The early-morning blaze tore through a five-story building that had become a sprawling informal settlement, officials said. The cause was not yet known.
The decision allows South Africa to avoid the predicament of whether to arrest the Russian leader, who is the subject of an international warrant, if he traveled to Johannesburg for a BRICS meeting.
South Africa’s largest city is now on its sixth different mayor in 22 months. While politicians argue over power, residents struggle with dry taps, heaps of garbage and dilapidated buildings.
In Britain, artists lit a structure aflame. At the Jersey Shore, names were carved on shells and rocks. With more than six million dead, memorials have evolved along the way.