IN BRIEF

United Nations

31 million people displaced last year

A new report said more than 31 million people were displaced in their own countries last year, about 75 percent due to disasters including floods and wildfires and the rest from conflicts, with Congo and Syria topping the list. The report released on Monday by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center said East Asia and the Pacific accounted for two-thirds of the displacements related to extreme weather events last year almost double the number for 2015.

Iraq

UN: Liberation of Mosul 'imminent'

The liberation of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul "is imminent" and the days of the Islamic State group's self-declared caliphate "are numbered", the UN envoy for Iraq said on Monday. But Jan Kubis said that despite progress, fighting remains "a tremendous challenge" because IS fighters are increasingly using civilians as human shields in "a last-gasp effort that reveals little more than the inherent inhuman barbarity of the terrorists".

Thailand

Security increased after bombing

The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday reassured the international community that the country would increase security at sensitive locations a day after a bomb exploded at a hospital in the capital Bangkok wounding 24 people. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack which happened at the military-owned Phramongkutklao Hospital. One of the most popular holiday destinations in Southeast Asia, Thailand attracted 32.6 million visitors last year, a rise of 9 percent from the previous year.

Brazil

Temer says he will only leave if forced

Embattled President Michel Temer said he will only leave office if forced out because stepping down would be an admission of guilt in a corruption scandal that has led to growing calls for his ouster. Temer said he is innocent and will remain in office with the help of his congressional base until December 2018 so he can go forward with austerity measures and reforms. "I will not resign. If they want, force me out, because if I resign that will be a declaration of guilt," Temer said.

United Kingdom

Tobacco to be sold in plain package

Tough new rules, which mean cigarettes and other tobacco products must be sold in green packaging bearing graphic warnings, came into force on Sunday. As part of efforts to smear the image of smoking, the standardized packaging must carry the new, larger, health warnings on two-thirds of the front and back of any packet. The rules will also end the sale of packets of 10, ban "misleading" information - "low tar" or "organic", for example - and force companies to display health warnings on 65 percent of the front and back of the packet.

Xinhua - AP - Reuters