They came by the hundreds, in big cities and rural hamlets, to heckle, plead, badger and, in some instances, to protest the protests themselves.

US-backed Iraqi security forces captured Mosul airport on Thursday, state television said, in a major gain in operations to drive Islamic State from the western half of the city.

Pakistan has been struck by a wave of militant attacks in recent weeks which have killed at least 130 people. One attack at a Sufi shrine in southern Sindh province killed 90 people.

The last time Malcolm Turnbull spoke with one of the handful of world leaders Australia might consider among its closest friends, the verbal stoush that ensued ended up becoming a global story.

The male passenger asked a Pakistani man and woman if they had a bomb in their luggage.