others
US and Japan seek UN resolution calling on all nations to ban nuclear weapons in outer space
The United States and Japan are sponsoring a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on all nations not to deploy or develop nuclear weapons in space, the U.S. ambassador announced Monday.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield told a U.N. Security Council meeting that “any placement of nuclear weapons into orbit around the Earth would be unprecedented, dangerous, and unacceptable.”
The announcement that the U.S. and Japan had circulated a resolution follows White House confirmation last month that Russia has obtained a “troubling” anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared later that Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, claiming that the country has only developed space capabilities similar to those of the U.S.
The Outer Space Treaty ratified by about 114 countries including the United States and Russia prohibits the deployment of “nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction” in orbit or the stationing of “weapons in outer space in any other manner.”
Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, who chaired the council meeting, said that even during “the confrontational environment” of the Cold War, the rivals agreed to ensure that outer space remained peaceful. That prohibition on putting any weapons of mass destruction into orbit must be upheld today, she said.
Thomas-Greenfield said all parties to the treaty must commit to the ban on nuclear and other destructive weapons, “and we must urge all member states who are not yet party to it to accede to it without delay.”
She said the United States looks forward to engaging with the other members of the 15-nation Security Council “to forge consensus around this text.”
Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said Moscow's initial impression is that the proposed resolution is “yet another propaganda stunt by Washington,” “very politicized” and “divorced from reality.”
He criticized the text, saying the wording wasn’t worked out by experts nor discussed at specialized international platforms such as the U.N. Conference on Disarmament or the U.N. Committee on Outer Space.
Outside the Security Council, Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. is interested in engaging with parties to the treaty “to explore ways to increase confidence in compliance” with the ban on nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in outer space.
“The United States has already begun considering approaches to help ensure that countries cannot deploy nuclear weapons in orbit undetected, and we intend to engage with other states parties as our ideas evolve,” she said.
Thomas-Greenfield also reiterated to the council the United States is willing to engage Russia and China right now, without preconditions, on bilateral arms control issues.
But Russia’s Polyansky accused the West of “trying to inflict strategic defeat on my country.”
“Any interaction will only be possible if the United States and NATO review their anti- Russian course, and when they show that they are ready to participate in comprehensive dialogue, taking into account all of those strategic stability factors and removing all of the concerns that we have about our security,” he said.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres briefed the council, saying “geopolitical tensions and mistrust have escalated the risk of nuclear warfare to its highest point in decades.”
He said the movie “Oppenheimer” about Robert Oppenheimer, who directed the U.S. project during World War II that developed the atomic bomb, “brought the harsh reality of nuclear doomsday to vivid life for millions around the world.”
“Humanity cannot survive a sequel to Oppenheimer,” the U.N. chief said.
Japan’s nuclear power plant finishes first-year ocean discharge of wastewater amid backlash
Despite opposition and concern from at home and abroad, Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has finished its initial year of discharging nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean, according to the plant's operator.
The plant completed the fourth and final round of discharge for the current fiscal year ending in March, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said on Sunday.
As per the initial plan, approximately 31,200 tons of wastewater, containing radioactive tritium, was released into the ocean since the discharge started in August 2023, with each round of discharge carried out for about two weeks.
Earlier this week, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi emphasized continued efforts in monitoring Japan's ocean discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled plant, following his first visit to Fukushima prefecture since the discharge started.
Many countries are bouncing back from the pandemic but the poorest are not, UN says
Stressing that the discharge marks merely the initial phase of a long process, Grossi said that "much effort will be required in the lengthy process ahead," and reiterated the organization's stance on maintaining vigilance throughout the process.
While the Japanese government and TEPCO have asserted the safety and necessity of the discharge, concerns have been raised by neighboring countries and local stakeholders regarding environmental impacts.
"All fishermen are against ocean dumping. The contaminated water has flowed into what we fishermen call 'the sea of treasure', and the process will last for at least 30 years," said Haruo Ono, a fisherman in the town of Shinchi in Fukushima.
"There is no good reason to dump radioactive materials into the ocean. There is no reason to just dilute them and flush them away," said the man in his 70s.
"Is it really necessary, in the first place, to dump what has been stored in tanks into the sea? How can we say it's 'safe' when the discharged water clearly consists of harmful radioactive substances? I think the government and TEPCO must provide a solid answer," said Chiyo Oda, a resident of Fukushima's Iwaki city.
4 million people face 'acute food insecurity' in troubled Haiti, says UN food agency official
Concerns were fueled among the Japanese public over the recent leakage of contaminated water from pipes at the Fukushima plant.
Many countries are bouncing back from the pandemic but the poorest are not, UN says
Many countries are bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the poorest are not and a significant number are seeing their conditions deteriorate, the U.N. Development Program said Wednesday.
Achim Steiner, head of the agency, said that after two decades during which rich and poor countries were coming closer in terms of development, the finding is “a very strong warning signal” that nations are now drifting apart.
The Human Development Index that the agency has produced since 1990 is projected to reach record highs in 2023 after steep declines during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
But development in half of the world’s poorest countries remains below 2019 pre-pandemic levels, the report said.
“It’s a rich person’s versus a poor person’s world in which we are seeing development unfolding in very unequal, partially incomplete ways,” Steiner said at a news conference. “Why does this matter? Not only because it creates more vulnerability, it creates also more misery and protracted poverty, growing inequality.”
4 million people face 'acute food insecurity' in troubled Haiti, says UN food agency official
The growing inequalities are compounded by the concentration of economic wealth, the report said.
It pointed to almost 40% of global trade in goods concentrated in three or fewer countries. And it said the stock market value of the three largest tech companies in 2021 — Amazon, Apple and Microsoft — surpassed the gross domestic product of more than 90% of the 193 U.N. member nations that year.
Steiner said the world’s nations should be joining forces to focus on major threats in the 21st century, especially climate change, the next pandemic and the emergence of a digital economy and artificial intelligence. But instead, he warned, there is increasing division and growing frustration and polarization.
He said a significant response has been the emergence of populism, which is anti-elite and hostile to international cooperation. He said that "is increasingly dividing societies, radicalizing the political discourse, and essentially turning more and more people against each other.”
The report says advancing global collective action to tackle the world’s major challenges is hindered by an emerging “democracy paradox” — 90% of people worldwide endorse democracy but for the first time over half the respondents in a global survey expressed support for leaders that risk undermining the foundations of democracy.
Territorial conflicts will continue to crop up, but the threats to human security in the 21st century will more often require being able to collaborate, Steiner said.
“We are driving ourselves deeper and deeper into a condition where our ability to solve problems is actually being compromised,” he said. “You will not stop climate change with missiles. You will not stop the next pandemic at your border with a tank, and you’re certainly not going to stop cybercrime with missiles.”
Steiner said it is important to dial down the temperature, misperceptions and misinformation “because they’re actually being weaponized in turning people against each other.”
He said there also has to be a very careful look “at where inequality has become so extreme that it actually erodes the political willingness to cooperate.”
The report calls for more spending on global public goods that benefit all people, including to stabilize climate and the planet, to harness new technologies to improve human development, and to improve the global financial system to benefit low-income countries.
Egyptian Food Bank prepares free food boxes to alleviate hunger in Egypt, Gaza in upcoming Ramadan
The agency's Human Development Index measures key issues for a long and healthy life, for gaining knowledge and for achieving a decent standard of living.
Based on the latest figures from 2022, the 10 places with the highest human development scores are Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Hong Kong, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Ireland tied for seventh, Singapore, and Australia and the Netherlands tied for 10th place. The United States tied with Luxembourg for 20th place.
The 10 countries with the lowest human development were Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Yemen, Burundi, Mali, Chad, Niger, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Somalia. All but Yemen are in Africa.
Evangelical Christians are fierce Israel supporters. Now they are visiting as war-time volunteers
When Shawn Landis, an evangelical Christian from Pennsylvania, heard about the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, he knew he would come to Israel to volunteer as soon as it was safe.
Five months later, he was chopping vegetables in a Tel Aviv kitchen, preparing meals for Israeli soldiers.
Evangelicals have been among Israel’s fiercest foreign supporters for years, particularly in the United States, where their significant political influence has helped shape the Israel policy of recent Republican administrations.
They believe Israel is key to an end-times prophecy that will bring about the return of the Christian Messiah. Many of these Christians support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland.
“In the Scripture it instructs us to support Israel, and sometimes the best time to support someone is when they’re grieving,” said Landis, who has been on four previous faith-based trips to Israel. “Friendship is not just about being there for the good times, it’s also about the rough times.”
Landis is part of a wave of religious “voluntourism” to Israel, organized trips that include some kind of volunteering aspect connected to the war in Gaza.
4 million people face 'acute food insecurity' in troubled Haiti, says UN food agency official
Israel’s Tourism Ministry estimates around one-third to half of the approximately 3,000 daily visitors expected to arrive in March are part of faith-based volunteer trips. Before the fighting, around 15,000 visitors arrived in Israel per day, about half of whom were Christian, according to Tourism Ministry statistics. In 2019, the latest tourism statistics available that were not impacted by COVID-19, about 25% of visitors arrived on organized trips, according to the Tourism Ministry.
A study by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that almost half of Israelis volunteered in some capacity during the early weeks of the war. But many Israeli volunteers have returned to work and school, and now international visitors are filling the gaps.
In the U.S., support for Israel has become a top priority for evangelical Christians during a presidential election year. They are among the most outspoken backers of Israel’s handling of the conflict, and Republicans have faced pressure to hew not just to traditional Republican support for Israel but to beliefs rooted in the Bible.
The war began with Hamas’ attack in southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel responded with an invasion of the Gaza Strip that so far has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians.
On Oct. 11, dozens of leading evangelicals signed a statement of support for Israel organized by the public policy wing of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest evangelical faith group in the U.S.
One of the key pro-Israel groups in the U.S. is Christians United for Israel, founded and led by evangelical pastor John Hagee. CUFI says it has raised and dispersed more than $3 million to support Israeli first responders, health care workers, and survivors of the Oct. 7 attack.
Landis was part of a two-week volunteer trip organized by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. The evangelical group has put together five volunteer trips since January and expects to bring half a dozen more in the coming month. Normally, ICEJ brings about 6,000 Christian visitors to Israel annually.
Like Landis, Claudio Pichardo, a 37-year-old from Colombia studying business in Holland, was inspired by Scripture to join the ICEJ trip. “This is the best way I can help, because posting on Facebook doesn’t help,” he said.
When the war started, many international airlines suspended flights and tourism stopped, aside from a handful of Jewish and Christian solidarity missions. Some major airlines resumed flights to Israel in recent weeks, and others plan to soon.
A Gaza family uprooted by war and grieving their losses shares a somber Ramadan meal in a tent
Peleg Lewi, the foreign affairs adviser to the Tourism Ministry, said the faith-based solidarity missions boost morale. The can also kick-start overall tourism to Israel after a cycle of war or violence, he said.
With the war in its sixth month, Israel is under growing international pressure to do more to end the suffering of civilians in Gaza, including allowing in more aid. Aid groups say the fighting has displaced most of the territory’s population and pushed a quarter of the population to the brink of famine. Hospitals have reported that some children have died of hunger.
Many Israelis fear the world is forgetting about Oct. 7.
Elizabeth Ødegaard, a trip participant from Norway, said she was surprised by how emotional Israelis get when they meet international visitors who have come to support them.
“Many people tell us, `The whole world hates us. Everyone is against us,’ so I want to say to them, `You’re not alone,’” she said. “I know the people of Israel are important to God. These are my brothers and sisters, and when they attack Israel, they attack me too.”
ICEJ trip participants visited hard-hit communities in southern Israel, including the site where the shells of hundreds of burned-out cars are being stored, many from the Tribe of Nova music festival, where 364 people were killed.
“It was humbling and sobering to be there, to know what happened a few months ago and to see Israeli resilience,” said Landis.
During such trips, visitors join volunteer initiatives that sprang up in Israel over the past five months, providing extra hands for farmers struggling to harvest crops, cooking meals for families who have a parent serving in the reserves or sorting donations for evacuees still living in hotels.
Aramco announces $121 billion profit for 2023, down from 2022 record
One initiative is Citrus & Salt, which previously hosted cooking classes and tours of Tel Aviv’s markets for tourists. When the war started, it pivoted to making more than 35,000 donated meals.
“It really helps boost morale for people to come from abroad to Israel in a time of conflict, to physically say, ‘I’m here to help. What do you need?’” said Aliya Fastman, a native of Berkeley, California, who has lived in Israel for over a decade and runs Citrus & Salt with her sister. “Chopping onions is no small thing when you fly across the world to do it.”
4 million people face 'acute food insecurity' in troubled Haiti, says UN food agency official
Four million people face “acute food insecurity” and one million of them are one step away from famine, the U.N. food agency’s director in the conflict-wracked Caribbean nation said Tuesday.
Jean-Martin Bauer told a virtual press conference that he’s “ringing the alarm bell” because the recent increase in gang violence has made a very bad situation even worse and displaced an additional 15,000 people — just over the first weekend in March in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
That brings the total number of displaced people in Haiti to over 360,000, he said, and the U.N. says half of them are children. The country has more than 11 million inhabitants.
Bauer said, there were 4 million food insecure and hungry Haitians during the COVID pandemic in 2020 and that number hasn't gone down, but the number on the brink of famine has escalated to one million.
Port-au-Prince has been turned into “a bubble” where gangs control the roads, the port and airport are closed, and no one can get in or get out, Bauer said.
Hundreds of inmates flee after armed gangs storm Haiti's main prison, leaving bodies behind
The World Food Program director said the agency and its partners started a hot meal service for newly displaced people in the capital, starting with 2,000 meals a day and now up to nearly 14,000 meals a day.
But he said the WFP warehouse will run out of supplies in a few weeks unless the port is reopened to replenish the agency's stocks.
Haiti depends on food imports for 50% of its food supply, and Bauer said WFP can confirm that the cost of a food basket is rising in Port-au-Prince as well as elsewhere in Haiti.
There were disturbances in January and food prices jumped 25% in the south where roadblocks came up and trucks weren’t able to get to Port-au-Prince with basic necessities, he said, and there was a scarcity of propane which is the basic fuel, including for cooking.
In recent days, because of the gang violence, food prices have jumped at least 10%, Bauer said.
The economy in rural areas outside the capital depends on links to Port-au-Prince, he said, and food prices have also risen elsewhere in the country because of disrupted trade.
Chased from their homes by gangs, thousands of Haitians languish in shelters with lives in limbo
A WFP survey found that as prices go up household incomes are going down because people can’t go to work, are “sheltering in place,” and aren’t earning money, Bauer said.
Asked about the impact of Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s resignation, which will take effect once a transitional presidential council is created, Bauer said he isn’t good at reading political dynamics “but we certainly hope that there will be an improvement in security.”
Insecurity is hampering people from doing very simple things right now like taking their children to school, or going to the supermarket or work which are “extremely risky,” he said.
Speaking from Cap Haitien in northern Haiti, Bauer stressed, however, that the focus can’t just be on security,
“We also need a robust humanitarian response,” he said.
But the U.N.’s $674 million humanitarian appeal for Haiti this year is just 2.6% funded.
On a positive note, Bauer said thanks to supplies WFP can purchase from local farmers, it was able to feed about 160,000 school children on Monday in north and south Haiti and other calm areas, part of an ongoing program.
He said despite difficulties of access because of the violence, WFP has been able to deliver money to some of Haiti’s poorest on their mobile phones.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday that many health facilities have been forced to shut down because of the gang violence.
Blood shortages persist at the National Blood Transfusion Center and efforts are underway to bring in blood from the neighboring Dominican Republic, he said.
UN envoy: Finding that some hostages were victims of sexual violence doesn’t justify Israeli attacks
The U.N. envoy focusing on sexual violence in conflict warned Israel on Monday that the finding of “clear and convincing information” that some hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel were subjected to sexual violence “does not in any way legitimize further hostilities.”
“In fact, it creates a moral imperative for a humanitarian cease-fire to end the unspeakable suffering imposed on Palestinian civilians in Gaza and bring about the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” Pramila Patten told the U.N. Security Council where Israel’s foreign minister was also sitting and listening.
“Continuation of hostilities can, in no way, protect them,” she said. “It can only expose them to further risk of violence, including sexual violence.”
Patten was speaking at a council meeting sought by Israel and called by the United States, United Kingdom and France to focus on her recent report, which also found “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas committed rape, sexualized torture, and other cruel and inhumane acts against women during the Oct. 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people and led to 250 others being taken hostage.
She told the council that the 134 hostages still in captivity and the more than 2 million civilians in Gaza “share a common fate. For their common sake, there must be a humanitarian cease-fire now.” Israel’s ongoing offensive against Hamas has killed over 30,000 people, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
50 injured in ‘strong movement’ on plane traveling from Australia to New Zealand
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he came to the council “to protest as loud as I can against the crimes against humanity” committed by Hamas in order to deter and scare Israeli society.
He strongly criticized the Security Council’s failure in over 40 meetings since Oct. 7 to condemn Hamas’ actions, saying the U.N.'s most powerful body should declare the extremist group a terrorist organization and pressure it to immediately release the hostages.
In a statement that surprised some diplomats, Katz noted that Monday was the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and said: “Let me take this opportunity to bless our Muslim brothers: Ramadan Kareem.” That means have a blessed or generous Ramadan.
“Hamas is not speaking on behalf of the Muslim world,” Katz said, “and we are asking you to condemn the sexual violence crimes that these barbarians committed in the name of the Muslim religion.”
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, told the council that Muslims around the world are celebrating Ramadan but “in Gaza, death and suffering can be found everywhere. Food and hope can be found nowhere.”
He told the council that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t want a cease-fire because his “political survival requires for the onslaught to continue.”
Israel’s objective, Mansour said, “remains the forcible displacement of our people by making Gaza unlivable.”
He expressed hope that the Security Council, which showed an “unprecedented” reaction to Patten’s report by convening a meeting within a week, would respond equally to reports of sexual assault against Palestinian women and girls, men and boys.
Patten’s key recommendation is to encourage Israel to grant access to the U.N. human rights chief and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Palestinian territories and Israel “to carry out full-fledged investigations into the alleged violations” by Hamas.
Mansour said the Palestinians would welcome these investigations and challenged Israel “to make a similar declaration of welcome.” He also invited Patten to visit Gaza and see for herself the plight of Palestinians.
Patten told the council that when she visited the West Bank she didn’t receive any reports of rape, but instances of sexual violence during the detention of both Palestinian men and women were raised.
These included invasive body searches, unwanted touching of intimate areas, beatings in the genital areas, threats to men of rape against their women family members, “and inappropriate strip searches and prolonged forced nudity of detainees,” she said.
UN Women's deputy chief urges action to invest in women for societal progress
Patten said she raised these reports with Israeli authorities, who provided her with information on their protocols to prevent such acts and “indicated willingness to investigate any alleged breaches.”
She expressed disappointment “that the immediate reaction to my report by some political actors was not to open inquiries into those alleged incidents, but rather to reject them outright via social media.” She did not name any of these “political actors.”
50 injured in ‘strong movement’ on plane traveling from Australia to New Zealand
At least 50 people were injured Monday by what officials described as a “strong movement” on a Chilean plane traveling from Sydney to Auckland, New Zealand.
LATAM Airlines said in a statement that there was "a technical event during the flight which caused a strong movement.” It did not elaborate on what happened.
Passengers were met by paramedics and more than 10 emergency vehicles when the flight touched down in Auckland.
About 50 people were treated at the scene for mostly mild injuries, with 13 taken to a hospital, an ambulance spokesperson said.
UN chief calls for Ramadan truce in Gaza, Sudan
One patient was believed to be in serious condition.
Passengers said a number of people were not wearing seatbelts when flight LA800 suddenly dropped.
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner landed at Auckland Airport as scheduled and was due to continue on to Santiago, Chile.
“LATAM regrets the inconvenience and injury this situation may have caused its passengers, and reiterates its commitment to safety as a priority within the framework of its operational standards,” the airline said.
Protests drove Nepal’s king off the throne 16 years ago. Now, protests are trying to bring him back
Sixteen years ago, mass protests in Nepal forced then-King Gyanendra Shah to give up the throne and clear the way for a republic. Now, a new wave of protest is trying to bring him back.
The capital of the Himalayan country is again teeming with demonstrators, this time demanding that Shah be reinstated as king and Hinduism brought back as a state religion. Royalist groups accuse the country’s major political parties of corruption and failed governance and say people are frustrated with politicians.
“Come back king, save the country. Long live our beloved king. We want a monarchy,” the crowd chanted at a rally last month in Kathmandu.
Growing frustration with the present system has led to calls for radical change. Pro-monarchy rallies have been growing larger, and an increasing number of homes and businesses are displaying portraits of the ex-king and his ancestors.
Gyanendra was a constitutional head of state without executive or political powers until 2005, when he seized absolute power. He disbanded the government and parliament, jailed politicians and journalists and cut off communications, declaring a state of emergency and using the army to rule the country.
Protests that drew hundreds of thousands of people forced him to give up power to the parliament in 2006, and two years later parliament voted to abolish the monarchy and Gyanendra left the Royal Palace to live the life of a commoner.
India announces steps to implement a citizenship law that excludes Muslims
But many Nepalis have grown frustrated with the republic, saying it has failed to bring about political stability and blaming it for a struggling economy and widespread corruption. Nepal has had 13 governments since the monarchy was abolished in 2008.
Many Nepalis believe elected politicians are more interested in power and patronage than addressing their problems, said Dhruba Hari Adhikary, an independent analyst based in Kathmandu. “That’s why some people started to think that, well, it was far better under the monarchy,” he said.
In November, tens of thousands rallied in support of the king in Kathmandu, where riot police officers used batons and tear gas to halt them from marching to the center of the capital.
Kings were long considered reincarnations of the god Vishnu in the majority-Hindu nation.
“The king is the umbrella that is really needed to block and protect (the country) from all the pressure and influence that is being put on Nepal by countries like India, China or America,” said Rudra Raj Pandey, who was among the protesters at last month’s rally.
“Our country will retain its values and identity only if it is turned back to a monarchy and the king is reinstated to the throne,” he said.
But the movement is too small to prevail any time soon, Adhikary said.
With polls and surveys rarely conducted in Nepal, it’s not clear how many people support the monarchy. Gyanendra was an unpopular king, but the monarchy remained broadly popular before he seized absolute power.
The country’s major political parties have rejected the possibility of the king returning to power.
“Nepal is a republic and the monarchy will never be reinstated,” said Narayan Prakash Saud of Nepali Congress, which led the revolt against the kind in 2006 and is currently the largest party in parliament. “The only way it would be possible would be through changing the constitution, but there is no possibility of that happening at all.”
The most powerful group supporting restoration of the monarchy is the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, or national democratic party, which was founded in the 1990s by allies of the monarchy. It has 14 seats in parliament — around 5% — but wields outsize influence as a representative of the protest movement.
Party leaders met with the prime minister in February and presented their demands.
North Korea conducts artillery firing drills in likely response to South Korea-US military training
“I think it is very possible and the environment throughout the country has never been so congenial for this agenda,” said Rabindra Mishra, deputy chairman of the party.
“If we can’t restore the institution of the monarchy in this country, there is no future for the youth in this country and the existence of this country itself could be at risk,” he said.
Gyanendra himself hasn’t commented on the movement. He has stayed out of open involvement in politics since his abdication, and only rarely makes public appearances.
Other groups supporting the king have sprung up.
“We need a monarchy. Without a king, we have no identity as Nepalese and all of us might as well just declare ourselves as refugees,” said Pasupathi Khadga, who leads a youth organization that supports the reinstatement of the monarchy.
Nepal’s monarchy did not allow political parties to form until 1990, when a pro-democracy movement brought in elections and reduced the monarchy to a ceremonial role. Gyanendra became king after his elder brother, then-King Birendra, and his family were killed in a massacre at the royal palace in 2001.
UN chief calls for Ramadan truce in Gaza, Sudan
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for ceasefires in Gaza and Sudan during the holy month of Ramadan.
As Monday marks the start of the holy month of Ramadan, it is a period when Muslims around the world celebrate and spread the values of peace, reconciliation and solidarity. Yet the killing, bombing and bloodshed continue in Gaza, he said.
"My strongest appeal today is to honor the spirit of Ramadan by silencing the guns -- and removing all obstacles to ensure the delivery of life-saving aid at the speed and massive scale required," he told reporters.
The civilian killing and destruction have been at a level that is unprecedented in his years as UN secretary-general. Meanwhile, life-saving relief for Palestinians in Gaza is coming in trickles -- if it comes at all, said Guterres.
A Gaza family uprooted by war and grieving their losses shares a somber Ramadan meal in a tent
International humanitarian law lies in tatters. And a threatened Israeli assault on Rafah could plummet the people of Gaza into an even deeper circle of hell, he warned.
Guterres also called for a Ramadan cessation of hostilities in Sudan.
"The fighting there must end for the sake of the Sudanese people who face hunger, horrors and untold hardships," he said.
"In Gaza, in Sudan, and beyond, it is time for peace. I call on political, religious and community leaders everywhere to do everything in their power to make this holy period a time for empathy, action and peace," said Guterres.
Egyptian Food Bank prepares free food boxes to alleviate hunger in Egypt, Gaza in upcoming Ramadan
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks to the press outside the Security Council Chamber at the UN headquarters in New York on March 11, 2024.
Guterres on Monday called for ceasefires in Gaza and Sudan during the holy month of Ramadan.
'The Zone of Interest' wins Oscar award for best international film
The harrowing Holocaust drama “ The Zone of Interest,” which explores questions of complicity while depicting the mundane lives of a Nazi family in their home adjacent to the Auschwitz death camp, won the Academy Award for best international film.
“Our film shows where dehumanization leads, at its worst,” writer-director Jonathan Glazer said. “Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. Whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel, or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims, this humanization, how do we resist?"
Glazer's reference to Israel’s war in Gaza came after pro-Palestinian protesters snarled traffic around the Dolby Theater as the Oscars kicked off.
‘Oppenheimer’ set to win big at the Oscars
In her review, The Associated Press’ Jocelyn Noveck wrote that Glazer “has found a way to convey the evil of Nazism without ever depicting the horror itself. But though it escapes our eyes, the horror assaults our senses in other, deeper ways.”
Glazer said he hopes the film will draw attention to current conflicts in the world. “All our choices are made to reflect and confront us in the present. Not to say, ‘Look what they did then,’ rather 'look what we do now," he said.
Sandra Hüller, one of the film's stars, wept as Glazer's hands shook while reading his acceptance speech.
Hüller plays Hedwig, the wife of Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), the bloodthirsty commandant of Auschwitz. The film was the United Kingdom's submission to the Oscars.
In the film, the couple and their children go about their daily routines — living in a home just on the other side of a stone wall from the gas chambers. Höss spends his work days overseeing the “processing” of trainloads of people, most sent directly to their deaths. Then he comes home, where he and Hedwig share meals, celebrate birthdays, read their kids bedtime stories and make vacation plans.
Glazer adapted the screenplay loosely from the 2014 Martin Amis novel of the same name, but chose to depict the real-life commandant. Aiming for a chilling meticulousness, the director pieced together the Höss family history and built the set for their home some 200 yards (183 meters) from where the real one once stood.
How and where to watch Oscar-nominated films online
“The Zone of Interest” is also up for best picture, which made it the favorite to win in the international category. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including best sound, which it won; best director, which Christopher Nolan received for “Oppenheimer;” and adapted screenplay, which went to Cord Jefferson for “American Fiction." Hüller was nominated for best actress for “Anatomy of a Fall,” but the award went to Emma Stone for “Poor Things.”
Last year the winner of best international film was “ All Quiet on the Western Front,” a German-language film set in World War I.
Also nominated for best international feature were “Society of the Snow” (Spain), “The Teachers’ Lounge” (Germany), “Io Capitano” (Italy) and “Perfect Days” (Japan).