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Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, May 21

Xinhua,May 22, 2018 Adjust font size:

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday that the United States and China have reached a deal on a "very important" framework concerning their economic and trade ties, and the two sides have agreed to put a possible trade war on hold.

In an interview with Fox News, Mnuchin said that in the just concluded economic and trade consultations between the United States and China, the two nations have "made very meaningful progress." (U.S.-China-Trade)

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BAGHDAD -- The prominent Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose al-Sa'iroon political coalition won most seats in the country's May 12 parliamentary elections, met on Sunday with Hadi al-Ameri, the second winner of the election to discuss the formation of a new government.

A statement by Sadr office said Sadr met with Ameri, head of al-Fath political Coalition, which represents Hashd Shaabi militias, and discussed "the developments of the political process and the results of 2018 parliamentary elections." (Iraq-Parliament-Election)

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TRIPOLI -- Five soldiers of the eastern-based Libyan army were killed on Sunday by landmine explosions in eastern city of Darna, according to military and medical sources.

"Five soldiers of the (army's) battalion 212 infantry were killed when a number of landmines exploded west of the city of Darna during a reconnaissance operation by a military detachment, following withdrawal of terrorist group members," an official of the army's operations chamber told Xinhua. (Libya-Soldiers-Landmines)

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HAVANA -- Twenty of the 110 victims of Friday's fatal plane crash in Cuba have been identified and delivered to their families for burial, a top forensics official said on Sunday.

Sergio Rabel, director of Havana's Legal Medicine Institute, told reporters at a press conference that a large group of experts were working round the clock to conclude the complex process of identifying the remains. (Cuba-Plane-Crash)

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CARACAS -- Venezuelans went to the polls on Sunday in presidential elections.

"I call on all Venezuelans to exercise their right to vote," President Nicolas Maduro made the call in an afternoon address at the government headquarters in Caracas.(Venezuela-Election-President)

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KAMPALA -- At least six Ugandan fishermen were captured on Saturday by suspected Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) militiamen on a common border lake that links the two neighboring countries, a police spokesperson said here on Sunday.

Patrick Onyango, Uganda's deputy police spokesperson, told Xinhua that suspected Congolese Mai-Mai militia kidnapped the fishermen on Lake Albert, located at the Uganda and DRC common border. (Uganda-Abduction-Fishermen) Enditem