The world's tallest statue celebrating India's unity was unveiled in the western state of Gujurat on Wednesday.

Angry local communities have warned India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stay away from the inauguration on Wednesday of the world's biggest statue, a 182 metre (600 feet) high tribute to an independence hero.

The figure holds a helmet in one hand, showing the air is safe to breathe, and a symbol of the sun in the other, representing hope and new energy.

US supporters of improved relations with Cuba joined the top leadership of the Caribbean country on Sunday to inaugurate a replica of a New York statue of its independence hero Jose Marti.

Bangladesh on Friday removed a controversial statue which religious radicals claim represents an "un-Islamic" Greek goddess from outside the country's highest court.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been accused of "kowtowing" to hardline Islamists after expressing dislike for a controversial statue that religious radicals want removed from the Supreme Court.