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Xinhua world news summary at 1600 GMT, Dec. 16

Xinhua, December 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

The decision of the European Union (EU) to extend sanctions against Russia demonstrates the weakness of the alliance, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.

"The European Union has once again demonstrated its weakness and inability to admit the obvious fact -- linking the restrictions to the implementation of the Minsk agreement by Moscow is absurd," the ministry said in a statement. (Russia-EU)

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WASHINGTON -- Japan overtakes China as the largest holder of U.S. treasuries in October, as China's holding dropped to the lowest level since June 2010, data from the U.S. Treasury Department showed on Thursday.

China cut its treasuries holding by 41.3 billion U.S. dollars in October, with the total holding down to 1.1157 trillion U.S. dollars. It has cut the holding for five consecutive months. (China-Treasuries)

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DAMASCUS -- An explosion rocked a police station in central the capital Damascus on Friday, losses unknown, state news agency SANA reported.

The blast rocked the police station in the central Midan neighborhood, said the report, spelling no further details.

The capital has for long been calm with no explosions. Further details are still forthcoming. (Syria-Blast)

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HO CHI MINH CITY -- A fire and some small explosions broke out at a filling station here on Friday afternoon, burning some 20 motorbikes and many garment shops.

When a tank truck was transferring petrol to the basin of the filling station on Quang Trung Road in Go Vap District, the fire happened unexpectedly, and rapidly spread to nearby garment shops and a motorbike parking lot. (Vietnam-Filling Station-Fire)

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PARIS -- One migrant was killed and scores were injured in a fire which broke out overnight at a centre for migrant workers in Boulogne-Billancourt, west Paris, local media reported on Friday.

A 40-year-old Malian man died after he jumped out of the building's third floor windows to escape the fire, news channel BFMTV reported. (France-Migrant-Fire) Endi