International

WARSAW: Activists in Poland toppled a statue of a prominent Solidarity-era priest early on Thursday amid allegations that he sexually abused minors, a protest against what they called a failure by the Catholic Church and society to resolve the problem of clergy sex abuse. The protest came only hours before Pope Francis gathered Catholic leaders from around the world for …

BEIRUT: A car bomb on Thursday killed oil workers and fighters from a US-backed force battling the militant Islamic State group in east Syria, the Kurdish-led alliance said, with a monitor putting the death toll at 20. A spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said the attack killed mostly oil workers, as well as fighters in the village of …

A senior Indian Olympic official warned on Friday that the country faced isolation after it was effectively barred from hosting Olympic-related events for refusing visas to Pakistani shooters. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it had frozen talks over organising major events in India and told sports federations not to hold tournaments there until the row was resolved. The IOC demanded “clear …

SIALKOT: Relatives of the Pakistani prisoner murdered in Jaipur jail by Indian inmates on Wednesday urged the government to take up the matter at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). They also sought to have his body brought back to the country. Shakirullah was serving a 20-year jail term after he had been arrested and convicted under India’s Unlawful Activi­ties (Preven­tion) Act …

A fire in Bangladesh that killed at least 67 people in the oldest part of the capital shows the lapses in public safety that still plague the South Asian country despite its rapid economic growth. While the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina touts the garment factories and gleaming office towers in Dhaka’s north side as signs of progress, illegal shops and …

NEW DELHI: India’s opposition Congress party on Thursday echoed criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he was using the Pulwama tragedy for electoral gains and asked him to own moral responsibility for the intelligence failure in the killing of 40 paramilitary men by a home-grown suicide bomber. The party’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala accused Mr Modi of shooting for …

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has met with a Chinese vice premier in a bid to strengthen relations in the face of criticism from the West over the kingdom’s human rights record and its war in Yemen. Prince Mohammed held bilateral talks on Friday with Han Zheng at the Great Hall of the People before presiding at a China-Saudi …

India’s Supreme Court on Friday ordered bolstered protection for Kashmiris who have faced discrimination and violent backlash from Indian citizens in the aftermath of the Pulwama suicide blast in which 40 Indian soldiers were killed in occupied Kashmir last week. The top court told state governments and police chiefs to ensure there are no “attacks, threats or social boycott” over …

LAHORE: In response to an Indian minister’s statement that his country has decided to stop the flow of water to Pakistan from its share in the rivers under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), Pakistan says it has no concern if India diverts water of eastern rivers (Ravi, Sutlej and Beas). Talking to Dawn on Thursday, secretary of Pakistan’s Ministry of Water Resources …

Ali Ahmad Alizai has no choice but to obey when the Taliban come knocking on his door demanding food, shelter or a slice of his hard-earned harvest to fund their insurgency. “The Taliban run a dictatorship here. They have their own laws. We have some security, but no freedom,” the farmer told AFP by telephone from a militant-controlled district of Afghanistan’s southern …