Off the wire
• Nepalese home minister calls for effective border security  • Poll shows majority of French people enter 2017 on rosy note  • China reports 2,099 fires during holiday  • Polluters punished as smog lingers in north China  • China Voice: China to move closer to centenary goals in 2017  • Update: French president Hollande vows to support Iraq in war on IS group  • S. Africa's ANC slams mayor's Taiwan visit  • Ghana names provisional squad for Nations Cup  • Kenya nabs suspected gangsters planning New Year attack  • Two Moroccans among dead in Istanbul attack  
You are here: 　 Home

Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, Jan. 2

Xinhua, January 2, 2017 Adjust font size:

At least nine people, including three children, were killed when an apartment building collapsed in central Kazakhstan late Sunday.

Six people, including two children, were rescued from under the rubble of the building located in Shahan town of Karaganda region, according to the Kazakh emergencies committee. (Kazakhstan-Building Collapse)

- - - -

ISTANBUL -- The Islamic State (IS) on Monday claimed responsibility for an attack early Sunday that killed 39 and injured 69 others in an Istanbul nightclub, Turkish media reported.

Hurriyet daily news said the IS made the claim in a statement posted on social media. (Turkey-IS-Claim)

- - - -

SEOUL -- A presidential hopeful of South Korea's biggest opposition party took the top spot in all of New Year's presidential polls by local media outlets, beating former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who is seen as the last remaining hope in the conservative camp.

An early presidential election is forecast to be held as President Park Geun-hye was impeached in the parliament on Dec.9 over a scandal involving Park and her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil, who is suspected of meddling in state affairs behind the scenes.(S.Korean-Presidential Polls)

- - - -

BAGHDAD -- Up to 35 people were killed and 61 others wounded on Monday in a car bomb explosion at a Shiite neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

"The latest report said that 35 people were killed and 61 wounded in the car bomb explosion in Sadr City neighborhood," the source said on condition of anonymity. (Iraq-Explosion)

- - - -

MOGADISHU -- At least two people were killed and several others injured in twin blasts by extremist group Al-Shabaab near the base of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and a luxury hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Monday.

Mohamed Jama, a police officer at the scene, told Xinhua the first explosion went off near a checkpoint manned by soldiers next to the entrance of the Halane base, which hosts both UN and AU personnel and is close to the airport. (Somalia-Blast-Al-Shabaab) Endi