Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, March 29

The hijacker who hijacked Tuesday an Egyptian airliner and forced it to land in Cyprus has been arrested, Egyptian Aviation Minister said.

The last seven persons who remained on board have been freed, Sherif Fathy said, adding all the passengers and crew are safe. (Egypt-Hijacked plane)

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BAGHDAD -- A total of 41 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Tuesday in clashes with security forces and air strikes by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition aircraft in Iraq, while 14 civilian were killed in suicide bombing and gunfire attack in the day, security sources said.

Iraqi security forces killed five IS suicide bombers who attacked the army positions at the village of Khirbirdan in south of the IS-held city of Mosul, some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the Iraqi defense ministry said in a statement. (Iraq-IS)

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SEOUL -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday fired a short-range projectile in an apparent show of force toward the ongoing U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises and sanctions on Pyongyang over its nuclear test and long-range rocket launch.

The projectile was launched at about 5:40 p.m. local time (0840 GMT) from the DPRK's eastern coastal city of Wonsan into the northeast region, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. (S. Korea-DPRK- Projectile)

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KABUL -- Two civilians were killed and seven others wounded in a bomb attack in Kabul on Tuesday, police said.

The blast occurred in the morning after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted beside the house of a former official went off in Khair Khana Mina locality of the city, causing panic among residents. (Afghanistan-Blast) Endi