World briefs

IRAQ U.S.-backed Iraqi forces were fighting their way through a government complex in the heart of western Mosul after storming the buildings in an overnight raid, and were facing fierce counterattacks yesterday from the Islamic State group. Troops on the ground said the complex has not yet been fully secured and that they are battling a wave of intense IS counterattacks. 

PHILIPPINES The House of Representatives yesterday approved a bill to restore the death penalty by hanging, lethal injection or firing squad for drug offenses despite opposition from the influential Roman Catholic church and human rights groups.

THAILAND In a decision welcomed by rights groups, Thailand’s military yesterday withdrew criminal complaints against three human rights activists who issued a report alleging torture by security forces in the country’s insurgency-plagued south.

RUSSIA President Vladimir Putin yesterday pardoned a woman convicted of treason last year for sending text messages about military movements near Georgia’s breakaway republic.

NEPAL A general strike called by ethnic groups a day after police fire killed at least three protesters shut down markets, schools and transport in much of southern Nepal yesterday. Protesters blocked main highways and towns to enforce the general strike, attacked several government offices and vandalized a vehicle from the National Human Rights Commission, which had a team monitoring the situation. 

INDIA A court sentenced a university professor and four others to life imprisonment yesterday on charges of belonging to a banned communist rebel group and recruiting others to join them. The Maoist rebels have been fighting the Indian government for more than four decades, demanding land and jobs for tenant farmers and the poor.

EUROPEAN UNION A senior German official called yesterday for European Union countries to rally behind Donald Tusk, the former Polish prime minister who is seeking a second term in one of the bloc’s top positions.

AUSTRIA-TURKEY Austria’s foreign ministry says that Turkish hackers have again attacked its internet pages amid simmering tensions between the two countries. Spokesman Thomas Schnoell says the ministry’s home page was off line for several minutes.

US President Donald Trump has signed a scaled-back version of his controversial ban on many foreign travelers, hoping to avoid a new round of lawsuits and outrage while fulfilling a central campaign promise. His order still bars new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries and temporarily shuts down America’s refugee program.