JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have jointly decided to appoint Eyal Zamir as the new military chief, following the resignation of Herzi Halevi last week, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office on Saturday.

Zamir, 59, has served as the director general of the defense ministry for the past two years and will officially assume his new role on March 6. (Israel-Military Chief)

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NEW DELHI -- The death toll of the mishap in a canal in India's northern state of Haryana rose to 7 while five persons were still missing, a local official confirmed on Saturday.

The mishap occurred late Friday night when a vehicle carrying them fell into the Bhakhra canal in Haryana's Fatehabad district. Two persons, the vehicle's driver and an 11-year-old boy, managed to swim out of the canal. (India-Canal Mishap-Death Toll)

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KHARTOUM -- The death toll from shelling by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Saturday on a crowded market in Omdurman, north of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, has risen to 54, Sudan's Ministry of Health announced.

The ministry said in a statement that health institutions reported 54 deaths and 158 injuries in the deadly attack on Sabreen Market in the Karari locality. (Sudan-RSF Attack-Casualties)

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BERLIN -- Former German President Horst Koehler passed away at the age of 81 in the early hours of Saturday after an illness, according to the Office of the Federal President of Germany.

Koehler, being German president from July 2004 to May 2010, unexpectedly resigned from the post following criticism of his comments concerning the overseas operations of Germany's armed forces. (Germany-former president) Enditem

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