Fire destorys 17th-century Old Stock Exchange
COPENHAGEN, April 16: A fire raged through one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings on Tuesday, causing the collapse of the iconic spire from the 17th-century Old Stock Exchange as passersby rushed to help emergency services save priceless paintings and other valuables. Danish Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said it was “touching” to see how many people lent their hand “to save art treasures and iconic images from the burning building.” The fire began Tuesday morning in the copper roof of the Old Stock Exchange, or Boersen, spread to much of the building and the roof, parts of which also collapsed, and destroyed the building’s interior, said firefighters spokesman Jakob Vedsted Andersen. “The fire is still not under control,” Vedsted Andersen said, adding that half the building was destroyed and collapsed. Firefighters said they expect to be at the scene for the next 24 hours. (PTI)
S Korea protests Japan’s renewed claims to Dokdo
SEOUL, April 16: South Korea on Tuesday expressed its strong opposition towards Japan after the latter released an annual report that reasserted its territorial claims over the easternmost islets of Dokdo. The dispute over the sovereignty of Dokdo has been a longstanding issue between the two countries, and this recent move by Japan has only escalated the tension further. To protest the report, South Korea’s foreign ministry called in Taisuke Mibae, the deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. The claim, strongly disputed by South Korea, which has long maintained effective control of Dokdo with the permanent stationing of security personnel there, was included in the 2024 Diplomatic Bluebook that was reported to the Cabinet by Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa. (IANS)
10k Palestinian women killed in Gaza: Report
NEW YORK, April 16: Six months into the war, 10,000 Palestinian women in Gaza have been killed, among them an estimated 6,000 mothers, leaving 19,000 children orphaned, a report by the UN Women said on Tuesday. The women who have survived Israeli bombardment and ground operations have been displaced, widowed, and facing starvation. This devastating differentiated impact continues to make the war on Gaza also a war on women. The series of gender alerts produced by UN Women on Gaza provides a detailed analysis of the reality of women’s and girls’ lives in the Gaza Strip, documenting abhorrent living conditions. (IANS)
Ex-ISI chief Gen Hamid gets clean chit
Islamabad, April 16: Pakistan’s former ISI director general Lieutenant General (retd) Faiz Hamid has been exonerated by the inquiry commission established to investigate the 2017 sit-in by a hardline religious group here and Rawalpindi, it emerged on Tuesday. An extremist group TLP held a siege of Islamabad in 2017, demanding the expulsion of the French ambassador due to the publication of blasphemous cartoons in that country. Later a panel of the Supreme Court ordered to investigate the protest and identify the perpetrators. (PTI)