Nepal Overthrew Its King Years Ago. Now, Some Want Him Back.
NEED TO KNOW
Nepal Overthrew Its King Years Ago. Now, Some Want Him Back.
NEPAL
When Nepal’s deposed monarch, King Gyanendra, flew into Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport in March, he was given a hero’s welcome: Thousands of his would-be subjects were there to greet him.
“Vacate the royal palace for the king,” the crowds chanted. “Come back king, save the country. We want monarchy.”
In the months since, those protests have grown and sometimes turned violent, with at least two killed in standoffs with the police.
The protests ignited, Nepalis say, because they have grown frustrated with the republic: It has not brought about political stability, clean government, turned around the economy or delivered on its promises to improve life for around 30 million Nepalis.
“It shows a latent undercurrent finally coming to the fore: A dissatisfied nation is expressing its frustration with the political elite that has been in power for two decades,” wrote New Lines magazine. “A litany of scams and corrupt deals has eroded public trust in the government, creating a serious crisis of impunity and political legitimacy.”
Gyanendra, 77, was crowned in 2001 after his nephew killed King Birendra, his father, and eight other members of the royal Shah family before shooting himself.
He ruled as head of state but as per the constitutional monarchy at the time, he had no executive or political power until 2005, when he seized control of the government, saying it was necessary to defeat the anti-monarchy Maoist rebels, who had been fighting a decade-long civil war that resulted in thousands of deaths.
The king disbanded the government and parliament, jailed politicians and journalists, and declared a state of emergency, using the military to cement control over the country.
A year later, he was forced to back down after mass protests broke out. Nepal then established a multi-party government, which signed a peace deal with the Maoists. In 2008, parliament voted to abolish the country’s 240-year-old Hindu monarchy, transforming the country into a secular republic. The king stepped down.
But since then, Nepal has had 13 governments – five prime ministers in the past five years alone – and undergone multiple economic shocks that have led to spiraling inflation and chronic unemployment. As a result, Nepalis like Kulraj Shrestha, 50, who had taken part in the 2006 protests against the king, are now rethinking their positions.
“The worst thing that is happening to the country is massive corruption, and all politicians in power are not doing anything for the country,” Shrestha told the Associated Press. “I was in the protests that took away monarchy hoping it would help the country, but I was mistaken and the nation has further plunged so I have changed my mind.”
Analysts say that discontent with the government has been growing for years.
“The delivery of public services has not met the expectations of the people,” wrote the Lowy Institute. “Cases of corruption had been increasing over the years. These factors created the conditions for the re-emergence of the hitherto dormant royalists… The pro-monarchists accused several political parties, including that of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, of being corrupt and incompetent in leading the country.”
The protesters say they now want a constitutional monarchy that declares Nepal a parliamentary democracy with a Hindu identity: The Hindu population in Nepal fears the growth of other religions in the country that could put their Hindu majority at risk, analysts say.
Gyanendra has not commented on the calls for the return of the monarchy. However, the protests ignited after he made a statement during the country’s democracy day in February, asking for support to “save our nation” and push for “prosperity and progress.”
Meanwhile, despite the growing support for the return of the monarchy, it has a slim chance of returning to power, analysts say.
“For some disgruntled groups, it has become a retreat due to the incompetence of politicians who have grown increasingly self-centered,” Lok Raj Baral of the Nepal Center for Contemporary Studies told Agence France-Presse, adding that the monarchy itself was “a source of instability.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Israel-Iran Conflict Escalates as Nuclear Talks Collapse
ISRAEL/ IRAN
Israel and Iran traded intense strikes over the weekend, in the most severe escalation between the two countries in years, which halted Sunday’s nuclear talks between the United States and Iran and raised fears of a broader regional conflict breaking out, NPR reported.
Since early Friday morning, the two countries have been launching missiles and drones against each other, targeting cities and infrastructure, and killing dozens, after Israel launched a sweeping assault across Iran targeting key nuclear and military sites.
Over the weekend, Israeli officials said the Israel Defense Forces attacked around 80 targets, including Iran’s nuclear headquarters and two fuel sites. On Sunday, there were reports of explosions in the Iranian capital Tehran, with strikes also targeting Iran’s Defense Ministry.
Israel also claimed responsibility for the assassination of nine senior Iranian nuclear scientists, and intelligence and military officials believed to be central to Iran’s weapons program.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani, said at least 224 people were killed and more than 1,200 injured in the Israeli strikes.
Meanwhile, Tehran responded with the largest barrage of ballistic missiles and drones it has ever launched at Israel, striking residential areas and critical infrastructure across the country. At least 19 people have been killed in Israel since Friday. The strikes also heavily damaged the Weizmann Institute of Science and Israel’s largest oil refinery, CBS News said.
Iran condemned the Israeli strikes, while accusing the US of supporting Israel in the attacks. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned that Israel faces a “bitter and painful” fate following the attack.
“By God’s will, the powerful hand of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic will not let it (Israel) go unpunished,” he said.
At the same time, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that “Tehran will burn” if it continues firing missiles at Israel.
The weekend exchange came amid ongoing tensions over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, which the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog last week found in violation of the country’s commitments under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty for the first time in 20 years.
They also came as Washington and Tehran were scheduled to hold talks in Oman to reach a deal for Iran to limit its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi confirmed that Sunday’s talks were canceled but emphasized that “diplomacy and dialogue remain the only pathway to lasting peace,” according to the Times of Israel.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi countered that Tehran would not return to nuclear talks while Israeli attacks continued.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump denied involvement in the Israeli strikes but warned that if Iran retaliates against the US, it will face retribution “at levels never seen before.”
Trump urged both countries to reach an agreement to end the conflict. His remarks were echoed by other world leaders, who called for restraint and dialogue between the warring sides.
Still, neither side has signaled a willingness to de-escalate to date. Analysts warned the situation could spiral further – especially if the US gets dragged into the conflict, the BBC wrote.
UK to Launch National Inquiry into Grooming Gangs
UNITED KINGDOM
The United Kingdom will launch a full statutory inquiry into grooming gangs across England and Wales, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced over the weekend, marking a reversal of the government’s earlier position after coming under intense pressure from the public and high-profile figures such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the BBC reported.
Speaking ahead of the Group of Seven summit in Canada, Starmer said he would implement the recommendation of Baroness Louise Casey’s audit, which examined the nature and scale of group-based child sexual abuse.
The nearly 200-page audit – set to be published this week – is expected to outline institutional failures and missed opportunities to protect young girls over the past decade.
Sky News reported that the document is also likely to link illegal immigration to patterns of exploitation in grooming gangs and outline institutional failures and missed opportunities from an earlier report, the Jay Review, set up in 2014 to investigate grooming gangs in the English town of Rotherham.
Calls for a national inquiry gained traction earlier this year when billionaire Musk criticized the British government for ignoring the victims of the grooming gangs.
A public fight between the prime minister and Musk centered on high-profile cases where groups of men, mainly of Pakistani descent, were convicted of sexually abusing and raping predominantly young white girls in towns such as Rotherham and Rochdale, the BBC said.
Musk criticized Starmer for not backing a national inquiry into the matter following a request from the local authority in the northern English town of Oldham, where police found girls under 18 were sexually exploited by groups of men in the 2000s and 2010s. Musk also alleged that Starmer failed to bring perpetrators to justice when he was England’s chief prosecutor between 2008 and 2013, a charge that the prime minister vigorously denied.
Because the cases in Oldham and similar ones in several other towns involved predominantly white girls abused by men largely from Pakistani backgrounds, the issue has been used to link child sexual abuse to immigration, and to accuse politicians of covering up the crimes out of a fear of appearing racist, the Associated Press wrote.
In January, the government had stopped short of launching a national inquiry despite internal and external pressure, citing the Jay Review as having already examined the issue in depth.
Baroness Casey also initially dismissed the need for a national inquiry but changed her position after reviewing evidence of institutional failures and unaddressed abuses.
The national inquiry’s announcement was met with a mix of praise and criticism by Starmer’s opponents.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch called the decision “too little, too late,” accusing Starmer of only acting when directed by an official report. However, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage hailed it as a “welcome U-turn” and emphasized that the inquiry “cannot be a whitewash.”
Kenya Arrests Officers Over Blogger’s Death In Police Custody
KENYA
Kenyan authorities over the weekend arrested a senior police officer in connection with the death of blogger and activist Albert Ojwang in police custody, after mass protests erupted in the capital Nairobi this week, following a report refuting police claims that he died from a self-inflicted injury, the Associated Press reported.
Kenya’s police watchdog, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, said security cameras at the station had been tampered with and disks were formatted a day after the blogger died in his cell.
On Friday, officials detained Samson Talam, the officer commanding the central police station in Nairobi where Ojwang was held.
Talam’s arrest came a day after authorities detained another officer from the station for their involvement in the death.
Local media and police officials said six officers are being investigated, CNN wrote.
Ojwang, a teacher, was arrested earlier this month in western Kenya for allegedly publishing “false information” about a senior police official and was transported more than 240 miles to Nairobi.
The blogger died two days later in his cell, with officers initially claiming Ojwang died after “hitting his head against the cell wall.”
Last week, government pathologist Bernard Midia found that the victim had a “head injury, neck compression and other injuries spread all over the body that are pointing toward assault.”
The death and the pathologist’s report sparked outrage in Kenya, with demonstrators taking to the capital’s streets last week to condemn police brutality and the targeting of government critics.
They demanded the resignation of the country’s police deputy chief Eliud Lagat, whose complaint allegedly led to Ojwang’s arrest.
On Wednesday, President William Ruto called the death “heartbreaking and unacceptable” and demanded a “swift, transparent, and credible investigation.”
Even so, Kenyan police have come under fire repeatedly over the past few years for brutality and extrajudicial killings.
Ojwang’s death comes nearly a year after activists were killed or abducted by police during anti-government protests over a controversial finance bill.
DISCOVERIES
The Cloud Makers
Penguin feces act as great fertilizer thanks to their rich concentrations of nitrogen, phosphate, and other nutrients necessary for plants.
But scientists recently discovered that the birds’ droppings – also known as guano – play an unexpected role in the formation of clouds over Antarctica.
“This shows a deep connection between the natural ecosystem emissions and atmospheric processes, where emissions from both local seabird and penguin colonies and marine microbiology have a synergistic role that can impact clouds and climate,” Matthew Boyer, lead author of the new study, said in a statement.
For their study, Boyer and his colleagues focused on a colony of 60,000 Adélie penguins living near the Marambio Base on the Antarctic Peninsula. The penguins mainly feed on krill and fish, and produce a guano rich in nitrogen. This nitrogen gas breaks down into ammonia and mixes sulfur compounds in the atmosphere that later turn into aerosol particles.
The particles eventually provide a surface for water vapor to condense and form clouds, explained Smithsonian Magazine.
The researchers realized this after setting up detection instruments five miles away from the colony to measure the concentration of ammonia and other gases in the atmosphere.
They found that when the wind blew from the birds’ colony their devices picked up huge concentrations as high as 13.5 parts per billion, which is 1,000 times higher than the baseline value measured by the instruments.
These spikes in ammonia were followed by fog formation within three to four hours, indicating a rapid increase in cloud-seeding aerosol particles.
The findings further confirm ammonia’s role in cloud formation over Antarctica, with the researchers noting that the new study tested the connection to Adélie penguin droppings.
But they remain unclear about how these specific clouds affect the climate on the frozen continent – or the planet’s, for that matter.
“Clouds influence the surface radiation budget, which affects surface temperature. Therefore, clouds impact climate change,” Boyer told Popular Science. “This is true across the entire planet, not just in Antarctica.”
They did not analyze how the guano-influenced clouds impacted temperatures but hope that future research can answer that question.
“This study provides the most compelling evidence to date that ammonia and sulfur compounds… are an important source of cloud condensation nuclei during summertime in Antarctica,” said Greg Wentworth, an atmospheric scientist with the government of Alberta, Canada, who was not involved with the new research. “How remarkable is it that emissions from penguin poop and phytoplankton can kick-start chemistry in the atmosphere that can alter clouds and affect climate?”