Nepal's government said it was deploying armed escorts for trucks carrying food into Kathmandu as fresh demonstrations broke out yesterday in the capital, besieged by a general strike called to demand a return to democracy following the king's seizure of power.
The royal government also offered cash incentives to drivers who defy the strike in Kathmandu, where supplies of essential items were running low.
The general strike, organized by opposition political parties since April 6, has forced most vehicles off the highways and kept markets closed in many cities across the country.
King Gyanendra fired the democratic government and seized power in February last year, saying he needed control to restore political order and end a communist insurgency that has killed nearly 13,000 people in the past decade.
The communist rebels are now backing a campaign, launched by a coalition of the country's major political parties, for a return to democracy. Many fear that breaking the strike would draw reprisals from the guerrillas.
"We will provide armed escorts to trucks transporting essential goods to Kathmandu," Dipendra Thapa, secretary at the ministry of works and transport, said yesterday.
The government also announced a 3,500 rupees (US$48) incentive payment for truck drivers who break the strike and haul food, fuel and other essentials on Nepal's highways, the only means of transportation in much of the country.
Also yesterday, the government forced several Kathmandu service stations to open and distribute rationed gasoline and diesel.
Meanwhile, hundreds of demonstrators defied a government ban on protests in Kathmandu, with hundreds marching in at least four parts of the city, many chanting anti-government slogans.
About 2,000 more were heading toward Kathmandu from the city's eastern farming suburb of Bhaktapur. Clerks and other workers at the city's supreme court walked out of their offices and demonstrated outside.
"We are here to join to show our support for the ongoing movement for democracy," said court clerk Janardan Purush Dhakal, who was leading the protest.
Police and protesters had clashed in the city a day earlier, as tens of thousands of angry Nepalis took to the streets across the country to demand a return to democracy.
The demonstrations were the largest since opponents of Gyanendra's royal dictatorship began a major protest campaign and nationwide strike that has halted vital transport and paralyzed major cities for the past 11 days.
An opposition coalition has appealed to Nepalis to support the campaign by not paying taxes, customs duties, interest on loans from state banks and payments to government utilities. The prices for what few vegetables can be found in Kathmandu's markets have risen fivefold during the strike. Chicken and mutton prices have doubled.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese