Long-serving Saudi oil minister replaced

RIYADH • Saudi Arabia's King Salman replaced the long-serving oil minister yesterday as part of a major government overhaul which comes as the kingdom grapples with a slump in energy revenues.

Mr Ali al-Naimi, who held the post for more than two decades, was one of the most powerful figures within the Opec oil cartel.

He has been replaced by former health minister Khaled al-Faleh, who takes the enlarged portfolio of energy, industry and mineral resources.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

5 Pacific islands lost to rising sea levels

SYDNEY • Five islands have disappeared in the Pacific's Solomon Islands due to rising sea levels and coastal erosion, according to an Australian study.

A further six reef islands have been severely eroded in the remote area of the Solomons, the researchers said, with one having had 10 houses disappear into the sea between 2011 and 2014.

The five that have vanished were all vegetated reef islands that were occasionally used by fishermen but were not populated. It is feared that the rise in sea levels will cause widespread erosion and inundation of low-lying atolls in the Pacific.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

17 hurt as turbulence hits Bali-HK flight

DENPASAR • Seventeen passengers were injured yesterday when a Hong Kong Airlines flight hit severe turbulence over Borneo after taking off from Bali, an airport official said.

The weather forced Hong Kong-bound Flight CRK 6704 carrying 204 passengers and 12 crew members to return to Denpasar. Twelve of the injured passengers had to be admitted to hospital while five received outpatient treatment.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE•