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Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, Aug. 6

Xinhua, August 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

At least 25 migrants died when their boat capsized off the Libyan coast on Wednesday with hundreds of people onboard, and some 400 have been rescued so far, Italian reports said.

The accident happened when the migrants attempting the Mediterranean crossing to Italy moved all together towards the same side of the boat to ask for help when they saw a vessel approaching them, Federico Fossi from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) told Rai State television. (Italy-Boat)

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KUALA LUMPUR -- Verification had confirmed that the debris discovered on Reunion Island belongs to missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced early Thursday.

"Today, 515 days since the plane disappeared, it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts have conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion Island is indeed from MH370," the prime minister said. (Malaysia-Missing Plane)

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UNITED NATIONS -- Civilians in Afghanistan continued to bear the brunt of the Afghan conflict, with more than 1,500 civilians killed in the country in the first half of the year said a UN spokesman at a daily news briefing held here Wednesday.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented 4,921 civilian casualties, including 1,592 deaths and 3,329 injuries, from January to June, according to Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general. (UN-Afghanistan)

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WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon is sending 450 soldiers to Kuwait for a one-year deployment to aid the fight against the Islamic State, the extremist group, the U.S. Army announced Wednesday.

The unit, hailing from III Corps at Fort Hood in the state of Texas, will serve as the headquarters for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, a multinational effort combating the IS since last summer, said the Army in the announcement. (United States-IS) Endi