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Xinhua world news summary at 0040 GMT, Feb. 19

Xinhua, February 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

Four Tunisian national guard officers were killed during an attack by 20 militants in the mid-west Tunisia, spokesperson of the Ministry of Interior Mohamed Ali Aroui said on Wednesday.

The militants who outnumbered the officers opened fire on the national guard vehicle during their security patrol in Boulaaba, several kilometers outside of the main town of Kasserine, spokesperson of the Ministry of Interior Mohamed Ali Aroui said. (Tunisia-Attack)

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KIGALI -- The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has allocated 1.9 million U.S. dollars in grants to help fight malnutrition and provide food assistance to vulnerable people in Rwanda, the Switzerland Embassy said in a statement issued Wednesday in Kigali.

The allocation, which is a supplement to the 3 million U.S. dollars allocated to the WFP in 2010, will enhance the nutritional support component of various nutrition programmes for some 15,000 people comprising all pregnant women and children under five years living in two affected districts including Nyamagabe (South) na Rutsiro (West). (Rwanda-Switzerland-Assistance)

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ADEN, Yemen -- About six army personnel were killed and three others injured when armed tribesmen attacked an oil company in Yemen's southeastern province of Hadramout on Wednesday evening, a security official told Xinhua.

"A group of armed tribesmen carried out an attack on a foreign oil company based in Hadramout province, killing about six army soldiers in charge of guarding the institution headquarters," the local security official said on condition of anonymity. (Yemen-Attack)

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ATHENS -- Prokopis Pavlopoulos, a moderate conservative former Minister of Interior, was elected on Wednesday as the new President of the Hellenic Republic.

Nominated by the Radical Left SYRIZA ruling party and its junior partner the Right-wing Independent Greeks, who jointly control 162 seats in the chamber, Pavlopoulos also had the support of the New Democracy, the party he joined three decades ago. (Greece-President-Election)

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LAGOS -- Operatives of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) have arrested 50 illegal immigrants in different parts of southwest Ogun State ahead of March general elections.

The NIS said the illegal immigrants were arrested at different locations in Odeda area of the state. (Nigeria-Illegal-Immigration) Endi