World News Roundup: Kazakh ruling party leader hints PM may retain job; Indonesia resumes search for victims, black box of crashed Sriwijaya jet and more

Kim and other North Korean officials packed into an indoor stadium in Pyongyang to watch performances from military and civilian art troupes and youth groups, mostly on themes of glorifying Kim's leadership and reinforcing messaging from the congress, news agency KCNA reported on Thursday. Greece seeks to send 1,450 migrants back to Turkey Greece is pushing to return 1,450 people currently in migrant reception centres on Lesbos and other Aegean islands to Turkey, Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said on Thursday, calling on Ankara to respect asylum agreements with the European Union.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Kazakh ruling party leader hints PM may retain job

Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin may keep his job despite his cabinet's imminent resignation following a parliamentary election, powerful ruling party leader Nursultan Nazarbayev indicated on Thursday. Nazarbayev's Nur Otan party swept the Jan. 10 vote to retain control over the lower house. Under the constitution, parliamentary elections automatically trigger the government's resignation and a new prime minister must be nominated by the president and approved by the lower house.

Indonesia resumes search for victims, black box of crashed Sriwijaya jet

Indonesian divers resumed a search on Thursday for the remains of 62 victims and the cockpit voice recorder from a Sriwijaya Air plane that plunged into the Java Sea soon after takeoff last weekend, officials said. The search at the crash site of the Boeing 737-500, which was traveling from Jakarta to Pontianak, had been temporarily suspended on Wednesday after bad weather whipped up high waves.

Land of wine and honey? Israeli settlers export to UAE, to Palestinian chagrin

Wine produced in an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank and labelled "from the land of Israel" will soon be available for sale in the United Arab Emirates, settler business leaders said. Palestinians have condemned the export deal, saying settlements are illegal under international law, a view shared by many countries but disputed by Israel.

Fire destroys homes of thousands in Rohingya refugee camps - UNHCR

A huge fire swept through the Rohingya refugee camps in southern Bangladesh in the early hours of Thursday, the United Nations said, destroying homes belonging to thousands of people. The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said more than 550 shelters home to around 3,500 people were either totally or partially destroyed in the blaze, as well as 150 shops and a facility belonging to a non-profit organization.

North Korea's Kim wraps up rare party congress with mass art performance North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wrapped up a rare congress at a mass indoor art performance on Wednesday, state media said, but made no mention of a reported military parade. Kim and other North Korean officials packed into an indoor stadium in Pyongyang to watch performances from military and civilian art troupes and youth groups, mostly on themes of glorifying Kim's leadership and reinforcing messaging from the congress, news agency KCNA reported on Thursday.

Greece seeks to send 1,450 migrants back to Turkey Greece is pushing to return 1,450 people currently in migrant reception centres on Lesbos and other Aegean islands to Turkey, Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said on Thursday, calling on Ankara to respect asylum agreements with the European Union. Mitarachi said Greece had submitted a request to the European Commission and EU border agency Frontex for the immediate return of the migrants, who he said had arrived from Turkey and whose asylum applications had been rejected.

Hong Kong police arrest 11 on suspicion of aiding activists' escape attempt Hong Kong police have arrested 11 people over suspected crimes related to assisting a group of 12 pro-democracy activists accused of trying to flee the city by boat for Taiwan last year, police and activists said on Thursday. Those arrested included eight men and three women, aged 18 to 72, a police statement said.

Wary of Biden tack on Iran, Israel revisits military options, newspaper says Israel is revising military options for a possible clash with Iran, an Israeli newspaper reported on Thursday, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government braces for differences with the incoming U.S. administration on Iranian nuclear policy.

U.S. President Donald Trump delighted Netanyahu by quitting the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposing sanctions on it that had been lifted in return for limits on activities that could, potentially, produce nuclear weapons in the future. Ugandans choose between long-time leader and popstar politician

Ugandans wearing face masks to brave the pandemic voted on Thursday as police and soldiers patrolled the streets of the capital during a presidential election pitting long-time leader Yoweri Museveni against popular singer Bobi Wine. Lines of voters were growing by midday at polling stations visited by Reuters in Kampala, a stronghold for an opposition galvanized by popstar-turned-politician Wine despite a campaign scarred by deadly crackdowns. Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny could face 3.5 years in jail on return to Russia: lawyer

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is on a national wanted list for allegedly violating the terms of a suspended prison sentence and risks being jailed for three and a half years when he returns to Russia this weekend, one of his lawyers said on Thursday. Navalny announced on Wednesday that he plans to fly back to Russia on Sunday for the first time since he was poisoned in August with a Novichok nerve agent, despite the risk of being jailed on his return from Germany.

(With inputs from agencies.)