Briefly

DPRK

Pyongyang denies artillery shelling

Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, said the DPRK forces detonated explosives on Saturday, instead of artillery shelling as claimed by the Republic of Korea, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Sunday. Kim said the detonation of explosives imitating the sound of naval artillery shells was aimed at watching how the ROK military would respond, KCNA said.

UNITED STATES

Some Boeing jetliners grounded temporarily

Federal officials on Saturday ordered the immediate grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners until they are inspected after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage. The required inspections take around four to eight hours per aircraft and affect about 171 airplanes worldwide. Alaska Airlines said that of the 65 737 Max 9 aircraft in its fleet, crews had inspected the paneled-over exits as part of recent maintenance work on 18 planes, and those were cleared to return to service on Saturday.

AFGHANISTAN

IS claims responsibility for Kabul minibus blast

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a minibus explosion in the Afghan capital late on Saturday that killed at least two people. Fourteen others were wounded in the attack in Kabul's western Shiite neighborhood of Dashti Barchi, according to police spokesperson Khalid Zadran. In November, in the same area of Kabul, the IS claimed responsibility for a minibus explosion in which seven people were killed and 20 others were wounded.

Agencies - Xinhua