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Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, Feb. 6

Xinhua, February 6, 2017 Adjust font size:

A female body found in waters off Malaysia's Sabah state was one of the missing persons on a tourist boat which capsized more than a week ago, Malaysian police said Monday.

Sabah police chief Ramli Din said DNA test had confirmed that the identity of the body to be one of the missing persons. The body was found on Saturday not far from last known position of the sunken boat. (Malaysia-Sunken boat-Body)

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DAMASCUS -- Syrian army backed by the Lebanese Hezbollah group have besieged the Islamic State (IS) group's bastion city of al-Bab in northern province of Aleppo, near the Turkish borders, a monitor group reported on Monday.

After 20 days of a wide-scale military operation in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo, the Syrian army succeeded to lay a siege on the city of al-Bab, the largest IS stronghold in the countryside of Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Syria-IS)

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RIYADH -- The 27 Saudi airports will be fully privatize by the middle of 2018 to make airports independent bodies, Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper reported on Monday.

Saudi Civil Aviation highlighted to the newspaper that the privatization plan will increase the asset values of these airports and attract huge foreign investments. (Saudi-Airport)

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LONDON -- British prime minister Theresa May was hosting a meeting at 10 Downing Street Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The two have never previously had a face-to-face meeting.

The pair will be discussing increasing trading relations between the two countries after Britain leaves the European Union. (Briton-Israel)

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KIEV -- Ukraine's Opposition Bloc on Monday asked parliament to initiate a meeting of the four-nation Normandy quartet over the escalating tensions in the war-torn town of Avdeevka in eastern Ukraine.

"We intend to request the meeting in the Normandy format because the spike of violence on the frontline and the tragedy in Avdeevka should not be repeated," Yuriy Boyko, the head of the Opposition Bloc, told reporters in Kiev. (Ukraine-Normandy) Endi