Off the wire
• China Exclusive: Giant karst sinkhole cluster discovered in NW China  • Benin police arrest 4 alleged traffickers with 54 kg cocaine  • Kenya's 297 mln USD cash call falls below target  • Ukraine risks losing int'l aid over slow reform progress: central bank chief  • Bulgarian army to hold more, bigger drills in 2017: defense chief  • PNA responds actively to Trump for Mideast peace push  • Iran, IMO set to step up maritime cooperation  • Hungarian gov't, employers, unions, sign accord on record minimum wage hikes  • 1,092 ancient tombs unearthed in east Beijing  • Ukraine, Israel set to sign free trade deal next year  
You are here: 　 Home

Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, Nov. 24

Xinhua, November 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

The European Union(EU) will grant visa-free regime for Ukrainians by the end of this year, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday.

Juncker made the remarks at a joint press conference with European Council President Donald Tusk and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko after the 18th EU-Ukraine summit in Brussels. (EU-Ukraine-Visa)

- - - -

JAKARTA -- An army helicopter with five crew aboard lost contact while passing Borneo Island of central Indonesia on Thursday, a military spokesman said.

The helicopter was carrying logistic supplies for soldiers at borders between Indonesia and Malaysia in the northern parts of the island, Major General Wuryanto, a military spokesman, told Xinhua by phone. (Indonesia-Helicopter Crash)

- - - -

STRASBOURG -- Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted in favor of a non-binding motion to temporarily freeze Turkey's accession talks to join the European Union (EU) on Thursday.

The MEPs urged the European Commission and national governments to halt the ongoing EU membership talks with Turkey, which was blamed for its "disproportionate repressive measures" in response to July's failed military coup. (EU-Turkey-Motion)

- - - -

BAGHDAD -- At least 10 people were killed and 15 others wounded on Thursday in a car bomb blast at a fuel station in Babil province in south of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a police source said.

The attack occurred in the afternoon when a booby-trapped car detonated at a fuel station in the town of Shomali in east of the provincial capital city of Hillah, some 100 km south of Baghdad, destroying several nearby vehicles, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. (Iraq-Blast)

- - - -

JERUSALEM -- Fires on Thursday forced a widespread evacuation in Haifa, as foreign countries sent in firefighting planes to help put out a three-day wave of forest fires throughout Israel.

Tens of thousands of residents from around 11 neighborhoods were forced to evacuate the areas immediately, along with Haifa University and many businesses. (Israel-Fires) Endi