Off the wire
• Half of road crashes in Nigeria caused by burst tyre: official  • NW England has fastest economic growth in Britain in 2016  • Spotlight: Egypt has long way to go to revive economy amid security challenges  • Cuba rejects "physical aggressions" against top diplomats at Mercosur meeting  • Nigerian troops make penetration into Boko Haram's largest camp: army chief  • Chinese, French FMs hold phone talks over ties, one-China principle  • U.S. stocks open higher after Fed decision to raise rates  • Chinese experts call for better trade dispute settlement with South Asia  • Nigeria to enforce ban on importation of two-stroke engines  • China's consumer finance firms see over 100 bln yuan assets  
You are here: 　 Home

Xinhua World News Summary at 1600 GMT, Dec. 15

Xinhua, December 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

At least six soldiers were killed and 13 others, including women and children, injured in a bomb attack by Al-Shabaab militants in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Thursday, a local official said.

Mogadishu local government spokesman, Abdifitah Omar Halane, confirmed the death toll and said a remotely-detonated bomb was planted by Al-Shabaab terrorists under a tree, targeting soldiers who were resting there.(Somalia-Al Shabaab-Attack)

- - - -

DAMASCUS -- Syrian government buses started entering rebel-held areas in the northern city of Aleppo on Thursday to evacuate the last remaining rebels there, a military source told Xinhua.

About 15,000 people, including 4,000 rebels, will evacuate on Thursday, as part of a Russian-Turkish deal concluded recently. With the evacuation, the Syrian army will take over the whole Aleppo city, as it has already controlled 99 percent of the rebel-held areas in the eastern part of the city.(Syria-Aleppo-Evacuation)

- - - -

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan -- Three civilians were injured Thursday as a roadside bomb struck a police vehicle in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, according to police.

"A mine planted by militants on a road outside provincial capital Kunduz city struck the vehicle of a police commander, Mohammad Karim, but he fortunately escaped unhurt," Mahfozullah Akbari, police spokesman in the province, told Xinhua.(Afghanistan-Bombing)

- - - -

HANOI -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has made a phone conversation with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, reported Vietnam's state-run news agency VNA on Thursday.

The two leaders exchanged views on orientation and measures to boost economic, trade, investment ties between Vietnam and the United States in the coming time.(Vietnam-US-Ties)

- - - -

SEOUL -- Three ships of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) drifting along in waters off South Korea's east coast have recently been rescued by South Korean coast guard, Seoul's unification ministry said Thursday.

The DPRK vessels were found drifting in exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the east coast for two days through Monday. The ships, which went adrift on engine malfunction and other defects, carried eight DPRK sailors.(South Korea-DP