Syria forms new govt
Damascus: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ordered formation of a new government on Sunday, keeping top Ministers unchanged, according to the state news agency SANA.
The top unchanged Ministers include Minister of Defense Ali Abdullah Ayyoub, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, and Interior Minister Mohammad Khaled al-Rahmoun.
The Syrian Cabinet is made up of 29 Ministers in addition to Prime Minister Hussein Arnous.
On August 25, Assad ordered Arnous, Prime Minister of the previous government, to form a new government, Xinhua news agency reported. (IANS)
Three die in road mishap
Berlin: Three people have died and four others were injured after the van they were in was hit by a tree, Austrian police said on Sunday.
The 30-meter (100-foot) oak toppled onto a road near Neudaberg, about 118 kilometers (73 miles) south of Vienna, during a storm late Saturday, regional police said.
Austria’s public broadcaster ORF reported that those killed were men aged 60, 64 and 70. The injured were the 74-year-old driver, two women and a child. (AP)
Beirut blasts toll increases to 190
Beirut: The Lebanese cabinet announced on Sunday that the death toll from the two explosions that hit the Port of Beirut on August 4 has increased to 190.
The cabinet added that the number of injured people were over 6,500, while three persons were still unaccounted for, reports Xinhua news agency.
The explosions left 300,000 people homeless while causing damage valued at $15 billion.
Primary information had revealed that ammonium nitrate stored since 2014 at the port’s warehouse No. 12 may have caused the explosions.
The incident has prompted foreign countries to send support for Lebanon. (IANS)
Migrants’ arrival crams shelters
Rome: The arrival of hundreds of migrants crammed into a rickety fishing boat has worsened the severe overcrowding at shelters on a tiny Italian island, triggering an angry demonstration by islanders and a vow Sunday by the mayor to call a protest strike.
While tensions grew on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, another migrant drama was reported.
RAI state TV said a fire broke out on a small migrant boat off the coast of Calabria, on the mainland, just as the passengers were being transferred to an Italian military boat. (AP)
