Nepal's government has released more political detainees and plans to restore some mobile phone services snapped after King Gyanendra imposed emergency rule last month, officials said yesterday.
At least six politicians or activists, including Prakash Sharan Mahat, a former junior minister of foreign affairs, were released Wednesday in Katmandu after weeks of detention, Chief District Officer Baman Prasad Neupane said. Two others were released elsewhere.
Police have detained more than 500 politicians, human rights activists and journalists since Gyanendra, a constitutional monarch, seized power Feb. 1, suspending many civil liberties. Several leaders of political parties have been put under house arrest.
The house arrest rules for some of the political leaders have been relaxed, the Kathmandu Post newspaper said. Madhav Nepal, chief of the Communist Party of Nepal, was seen traveling in a car in Katmandu, although security officials escorting didn't allow him to speak to reporters, it said. Several politicians were released two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, a senior Nepalese telecommunications official said postpaid mobile phone services would resume next week.
"The process will start from Sunday. The subscribers will have to register again, providing all personal details, before their connections are activated," said Madankaji Shakya, a Nepal Telecom official.
Mobile phone services were shut down, apparently to prevent opposition supporters from organizing protest rallies -- now illegal under the state of emergency -- and alerting each other about police presence. But the shutdown has hurt common people because a third of Nepal's phone lines are cellular. On Wednesday, the country's main royalist party, the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party, urged Gyanendra to lift curbs on political parties, release all detainees and restore fundamental rights.
Gyanendra said he imposed the emergency because the government failed to quash a Maoist rebellion that has killed more than 10,500 people. The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, have been fighting since 1996 to abolish the monarchy and establish a communist state.
The king's actions have provoked an international outcry, with several nations cutting aid that Nepal needs to battle the rebels and fight widespread poverty.
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
The death toll from a shooting in western Afghanistan rose to 11 on Saturday, after gunmen targeted civilians at a picnic spot in Herat, the provincial authority said. Bullet marks were visible on a wall of the Sayed Mohammad Agha Shia shrine, while bloodstains marked a blanket abandoned at the scene. “Eleven people have been recorded dead and eight others wounded from Friday’s incident, with the condition of two of the wounded reported as critical,” Herat’s information office said in a statement. The update raises a toll of seven killed provided on Friday by the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs
RSS