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Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, June 12

Xinhua, June 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

The second round of the United Nations negotiations on climate change this year concluded here on Thursday with progress that parties and observers said was positive.

In the past two weeks, negotiators from nearly 200 countries worked on a draft text of a new global climate agreement that was set to be signed at the end of this year in Paris and come into force in 2020, trying to streamline the 90-page text with numerous options reflecting different views from parties to bring about a manageable and readable version for ministers and heads of governments to make decisions on. (Germany-Climate Change)

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LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan -- Five civilians were killed while 13 others wounded in a roadside bomb blast in southern Afghan province of Helmand on Thursday, a provincial government spokesman said.

"A minibus was travelling along a road in Sistani locality of Marja district Thursday night. The vehicle touched off an improvised explosive device and the explosion killed five people and injured 13 others aboard the vehicle," spokesman Omar Zwak told Xinhua. (Afghanistan-Bomb Blast)

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ANKARA -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday called on political parties to urgently form a new government within the constitutional process.

In his first public appearance since the June 7 parliamentary election, Erdogan said in a televised speech that everyone should put their egos aside and that history will judge anyone who endangers Turkey. (Turkey-Government)

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WASHINGTON -- The addition of up to 450 U.S. military personnel and the opening of a training base in Iraq are an adjustment to the campaign against the Islamic State (IS), the Pentagon said on Thursday.

The adjustment fits in with the strategy to enable Iraqi forces to take the fight to the IS, Martin Dempsey, the chairman of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a press release. (US-Iraq-IS)

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JERUSALEM -- Militants in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket at southern Israel on Thursday night, Israeli military officials said.

The rocket triggered sirens in the regional council of Hof Ashkelon and in Asheklon, a town about 14.5 km from the Gaza border, military and police officials said. Residents told Israel Radio that they heard an explosion. (Israel-Gaza-Rocket) Endi