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Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, Jan. 29

Xinhua, January 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

Six bodies were recovered off Sicily island on Thursday in a day-long rescue effort coordinated by the Italian coast guard which resulted in a rescue of a total of 411 migrants.

A total of 74 migrants were traveling on a rubber boat which was found partly deflated in the last rescue operation, the source said, adding "these migrant boats travel in totally unsafe and overloaded conditions." Approximately 37,000 migrants and refugees had already arrived by sea in Italy and Greece in 2016, or close to 10 times the total in 2015 by the same date.(Italy-Migrant)

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CAIRO -- An Egyptian F-16 fighter jet crashed, killing its crew, during a military exercise, the army announced late Wednesday.

"An F-16 aircraft has crashed during an exercise, killing the crew," Mohamed Samir, spokesman for the Armed Forces, said in a statement. (Egypt-F-16-Crash)

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RIYADH -- The Syrian opposition announced on Thursday that they will not attend the Geneva talks aiming to find a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis, Al Arabiya local news reported.

George Sabra, deputy chief of the Syrian opposition negotiating team, told Al Hadith local channel that the opposition delegation will not go to Geneva, noting that there will not be negotiations without the participation of the opposition. "We will be heading to Geneva shortly after all obstacles are removed," said Sabra. (Syria-Peace-Talk)

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RIYADH -- The Syrian opposition has ended their meetings here Wednesday without reaching a final decision over whether they would participate in Syrian peace talks in Geneva, Al Arabia local news reported on Wednesday.

Head of the Kurdish Democratic Party Sheikh Salem Al Muslat told Al Arabia the meeting will continue on Thursday, adding that their fellow opposition members will continue to wait for the UN response of their demands. (Syria-Opposition)

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UNITED NATIONS -- Zika virus is spreading "explosively" in the Americas, and could spread even further afield amid an "extremely high" level of alarm, said a senior official of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday.

Margaret Chan, WHO director-general, said that as of Thursday, Zika cases have been reported in 23 countries and territories in the region.Zika, transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitos, has been present in every country of the Americas except Canada and continental Chile. Women in Brazil, Colombia and El Salvador have been advised against becoming pregnant during the outbreak.(UN-Zika) Endi