NEPAL
Tibet protesters arrested
Police arrested 11 people in Kathmandu on suspicion of “anti-China activities” yesterday morning, the anniversary of the 1959 rebellion against China’s rule of Tibet. “Some of the people we arrested were Tibetan but we have not interrogated all of them yet,” police spokesman Uttam Subedi told reporters. Nepal, home to about 20,000 Tibetans, is under intense pressure from Beijing over the exiles. In the lead-up to yesterday’s 54th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising, the Nepalese government re-exerted its security efforts. Nepalese Ministry of Home affairs spokesman Shanker Koirala told local journalists last week that the government was making “necessary security arrangements in areas deemed sensitive, to foil any untoward incidents.” Tibetan anger at Beijing’s control erupted into violent riots against Chinese rule in the Tibetan regional capital Lhasa and adjacent areas in March 2008. Speaking with reporters last week, Tibetan activists in Kathmandu said they had planned subdued protests this year, citing an increased security presence around their community.
CHINA
City finds dead pigs in river
Officials say they have fished out 900 dead pigs from a Shanghai river that is a water source for city residents. Officials are investigating where the pigs came from. A statement posted on Saturday on the city’s Agriculture Committee’s Web site says they have not found any evidence that the pigs were dumped into the river or of any animal epidemic. The statement said the city and the Songjiang district government started retrieving the pigs on Friday. By Saturday afternoon they had recovered and disposed of more than 900. The statement said the water and environmental protection bureaus are ramping up monitoring of the river’s water quality.
UNITED KINGDOM
Project unearths Van Dyck
A filthy oil painting locked away in a museum in the northeast of England was on Saturday revealed to be an original masterpiece by Van Dyck. The portrait was spotted when it was photographed for an ambitious project to catalogue every single one of Britain’s oil paintings in public ownership in an online museum. Depicting Olivia Boteler Porter, lady-in-waiting to Henrietta Maria, the wife of English king Charles I, the 17th-century painting had been listed as “a copy after Sir Anthony Van Dyck.” However, when experts took a closer look, they realized that the oval portrait, housed in The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle in County Durham, was an original. “To find a portrait by Van Dyck is rare enough, but to find one of his ‘friendship portraits’ like this, of the wife of his best friend in England [Endymion Porter], is extraordinarily lucky,” said Bendor Grosvenor, an art historian and dealer. He said the painting had been in such a bad state that it would have likely only fetched up to ￡5,000 (US$7,500) at auction as a Van Dyck copy, but now, it could be valued at up to ￡1 million.
BRAZIL
Protesting cyclists bare all
Scores of nude cyclists rolled through Sao Paulo on Saturday to call attention to the bare facts: The city is dangerous for bikers, and short on dedicated bike lanes. Some demonstrators did a “Full Monty” ride while others opted for a relatively demure topless protest that was carried out in some other Brazilian cities, like Porto Alegre, and in Peru’s capital, Lima. “When we take it all off, we are showing just how vulnerable we are when we are not in a car,” one demonstrator told local media. In Lima, protesters were demanding bike lanes and better traffic lighting. They said they also were trying to raise awareness of cycling as a healthy and environmentally friendly mode of transport.
SPAIN
King leaves hospital
King Juan Carlos has left a hospital six days after successfully undergoing surgery for herniated discs in his lower spine. The 75-year-old monarch thanked waiting journalists for their patience and said “I’m very well, my back doesn’t hurt or anything,” from the front passenger seat as he was driven home on Saturday. The operation was the head of state’s fourth in 12 months, and the 12th time he has undergone surgery during his lifetime. Juan Carlos had hip surgery in November and has had other health issues in the last two years, including needing knee surgery and the removal of a benign lung tumor.
GUATEMALA
Genocide trial suspended
An appeals court has suspended the trial date for retired General Efrain Rios Montt, a former dictator accused of genocide. Court officials said on Saturday that the temporary injunction delays the proceedings scheduled to begin on March 19. It would be the first genocide case against a former head of state in Latin America. The injunction was requested by military lawyers challenging Judge Miguel Angel Galvez’s decision to exclude expert witnesses in Rios Montt’s defense. Rios Montt is accused of overseeing the slaughter of at least 1,771 indigenous people between March 23, 1982, and Aug. 8, 1983, while serving as de facto president during the country’s civil war. Defense attorney Moses Galindo calls the judge’s ruling a “gross violation of constitutional rights.”
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
UNSCHEDULED VISIT: ‘It’s a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon go away,’ said Johan Helberg of the 135m container ship that run aground near his house A man in Norway awoke early on Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion. For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135m NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway. Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone. “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television
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