World Briefs: Syrians vote for new Parliament

Syrians vote for new Parliament

DAMASCUS • Syrians voted yesterday to elect a new Parliament as the government grapples with international sanctions and a crumbling economy after retaking large parts of the war-torn country.

More than 7,400 polling stations opened across government-held parts of Syria, including for the first time in former opposition strongholds, the electoral commission said. President Bashar al-Assad's Baath party and its allies are expected to take most of Parliament's 250 seats in the third such polls to be held since the war started nine years ago.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

KL finds shipment of abandoned toxic waste

KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysia has uncovered its largest case of abandoned toxic waste, after 110 containers of hazardous heavy metals from Romania and bound for Indonesia illegally entered the country last month, state media Bernama reported yesterday.

Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said 1,864 tonnes of electric arc furnace dust - a by-product of steel production that contains heavy metals like zinc, cadmium and lead - were found abandoned at the Tanjung Pelepas port in Johor, according to Bernama.

REUTERS

3 die in Canadian Rockies bus accident

MONTREAL • A glacier-viewing bus overturned last Saturday at a popular tourist spot in the Canadian Rockies, killing three people and seriously injuring several others, news reports said.

The all-terrain vehicle with 27 passengers rolled off the road in Jasper National Park, Alberta, national broadcaster CBC said. The bus was owned by Pursuit, a firm which takes tourists on sight-seeing trips to the Athabasca Glacier, CBC said.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 20, 2020, with the headline World Briefs: Syrians vote for new Parliament. Subscribe