Nepal’s war victims watch political changes with fragile hope
When families of those killed in Nepal’s deadly September protests that toppled the government demanded justice, the anguish felt painfully familiar to Sunamati Chaudhari.Her husband, an English teacher, was taken by security forces 22 years ago at the height of a decade-long civil war. He never returned.Chaudhari, 62, has been searching for the truth about her husband’s disappearance ever since.”We left no stone unturned in search of my husband. We went to court, sought help of many organisations — and even reached Geneva,” she told AFP, referring to her bid to seek help from the United Nations. “But nothing happened.”She is among the thousands of relatives waiting for closure since a 2006 peace deal ended a conflict in which more than 16,000 people were killed and 1,400 remain missing.Abuses were committed by both Maoist rebels and state forces.”I would dream of him every night,” Chaudhari said.Justice has been glacial in the Himalayan nation.Nepal’s authorities have long been criticised for failing to adequately probe wartime abuses.Two transitional justice commissions set up in 2015 have yet to resolve a single case, despite receiving more than 65,000 complaints of rape, murder and enforced disappearances.- ‘Culture of impunity’ -Nepal is now reeling from fresh political upheaval.Youth-led demonstrations against a social media ban, worsening economic woes and corruption erupted nationwide in September, leaving at least 76 people dead in a violent crackdown.Parliament, courts and civil service buildings were torched, and the government collapsed.Former chief justice Sushila Karki, 73, was named interim prime minister to steer Nepal until elections in March 2026.For many families still haunted by the civil war, the political shake-up has stirred a fragile mix of hope and anxiety.Preeti Tharu, 22, whose father was abducted by rebels before she was born, fears history will repeat itself.”The previous government only showed assurances,” she said. “And I know, with this changing situation, the state’s priority might be something else.”Gita Rasaili, who heads the Conflict Victim Women National Network, said she hoped they could find common cause with the new generation demanding government action.”We worried that our agenda was over, because there are now new victims’ families and new martyrs,” she told AFP.”But we are all fighting against a culture of impunity.”- ‘Volatile’ -In August, before the uprising, families gathered to mark the International Day of the Disappeared at a new memorial park in western Nepal’s Bardiya district.Families of some of the 258 missing people from the district planted trees and lit candles.Park coordinator Niranjan Kumar Chaudhari, whose father was taken away by the army, said the new crop of politicians in the interim government were among the few who had taken action to support their cause.”The current prime minister and home minister are both advocates for victims of war crimes,” Chaudhari said.”But the political situation is volatile.”It was under Karki’s watch as chief justice that a court in 2017 sentenced three soldiers to 20 years in jail for the murder of a teenage girl.At the time, it was only the second conviction for crimes committed during the war.The Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons says its work will continue regardless of the political situation.”We have received 2,610 complaints so far,” said commission chief Lila Devi Gadtaula, who aims to complete investigations within four years, with progress slowed by limited forensic resources.But for families like Chaudhari’s, time has already run out.In July, she and her two sons performed her husband’s death rites.”It’s already too late,” she said. “Many prime ministers have come and gone, but nobody addressed our problem.”
Arizona Democrat needed to force vote on Epstein files to be sworn-in
After weeks of delay, congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva will be sworn into the US House of Representatives on Wednesday, where the Arizona Democrat is expected to force a vote on the release of the Epstein files.Democrats who have been demanding the release of investigative files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein gained Grijalva’s crucial vote when she won her seat in Arizona on September 23, but she was not sworn in before the federal government shutdown began October 1.On October 9, Grijalva accused House Speaker Mike Johnson — a close ally of US President Donald Trump — of “delaying my swearing in to avoid releasing the Epstein files,” she said in a post on X.”After seven weeks of waiting, I almost can’t believe it’s true,” Grijalva said in a video posted to X on Monday, confirming her plans to travel to DC and join Congress. Once sworn in, Grijalva has pledged to join a bipartisan effort in Congress to force a vote on ordering the US Justice Department to publicly release the investigative files related to Epstein, who died in custody before his trial on new sex trafficking charges.At a news conference Tuesday, US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Grijalva had not been sworn in sooner “because Republicans are running a pedophile protection program. They are intentionally hiding the Jeffrey Epstein files.” Jeffries added that Grijalva’s first act would be to sign a discharge petition to give Americans “the transparency they deserve.”Grijalva beat Republican Daniel Butierez with nearly 69 percent of the vote in Arizona’s 7th congressional district in a special election to fill the seat vacated after her father, congressman Raul Grijalva, died in March 2025.Earlier this year, a congressional panel investigating Epstein’s sex crimes released a lewd birthday letter that Trump allegedly sent to Epstein in 2003, which the president and White House have refuted.Epstein, a wealthy financier with powerful connections including Trump and other international leaders, was found dead in his New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for alleged sex trafficking of underage girls.
Trump claims ‘very big victory’ as shutdown vote nears
President Donald Trump declared victory on Tuesday as an effort to end the longest-ever US government shutdown headed to a final vote and rival Democrats tore themselves apart over the deal.The House of Representatives is set to vote on Wednesday on a spending bill to solve the six-week standoff, after eight Democrats broke ranks in the Senate on Monday to side with Trump’s Republicans.During a Veterans Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery, Trump broke off to congratulate Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune.”Congratulations to you and to John and to everybody on a very big victory,” Trump said as he spotted Johnson in the audience.”We’re opening up our country — it should have never been closed,” added Trump, bucking US presidential tradition by using a ceremonial event to score political points.Trump said later he expected the Republican-controlled House to approve the bill to fund the government through January. “Only people that hate our country want to see it not open,” he told ESPN.- ‘Serious calculations’ -Top Democrats have vowed to oppose the bill to fund the government but it is likely to pass the House as it only needs a simple majority, which Republicans narrowly have.From the start, Trump had piled pressure on Democrats by letting the shutdown be as punishing as possible and refusing to negotiate on their demands on health insurance.A million federal workers went unpaid, food benefits for low-income Americans came under threat and air travelers faced thousands of cancelations and delays ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Tuesday that the chaos could get worse by the weekend if the shutdown persists, with air traffic controllers unable to be paid.”You’re going to have airlines that make serious calculations about whether they continue to fly, full stop,” Duffy told reporters at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Polls have showed that voters increasingly blamed Trump’s party as the shutdown dragged on past its 40th day.But it was the Democrats who caved and gave Republicans the extra votes they needed under Senate rules on Monday, without securing the concessions they wanted.- Democrat rift -The deal has split Democrats, with many senior figures saying they should have held out for the extension of health insurance subsidies at the heart of the shutdown battle.”Pathetic,” California Governor Gavin Newsom, widely seen as a Democratic presidential frontrunner in 2028, posted on X.Despite opposing the bill vocally and voting against it, Democratic Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer has faced calls from some lawmakers to step down for failing to corral his senators.For Democrats, the wavering was especially galling as it came just days after election wins that put Trump on the back foot for the first time since his return to the White House.Democratic wins in New York City, New Jersey and Virginia in particular highlighted the issue of affordability, a weak spot for billionaire Trump and the Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.But Senate Republicans have promised Democrats a vote on health insurance, with millions of Americans set to see their “Obamacare” costs double without an extension of the subsidies.The healthcare issue has itself threatened to cause a rift in Trump’s “Make America Great Again” coalition.On Monday, Trump said one-time ally Marjorie Taylor Greene had “lost her way” after the lawmaker made critical comments, including that she was “disgusted” that premiums could double for her own grown-up children.
Monumental art displayed in shade of Egypt’s pyramids
Installations by renowned international artists including Italy’s Michelangelo Pistoletto and Portugal’s Alexandre Farto have been erected in the sand under the great pyramids of Giza outside Cairo. The fifth edition of the contemporary art exhibition “Forever is Now” is due to run to December 6.The 92-year-old Pistoletto’s most famous work, Il Terzo Paradiso, comprises a three-metre-tall mirrored obelisk and a series of blocks tracing out the mathematical symbol for infinity in the sand.”We have done more than 2,000 events all around the world, on five continents, in 60 nations,” said Francesco Saverio Teruzzi, construction coordinator in Pistoletto’s team. “There is an estimate that it’s more or less five million people reached by the message of the Third Paradise.” The Franco-Beninese artist King Houndekpinkou presented “White Totem of Light”, a column composed of ceramic fragments recovered from a factory in Cairo. “It’s an incredible opportunity to converse with 4,500 years — or even more — of history,” he told AFP.South Korean artist Jongkyu Park used the measurements of the Great Pyramid of Giza to create the geometric structures of his installation “Code of the Eternal”. A thousand small cylindrical acrylic mirrors planted in the sand compose a Morse code poem imagining a dialogue between Tangun, the legendary founder of the first Korean kingdom, and an Egyptian pharaoh. Farto, better known as Vhils, collected doors in Cairo and elsewhere in the world for a bricolage intended to evoke the archaeological process.Six other artists, including Turkey’s Mert Ege Kose, Lebanon’s Nadim Karam, Brazil’s Ana Ferrari, Egypt’s Salha Al-Masry and the Russian collective “Recycle Group”, are also taking part.
Monumental art displayed in shade of Egypt’s pyramidsWed, 12 Nov 2025 01:05:02 GMT
Installations by renowned international artists including Italy’s Michelangelo Pistoletto and Portugal’s Alexandre Farto have been erected in the sand under the great pyramids of Giza outside Cairo. The fifth edition of the contemporary art exhibition “Forever is Now” is due to run to December 6.The 92-year-old Pistoletto’s most famous work, Il Terzo Paradiso, comprises a three-metre-tall …
Monumental art displayed in shade of Egypt’s pyramidsWed, 12 Nov 2025 01:05:02 GMT Read More »
La France met en garde contre l’instabilité dans les Caraïbes à l’ouverture du G7
La France s’est dite mardi “préoccupée” par les opérations militaires dans les Caraïbes au premier jour d’une réunion des ministres des Affaires étrangères du G7 au Canada qui, outre la question du narcotrafic, doivent discuter de la guerre en Ukraine et au Soudan.Les chefs de la diplomatie du G7 — Allemagne, Grande-Bretagne, Canada, France, Italie, Japon et États-Unis — sont arrivés mardi en fin de journée à Niagara à la frontière canado-américaine. S’ils espèrent parvenir à parler d’une même voix pour la défense de l’Ukraine face à l’intransigeance russe au moment où les efforts diplomatiques sont au point mort, la question des opérations antidrogue et de la guerre au Soudan sera aussi à l’ordre du jour. “Nous avons observé avec préoccupation les opérations militaires dans la zone Caraïbes, parce qu’elles s’affranchissent du droit international”, a déclaré Jean-Noël Barrot, le ministre français des Affaires étrangères, à son arrivée au Canada.Ce dernier a expliqué que Paris voulait “évidemment éviter” toute escalade, en précisant que “tous les pays du G7 étaient concernés par le déferlement du narcotrafic et de la criminalité organisée”, nous “avons donc intérêt à travailler de concert”.Ces dernières semaines, les Etats-Unis ont mené une série de frappes dans les Caraïbes et le Pacifique contre des embarcations qu’ils accusent — sans présenter de preuves — de transporter de la drogue, faisant au total 76 victimes.Et mardi, le Pentagone a annoncé l’arrivée d’un de ses porte-avions dans la zone, marquant un renforcement considérable de la présence militaire des Etats-Unis.- GNL russe -Pour cette seconde rencontre de l’année des ministres du club des grandes démocraties industrialisées, les représentants de l’Ukraine, de l’Afrique du Sud, de l’Australie, du Brésil, de l’Inde, du Mexique, de la Corée du Sud et de l’Arabie saoudite, ont été invités.”Pour le Canada, il est important de favoriser une conversation multilatérale, notamment en ce moment dans un environnement si volatil et compliqué”, a déclaré lundi Anita Anand, la ministre canadienne des Affaires étrangères, lors d’un entretien avec l’AFP.La ministre, qui dit espérer la publication d’un communiqué final commun, s’est toutefois abstenue de promettre des avancées concrètes sur le dossier ukrainien.Le pays a été ces dernières semaines la cible d’attaques russes redoublées sur ses infrastructures énergétiques, à l’approche de l’hiver. Et côté diplomatique, les négociations pour mettre fin à la guerre avec la Russie sont au point mort.Le sujet du financement des besoins de l’Ukraine au cours des prochaines années en utilisant les avoirs russes gelés devrait donc être de nouveau discuté.Les diplomates se retrouvent après que le président Donald Trump a imposé, en octobre, des sanctions aux deux plus grandes compagnies pétrolières russes — Rosneft et Lukoil — fustigeant le président Vladimir Poutine pour son refus de mettre fin au conflit.Londres a annoncé mardi son intention d’interdire les services maritimes au GNL russe, dans le prolongement des récentes sanctions visant ces deux entreprises.Pour la ministre des Affaires étrangères britannique, Yvette Cooper, le président Vladimir Poutine “tente de plonger l’Ukraine dans l’obscurité et le froid à l’approche de l’hiver”. – Soudan -L’Italie entend aussi mettre sur la table pendant cette rencontre la question du Soudan, souhaitant réaffirmer l’importance d’augmenter les flux d’aide humanitaire. Le conflit a fait des dizaines de milliers de morts, en a déplacé près de 12 millions d’autres et a provoqué, selon l’ONU, la pire crise humanitaire au monde.”Nous cherchons à jouer un rôle pour promouvoir la paix et la stabilité au Soudan, afin de soutenir ceux qui souffrent et meurent inutilement dans ce pays”, a affirmé la ministre canadienne. Toutes ces discussions pourraient toutefois être de nouveau parasitées par la brouille entre Ottawa et Washington, qui a atteint un nouveau sommet récemment quand le président américain Donald Trump a annoncé fin octobre rompre toutes les négociations commerciales entre les deux pays. Le secrétaire d’Etat américain Marco Rubio, qui a à son programme peu de rencontres bilatérales,contrairement à ses homologues, verra Anita Anand mercredi au deuxième et dernier jour de la réunion à Niagara.