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Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, Jan. 23

Xinhua, January 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

At least 32 people were killed on Friday by multiple air raids against a rebel-held area in eastern Damascus, a monitoring group reported.

The government warplanes carried out several airstrikes against rebel positions in the town of Hammoreya in the Eastern Ghouta countryside, killing at least 32 people, including six children, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Syria-Airstrikes)

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ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines -- At least one person was killed and 36 others including a policeman were wounded in a car bomb explosion in front of a pub house in southern Philippine city of Zamboanga on Friday afternoon, local authorities said.

The powerful blast took place beside the Fantasy Disco Bar at 3: 15 p.m. Local time. The explosion destroyed a car, two tricycles as well as a number of commercial buildings and the bus terminal just across the road. Traffic was temporarily closed as a result of the blast. (Philippines-Blast)

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PYONGYANG -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday demanded the lifting of sanctions imposed by South Korea to hold reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, the official KCNA news agency reported.

May 24 sanctions pose a man-made obstacle to all exchanges including materials and people-to-people exchange between the DPRK and South Korea, said an unnamed spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK). (DPRK-S. Korea-Family Reunion)

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NEW DELHI -- At least two people were killed and more than 15 others injured in a bomb blast in the Indian state of Bihar on Friday, a senior police officer said.

"The blast happened in the premises of a local court in the state's Arrah town. While the dead included a policeman and a woman suspected of carrying bombs in a bag, those injured have been admitted to a nearby hospital," he said, on condition of anonymity. (India-Bomb Blast)

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KIEV -- Dozens of people have been killed over the past day in eastern Ukraine as fighting raging along the frontline, reports showed Friday.

According to the Donetsk Municipal Council, shooting erupted in the city on Thursday evening and continued throughout the night, killing at least four civilians and wounding an unspecified number of others. (Ukraine-Conflicts-Casualties) Endi