World
Nicaragua shutters church-linked universities

MANAGUA: Nicaragua on Tuesday shuttered two universities with ties to the Catholic Church just a day after stripping 18 employer unions of their legal status in an ongoing clampdown on dissent.

Since antigovernment protests were violently put down in 2018, leaving more than 350 dead, hundreds imprisoned and more than 100,000 in exile, rights groups, the United Nations and Western governments have accused President Daniel Ortega's government of illegally attempting to crush any and all opposition.

RAISE YOUR FLAG A man holds up Nicaragua’s flag at Saint Peter’s Square during Pope Francis’ weekly praying of the Angelus in the Vatican on Aug. 21, 2022. AFP FILE PHOTO