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Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, March 2

Xinhua, March 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

The death of a prominent Russian opposition leader is a challenge to the country's leadership, but authorities are capable of bringing the incident's negative impacts under control, analysts have said.

Boris Nemtsov, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead by an unknown gunman in downtown Moscow at about midnight Saturday. The spillover impacts of the incident have caught much attention as Russia is confronted with sanctions from the West due to the Kremlin's alleged role in the ongoing Ukraine crisis. (Russia-Opposition Leader)

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KHARTOUM -- Over 121,400 South Sudanese refugees have crossed into Sudan by the end of last February, said United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

"By Feb. 19, an estimated 121,400 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Sudan following the outbreak of violence in South Sudan in mid-December 2013," said OCHA in a report made available Monday. (Sudan-Refugee)

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GENEVA -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday urges Iran to take more decisive steps to meet the requirements for reaching a final deal over its nuclear program.

"Unless Iran is able to make the difficult decisions that are required, there won't be a deal," he told a press conference, right after addressing the High-Level Segment of the Human Rights Council here in Geneva. (US-Iran-Talks)

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BENGHAZI -- Libya's renegade general Khalifa Haftar has been appointed as head of the Libyan national army, according to a lawmaker at the internationally recognized parliament on Monday.

Parliament Speaker Aqila Issa promoted Haftar and named him as the supreme commander of the Armed Forces, said lawmaker Tarik al-Geroushi. (Libya-Military Commander)

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ROME -- A helicopter carrying Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi from Florence to Rome made an emergency landing on Monday, but no injuries were reported.

ANSA news agency said the helicopter had a "mechanical fault" and its pilot preferred to land immediately in order to avoid further problems amid bad weather conditions. (Italy-PM-Helicopter) Endi