Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, Feb. 23
Xinhua, February 23, 2015 Adjust font size:
A light aircraft crashed in southern Russia's Rostov region on Monday, presumably killing the two on board, TASS news agency reported.
"According to preliminary data, two people were on board. They died," a law enforcement source was quoted as saying. (Russia-Plane Crash)
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BAGHDAD -- A total of 52 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Monday in separate clashes and U.S.-led coalition air strikes in Iraq, security sources said.
In Iraq's western province of Anbar, hundreds of soldiers, police officers, Shiite and Sunni militias launched an operation in the militant-seized town of al-Baghdadi, some 200 km northwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. (Iraq-IS Militants-Clashes)
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TOKYO -- Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Koya Nishikawa resigned on Monday for allegedly receiving illegal political funds, local media reported.
According to the Jiji News Agency, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who accepted Nishikawa's resignation, was appointing Yoshimasa Hayashi, Nishikawa's predecessor, to resume the post. (Japan-Minister-Resignation)
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DHAKA -- The death toll in Sunday's ferry disaster in Bangladesh's northwestern Manikganj district has risen to 69 with the recovery of 28 more bodies on Monday.
The district's administration chief Rashida Ferdous said the ferry MV Mostafa was lifted by a salvage ship on Monday. (Bangladesh-Ferry-Death Toll) Endi