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Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, August 4

Xinhua, August 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Zimbabwean police on Wednesday fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse hundreds of protesters who marched in the capital Harare to protest against the impending introduction of bond notes and lack of jobs.

Rallied by a number of civic society organizations, the protesters marched from downtown Harare under the watchful eye of the police until they presented a petition at the office of the finance minister. (Zimbabwe-Protest)

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HELSINKI -- Matti Vanhanen, former Finnish prime minister and a key foreign policy thinker in the Finnish Center Party, said on Wednesday that security talks concerning the Baltic sea area and vicinity of Russia would not be a problem to Finland.

Vanhanen made the remarks to media following a Russian initiative to invite countries including Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden and Finland for consultations in Moscow in September. Poland and the Baltic countries are NATO members, whereas Sweden and Finland are enhanced partners with NATO. (Russia-Baltic-Security)

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UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations was deeply troubled by the latest test firing of missiles by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said a UN spokesperson here on Wednesday.

Earlier Wednesday, the DPRK fired two ballistic missiles into east waters, one of which was reportedly landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone. (UN-DPRK-Missile Firing)

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MEXICO CITY -- Tropical storm Earl was upgraded to a hurricane on its way to Mexico's Caribbean coast Wednesday afternoon, forecaster said.

The maximum sustained winds of Earl reached 75 mph (120 km/h), indicating that it is now a hurricane, said the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. (Mexico-Hurricane-Earl)

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DAMASCUS -- Seven people were killed and 20 others suffered suffocation and breathing difficulties from chemical gas attack in Aleppo, state news agency SANA said on Wednesday, citing a Russian observation center.

The Nour Addien al-Zinki rebel group on Monday fired rockets filled with poisonous gas on the government-controlled Salahuddien district in Aleppo, said the report. (Syria-Chemical Attack) Endi