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Thousands of Nato troops in show of force with military exercise

Nato staged a major military exercise in Latvia in a practical demonstration of leaders' commitment to defend its Baltic member states in the face of aggression from larger neighbours.

Around 500 paratroopers, hundreds of vehicles and aircraft are taking part in the exercise in Latvia's capital Riga. Exercise 'Steadfast Javelin II' simulates a deployment of Nato soldiers and equipment in another country in a crisis situation.

At a two-day Nato summit meeting in Wales members agreed to form a new rapid reaction force and to step up exercises in eastern Europe in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine.

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Syria: '25 dead' after strikes on Islamic State bakery

Syrian warplanes bombed a bakery run by Islamic State in the city of Raqqa, killing 25 people, in air raids that also hit a major training camp used by the insurgent group for a second day running, a group monitoring the war said.

The air strikes on Raqqa, Islamic State's stronghold some 400 km (250 miles) northeast of Damascus, also hit a building used as an Islamic court, and another of the group's offices, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Rami Abdulrahman, founder of the Observatory, said the bakery was run by the militant group. The Observatory, which gathers information from all sides in the civil war, said the dead included 12 civilians and nine Islamic State activists.

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Thousands of Nato troops in show of force with military exercise

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