Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, Dec. 23

UNITED NATIONS -- The Security Council on Friday adopted a new resolution to further tighten sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in response to its ballistic missile launch late last month.

Resolution 2397, which passed the 15-member council unanimously, bans nearly 90 percent of refined petroleum product exports to the DPRK, by setting a ceiling of 500,000 barrels during a period of 12 months beginning Jan. 1, 2018. It provides for the same amount in 12-month periods thereafter with conditions. (UN-DPRK-Sanctions)

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MADRID -- Emergency services have confirmed 41 people have been injured, four of them seriously, when a local double-decker commuter train collided with the buffers at the station of Alcala de Henares, some 40 kilometers east of Madrid, on Friday afternoon.

The causes of the accident, which happened at around 16:00 hours local time, are as yet unknown, but the train driver has tested negative for alcohol and drugs and it is suspected a failure of the train's breaking system may have been at fault. (Spain-Train Crash)

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UNITED NATIONS -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday appointed Maimunah Mohd Sharif of Malaysia as new executive director of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).

The appointment was made following her election by the UN General Assembly. (UN-Habitat-Appointment)

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ADEN, Yemen -- A total of 12 fighters of the Shiite Houthi group were killed in airstrikes conducted by Saudi-led warplanes near the country's southeastern region of Shabwa on Friday, a military official told Xinhua.

"Fighter jets of the Saudi-led coalition carried out airstrikes and bombed a convoy of reinforcements for the pro-Houthi forces in a road between al-Bayda and southeastern Shabwa province," the local military official said on condition of anonymity. (Yemen-Houthis)

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BERLIN -- Andrea Nahles, leader of the parliamentary faction German Social Democrats (SPD), wants to see taxes on top income earners lifted in exchange for her party's participation in another "grand coalition", the magazine "SPIEGEL" reported on Friday.

Nahles demanded concrete concessions from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), telling "SPIEGEL" that the SPD would "not elect Merkel to the chancellery again because of a few headlines." (Germany-Coalition) Enditem