World briefs

AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN Severe winter weather has struck parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan, with heavy snowfall, rains and flash floods that left at least 54 people dead, officials said yesterday as authorities struggled to clear and reopen highways and evacuate people to safer places.

THAILAND An Austrian BASE jumper was rescued in southern Thailand yesterday after being stuck for hours almost 200 meters above the ground when his parachute became snagged on the rocky side of a cliff.

CHINA said yesterday it barred the head of the internationally renowned organization Human Rights Watch from entering Hong Kong due to the group’s support for the territory’s ongoing protest movement. More on p8

CHINA The government says its diplomats and government officials will fully exploit foreign social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter that are blocked off to its own citizens. Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang yesterday likened the government to “diplomatic agencies and diplomats of other countries” in embracing such platforms to provide “better communication with the people outside and to better introduce China’s situation and policies.”

IRAQ US troops cleared rubble and debris from a military base housing American soldiers in western Iraq yesterday, days after it was struck by a barrage of Iranian ballistic missiles in a major escalation between the two longtime foes The Iranian attack was in retaliation for the U.S. drone strike near Baghdad airport that killed a top Iranian commander, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, prompting angry calls to avenge his slaying.

PAKISTAN A court yesterday overturned the death sentence given to the country’s ex-military ruler, Pervez Musharraf [pictured], a former close U.S. ally in the war against terror. The Lahore High Court ruled that the special tribunal formed to try the ex-president was not legal.

SPAIN Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont took his seat as a member of the European Parliament yesterday despite facing an arrest warrant against him in Spain. More on p14

RUSSIA Talks in Moscow about bringing an end to Libya’s long-running civil war have been adjourned for the night after the country’s rival governments yesterday considered ceasefire proposals from Russia and Turkey.

NEPAL’s aviation authority yesterday asked everyone in the Himalayan nation’s only international airport to cut down on heating this winter to save power so that key equipment can run without disruption.