Communist rebels in Nepal announced yesterday they will extend their unilateral ceasefire by one month to help pressure the king to restore democracy.
Prachanda, the leader of the Maoist rebels, said they decided on the extension after considering requests from home and abroad.
The three-month unilateral ceasefire was to have expired this weekend. The extension will offer a chance to find peace in Nepal, Prachanda said in a statement.
"After considering the plea from those in favor of peace and a stable political situation in the country, we decided to extend the ceasefire by one month," he said.
"Our party believes that this decision will help boost the movement against the autocratic regime and speed up the process for peace," he said.
Since declaring the initial unilateral ceasefire on Sept. 3 in the hope of reviving peace talks, the rebels have reached an agreement with an alliance of seven top political parties to push King Gyanendra to restore democracy.
Gyanendra seized absolute control of the government on Feb. 1 -- a move he said was needed to quell the communist insurgency.
The rebels and political parties also agreed to cooperate in reinstating parliament, forming a government and holding elections for a special assembly that would draft a new constitution -- a condition long sought by the rebels.
The rebels also said they would end their insurgency -- in which about 12,000 people have died since 1996 -- and give up their arms under international supervision if an election for a special assembly is held.
The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Chinese communist revolutionary Mao Zedong (毛澤東), have been fighting to topple Nepal's monarchy and establish a communist state.
The political parties have been organizing street protests against Gyanendra and the royal government.
A mass protest was planned for later yesterday in Kathmandu.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a