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Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1000 GMT, July 24

Xinhua, July 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. President Barack Obama has praised the courage of Afghan security forces in fighting terrorists and stabilizing security in the country, a statement from the office of Chief Executive said here Friday.

Obama made the remarks during a video conference with his Afghan counterpart Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on Wednesday night, the statement said. ( Afghanistan-Security Forces-Obama)

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SINGAPORE -- Singapore's Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) on Friday released the report of new electoral boundaries, which is considered as the clearest sign that the next general election may come in the near future.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong received the report of EBRC on Tuesday. The Committee recommended the adoption of 29 electoral divisions, comprising 13 Single Member Constituencies ( SMCs) and 16 Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs), with a total of 89 members of parliament (MPs) to be returned, two more than the current batch of 87. (Singapore-Electoral Boundaries)

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KATHMANDU -- Nearly 200 members from the Communist Party of Nepal Maoist were arrested Friday for their involvement in torching and vandalizing public and private vehicles during a one- day strike, according to Nepalese police.

"We have arrested as many as 188 strike enforcers so far," police spokesperson Kamal Singh Bom told Xinhua by phone, adding that 19 private and public vehicles were vandalized and torched during the strike. (Nepal-Strike Enforcers)

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MELBOURNE -- Australia's opposition leader Bill Shorten Friday used his party's national conference to challenge Prime Minister Tony Abbott on a number of issues, including the equal representation for female MPs, higher taxes for Australia's wealthy and a new stance on climate change.

Shorten declared that half of all Labor MPs would be female by 2025, calling Abbott "out of touch" and living in the past when it came to equal representation. (Australia-Opposition-National Conference) Endi