News in Brief

Date: 16 December 2022 - 21:41

News ID: ۱۱۰۲۱۷

SRINAGAR (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters blocked a section of a main highway that runs through the Indian border region of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday over the killing of two men who worked as laborers at an Indian army base, a police official and residents said. Residents said the men were shot dead earlier on Friday by army guards at the entrance of the base in Rajouri, 150 km (95 miles) south of Kashmir’s capital Srinigar. The Indian military said the two men were killed by militants outside the military hospital in Rajouri. Protesters burned tyres and pelted the military base with stones hours after the shooting, said the police official, who declined to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media. Another man was also injured.

***
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea issued a strong protest against Japan’s territorial claim over disputed islands made in a national security strategy released on Friday while cautiously responding to Tokyo’s plans for an unprecedented military buildup. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol who took office in May has tried to improve ties with Tokyo which have been marred by the territorial row over the islands and historic disputes stemming from Japan’s 1910-1945 occupation of Korea. South Korea’s foreign ministry on Friday demanded an immediate removal of the territorial claims from Japan’s national strategy documents, saying in a statement that the move did nothing to help “building a future-oriented relationship” between the two countries.

***
BERLIN (Reuters) - A huge aquarium in Berlin burst early on Friday, spilling 1 million liters (264,172 gallons) of water, around 1,500 exotic fish and debris onto a major road in the busy Mitte district, emergency services said. Police said parts of the building, which also contains a hotel, cafes and a chocolate store, were damaged as 1 million liters (264,000 gallons) of water poured from the aquarium shortly before 6 a.m. (0500 GMT). Berlin’s fire service said two people were slightly injured. Around 100 emergency responders rushed to the site, a leisure complex that houses a Radisson hotel and a museum as well as what Sea Life Berlin said was the world’s largest freestanding cylindrical aquarium at 14 metres (46ft) in height.

***
BATANG KALI, Malaysia (AP) — A thunderous crush of soil and debris killed 18 people at a campground in Malaysia on Friday, and rescuers dug through the mud for another 15 who were feared buried in the landslide.More than 90 people were sleeping on an organic farm when the dirt tumbled from a road about 30 meters (100 feet) above the site and covered about 1 hectare (3 acres ). Two of the dead were found locked in an embrace, according to the state fire department chief.

***
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A gift that Poland’s top police commander received during a recent visit to Ukraine exploded at national police headquarters in Warsaw, causing the commander and a civilian employee to suffer minor injuries, the Polish Interior Ministry said Thursday. The explosion happened in a room next to the office of Gen. Jarosław Szymczyk on Wednesday morning, the ministry said. It did not specify what object the Polish commander had received during the working visit to Ukraine.