AFP, Washington
A coalition air strike killed an Islamic State finance chief in Iraq last month, the US military said Thursday, hailing it as another scalp in its bid to shatter the extremists’ financial network.Abu Saleh was killed in late November, US military spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said in a videoconference from Baghdad, calling him “one of the most senior and experienced members” of the group’s financial system.
“Abu Saleh was the third member of the finance network that we have killed” recently, Warren added, likening him to a finance minister for the extremist group, which has grabbed swathes of Iraq and Syria in a brutal offensive of beheadings and forced religious conversions.
NZ moves a step closer to new flag, possibly
Reuters, Wellington
New Zealanders could be a step closer to getting a new flag after the first phase of a two-part referendum wrapped up on Friday but many people are not in the mood for change.
The current flag features Britain’s Union Jack in the corner and four red stars in a Southern Cross formation, indicating New Zealand’s location in the South Pacific.
EU warns Thailand over air safety
AFP, Bangkok
EU regulators on Thursday issued a special warning over travelling on airlines from Thailand but stopped short of following last week’s damaging US safety downgrade for a country heavily dependent on tourism. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said Thailand would be closely monitored as it updated the bloc’s air safety blacklist.
Top China tycoon reported missing
AP, Beijing
One of China’s top entrepreneurs, the chairman of the conglomerate that owns Club Med and other businesses in Europe and the United States, is missing, a news report said Friday, a possible sign that an anti-corruption campaign is widening beyond state companies. Fosun International employees were unable to contact Guo Guangchang after midday Thursday, the magazine Caixin said on its website. c
