In the Maldives, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of opposition supporters who took to the streets after Supreme Court has ordered immediate release and retrial of the exiled former President Mohamed Nasheed and other opposition leaders. Calling for the resignation of President Abdulla Yameen the opposition said in a statement that the Supreme Court's verdict effectively ends President's authoritarian rule. <br/><br/>In a tweet, former President Nasheed welcomed the Supreme Court's ruling and called for the immediate release of political prisoners and the restoration of their civil and political rights. The ruling clears the way for the Maldives' first democratically elected leader Mohamed Nasheed to return from exile and run for president in elections due this year. Meanwhile, the government sacked the country's police chief last night saying President Yameen had been unable to contact him.