ERBIL Josip Pivaric Croatia Jersey , Iraq, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Kurds on Monday cast their votes in a referendum that will determine the independence of the Kurdish region and the disputed areas that are currently under de facto Kurdish control.
About 5.2 million eligible voters in the three northern provinces -- Erbil, Sulaimaniyah and Dohuk -- and other areas outside the region, known as the disputed areas, are expected to cast their votes in 12,000 ballot boxes in 2,000 polling centers across the Kurdish region and the disputed areas.
The voters are to choose either "Yes" to independence Kurdish state or "No" to remain as autonomous region part of the Iraqi state.
The regional electoral committee announced earlier that the voting is to start at 8:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) and end at 6:00 p.m. (1500 GMT).
The Iraqi government has repeatedly rejected the referendum and its results, describing it as "unconstitutional."
"Taking a decision unilaterally that would affect Iraq's unity and making separation from one side is contrary to the law and unconstitutional and we will not deal with it or with its results," Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi the day before said in a statement.
On June 7, the Kurdish regional President Masoud Barzani announced his intention to hold a referendum on the independence of the Kurdish region from Iraq on Sept. 25.
The independence of Kurdistan is opposed by many countries because it would threaten the integrity of Iraq and because it could undermare fight against Islamic State militants.
In addition, neighboring countries such as Turkey, Iran and Syria see that such a step would threaten their territorial integrity, as larger populations of Kurds live in those countries.
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WELLINGTON, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government accounts showed a surplus of 2.5 billion NZ dollars (1.8 billion U.S. dollars), although about 1 billion NZ dollars of that is due to timing differences that are expected to reverse out in May, Finance Minister Steven Joyce said on Tuesday.
"While the accounts for the year-to-date are 1.6 billion NZ dollars stronger than was forecast at the Budget Economic and Fiscal Update, the bulk of this change is due to a timing difference of company taxes," Joyce said in a release.
"Treasury and Inland Revenue expect most of that to reverse in May, and at this stage Treasury expects the 2016-2017 accounts to be broadly as forecast," he said.
The government revenue was 1.1 billion NZ dollars higher than expected for the 10-month period, while government expenditure was 400 million NZ dollars less than what was expected, according to the release.
Net debt is currently at 24 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
"It is important not to take too much from a single month's figures particularly because of the timing differences noted by the Treasury," Joyce said.
"However, the accounts overall do underline the government's improving fiscal position as a result of our strong economic plan," he said.
"It is only by having this strong economic plan that we get to make the sort of choices we were able to make in the recent budget, and only a strong economic plan will give us the capacity to make more positive decisions into the future," he said.
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BEIJING, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Newly crowned swimming world champion Ning Zetao of China claimed two gold medals at the sixth Military World Games in South Korea on Wednesday.
Ning, who won a historic men's 50m gold medal at the Swimming World Championships in Kazan, Russia, in August, timed 22.35 seconds to win the event at the Military World Games. He also led the Chinese team to win the 4x200m freestyle relay title in 7:20.85, a new competition record.
""I felt very tired after the two events, and I hope I can achieve good results tomorrow,"" said Ning, who will also take part in the 100m free, 4x100m free relay and mixed 4x100m medley relay at the Games.
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