Nepalese police firing tear gas and rubber bullets clashed yesterday with thousands of pro-democracy protesters who defied a curfew despite warnings that violators could be shot, opposition parties said.
A second death was reported among demonstrators demanding that King Gyanandra give up the absolute powers he seized 14 months ago.
Home Minister Kamal Thapa said 253 people had been arrested yesterday and blamed the protests on Maoist rebels.
"The ongoing protest program is clearly that of the Maoists," Thapa told reporters. "They are trying to create armed revolution, so the government has been compelled to impose the curfew."
In Kathmandu, a spokesman for one of the sidelined political parties that organized the protest against Gyanendra said thousands of people were on the streets in small pockets despite the curfew and tight security.
Dozens of protesters were injured, including a 17-year-old man hit by a rubber bullet allegedly fired by police in the capital, said Rajendra Pandey, of the Communist Party of Nepal. A doctor at the Kathmandu Hospital had earlier confirmed the shooting.
In Boudha on the outskirts of Kathmandu, around 1,500 protesters demanded the restoration of democracy and chanted anti-royal slogans. Others blocked roads throughout the capital with burning tires while police used tear gas to disperse them, a police officer said.
"We are trying to resist and contain them," said the police officer, who did not want to be identified.
In the southwestern town of Bharatpur around 2,000 protesters clashed with police firing tear gas after a woman died overnight from injuries sustained in a demonstration, Narayan Sharma, a local journalist, said by phone.
"Protesters rained stones on police and they responded by firing tear gas," Sharma said.
It was the second day of violence in Bharatpur, 220km southwest of Kathmandu, after thousands went on a rampage on Saturday.
The death, reported by a hospital spokesman in the town, was the second in four days of protests called by a seven-party alliance in concert with Maoist rebels. It was set to end yesterday.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS