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Xinhua world news summary at 0400 GMT, Feb. 16

Xinhua, February 17, 2016 Adjust font size:

Bombing in northern Syria continued Tuesday after nearly 50 people were killed in bombing of hospitals and schools on Monday, sparking strong condemnation from the United Nations and mutual accusations between the United States and Russia.

The UN on Monday lashed out at a spate of reported attacks on medical facilities and schools in Syria, which killed nearly 50 civilians, while the United States and Russia continued to point fingers at each other. (Syria-U.S.-Russia)

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SEOUL -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday said that Seoul will take "stronger and more effective" measures to create an environment forcing change in Pyongyang.

Park said in a nationally televised parliamentary speech that those measures will make the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) realize a fact that the country cannot survive with nuclear development. (South Korea-DPRK-Nuclear Issue)

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RANCHO MIRAGE, United States -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday opened a meeting with leaders of Southeast Asian countries, looking to deepen what he called a "strong and enduring partnership."

The two-day gathering, the first of its kind on U.S. soil, will focus on economic and security issues. (U.S.-ASEAN-Summit)

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GENEVA -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday said that 84,320 refugee and migrant maritime arrivals have been recorded in Europe since the beginning of the year.

The vast majority (78,333 arrivals) have been reported in Greece, with the remaining 5,987 registered in Italy.

This month's sea arrivals in Greece are considerably lower than the influx recorded in January, with the IOM indicating last week that bad weather had significantly hampered migrant crossings. (EU-Refugee Arrivals)

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MOSCOW -- An apartment building in the Russian city of Yaroslavl partially collapsed early Tuesday after a natural gas explosion, leaving dozens buried in debris, authorities said.

Preliminary information showed that about 10 flats on the first to fifth floors of a single unit of the residential structure fell apart in the blast, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said in a post on its website. (Russia-Gas Explosion) Endi