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Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, Dec. 12

Xinhua, December 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

Islamic State (IS) militants besieged a Syrian airbase by the city of Palmyra on Monday, two days after lambasting the ancient city for the second time, reported a monitor group.

Battles erupted on Monday between the Syrian army and IS militants in the vicinity of the T4 airbase, located in the eastern countryside of Homs, near the ancient city of Palmyra, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Syria-IS-Airbase)

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BRUSSELS -- The European Police Office (Europol) on Monday said police from over 10 European countries and the United States carried out a coordinated action targeting users of cyber-attack tools, leading to 34 arrests.

According to Europol's press release, 101 suspects involving the distributed denial-of-service attacks, which can make an online service unavailable, were cautioned during the action from Dec. 5 to Dec. 9. (Belgium-Europol-Cyber)

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CAIRO -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Monday that a Cairo church blast that killed 25 people on Sunday was carried out by a suicide bomber.

Speaking to mourners during the funeral of those killed, Sisi said that a 22-year-old man called Mahmoud Shafiq blew himself up inside Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church in Cairo's Abassiya neighborhood. (Egypt-President-Attack)

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LONDON -- Police counter terrorism units in London and central England arrested six people in early morning raids Monday.

The six, five men and a 32-year-old woman, are being held on suspicion of offences under Britain's terrorism laws and are being questioned at police offices. (Britain-Terrorism-Arrests) [ - - - -

ISTANBUL -- The death toll in Istanbul's twin bombings on Saturday has risen to 44, Turkish Health Minister Recep Akdag announced on Monday.

The Hurriyet daily quoted the minister as saying that 36 police officers and eight civilians lost their lives in the attacks on Saturday night targeting riot police on duty outside a football stadium in the district of Besiktas. (Turkey-Twin Bombings-Toll)

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ANKARA -- A total of 118 officials of Turkey's opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) were detained early on Monday as part of a counter-terror probe, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

They were charged with having links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and conducting terror propaganda. (Turkey-Opposition-Arrests)

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DAMASCUS -- The Syrian army and allied fighters captured the key neighborhood of Sheikh Saeed in the northern city of Aleppo on Monday, the latest in a series of victories against the rebels, state news agency SANA reported.

Following days of battles, the Syrian army finally captured Sheikh Saeed, one of the few remaining rebel-held areas in southeastern Aleppo city. (Syria-Army-Capture) Endi