TAIWAN MILITARY VETERANS CLASH WITH POLICE IN PENSION PROTEST
Protesters including senior military veterans pushed down a gate to Taiwan’s parliament building on Tuesday and clashed with police as they tried to storm in over pension cutbacks. One former colonel was in a critical condition in hospital after attempting to climb a wall and falling. The protests were sparked by government plans to reform the military pension system, part of a wider pension cutbacks program which triggered mass protests last year. Legislators passed a pension reform bill last June, cutting civil servants’ generous pension packages as the government warned it could no longer pay out on the high-interest deals. A separate bill targeting military pensions is expected to be discussed in the current parliament session. The backlash over the cuts is a major challenge for President Tsai Ing-wen, who has seen her popularity rating fall since her election two years ago. The presidential office appealed to protesters to remain calm and said the government had taken account of veterans’ concerns in drafting reforms.
MORE THAN 30 BELIEVED DEAD IN PNG QUAKE
More than 30 people are believed to have died after a powerful earthquake struck Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) mountainous interior, a report said on Tuesday as details of “extensive” damage began to emerge. The 7.5-magnitude tremor struck 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Porgera in the Pacific nation’s Enga province early Monday, with two strong aftershocks rattling the rugged region. Phone lines were largely cut, but the PNG newspaper cited Hela provincial administrator William Bando as saying there were casualties. It reported that at least 13 died in the Southern Highlands capital Mendi while 18 others were believed to have been killed in nearby Kutubu and Bosave. Some 300 people were injured, it added, and properties damaged, with reports of landslides and sinkholes. The Papua New Guinea Today website, quoting Catholic priest Pius Hal, said at least 10 died, including four children, in quake-triggered landslides. Agence France-Presse was unable to confirm the death toll.
AFGHAN TALIBAN CALLS FOR DIRECT TALKS WITH THE US
The Taliban has called for direct talks with the US to find a “peaceful solution” to the conflict in Afghanistan, in an apparent policy reversal after months of escalating attacks. In a statement posted late Monday, the Taliban said it “calls on American officials to talk directly to the Political Office of Islamic Emirate regarding a peaceful solution to the Afghan quandary,” using its official name. There has been no response to the offer from US officials, who have historically insisted any talks must include the Afghan government in Kabul. The call for talks comes a day before the second round of a regional peace conference in Kabul, where representatives from 25 countries will discuss counter- terrorism and conflict resolution strategies. Civilian casualties surged in recent months as militants from the Taliban, as well as Islamic State group, unleashed a wave of bloodshed in urban areas and on security forces in response to a new open- ended military policy by US President Donald Trump.