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Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, May 19

Xinhua, May 19, 2017 Adjust font size:

At least 53 people were killed when the Islamic State (IS) group attacked a village in the central Syrian province of Hama on Thursday morning, a monitor group reported.

The IS militants attacked the village of Akareb near the Salamiyeh city in the countryside of Hama earlier on Thursday, prompting the Syrian forces to respond to the attack which was focused on the center of the village. (Syria-Hama-IS)

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DAMASCUS -- A U.S.-led airstrike targeted on Thursday a military convoy in southern Syria, at the triangle area of the Syrian-Jordanian-Iraqi borders, pro-government Sham FM radio reported.

Further details about the airstrike are still forthcoming, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor group said that unknown warplanes struck military convoy of the Syrian forces and allied troops, which were advancing toward the Tanf area near the Iraqi borders. (U.S.-Syria-Airstrike)

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NEW YORK -- The man who drove a car into a crowd in Times Square on Thursday was in custody, in which one was killed and 22 others injured, New York's mayor said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference here that based on the information they had, "there is no indication that this was an act of terrorism." The driver, 26-year-old Richard Rojas from the Bronx, served in the U.S. Navy and has a criminal record. (New York-Richard Rojas-Mayor)

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NICOSIA -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed on Thursday U.S. press reports that President Donald Trump passed classified information to him when they met recently in the White House.

During a working visit to Cyprus, Lavrov said that what Trump actually told him was that Islamic State (IS) terrorists were capable of staffing untraceable explosives in laptops. (Russia-Lavrov-Trump)

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ADDIS ABABA -- Ethiopia's state owned air carrier Ethiopian Airlines (ET) is to start flights to Chengdu, the capital of China's southwest Sichuan province, on May 22, adding its roster of destinations to the world's most populous nation to five.

Chengdu is known to be a tourist hotspot in China with attractions including giant pandas and Sichuan's historic artifacts and culinary tradition. (China-Chengdu-Ethiopian Airlines) Endi