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Xinhua world news summary at 1600 GMT, July 6

Xinhua, July 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that he will leave 8,400 American troops in Afghanistan into 2017, slowing the planned drawdown of the U.S. military presence in the country.

His original plan was to draw down U.S. troops in Afghanistan to 5,500 by the end of the year. (US-Afghanistan-Troops)

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LONDON -- Britain on Wednesday published the long-awaited inquiry into the Iraq War, concluding that Britain went to war before all peaceful options had been exhausted, according to the chairman of the UK's inquiry, John Chilcot.

The inquiry has also found then British Prime Minister Tony Blair told then U.S. President George Bush that he would be with him "whatever" in regards to Iraq, several months before they launched the Iraq invasion. (Britain-Iraq War-Inquiry)

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BEIJING -- The Philippine-initiated arbitration on the South China Sea issue is but a political farce under "legal" pretexts aiming to fake "a new reality," which provokes both principles of international law and order, said an article published in a renowned Chinese biweekly magazine.

The article, which appeared in the latest edition of the biweekly Qiushi, said the arbitration is believed to endanger the foundation of the existing international law and order by defying basic respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and voluntary choice by sovereign states, as it seeks maritime jurisdiction overriding national sovereignty and other international laws. (Philippines-Arbitration)

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ANKARA -- Two Syrians were injured in an explosion in Turkey's southeastern province of Hatay on Wednesday, Dogan News Agency reported.

The explosion occurred in a house located in Reyhanli district of Hatay. The injured were sent to hospital for treatment. (Turkey-Explosion) Endi