Eid from 19th

Newswatch

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 6, (KUNA): The Eid Al-Adha holidays will begin on Aug 19 and end on Aug 23, Kuwait’s Cabinet announced on Monday.

The council noted that the work in ministries and government institutes would halt for that entire period.

CAIRO:

A car exploded in central Cairo on Monday after colliding with a microbus, injuring 13 people, the Egyptian health ministry said.

Reuters reporters heard a loud blast in the area and saw a car on the side of the road completely destroyed, with bits of twisted and punctured metal scattered nearby. There appeared to be damage to a

nearby building including smashed windows.

Smoke from the blast could be seen rising from the other side of the Nile river.

The ministry said in a statement that the injured were taken from the scene near a bridge in the Dokki district to three different hospitals, where they were being treated for wounds and burns. (RTRS)

PEMENANG, Indonesia:

Rescuers used diggers and heavy machinery to clear debris and search for survivors on Monday after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake killed at least 98 people on Indonesia’s resort island of Lombok, prompting an exodus of tourists.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said it expected the death toll to rise once the rubble of more than 13,000 flattened and damaged houses was cleared away after the second powerful quake in a week.

Power and communications were severed in some areas, with landslides and a collapsed bridge blocking access to areas around the quake epicentre in the north — forcing rescue teams to bring in the heavy machinery.

The military said it would send a ship with medical aid, supplies and logistics support. (RTRS)

BEIRUT:

Syrian regime forces bombed late Sunday a desert area under the control of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group near the province of Sweida in southern Syria, a war monitor said.

“The bombing and fighting between the regime forces and IS have intensified during the evening and are continuing,” said Rami Abdel Rahmane, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“The regime is advancing to the north and northeast of Sweida”, adjacent to the desert zone of the southern province, he told AFP. (AFP)

MILAN:

A tanker truck carrying flammable material exploded Monday on a highway near the northern Italian city of Bologna, killing at least two people and injuring up to 70 as a section of the thoroughfare collapsed, police said.

Italian police said between 60 and 70 people were injured, some with severe burns, during the midday accident on the raised highway north of the city. The Carabinieri paramilitary police said some officers were injured by flying glass when windows in a nearby barracks burst. (AP)

MEXICO CITY:

Two new tropical storms were strengthening off Mexico and both were projected to reach hurricane force while marching northwestward parallel to the coast, bringing heavy surf.

The US National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm John was expected to strengthen rapidly and become a hurricane by Monday and a major hurricane by Tuesday. Tropical Storm Ileana also was growing while racing John up the coastline.

John was centered about 335 miles (540 kms) southwest of the Mexican port of Manzanillo early Monday, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph). It was moving westnorthwest at 8 mph (13 kph). It was forecast to peak as a Category 3 storm before starting to weaken, while staying to the west of the Baja California Peninsula during the week.(AP)