people-smuggling
AFP, Nusa Dua
A forum of mainly Asian countries agreed on Wednesday on new contingency measures to better respond to refugee crises, and vowed to review the region’s much-criticised handling of a major migrant influx last year.
The announcement at a conference on Indonesia’s Bali island on people smuggling and illegal migration was welcomed by the UN refugee agency, which declared it the first agreement of its kind in the 14-year history of the regional forum.
NZ votes to keep current flag in poll
AP, Wellington
New Zealand has voted to keep its current flag by a margin of 57 percent to 43 percent in a nationwide poll that ended Thursday.
More than 2 million people voted in the ballot to decide whether to keep the British Union Jack on their flag or replace it with a silver fern.
Iraq begins offensive to retake Mosul
AFP, Baghdad
Iraqi troops and militia launched a long-awaited operation on Thursday to recapture second city Mosul from jihadists of the Islamic State group who have held it since June 2014, the military said.
The army and the Popular Mobilisation paramilitary force “have begun the first phase of conquest operations” in Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, the joint operations command said in a statement.
China mine accident kills 19
AFP, Beijing
At least 19 people have been killed in a coal mine accident in China, state media and officials said today, in what is believed to be one of the deadliest such incidents so far this year. The accident happened on Wednesday night at a mine in the northern province of Shanxi owned by Shanxi Datong Coal Mine Group, the official Xinhua news agency said, without giving further details.
