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Xinhua world news summary at 1600 GMT, June 13

Xinhua, June 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

The lone gunman who killed 49 and wounded 53 at a popular gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, did pledge allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) and tried to negotiate with police during the attack, said Orlando Police Chief John Mina at a morning news briefing on Monday.

"He was cool and calm when he was making those phone calls to us," Mina said. "We had a team of crisis negotiators that did talk to the suspect just trying to get as much information as possible ... He really wasn't asking for a whole lot. We were doing most of the asking." (U.S.-Shooting-Orlando)

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ORLANDO, the United States -- No Chinese national has been found among the victims of the Florida nightclub mass shooting so far, the Chinese Consulate-General in Houston said Sunday.

The consulate-general informed Xinhua over phone that U.S. law enforcement has not finished identifying the victims as of 7 p.m.(2300 GMT), but no Chinese was identified as of Sunday night. (U.S.-Shooting-Orlando)

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BERLIN -- A Brexit could be the beginning of the destruction of not only the European Union, but also of the entire western political civilization, warned European Council President Donald Tusk in an interview published on Monday.

Ten days ahead of a referendum in Britain on the country's membership of EU, Tusk told German Bild newspaper that it would be dangerous if the British people decide to leave the union. (Brexit-EU)

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TRIPOLI -- Two people were killed and several others were injured in a suicide bomb attack on Monday in Sirte.

The suicide attack occured in Abu Hadi, 18 km south of Sirte, beside a civil registry office. (Libya-Bomb)

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DAMASCUS -- The Islamic State (IS) group hailed the gunman behind the attack on a gay nightclub in Florida as a "soldier of caliphate," according to a bulletin over the group's Al-Bayan radio on Monday.

The suspect was identified by U.S. authorities as 29-year-old Omar Mateen, an American citizen of Afghan descent, who had reportedly called 911 and claimed allegiance to the IS before going on a spree of shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing and wounding over 100 people. (IS-U.S.-Shooting) Endi