World News in Brief: August 19

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong unveiled in Singapore Sunday (August 18) evening a slew of initiatives to enhance people's welfare and better protect the environment amid global economic uncertainties.

* Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay has signed an order that will end all European Union (EU) Law applying in Britain from Oct. 31, the British government said on Sunday.

* Thirteen people died and 20 others were injured when a container trailer collided with a state transport bus at Nimgul in India's western state of Maharashtra, 391 km from Mumbai on 10:30 p.m. local time Sunday night, police official said.

* Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa on Sunday welcomed the cancelation of the national strike by fuel tanker drivers, which started on last Monday for an indefinite period for pay rise and better working conditions.

* Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Sunday said he will soon meet with Guatemalan president-elect Alejandro Giammattei to discuss immigration matters.

* Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn will meet with other British political leaders next week to discuss tactics to prevent a no-deal Brexit, Corbyn's second-in-command John McDonnell told the BBC on Monday.

* The Iranian oil tanker seized by Britain for weeks has left Gibraltar for internationals waters, Iran's Ambassador to Britain Hamid Baeidinejad confirmed Monday (August 19) on his social media accounts.

* Warplanes of the Saudi-led Arab coalition launched 12 airstrikes against positions of the Houthi group in Yemen's northern province of Saada on Sunday, a military official told Xinhua.

* Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Sunday that the US recent agreement to create a safe zone in northeastern Syria is "provocative," official IRNA news agency reported.

* Iraqi President Barham Salih on Sunday met separately with US and Iranian ambassadors, highlighting the need to ease tensions in the region through dialogue.

* Libyan navy spokesman Ayob Qassem on Sunday said that 57 illegal migrants have been rescued off the country's western coast. The rescued migrants are of African and Arab nationalities.

* At least 30 people were killed during armed confrontations raging for the fourth consecutive day between rival pro-government military and security factions in Yemen's southwestern province of Taiz, a security official told told Xinhua Sunday.

* The Bangladeshi government Sunday raised the probable dengue death toll to 70 in the country so far this fever season.

* Seven militants including key commander Qari Wasim were killed as fighting aircraft targeted Taliban positions in Afghanistan's Khan Abad district of northern Kunduz province on Sunday, provincial government spokesman Esmatullah Muradi said.

* Landslides and other incidents triggered by flash-floods have claimed around 18 lives in India's northern hilly state of Himachal Pradesh over the past two days, said media reports on Sunday.

* Around 8,000 people have been evacuated as firefighters battle an out-of-control wildfire on Gran Canaria in Spain's Canary Islands, authorities said on Monday.

* Turkish police have detained 418 people in 29 provinces in an investigation targeting suspects with links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.

* The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Monday accused Turkey of sending military support to the al-Qaida-linked groups in Idlib Province in northwestern Syria, according to the state news agency SANA.

Xinhua,Reuters