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Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, May 20

Xinhua, May 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

At least two inmates have been confirmed dead and 30 others hospitalized following outbreak of cholera at a prison in the coastal city of Mombasa.

Coast Prison Commandant James Kodeny said the 30 patients have been isolated within the prison facility because of security reason. Kodeny said health officials have visited the facility to contain the spread of the disease. (Kenya-Cholera Outbreak)

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BERLIN -- German passenger train drivers joined an indefinite national strike on Wednesday, halting a majority of the country's long-distance trains.

Passenger train drivers started the strike at 2:00 (0000 GMT) on Wednesday, said German railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB). Their colleagues in cargo locomotives walked off their jobs on Tuesday.

(Germany-Strike)

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COLOMBO -- Over 120 people were arrested by Sri Lankan police on Wednesday after violent clashes erupted between protestors and the police outside a northern court over the alleged gang rape and murder of a school girl.

Police were forced to use tear gas to disperse the violent protestors who were demanding the highest punishment be meted out to the nine suspects who were arrested by police over the incident. (Sri Lanka-Gang Rape-Protest)

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DAMASCUS -- The Islamic State (IS) group overran parts of the city of Palmyra in central Syria on Wednesday, capturing one third of the city amid ongoing battles against the Syrian government forces, a monitor group reported.

The IS militants managed to advance inside the city of Palmyra and controlled one third of the ancient oasis city in eastern countryside of Homs province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Syria-IS)

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TEHRAN -- Iran will neither give in to pressure in nuclear talks nor accept excessive demands by the West, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said here on Wednesday.

"In the ongoing nuclear talks, the enemy uses coercive language," Khamenei said, adding that "the Iranian government will not succumb to pressure." (Iran-Nuclear Talks) Endi