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Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, Aug. 20

Xinhua, August 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) on Wednesday gave green light to Greece's 86-billion-euro bailout package, following lawmakers in several member states nodded to the plan.

The announcement was made after ESM's board of governors, comprising finance ministers of the Eurozone's 19 countries, hold a teleconference on the Financial Assistance Facility Agreement (FFA) with Greece and the adoption of a fresh Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

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WASHINGTON -- The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently approved the extension of the current special drawing rights (SDR) valuation basket by nine months from Dec. 31, 2015 to Sept. 30, 2016.

"The nine-month extension is intended to facilitate the continued smooth functioning of SDR-related operations," said the IMF in a statement on Wednesday. The current SDR valuation basket is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2015. (IMF-SDR)

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WASHINGTON -- Most U.S. Federal Reserve officials believed conditions for tightening monetary policy were approaching, but failed to give clear signals on the timing of the first interest rate hike in nearly nine years.

"Most (Fed officials) judged that the conditions for policy firming had not yet been achieved, but they noted that conditions were approaching that point," according to the minutes of the Fed's monetary policy meeting on July 28 and 29 which are published on Wednesday. (U.S.-Fed)

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JERUSALEM -- Israel's top court held a hearing Wednesday to decide whether to release a high-profile Palestinian prisoner who has been on a hunger strike for 64 days.

The Supreme Court has not yet made a decision whether to accept a petition to release Mohammad Allan on health grounds. Allan is protesting his imprisonment without trial since November 2014. (Israel-Palestinians) Endi