In the wake of an incident yesterday in which a Turkish warplane was shot down by Syrian forces who claimed it had crossed into Syrian airspace, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has formed a new government — one that includes his old defense minister, who was rumored to have been assassinated. (The Turkish government, for its part, says the aircraft was just a recon plane, and is considering the proper action to take.) Meanwhile, shelling of a city near the Iraqi border by the Syrian Army has left at least 28 dead, opposition activists tell Reuters.
