Maoists clash with police

Riot police clashed with Maoists demonstrators outside the Singha Durbar government complex today, with police firing 14 rounds of tear gas and batons against the flag-waving activists.

Tens of thousands of Maoist activists have been protesting the “unconstitutional” move of the president who reinstated the army chief in May, provoking Maoist prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) to quit.

The demonstrations are the biggest since Prachanda’s resignation and have placed Nepal’s fragile 3-year-old peace process on a precipice.

Both sides today urged restraint and the government back-tracked on a proposal to restrict the area in which the Maoists could protest.

The protestors also surrounded the house of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, who is currently ill with a fever.

His troubles are building. Besides the Maoists, his government has faced another challenge after civil servants went on strike after a female minister slapped a district government official.

With the Maoists continuing to blockade parliament and preventing the budget pass, his government are also running out of money.

Other than the brief clash today, protests have been fairly peaceful. The Maoists brought musical instruments to protests and Maoist leaders have dubbed their activism as “a celebration”.

Maldives and the Asian cold war

“You have to go to a tropical paradise to find the latest front in the brewing cold war between China and India,” says Jeremy Page of the Times.

I’ve been wanting to write about this issue for some time but Jeremy has beaten me to it.

His article is really good — I advise a read

In August, the Maldives and India signed a deal to allow India to build radar across the tropical archipelago. It’s a controversial move for the Maldives, a country which prides itself on sovereignty and independence.