BERLIN—An explosion at a residential building in Germany that left nine first responders seriously injured appears to have been a planned attack carried out by a man wanted in connection with an unpaid fine, officials said Friday. Police and firefighters had gone to the building in the western town of Ratingen on Thursday after receiving…

All-important energy efficiency standards can’t be sacrificed in the fight to ease pressure on Victoria’s beleaguered building industry, lobbyists warn. The state government is consulting with the sector amid calls for urgent reforms following the financial collapse of one of the nation’s largest home builders, Porter Davis. Leading the charge, the Housing Industry Association is…

MARSEILLE, France—Eight people remained missing after the building they lived in exploded and collapsed early Sunday near the port of Marseille, leaving mounds of burning debris hampering rescue operations, officials said. More than 100 firefighters worked against a ticking clock to extinguish flames deep within the rubble of the five-story building, but more than 17…

LEXINGTON, N.C.—A missing 13-year-old Texas girl was found locked in an outbuilding near a North Carolina home, authorities said Monday. Investigators with the Dallas police and the FBI say a 34-year-old man enticed the girl to leave her home while communicating with her on social media, then picked her up in his vehicle, Sheriff Richie…

LEXINGTON, N.C.—A missing 13-year-old Texas girl was found locked in an outbuilding near a North Carolina home, authorities said Monday. Investigators with the Dallas police and the FBI say a 34-year-old man enticed the girl to leave her home while communicating with her on social media, then picked her up in his vehicle, Sheriff Richie…

CAIRO—Cooking gas cylinders packed into the basement of a four-story apartment building in northern Egypt exploded on Friday, collapsing the building and killing at least six people. Twenty-seven were injured, authorities said. The explosion and the subsequent collapse took place in the Nile Delta city of Damanhour, about 150 kilometers (99 miles) north of the…

BEIRUT—A building collapsed in a neighborhood in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo early Sunday, killing at least 16 people, including one child, and injuring four others, state media reported. The five-story building housing about 30 people is in the Sheikh Maksoud neighborhood under the control of the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. It collapsed overnight,…

In Italy’s capital city, archaeologists of the École Française de Rome have discovered an exceptional building that had been sought for centuries. …

FARMINGTON, Pa.—Joseph Hardy III, founder of the 84 Lumber chain of building materials stores and developer of the Nemacolin resort, has died. He was 100. A family statement provided by the company said the family had lost its “patriarch and all-around great man.” A profile posted on the company’s website said he passed away on…

BOSTON—Human remains found at a Boston apartment building earlier this month are those of four infants, police said. The remains are of two boys and two girls, Boston police said in a statement posted on the department’s website Monday. No arrests have been announced and an investigation is ongoing. Officers originally responded to the building…