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KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 1Nepali Congress President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba officially released the book A Decade of Conflict Journalism, authored by journalist Dirgha Raj Upadhyaya amidst a ceremony held on Friday in Kathmandu.
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The book, which provides an in-depth examination of the challenges faced by journalists during Nepal’s decade-long conflict, is being hailed as a crucial resource for future generations.In his address, Deuba reflected on a significant personal experience included in the book, specifically the attack on him by rebel CPN-Maoists in Amkhaiya, Kailali, in 2059 B.S, while he was traveling from Dhangadhi to Nepalgunj. “There was a ceasefire in the country when I was attacked. They shouldn’t have shot,” Deuba remarked, emphasizing the gravity of the situation described in the chapter titled “The Attack on Deuba.” He further noted that despite the submission of 40-point demands by the Maoists, they were initially unwilling to engage in meaningful negotiations.

Deuba also highlighted the pivotal role of the Nepali Congress in transitioning the nation from armed conflict to peace, culminating in the promulgation of the constitution through the Constituent Assembly and the establishment of a republican system. “We have successfully turned the armed conflict into a peace process, and by issuing a constitution from the Constituent Assembly, we have come to a republican system. Now, the constitution can be amended to make it even better. Democracy is an alternative to democracy. It can be strengthened and improved,” he stated, underscoring the possibility of constitutional amendments to further bolster citizens’ rights.Former Maoist Leader and current Nepal Communist Party (UML) Secretary Lekhraj Bhatt also spoke at the event, asserting that during the conflict, he played a significant role in preventing targeted killings in the Far West. Addressing the incident involving Deuba, Bhatt said, “There was no plan to attack former Prime Minister Deuba during the conflict. It seems that wrong information was spread due to the lack of proper information communication at that time.”Renowned journalist Kunda Dixit, who also commented on the book, acknowledged the progress made in the peace process despite the personal risks he and others faced. “The progress of the peace process can be considered a success despite attempts on our lives,” Dixit reflected.Journalist Babita Basnet, providing her perspective on the book, praised it for its detailed documentation of the events that transpired during the conflict. “This book will be helpful in understanding how reporting was done during the conflict and what time Nepali journalism went through to reach here,” she remarked, highlighting its value to the journalistic community.Author Upadhyaya shared that A Decade of Conflict Journalism serves as a crucial document of the experiences faced by Nepali journalists during the conflict. “This book is a collection of challenges, pains, and experiences faced by journalists and the journalism sector during the transition period after 10 years of conflict, the King’s death, and the peace process,” he explained. Upadhyaya further noted that the book also covers the struggles for journalists’ rights and the protests that occurred while he was in leadership roles within several federations. “This book is a witness of the journalism of that time, which suffered the war,” he added, emphasizing its historical significance.The release of A Decade of Conflict Journalism marks a significant contribution to the understanding of Nepal’s turbulent past, offering valuable insights for future generations of journalists and historians alike.

#A Decade of Conflict Journalism

DHARAMSHALA, AUGUST 29The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, returned to the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile in northern India on Wednesday after undergoing a knee replacement surgery in New York.
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Hundreds of followers in colorful, flowing robes, waving scarves and flowers, cheered the Dalai Lama at the airport and his residence. Several of them beat drums and performed traditional dances. Tibetan and Buddhist flags adorned poles and railings.The Dalai Lama, 89, flew to Dharamshala after weeks of recovery at the Nappi Farmhouse in Syracuse, New York, following the surgery on June 28.

Dr. David Mayman, chief of the adult reconstruction and joint replacement service at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, said after the surgery that the Dalai Lama was recovering well and was expected to continue improving over the next six to 12 months.Dr. Tsetan D Sadutshang and Dr. Tsewang Tamdin, physicians to the Dalai Lama, said last month that the surgical incision had completely healed without any complications. The physiotherapists said they were happy with the speed of his improvement.The Dalai Lama has made Dharamshala, the hillside town in northern India, his headquarters since fleeing Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. Representatives of a Tibetan government-in-exile also reside there.The Dalai Lama formally relinquished his political and administrative powers in 2011 and handed his political responsibilities to the community’s elected leadership. But he has remained the spiritual leader of the Tibetan community.His followers see him as capable of uniting and mobilizing Tibetans inside and outside China.Over 100,000 Tibetan refugees live in India, Nepal and Bhutan, according to Tibetan organizations. Their number in India is estimated at around 85,000, while many have also moved to countries such as the U.S., Canada, Germany and Switzerland.China exercises rigid control over all religions and, in recent years, has stepped up a campaign of cultural assimilation targeting Tibetans, Turkic Muslim Uyghurs and other minority groups.China castigates the Dalai Lama as an advocate for Tibetan independence and has not had direct contact with his representatives for more than a decade.The Dalai Lama says he merely advocates for Tibet’s substantial autonomy and protection of its native Buddhist culture.

#Dalai Lama

UZHHOROD, AUGUST 28Ukraine’s first lady wants her country’s children to view themselves not as a generation enduring a grinding war but rather as “a generation of winners.”On the sidelines of a day spent at a rehabilitation camp for Ukrainian children in the relatively safe western city of Uzhhorod, Olena Zelenska said Tuesday that working with the next generation was a moral obligation and a “strategic priority” for Ukraine’s future.Many of the children will return to front-line cities after spending a few weeks at the camp created by Voices of the Children charity, barely enough time to overcome the trauma they face over and over.

“This issue needs to be addressed immediately, as soon as it arises, before it grows into something more,” Zelenska told The Associated Press in a brief interview at the camp, which is sponsored by the foundation that bears her name.A study by the Olena Zelenska Foundation, funded entirely by foreign donations, and the Kyiv School of Economics this year found that 44% of Ukrainian children show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.Since the start of the war, she has emerged as a global unofficial ambassador for Ukraine. She was the first member of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s family to leave the country after the Russian invasion in February 2022 to promote Ukraine’s cause. However, she is equally active within Ukraine, and frequently visits displaced families and wounded soldiers.Dressed casually in black pants, a white T-shirt and sneakers, with pearls around her neck, Zelenska took part in the camp’s activities with the children. At an art therapy session, she sat beside a boy whose home was struck by an aerial bomb and who was later forced to evacuate from his hometown ahead of the Russian advance this summer.Zelenska smiled and engaged with the children, examining each watercolor they presented. She even joined in, drawing a pink flower, a star and a heart. The conversation stayed away from the war.”To ensure our children do not become a lost generation, we as adults must take quick action,” Zelenska said. “It’s difficult with the ongoing defense of the country. However, I am confident that political will combined with international cooperation can work wonders.”The first lady said she first heard about “war fatigue” in the summer of 2022, but refuses to believe in it.”When your neighbor has a fire, it seems pointless to say: ‘I’m tired of your fire. Stop it. Let’s forget about it,'” she said. “We still need help and we will continue to ask for it. Not because we are bold, but because it is vital for our survival.”During one of the activities, a mystery guest connected via an online call and the children had to guess who he was. One child shouted it might be the Ukrainian president. The first lady quickly responded, “No, Zelenskyy is currently busy,” prompting laughter from dozens of children.The guest was revealed to be Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk.Zelenska studied architecture but wound up working as a comedy scriptwriter, including for Zelenskyy, who was a comedian with a popular television show before winning the presidency in 2019.The couple periodically appear in public together, visiting schools or rehabilitation centers and making formal visits abroad. The scrutiny has taken a toll on Zelenska, who was not a public figure before her husband became president.”I feel a responsibility because I understand that all eyes are on us,” she said. “Even when you’re not doing anything particularly special, people still assess how the president’s family is functioning during the war – what they’re doing, where they are, how they are behaving.”Zelenska noted that since the start of the invasion, Ukraine has been in a constant humanitarian crisis, with one of the biggest issues being internally displaced people and several million refugees abroad. Fighting prevents many children from attending school in person, while blackouts across the country force many educational institutions in relatively safe regions to switch to online learning.”We need the war to end, infrastructure for education to be in place, and for parents to feel secure,” she said. “We would very much like these children to be able to physically go to school, see their teachers and peers, and interact together. But for now, it’s impossible.”Zelenska said that one of the topics she regularly draws attention to during her foreign visits is the forcible deportation of more than 19,500 Ukrainian children by Russia from the occupied territories. In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, accusing them of abducting children from Ukraine.The first lady said holding Russia accountable must remain a key part of any end to the war.”Only then will it be a victory,” she said. “It may not be quick, but we need to constantly keep in mind this vision of how it should be so that nothing is forgotten and no one is left out.”

#Generation of winners
#Russia-Ukraine war

NEW YORK, AUGUST 24Anna Netrebko’s lawsuit against the Metropolitan Opera was narrowed to gender discrimination claims by a federal judge, who agreed to dismiss the star soprano’s allegations of defamation, breach of contract and discrimination because of national origin.
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US District Judge Analisa Nadine Torres in Manhattan issued a 23-page decision Thursday in the suit, filed by Netrebko on Aug. 4 last year.The Met dropped the Russian soprano from future engagements shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Met General Manager Peter Gelb had demanded she repudiate Russia President President Vladimir Putin.

“It is normal for a court to narrow the issues during litigation, but this court recognizes that the facts as alleged show that the Met wronged Anna Netrebko and that there is still an important case before it,” Netrebko’s manager, Miguel Esteban, said in a statement. “Anna Netrebko remains fully committed to pursuing this complaint, to vindicating her rights, to restoring her reputation and to demonstrating that the Metropolitan Opera and Peter Gelb treated her unlawfully.”The case has not yet been scheduled for trial.”We’re pleased to see that three of the four claims were dismissed completely and strongly believe that the fourth claim will also prove to be without merit should it go to trial,” the Met said in a statement.The American Guild of Musical Artists filed a grievance on Netrebko’s behalf and arbitrator Howard C. Edelman ruled in February 2023 that the Met violated the union’s collective bargaining agreement when it canceled deals with Netrebko for three productions. Edelman awarded compensation the union calculated at $209,103.48.Netrebko’s lawsuit alleged breach of additional agreements for 40 performances. Torres ruled against the singer, stating those engagements were never finalized into contracts.In agreeing to dismiss the defamation claim, Torres wrote “Netrebko fails to allege any facts demonstrating that her statements disassociating herself from Putin’s war against Ukraine altered the Met’s subjective belief that she supported the Russian leader.” The judge also wrote the Met’s firing “does not sufficiently implicate her national origin to permit an inference of discrimination.”On the gender discrimination, Torres allowed Netrebko to proceed with claims under the New York State Human Rights Law and New York City Human Rights Law that male counterparts she alleges had connections to Putin and the Russian government were treated more favorably by the Met. She cited bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin and baritones Igor Golovatenko and Alexey Markov, who have continued to sing at the Met.Torres wrote the claims were plausible and denied the Met’s motion to dismiss.

#Anna Netrebko

GABORONE, AUGUST 22The largest diamond found in more than a century has been unearthed at a mine in Botswana, and the country’s president showed off the fist-sized stone to the world at a viewing ceremony Thursday.
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The Botswana government says the huge 2,492-carat stone is the second-biggest ever discovered in a mine. It’s the biggest diamond found since 1905.The as-yet-unnamed diamond was presented to the world at the office of Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi. It weighs approximately half a kilogram and Masisi was one of the first to get to hold it.

Officials said it was too early to value it or decide how it would be sold. Another smaller diamond from the same mine in Botswana was sold for $63 million in 2016, a record for a rough gem.”This is history in the making,” said Naseem Lahri, the Botswana managing director for Lucara Diamond Corp., the Canadian mining company that found the diamond. “I am very proud. It is a product of Botswana.”Lucara said in a statement Wednesday that it recovered the “exceptional” rough diamond from its Karowe Mine in central Botswana. Lucara said it was a “high-quality” stone and was found intact. It was located using X-ray technology designed to find large diamonds.”We are ecstatic about the recovery of this extraordinary 2,492-carat diamond,” Lucara President and CEO William Lamb said in a statement.The weight would make it the largest diamond found in 119 years and the second-largest ever dug out of a mine after the Cullinan Diamond that was discovered in South Africa in 1905. The famous Cullinan was 3,106 carats and was cut into gems, some of which form part of the British Crown Jewels.A bigger, less pure black diamond was discovered in Brazil in the late 1800s, but it was found above ground and was believed to have been part of a meteorite.Botswana, a country of 2.6 million people in southern Africa, is the second-biggest producer of natural diamonds behind Russia and has unearthed all of the world’s biggest stones in recent years. The Karowe Mine has produced four other diamonds over 1,000 carats in the last decade.Before this discovery, the Sewelo diamond, which was found at the Karowe Mine in 2019, was recognized as the second-biggest mined diamond in the world at 1,758 carats. It was bought by French fashion house Louis Vuitton for an undisclosed amount.The 1,111-carat Lesedi La Rona diamond, also from Botswana’s Karowe Mine, was bought by a British jeweller for $53 million in 2017. Another diamond from Karowe, The Constellation, was sold for the record $63 million.Diamonds are formed when carbon atoms are squeezed together under high pressure deep underground. Scientists say most diamonds are at least a billion years old and some of them more than 3 billion years old.

#Biggest diamond
#Botswana

LOS ANGELES, AUGUST 18The brown felt fedora worn by actor Harrison Ford in the second installment of the Indiana Jones movies sold for $630,000 at auction, film and TV memorabilia company Propstore announced Friday.The hat featured in 1984’s “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” had been expected to fetch between $250,000 and $500,000, according to the item’s online description.The fedora comes from the personal collection of the late stunt performer Dean Ferrandini, who also wore it while standing in for Ford as Jones, the dashing archaeologist who really hates snakes.

Keeping the fedora in place during filming was an “ongoing challenge,” Propstore’s expert said in the online description, and foam pieces were inserted to make it fit more snugly.Created by the Herbert Johnson Hat Company in London, it is made of sable-colored rabbit felt.Other items sold include an Imperial scout trooper’s white “biker scout” helmet from 1983’s “Return of the Jedi,” which went for $315,000, and a ghost costume worn by stars in the 1996 movie “Scream,” which sold for $270,900,”Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” also featured Kate Capshaw as nightclub singer Willie Scott and Ke Huy Quan as Short Round.

#Indiana Jones

KATHMANDU, AUGUST 20Hundreds of LGBTQ+ people and their supporters rallied in Nepal’s capital Tuesday during the annual Pride parade, the first since gay couples were able to register same-sex marriages officially in the Himalayan nation following a Supreme Court order in Nov 2023.
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The annual event brings together the sexual minority community and their supporters in Kathmandu during the Gai Jatra festival.Tuesday’s rally was participated by a government minister, diplomats and officials, which began at the city’s tourist hub and went around its main streets.

“Gai Jatra festival is a festival that is a long tradition that has been carried for years and we all are here to help preserve and continue the tradition, and as a sexual minority are doing our part to save the tradition. We also celebrate the day as a pride parade,” said Bhumika Shrestha, a gay rights activist who was at the parade.The Gai Jatra festival is celebrated to remember family members who have passed away during the year but has long had colorful parades that brought in sexual minorities to join the parade.After years of struggle, gay couples were able to register same-sex marriages for the first time in Nov 2023 following a Supreme Court order that directed the government to make arrangements for the registration of marriages for same-sex couples.Sexual minority rights activists have long sought to amend laws to permit same-sex marriage and end provisions that limit marriage to heterosexual couples.Nepal has undergone a transformation since a court decision in 2007 asked the government to make changes in favor of LGBTQ+ people. People who do not identify as female or male are now able to choose “third gender” on their passports and other government documents. The constitution, adopted in 2015, also explicitly states that there can be no discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

#Annual Pride Parade
#Same sex couples