Off the wire
• Bingham beaten by Ebdon, Selby reaches fourth round  • Barca, Real Madrid sweep LFP awards  • Portuguese soccer league results/standings  • Pressure mounts on Australian government to remove discriminatory foreign investment regulations  • Roundup: Canadian stock market rallies over medical, resources shares rise  • Increase in AIDS among adolescents worrying: UNAIDS official  • Aust'n scientists discover appendix has more health benefits than first thought.  • UN Security Council condemns attacks on UN mission base in DR Congo  • Aussie dollar trades higher despite falls in commodities  • Roundup: U.S. stocks end lower ahead of jobs report  
You are here: 　 Home

Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, Dec. 1

Xinhua, December 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s executive board on Monday approved the inclusion of China's currency renminbi (RMB) in its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket as an international reserve currency.

The IMF board, which represented the fund's 188 member countries, decided that the RMB "met all existing criteria," the IMF said in a statement after completing the regular five-yearly review of the SDR basket here. (IMF-RMB-SDR)

- - - -

LONDON -- British Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday he would call a one-day debate and vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday over airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria, British media reported Monday.

"I believe there's growing support across parliament for a compelling case there is to answer the call from our allies to act against ISIL (IS) in Syria and in Iraq," Cameron told British Sky News on Monday. (Britain-IS)

- - - -

WASHINGTON -- The White House on Monday announced steps to tighten the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP) for citizens of 38 foreign countries in the wake of the deadly Paris terrorist attacks.

New changes include more aggressive steps by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to collect information from VWP travelers on past travel to countries regarded by the United States as a terrorist safe haven and possible pilot programs for collecting biometric information from VWP travelers, said the White House in a statement. (US-VWP)

- - - -

BAGHDAD -- Five people were killed and 17 others wounded on Monday in a suicide bomb attack targeting Shiite pilgrims in northern Iraqi capital Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

A suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest detonated himself among a crowd of Shiite pilgrims at a security checkpoint in Shaab district in Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. (Iraq-Bombing) Enid