Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, Dec. 21
Xinhua, December 21, 2015 Adjust font size:
The Popular Party (PP) of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy won the most seats in the Spanish General election but will find it hard to form a government on a day which saw new parties Podemos and Citizens (Ciudadanos) arrive on the country's political landscape.
With over 98 percent of the votes counted, the PP polled slightly over 7 million votes to claim 122 seats in the 350 seat Spanish Congress, well below the 176 needed for an overall majority and 64 seats less than the 186 seats they won in November 2011. (Spain-Election)
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BERN -- Special Envoy of United Nations Secretary-General for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed on Sunday announced the end of the latest peace talks on Yemen, saying the parties agreed on framework for the negotiations and will meet again on Jan. 14, 2016 for a new round of talks.
"Yemen's peace will only come through diplomatic negotiations," the special envoy told a press conference held in the Swiss Capital of Bern, adding that the focus in the next few days will be on getting a renewed and sustained ceasefire. (Yemen-Talks)
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JAKARTA -- An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale jolted East Kalimantan known as Borneo of Indonesia earlier Monday, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said here.
The USGS also reported the quake at similar magnitude. The quake epicenter, with the depth at 10 km, jolted 29 km northeast Tarakan of East Kalimantan, an official of the agency told Xinhua by phone. (Indonesia-Earthquake)
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DAMASCUS -- An improvised rocket slammed a passenger bus near a university compound west of the capital Damascus on Sunday, leaving nine people wounded, state news agency SANA reported.
The rocket hit the bus on west al-Mazzeh highway near the faculty of medicine, SANA said. The wounded have been taken to nearby hospitals. (Syria-Bombing) Endi