News in Brief (17-09-2018)

Fire breaks out in five-storey

building in Kolkata

NEW DELHI, Sept 16: A major fire broke out in a five-storey building in eastern city of Kolkata in the early hours of Sunday, local media reported. Over 30 fire tenders have been pressed into service to douse the fire. No injuries have been reported so far. The fire broke out in the city's Bagri Market area. — Xinhua

Pope expels Chilean priest accused of child sex abuse

SANTIAGO, Sept 16: Pope Francis expelled a Chilean priest under investigation in a case involving the sexual abuse of children on Sunday, amid a growing global abuse scandal that has shaken the Roman Catholic Church. The Archdiocese of Santiago said the Pope had decided to defrock the Reverend Cristian Precht, local daily El Mercurio reported. Precht was a former head of the Church's Vicariate of Solidarity human rights group that in the 1980s had challenged ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet to end the practice of torture in Chile. — Reuters

US cops arrest 'serial killer' in Texas

TEXAS, Sept 16: A US Border Patrol agent was arrested in South Texas on Saturday in connection with a calculated killing rampage that left four people dead in recent weeks around the city of Laredo, the authorities said. Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar said police officers arrested Juan David Ortiz early Saturday after a woman who claimed she had been abducted by Ortiz escaped half-clothed and sought help at a gas station in Laredo. — Reuters