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Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, March 5

Xinhua, March 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Thirty-two miners were killed and another was missing in early Wednesday's methane gas explosion at the Zasyadko mine in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, authorities said Thursday.

The bodies of 14 miners had been retrieved from the mine, while 18 remained underground, the Donetsk regional administration said in a statement. (Ukraine-Blast)

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RIYADH -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry asserted to Gulf countries on Thursday that any deal on Iran's nuclear program will strengthen the non-proliferation of atomic weapons.

"We have achieved some progress with Iran, but there are some gaps remaining, while Iran should present specific answers after the re-negotiations," Kerry said at a press conference after meeting foreign ministers of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. (Gulf-Iran-Nuclear)

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DAMASCUS -- At least 18 people were killed Thursday in a barrel bomb attack on a rebel-held area in northern Aleppo, a monitoring group said.

The crude bomb, allegedly dropped from a helicopter, hit the neighborhood of Qadi Askar in Aleppo, said the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Syria-Aleppo-Bombing)

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NICOSIA -- The European Central Bank (ECB) said on Thursday that its quantitative easing program (QE) will start on March 9.

The announcement was made by ECB President Mario Draghi after a meeting of its Governing Council in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia. (Cyprus-ECB-QE)

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PYONGYANG -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday called the razor-wielding attack on the U.S. ambassador to South Korea earlier in the day a "deserved punishment", the official KCNA news agency reported.

"The recent case amid mounting anti-Americanism reflects the mindset of South Korean people censuring the U.S. for bringing the danger of a war to the Korean Peninsula through the madcap saber-rattling," the report said. (DPRK-S. Korea-U.S.-Attack) Endi