Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, Dec. 31

At least 16 tourists, most of them Chinese, have been taken to hospital after a crash between a bus and a car on a major tourist route in New Zealand's South Island Thursday.

The crash, which involved three people in the car and 31 tourists from Shanghai on the bus, occurred on State Highway 73 at Otira Gorge in the Canterbury region late Thursday morning. (New Zealand-Chinese Tourists)

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DAMASCUS -- At least 16 people were killed and 35 others wounded on Wednesday when twin bombings targeted a predominantly-Kurdish city in northern Syria, pro-government Sama TV reported.

Twin bombings ripped through two restaurants in the predominantly-Kurdish northeastern city of Qamishli in the al-Hasakah province, according to the report. (Syria-Bombings)

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KABUL -- Senior officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States and China will meet in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad in January to work out a roadmap for the revival of stalled peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban representatives, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said on Thursday.

"The second round of the meeting will be convened in Kabul afterwards," Ghani told a press briefing. (Afghanistan-Peace Talks)

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NEW DELHI -- At least nine people were killed and 15 others injured in a major road mishap in the northern Indian state of Punjab in the wee hours of Thursday, a senior police official said.

"The mishap happened when a private bus rammed into a homemade motorized cart from behind at Mehta village, some 15 km from the town of Amritsar. The victims were all occupants of the cart," he said, on condition of anonymity. (India-Road Accident) Endi