CHINA: Former chairman of the Bank of China, Liu Liange, has been charged with taking financial advantage of his positions at the bank and previously as president of the Export-Import Bank of China, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate said in a statement posted on social media.

Mr Liu has been charged with helping others with loans and personnel appointments in return for property and cash and with making loans in violation of regulations, causing significant losses, the Xinhua News Agency said.

PHILIPPINES: Philippine troops clashed with Muslim militants in a fight that left at least seven soldiers and two rebels dead in a fog-shrouded hinterland in the south, military officials said today.

Military chief General Romeo Brawner Jnr said four other soldiers had been wounded in the army offensive on Sunday against fighters of the Dawlah Islamiyah, near Munai town in Lanao del Norte province.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: At least 26 fighters and an unconfirmed number of bystanders were killed in a gun battle between warring tribes in Papua New Guinea, police said today.

A tribe, their allies and mercenaries were allegedly on their way to attack a neighbouring tribe when they were ambushed on Sunday in Enga province in the South Pacific nation’s remote highlands, Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary Acting Superintendent George Kakas said.

UNITED NATIONS: The Taliban set unacceptable conditions for attending a United Nations-sponsored meeting about Afghanistan, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said today.

Mr Guterres said the Taliban demands included the exclusion of Afghan civil society members from the talks in Doha, Qatar, and treatment that amounted to official recognition of the Taliban as the country’s legitimate rulers.