RUNGIS, France (AFP) –- French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday defended his government’s hotly contested pensions overhaul in rare comments about the topic. Hundreds of thousands of people have gone on strike or taken to the street on five separate occasions in recent weeks to protest against the proposed changes. They include increasing the age of retirement to 64 from 62 and raising the number of years of contributions required to receive a full pension. At one of the largest gatherings in late January, more than 1 million protested across the country, the interior ministry said. Fewer demonstrators took part in rallies on Thursday last week, but unions said they were merely aiming to keep up the momentum ahead of a mass walkout planned for March 7.

 

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PESHAWAR (Reuters) – A key border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan remained closed for a third day, with thousands of goods vehicles stuck and businesses facing losses as officials from both sides try to broker a solution. Taliban authorities on Sunday closed Torkham, the main point of transit for travellers and goods between Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan. Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi, director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said up to 6,000 trucks loaded with goods had been stuck on both sides since Sunday. Sarhadi said Afghanistan relied on goods from Pakistan for much of its needs and many trucks were also destined for Central Asia using Afghanistan as a transit point. Residents had reported heavy gunfire on Monday morning near the Torkham border crossing, but the Taliban official had denied any clashes and said the situation was under control. Disputes linked to the 2,600 km (1,615 mile) border have been a bone of contention between the neighbors for decades.

 

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LONDON (Reuters) -- Scottish finance minister Kate Forbes became the latest candidate hoping to replace Nicola Sturgeon as the country’s first minister, but her stance on gay marriage upset some in her own party. Forbes, a 32-year-old Christian belonging to the governing Scottish National Party (SNP), was elected to parliament in 2016 and took office as finance secretary just four years later. Sturgeon’s announcement has jeopardized the SNP’s fight for independence as the Westminster government has blocked its attempts to hold a second vote after a 2014 referendum saw Scotland vote 55% to 45% to remain part of the United Kingdom. Making her pitch for the contest, which will pit her against health minister Humza Yousaf and former minister Ash Regan, Forbes said earlier on Twitter: “I can’t sit back and watch our nation thwarted on the road to self-determination.” 

 

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Tuesday urged major railroads and Congress to take significant steps to boost train safety and said he would pursue new regulations without action by lawmakers after a toxic derailment in Ohio. The Biden administration has faced sharp criticism from many Republicans for its response to the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio of a Norfolk Southern operated train loaded with toxic chemicals. The accident caused a fire and sent a cloud of smoke over the town, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate while railroad crews drained and burned off chemicals. Buttigieg told reporters he wants major rail companies to adopt safer tank cars by 2025, rather than 2029 as required under a law passed in 2015. 

 

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BAMAKO (Reuters) -- Three United Nations peacekeepers were killed and five were seriously injured after their convoy hit an improvised explosive device in central Mali, the UN peacekeeping mission in the West African country said on Tuesday on Twitter. Mali is struggling to stem a takfiri insurgency that took root after a 2012 coup and has since spread from the West African country’s arid north. Thousands have died and millions have been displaced across the Sahel region. Some of the groups have links to Al-Qaeda and Daesh. At least 281 peacekeepers have been killed in Mali since the start of the mission in 2013, making it the deadliest UN peacekeeping mission in the world. 

 

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TUNIS (Reuters) -- Rached Ghannouchi, Tunisia’s former parliament speaker and head of its biggest political party, appeared before an investigative judge on Tuesday to be questioned on suspicion of incitement against the police, which he and his Ennahda party deny. The case against Ghannouchi comes after a wave of recent arrests of critics of President Kais Saied, including several senior Ennahda figures, that rights organizations have criticized as evidence of a crackdown on dissent. Neither the police nor the judge has commented publicly on the case. Ghannouchi’s lawyer said the accusation was based on a complaint by police about a speech he gave last year at the funeral of a party member, saying the deceased “did not fear a ruler or a tyrant, he only feared God”. The lawyer said the police objected to the reference to a tyrant and that they viewed the language as close to that used by Islamist militants to describe secular authorities.