Colombo, Feb 16 (PTI) The EU has urged Sri Lanka to repeal its controversial anti-terror law and replace with a new one in compliance with the international norms.

Sri Lanka's human rights record, particularly over the impunity enjoyed by law enforcement officers, has been the subject of international condemnation.

MOSCOW, February 16. /TASS/. No people are reported to be trapped in the partially collapsed building of ITMO University in St. Petersburg, the Russian Emergencies Ministry told TASS on Saturday.

"According to prior reports, there is no one under the rubble," the spokesperson said.

ISLAMABAD, 17 Feb 2019; AA: Pakistani and Turkish naval forces conducted joint exercises in the Arabian Sea, officials said.

A frigate from the Turkish Navy, TCG Gokceada, and Pakistan Navy ships Alamgir and ASLAT, and a long range maritime patrol aircraft participated in the Turgutreis III exercises.

"The main objective of the exercise was to enhance inter-operability between two brotherly navies," Pakistan Navy said in a statement.

Kolkata, Feb 16 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Saturday led a candle light march to protest the Pulwama attack and said the country stands by its brave jawans.

The march was held from Hazra crossing in south Kolkata to Mahatma Gandhi's statue in the Mayo Road area.

PUCHONG, Selangor State, Malaysia, Feb 17 (NNN- BERNAMA) – Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has given an assurance that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government will build one million affordable homes and low-cost houses, within a period of 10 years.

He said, although the government was facing various constraints in fulfilling the pledge, it would still be implemented, to help the less affordable group, especially those in the B40 group.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday informed the General Assembly of his intention to appoint Inger Andersen of Denmark as the new head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), his press office said.

Andersen is currently serving as director-general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a post she has held since 2015. She previously held various leadership positions at the World Bank and the United Nations, most recently as World Bank vice president for the Middle East and North Africa.

KANPUR: It was certainly an eye-opener for the Chief Superintendent Prof R K Maurya of Hallet Hospital who inspected the intensive care unit on Saturday morning. How have the poor patients been weeping blood in anguish at the prescription of the costly antibiotics injections? In rather factual findings he learnt of the exact fleecing of the poor money and fooling them in the name of treatment at the government hospital. It was also learnt that it costs from rupees ten to fifteen thousand per day at the expense of the hospital’s ICU.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump signed on Friday a national emergency to expand the U.S.-Mexico border wall and push for his signature campaign promise.

The move gave the president power to bypass Congress to get access to money, but it sparked a new round of legal and partisan battles almost immediately.

"I'm going to be signing a national emergency," Trump said at the Rose Garden in White House on Friday morning. "It's a great thing to do because we have an invasion of drugs, invasion of gangs, invasion of people."

Caracas, Feb 16; AFP?GANASHAKTI: Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro hit out at the United States on Friday for "stealing" billions of dollars and offering "crumbs" in return as humanitarian aid.

Tons of US aid is piling up in Colombia close to the border with Venezuela as opposition leader Juan Guaido has vowed to defy Maduro's efforts to block the supplies from entering the country.

"It's a booby trap, they're putting on a show with rotten and contaminated food," said Maduro, speaking at an event in the southeastern town of Ciudad Bolivar.

RAMALLAH, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinians expressed intense opposition to the Warsaw conference on the Middle East, co-organized by Poland and the United States, where Israel and some Arab states participated.

Palestinian observers told Xinhua in separate remarks that holding the conference deepened the Palestinians' concerns that the U.S. administration is seeking to jump over the Arab Peace Initiative at the expense of eliminating the Palestinian cause.

Washington, Feb 16 (PTI) Exuding confidence ahead of his high-profile meeting with Kim Jong-un later this month, US President Donald Trump has said the second summit will be a "very successful one" as he has established a "very good" relationship with the North Korean leader.

President Trump and Chairman Kim are scheduled to meet in Hanoi, Vietnam on February 27 and 28.

CAIRO, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Warsaw conference on the Middle East ended up without setting up the anti-Iran coalition, an overt goal of the United States that remains unrealized.

The two-day conference, co-organized from Feb. 13 to 14 by Poland and the United States, appeared to be a blatant attempt to build the coalition of hardliners.