1-magnitude earthquake that occurred in July, killing 38 people, destroying homes, and cutting off power to tens of thousands. The memories of the massive earthquake that struck in 2011, with a magnitude of 9.0, caused a tsunami that led to the death or loss of about 18,500 people, in addition to the Fukushima nuclear plant being severely damaged.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry confirmed on Friday that it is studying a US proposal to deport Afghan citizens through its territory, after a US federal court this week blocked the deportation of dozens of Afghans to their country.

Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Sajjad Haider Khan said during a regular press conference: “The issue is currently under study, and all its aspects are being carefully considered in consultation with the relevant authorities.”

He added in response to a question about reports of the deportation of dozens of Afghans, “We hope to reach a solution that is agreed upon by both parties,” according to Agence France-Presse.

On Tuesday, a US federal court halted plans to deport Afghan immigrants, in a move that came after human rights organizations warned that returning them to their country could put their lives in danger.

Last week, American media reported that more than 150 Afghans residing in the United States would be deported to Afghanistan via Pakistan, as part of President Donald Trump's campaign to tighten immigration procedures. According to the Afghan Evac organization, which helps Afghans who previously cooperated with the United States, the group includes Afghan relatives who cooperated with the American army in their country before the Taliban took control of the capital, Kabul.

Earlier this year, the Pakistani government ordered the arrest of Afghan citizens who do not hold visas, as part of a policy that has been ongoing for years to return them to their country, which has prompted millions of Afghans fleeing the war to return.

On Monday, the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan expressed “deep concern” about American plans to deport Afghans.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been tense since the Taliban returned to power, and the situation worsened after bloody border clashes last October that led to the border between the two countries being almost completely closed.

After returning to power in 2021, the Taliban announced a general amnesty for Afghans who worked with the Western-backed forces and government, and this year it repeated its pledges that its former opponents could return to the country safely.

But the United Nations has documented reports of extrajudicial killings, arrests, and abuses.