Indonesia protests force U-turn on perks

Indonesian political parties have agreed to cut lawmakers’ benefits, President Prabowo Subianto said on Sunday, in a bid to calm anti-government protests that have killed at least five people in the country's worst violence in decades.

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Protests began on Monday over what demonstrators called excessive pay and housing allowances for parliamentarians, escalating into riots on Friday after a motorcycle rideshare driver was killed during police action at a protest site.

Homes of political party members and state buildings were ransacked or set ablaze, shaking investor confidence in the Southeast Asian economy and triggering a steep selloff on its stocks and currency markets on Friday.