BEIRUT >> Lebanon’s new prime minister on Saturday formed the country’s first full-fledged government since 2022.

President Joseph Aoun announced in a statement that he had accepted the resignation of the former caretaker government and signed a decree with new Prime Minister Nawaf Salam forming the new government.

Salam vowed to “restore confidence between citizens and the state, between Lebanon and its Arab surroundings, and between Lebanon and the international community” and to implement reforms needed to bring the country out of an extended economic crisis.

“Reform is the only path to a true salvation,” he said in a speech on Saturday.

He also promised to follow up on implementation of a ceasefire agreement that ended the most recent war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group and political party Hezbollah in late November and to ensure that Israeli forces “withdraw from Lebanese territory until the last inch.” He pledged to ensure reconstruction in areas that suffered destruction during the war.

Salam’s cabinet of 24 ministers, split evenly between Christian and Muslim sects, was formed less than a month after he was appointed, and comes at a time where Lebanon is scrambling to rebuild its battered southern region and maintain security along its borders.

Lebanon is also still in the throes of a crippling economic crisis, now in its sixth year, which has battered its banks, destroyed its state electricity sector and left many in poverty unable to access their savings.

Winter storm hits across northeast U.S.

A winter storm that has been working its way across the country was bringing a strong dose of winter weather to the northeastern United States on Saturday, with snow accumulations as high as 9 inches expected across Boston and other cities.

As of late Saturday afternoon, light wintry precipitation had started to fall in far southern New Jersey, and was expected to spread north, the National Weather Service said. Snow should overspread far northern portions of the mid-Atlantic and far southern portions of New England by Saturday night, forecasters said.

In New York, snow was expected before changing to a mix of rain, snow and sleet into the night. Three to 5 inches of snow and sleet are possible by Sunday, with even more in some parts of the metro area, according to the weather service.

In the Northeast, winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings were in effect until Sunday across New York, New Jersey and New England. Winter storm warnings also encompassed much of the Great Lakes.

Alaska crews race to recover plane wreckage

JUNEAU, Alaska >> Authorities in western Alaska raced to recover the remains of 10 people killed in a commuter plane crash from unstable sea ice before expected high winds and snow.

The aircraft is on an ice floe that is drifting about 5 miles a day, creating difficult conditions for recovery crews, said National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy during a press conference.

“Please know that we’ll work diligently to determine how this happened with the ultimate goal of improving safety in Alaska and across the United States,” said Homendy. The first priority is victim recovery, she said.

The Nome Volunteer Fire Department wrote on Facebook that they were using a window in the weather to try to “bring Bering passengers and crew home today” from one of the deadliest plane crashes in the state in 25 years.

The Bering Air single-engine turboprop plane was traveling from Unalakleet to the hub community of Nome when it disappeared Thursday afternoon. It was found the next day after an extensive search with all nine passengers and the pilot dead.

North Korea’s Kim vows to boost nukes

SEOUL, South Korea >> North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said an elevated U.S. security partnership with South Korea and Japan poses a grave threat to his country and vowed to further bolster his nuclear weapons program, state media reported Sunday.

Kim has previously made similar warnings, but his latest statement implies again that the North Korean leader won’t likely embrace President Trump’s overture to meet him and revive diplomacy anytime soon.

In a speech marking the 77th founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Army on Saturday, Kim said the U.S.-Japan-South Korea trilateral security partnership established under a U.S. plot to form a NATO-like regional military bloc is inviting military imbalance on the Korean Peninsula and “raising a grave challenge to the security environment of our state,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

“Referring to a series of new plans for rapidly bolstering all deterrence including nuclear forces, he clarified once again the unshakable policy of more highly developing the nuclear forces,” KCNA said.

200,000 in Germany protest the far-right

MUNICH, Germany >> More than 200,000 protesters rallied in Munich, Germany, on Saturday against far-right extremism ahead of the country’s general election.

The far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is in second place in recent polls and has prompted protests across the country before voters cast their ballots on Feb. 23.

The protest at Munich’s Theresienwiese — where Oktoberfest takes place each year — brought a significantly larger crowd than expected, according to the German dpa news agency. The event’s organizer estimated the crowd could be up to 320,000 people, many of whom carried signs against the AfD with slogans like, “Racism and hatred is not an alternative.”

7.6 earthquake shakes Caribbean

A magnitude-7.6 earthquake shook the Caribbean Sea southwest of the Cayman Islands Saturday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and some islands and countries urged people near the coastline to move inland in case of a tsunami.

The quake struck at 6:23 p.m. local time in the middle of the sea and had a depth of 10 kilometers, the USGS said. Its epicenter was located 130 miles south-southwest of George Town in the Cayman Islands.

The U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center said there is no tsunami alert for the U.S. mainland but issued a tsunami advisory for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which was later canceled.

The sounding of alarms in Puerto Rico’s northwest region caused people to leave coastal areas and caused heavy traffic, according to local media.

Hazard Management Cayman Islands urged residents near the coast to move inland and to higher ground. It said wave heights of 0.3 to 1 meter are expected.

Famed film, stage actor Roberts dies at 85

NEW YORK >> Tony Roberts, a versatile, Tony Award-nominated theater performer at home in both plays and musicals and who appeared in several Woody Allen movies — often as Allen’s best friend — has died at 85.

Roberts’ death was announced to The New York Times by his daughter, Nicole Burley.

Roberts had a genial stage personality perfect for musical comedy and he originated roles in such diverse musicals as “How Now, Dow Jones” (1967); “Sugar” (1972), an adaptation of the movie “Some Like It Hot,” and “Victor/Victoria” (1995). He also was in the campy, roller-disco “Xanadu” in 2007 and “The Royal Family” in 2009.

— From news service reports