About 150 people were left trapped on the roof of Hong Kong's World Trade Centre after a major fire broke out.
The blaze started to rip through the 39-storey skyscraper, which houses both offices and a mall in the commercial and shopping district of Causeway Bay, early on Wednesday afternoon.
Image:A firefighter rescues people trapped in a fire that broke out at the World Trade Centre in Hong Kong
Image:Rescue workers evacuate people from the site
Authorities said the fire was brought under control by 3.06pm (7.06am GMT).
In an update at 3.39pm local time, they said twelve people had been sent to hospital for treatment.
Hong Kong's government said firefighters battled the fire with two water jets and had deployed breathing apparatus.
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Firefighters also used an extendable ladder to rescue several people who were trapped on the lower floors of the building.
Local media reported that the fire broke out in a utility room on a lower level of the shopping mall at noon before spreading to bamboo scaffolding surrounding the block.
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Image:A firefighter rescues a victim trapped in the building
Image:Firefighters operate an extendable ladder to rescue people trapped
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.
During the incident, the blaze was upgraded to level three on a scale of one to five.
The emergency services cordoned off the area and halted traffic on some major roads next to the building.
A Belarusian opposition leader who rallied mass protests against disputed leader Alexander Lukashenko has been jailed for 18 years.
Sergei Tikhanovsky was convicted of organising riots among other charges following a trial condemned as a sham.
He planned to challenge Mr Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, but was detained before the vote.
His wife, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, took on Mr Lukashenko, who claimed victory in the widely discredited poll.
She claimed victory herself in the August election but, fearing for her safety, was forced into exile with her children the next day.
On Tuesday, Ms Tikhanovskaya questioned the validity of the court that tried her husband and told the BBC his sentence amounted to "personal revenge" by Mr Lukashenko.
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"While hiding the political prisoners in closed trials, he hopes to continue repressions in silence. But the whole world watches. We won't stop," Ms Tikhanovskaya wrote in a tweet.
Ahead of the verdict, she said she would keep "defending the person I love" in a Twitter video, which showed children's drawings in the background.
The 39-year-old is a former teacher who was a stay-at-home mother until she entered the political fray in Belarus and became a pro-democracy icon. She now lives in exile in Lithuania.
Belarusian state news agency Belta said the verdict was delivered at a court in the south-eastern city of Gomel on Tuesday.
A popular YouTube blogger, Tikhanovsky, 43, was convicted of organising mass unrest, inciting hatred and other charges following a months-long trial behind closed doors.
State newspaper Sovetskaya Belarus said five other opposition figures tried alongside Tikhanovsky were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 14 to 16 years. Among them was veteran opposition politician Mikola Statkevich, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Opposition crushed
They are the latest opposition figures to be jailed in Belarus following a brutal crackdown on dissenting voices who challenged Alexander Lukashenko's election win.
All of his prominent opponents have either been jailed or forced to flee the country.
Mr Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994 but his re-election as president last year was deemed illegitimate and not recognised by Western countries.
He defied months of protests last year as opposition politicians and activists were arrested and held in prison, where some were allegedly beaten and tortured.
Tikhanovsky is now one of hundreds of political prisoners thought to be held in Belarusian jails. Among them is protest organiser Maria Kolesnikova, who was found guilty of crimes including plotting to seize power and jailed for 11 years in September.
Another opposition leader and former banker, Viktor Babaryko, was sentenced to 14 years in prison on fraud charges in July.
In an interview in Minsk last month, the BBC's Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg asked Mr Lukashenko how many political prisoners were jailed in Belarus.
"We have no political crimes in law," Mr Lukashenko said. "We have no crimes that we've prosecuted under. These are people who have broken Belarusian law."
Without providing evidence, he suggested Ms Kolesnikova was an "agent" of the West and said she had been jailed because she "broke the law".
The crackdown severely strained relations between Belarus and the EU, which has imposed tough sanctions the country. The EU has since accused Belarus of orchestrating a migrant crisis on its eastern borders in revenge for sanctions.
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A Belarusian opposition leader who rallied mass protests against disputed leader Alexander Lukashenko has been jailed for 18 years.
Sergei Tikhanovsky was convicted of organising riots among other charges following a trial condemned as a sham.
He planned to challenge Mr Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, but was detained before the vote.
His wife, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, took on Mr Lukashenko, who claimed victory in the widely discredited poll.
She claimed victory herself in the August election but, fearing for her safety, was forced into exile with her children the next day.
On Tuesday, Ms Tikhanovskaya questioned the validity of the court that tried her husband and said his sentence amounted to "revenge" by Mr Lukashenko.
"While hiding the political prisoners in closed trials, he hopes to continue repressions in silence. But the whole world watches. We won't stop," Ms Tikhanovskaya wrote in a tweet.
Ahead of the verdict, she said she would keep "defending the person I love" in a Twitter video, which showed children's drawings in the background.
Today, the so-called court in Belarus will deliver the sentence to Siarhei Tsikhanouski. I can imagine these numbers. But be it one year, or 20, or 100, – it is unacceptable. The only question I will ask myself is: what am I going to do with this? #StandWithBelaruspic.twitter.com/9BNLTLCquL
Belarusian state news agency Belta said the verdict was delivered at a court in the south-eastern city of Gomel on Tuesday.
State newspaper Sovetskaya Belarus said five other opposition figures tried alongside Mr Tikhanovsky were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 14 to 16 years. Among them was veteran politician Mikola Statkevich, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
They are the latest opposition figures to be jailed in Belarus following a brutal crackdown on dissenting voices who challenged Mr Lukashenko's election win.
Mr Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994 and defied months of protests last year as opposition politicians and activists were arrested and held in prison.
Mr Tikhanovsky is now one of hundreds of political prisoners thought to be held in Belarusian jails. Among them is protest organiser Maria Kolesnikova, who was found guilty of crimes including plotting to seize power and jailed for 11 years in September.
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A 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia's South Sulawesi province, prompting people to evacuate homes and buildings.
The earthquake happened around 10.30 local time (03:30 GMT) on Tuesday in the Flores Sea. It affected the East Nusa Tenggara region, officials said.
No injuries or major damage has been reported yet but locals said they felt large tremors.
Tsunami warnings for the area were lifted later on Tuesday.
Videos on social media showed people in the city of Makassar running out of shops and buildings. Others showed dozens of people running down the corridors of a hospital in the district of Bantaeng, as a man's voice in the background is heard shouting "An earthquake in the hospital."
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has tested positive for coronavirus amid the growing prevalence of the Omicron variant in the country.
It is not yet known if the 69-year-old is carrying the Omicron variant, which is believed to make up more than 70% of cases in the nation.
He is receiving treatment for mild symptoms, according to a statement from the presidency.
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What can the UK learn from South Africa about fighting Omicron?
Mr Ramaphosa, who is fully vaccinated, took a COVID-19 test on Sunday after he started feeling unwell and is now self-isolating in Cape Town.
He has delegated his responsibilities to Deputy President David Mabuza for the next week.
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President Ramaphosa said his own infection serves as a caution to all people in the country to be vaccinated and remain vigilant against exposure, the statement said.
Vaccination remains the best protection against severe illness and hospital admission, it said.
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Mr Ramaphosa visited four West African countries last week, returning from Senegal last Wednesday.
Some of his delegation tested positive in Nigeria and returned directly to South Africa, but Mr Ramaphosa tested negative throughout the rest of the trip, according to his office.
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5:41
Hospitalisations 'not high' in SA
Sky News' Africa correspondent, John Sparks said: "President Ramaphosa is said to be in good spirits this morning down in Cape Town, his symptoms are not too bad we are told.
"He was delivering a eulogy yesterday at the memorial service for the last president of the apartheid area FW de Klerk and word started to filter out that he wasn't feeling that great.
"He went and got a test, tested positive and he has been put into self-isolation in Cape Town. He has handed over the reins of power to his deputy and they released a statement asking South Africans to go out and get a vaccination."
It comes as South Africa recorded more than 18,000 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday night - down from a peak of 22,388 new cases last Thursday.
Infections began rising steeply in early November after a period of low transmission when they were only about 200 per day.
The Omicron variant, which has more than 50 mutations, was detected there on 25 November.
While it appears to be highly transmissible, doctors have said most of the cases have been relatively mild and the percentage of severe cases needing oxygen have been low.
Only about 30% of those hospitalised with COVID-19 in South Africa have been seriously ill, compared with two thirds in the early stages of the previous two waves, according to a study by South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
Average hospital stays for COVID-19 have also been shorter this time - about 2.8 days compared with eight days.
ITV News Political Correspondent Daniel Hewitt reports on the PM's emergency plan to tackle Omicron
Over-18s will be offered a Covid booster jab by the end of the year in England, as the target for giving every eligible adult a third dose has been brought forward by a month over fears of a "tidal wave of Omicron" that could cause "very many deaths".
In a televised address to the nation, Boris Johnson announced that from Monday, in England the booster vaccine programme will be opened up to every adult over 18 who has had a second dose of the vaccine at least three months ago - the NHS booking system will be open to the younger age groups from Wednesday.
In a stark warning, the PM told the nation “we must urgently reinforce our wall of vaccine protection”, as he set a new deadline of jabbing everyone over 18 by the new year.
“No one should be in any doubt that there is a tidal wave of Omicron coming and I’m afraid it is now clear that two doses of vaccine are simply not enough to give the level of protection we need,” Mr Johnson.
'We're opening up the booster to every adult', PM announces
He said scientists had discovered that being fully vaccinated is “simply not enough” to prevent the spread of the coronavirus mutation and that, without a lightning speed mass booster campaign, the NHS could be overwhelmed.
The mission to administer millions of jabs by December 31 will see 42 military planning teams deployed across every health region, extra vaccine sites and mobile units, extended clinic opening hours to allow people to be jabbed around the clock and at weekends, and the training of thousands more volunteer vaccinators.
Daniel Hewitt on the timing and manor of the announcement as the PM receives criticism from within his party over alleged Covid-rule-breaking parties
The Omicron variant has concerned scientists since its emergence in South Africa, and the UK has now recorded a total of 3,137 cases after a further 1,239 cases of the mutation were recorded on Sunday. Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said the actual number was likely to be 10 times as high.
Speaking on Sunday, the Prime Minister said: “We’ve already seen hospitalisations doubling in a week in South Africa and we have patients with Omicron here in the UK right now.
“At this point our scientists cannot say that Omicron is less severe.
“And even if that proved to be true we already know it is so much more transmissible that a wave of Omicron through a population that was not boosted would risk a level of hospitalisation that could overwhelm our NHS and lead sadly to very many deaths.
ITV News Health Editor Emily Morgan on the 'monumental challenge' to vaccinate millions before new year
“So we must act now. Today we are launching the Omicron emergency booster national mission, unlike anything we’ve done before in the vaccination programme, to get boosted now.
“A fortnight ago I said we would offer every eligible adult a booster by the end of January.
“Today in light of this Omicron emergency I’m bringing that target forward by a whole month.
“Everyone eligible aged 18 and over in England will have the chance to get their booster before the new year.”
