Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, July 9

GAZA/JERUSALEM -- At least 33 Palestinians were killed by Israeli shelling and gunfire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian sources said, while the Israeli army said it struck over 100 targets throughout the Gaza Strip.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense Authority in Gaza, told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes and drones launched dozens of raids on various areas of the Gaza Strip since the early hours of morning, targeting residential homes and tents housing displaced persons. (Gaza Strip-Hamas-Israel)

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KUALA LUMPUR -- The Malaysian central bank said on Wednesday that it has decided to reduce the overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25 basis points to 2.75 percent, amid global uncertainties.

Bank Negara Malaysia said in a statement that the ceiling and floor rates of the corridor of the OPR are correspondingly reduced to 3 percent and 2.5 percent respectively. (Malaysia-Interest Rate)

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BRUSSELS -- June 2025 was the world's third-warmest June on record, trailing only 2023 and 2024, said the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) on Wednesday.

The global average surface air temperature in June was 16.46 degrees Celsius, 0.47 degrees above the 1991-2020 average for the month and 1.3 degrees higher than the 1850-1900 pre-industrial level, C3S said in its monthly bulletin. (EU-Temperature-Record)

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NEW DELHI -- At least nine persons died and over six were injured when their vehicles fell into a river following the collapse of a bridge in India's western state of Gujarat on Wednesday, said the local police.

A portion of the four-decade-old Gambhira bridge collapsed in the early hours of the day, thus disrupting the connectivity between Anand and Vadodara cities of the state. As a result of the tragedy, the vehicular flow was adversely affected in the area. (India-Bridge Collapse-Death)

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MOSCOW -- Russian forces carried out a group strike targeting the infrastructure of Ukrainian military airfields overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

The strike involved the use of long-range, high-precision air-launched weapons, including Kinzhal hypersonic aeroballistic missiles and long-range strike drones, the ministry said in a statement. (Russia-Ukraine-Attack) Enditem