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Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, Oct. 23

Xinhua, October 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Vienna on Thursday afternoon ahead of talks on the Syrian crisis set to take place on Friday.

He will be joined by Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov who is expected to arrive on Friday, along with Turkish counterpart Feridun Sinirlioglu, and Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir who are both presently already in Vienna. (U.S.-Syria)

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UNITED NATIONS -- An Israeli envoy to the United Nation on Thursday reiterated Israel's commitment to preserving the status quo of Temple Mount, a holy site for both Muslims and Jews.

"Israel is fully committed to the status quo," said Danny Danon, Israel's permanent representative to the UN, adding that "Israel not only accepted this arrangement, it is responsible for enforcing it." (UN-Israel-Temple Mount)

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WASHINGTON -- Despite a rash of recent mass shootings nationwide and much criticism from media and gun control advocates, the National Rifle Association (NRA), a major U.S. gun lobbying organization, continues to get support from a majority of Americans, found a Gallup poll released Thursday.

Indeed, Gallup found that 58 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the NRA -- a non-profit group that has also lobbied for and against certain firearms legislation. (U.S.-Gun Control)

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LONDON -- China and Britain issued Thursday a joint declaration on building a "global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st Century," and visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping is adding personal chemistry to cement the ties.

The declaration specified the bilateral relations with pledges of joint efforts in fields ranging from the internationalization of China's currency RMB and China-European Union (EU) free trade to cyber security and climate change. (Britain-China) Endi