Nepalese police detained 25 protesting journalists who were demanding that the government find and punish three former rebels who allegedly killed a reporter.
The journalists gathered outside the offices of the prime minister and key ministries, shouting: "We want justice. Find the killers. Home minister resign," as they held up pictures of slain journalist Birendra Shah.
Shah was abducted on Oct. 5 while on a reporting trip. His body was dug up from a forested area near Bhaimathghat, a village about 160km south of Kathmandu last week.
Yubaraj Bidrohi of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists said police broke up the protest and detained 25 of them. They were being held at a police station in Kathmandu, he said.
A police official, who did not give his name because he was not authorized to give information to the media, said the journalists had not been charged, but that they were detained because they were protesting in a restricted and sensitive area.
It was not immediately clear when they would be freed.
The leaders of Nepal's former rebels, known as Maoists, said last week that three of their members were involved in Shah's death, but said the killing was not ordered by the leadership.
The three -- who remain on the run -- were kicked out of the Maoist political party.
Shah, who is a stringer for the Kathmandu-based Nepal FM news radio station and local newspapers, had written about the rebels' allegedly beating opponents and profiteering from timber smuggling.
Maoists have refused to comment on the allegations.
Shah's disappearance sparked widespread condemnation from parliament as well as street protests.
Last year, the Maoists gave up their decade-long armed revolt, which resulted in the deaths of at least 13,000 people.
During the insurgency, the rebels were known to frequently threaten, beat and kill journalists who wrote critical articles about them.
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
‘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
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