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Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, Feb. 2

Xinhua, February 2, 2017 Adjust font size:

One hostage was found dead and another rescued as police stormed into a Delaware state prison Thursday morning, ending a day-long standoff, said the Department of Corrections.

One hostage, a prison employee, was found unresponsive and pronounced dead early Thursday morning in the Level 5 James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna, according to a statement from the department. (US-Prison-Hostage)

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MANDERA -- An unknown number of Kenyan police officers were killed by al-Shabaab militants in the border town of Mandera during a raid early Thursday, officials said.

Police sources said the terrorists attacked a police camp in Arabia, Mandera town in northeast Kenya on Thursday dawn, and cut off police's communication in the area. (Kenya-Police-Attack)

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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazilian Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said on Wednesday that his country is returning to a path of growth and will manage to escape recession in the first quarter of 2017.

The Brazilian economy has faced a recession over the last two years. The industrial sector's output has been in a downwards trajectory for the past three years, the annual basic interest rate currently stands at 13 percent, and the inflation rate was at above 6 percent last year. (Brazil-Economy-Recession)

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MOSCOW -- The latest public opinion poll of government-owned research center VTSIOM has shown that Russia's public approval rating to President Vladimir Putin stands as high as 85 percent, TASS reported on Thursday.

According to VTSIOM's three weekly polls in January 2017, 85 percent of interviewed Russians approve Putin's work. The top three most trusted politicians in the country also include Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. (Russia-Putin-Approval Rating)

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WASHINGTON -- China and the United States should always cooperate in the face of challenges, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said Wednesday.

"We have learned that we should always respond to difficulties and challenges by cooperation, instead of conflict or confrontation," Cui told a 500-member audience at the embassy's New Year reception. (U.S.-China-Relationship) Endi