NEPAL: When a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal last year, villagers in Changu Narayan ran up the steep rocky path that cuts through their town to their renowned temple. Seeing the piles of rubble, they figured their lives were over.
Less than two years later, the community is cleaning up their World Heritage Site themselves, and one of the world’s leading architects has taken on the recovery as his pet project.
“I see now our world coming back alive,” said Gyan Bahadur Bhadal, 61, one of many villagers who share responsibility for the temple’s upkeep.
In a country where locals say there are more gods than people and more temples than houses, Changu Narayan still manages to stand out among the ancient holy places. It’s believed to be the oldest Hindu place of worship in the country, its wooden walls intricately carved with hundreds of deities, perched atop a steep hill overlooking the Katmandu Valley.
The 5th century temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu, who locals say appeared there once. His image, in about a dozen incarnations, is carved into struts that hold up the roof. Stone lions with eagle heads guard the doors. Inside has long been a mystery: Only priests enter the two-tiered pagoda, and they don’t explore.
An April 2015 temblor that killed 9,000 people in Nepal also damaged details in Changu Narayan’s wood, stone and metal. A sharp aftershock one day later twisted the entire structure, knocking piles of bricks out of the walls, filling the courtyard.
Anish Bhatta’s family has been living and leading worship at the temple for 10 generations — some 325 years. After the earthquake, Anish did the unthinkable: He went all the way inside.
“We saw things we never imagined,” he said. “Statues as big as me, swords, so many sculptures, gold plated with big gems.”
Today the temple is guarded by military police, and propped up with questionable temporary beams.
British architect John Sanday, who led the World Monuments Fund restoration of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world, fell in love with the place decades ago. After the earthquake, he came up the Changu path with trepidation.
“I was very emotional walking into this place. The whole of the courtyard was littered with rubble. I thought, ‘Come on, John, you’ve got to pull yourself together,’” he recalled.
But then Sanday noticed wooden supports exposed by the missing brick. He saw what looked like a bedrock foundation. And he decided that of the 600 historical temples, monuments and palaces damaged by the earthquake in Nepal, this one would be his project.
“Sure, it’s peanuts, a little temple, so why is it so special?” said Sanday. “The detail. The grace. It’s one of the few World Heritage Sites that hasn’t been completely destroyed by development.”
But what really drew him to step in as technical adviser were the people of this village.
Among tourists and pilgrims, Changu Narayan’s residents pray there at dusk, kneel at the deities, bow to the gods, offer alms to the priests who stand duty at the door.
Three people died and 100 homes were damaged in Changu Village, a 30-minute drive from downtown Katmandu, during the earthquake. Like families in the city 12.5 miles (20 kilometers) away, the Changu community grieved, cried and cleaned up rubble.
But in the hilltop village the community did something else: With rags and water, little picks and brushes, they cleaned the ancient and exotic carved brackets and facades, cleaning and repairing, bit by bit, so they could resume their worship. Now Sanday says their dedication is his inspiration. He will not allow their culture to disappear with the damaged building.
Conserving an ancient building means solving a series of incredibly complicated puzzles. Rotted or mice-chewed timbers must be replaced. An unstable and stretched government bureaucracy must remain in charge. And there’s $300,000 to raise.
For starters, with $30,000 of German support, he helped the community rebuild one of Changu’s shrines, the size of a little guardhouse. Now he’s looking at the larger temple a few yards away.
“This is a place we can save, no doubt,” said Sanday. “The people here will make sure of that.”
Inspired by Nepalese, UK architect rebuilds ancient temple
Inspired by Nepalese, UK architect rebuilds ancient temple
Thailand, Malaysia brace for fresh wave of floods as water levels ease
- More than half a million households in the neighboring countries have been hit by torrential rain and flooding
KUALA LUMPUR/BANGKOK: Malaysia and Thailand are facing a second wave of heavy rain and potential flooding this week, authorities said on Monday, even as some displaced residents were able to return home and the worst floods in decades began receding in some areas.
Since last week, 27 people have died and more than half a million households in the neighboring Southeast Asian countries have been hit by torrential rain and flooding that authorities say have been the most severe in decades.
The immediate situation has improved in some areas and water levels have eased, according to government data on Monday.
In Malaysia, the number of people in evacuation shelters dropped to around 128,000 people, from 152,000 on Sunday, the disaster management agency’s website showed.
The northeastern state of Kelantan, which has been the worst hit, was expected to face a fresh deluge from Dec. 4, the chief minister’s office said in a Facebook post on Sunday.
“Although floodwater trends show a slight decrease, (the chief minister) stressed that vigilance measures must remain at the highest level,” the post said.
Meanwhile, in southern Thailand, 434,000 households remain affected, the country’s interior ministry said in a statement on Monday, down by about 100,000 from the weekend.
The government has provided food and supplies for those in the flood-hit areas, the ministry said, adding water levels in seven provinces were decreasing.
Thailand’s Meteorological Department said people in the country’s lower south should beware of heavy to very heavy rains and possible flash flooding and overflows, especially along foothills near waterways and lowlands, between Dec. 3-5.
Philippine groups seek impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte
- Complaint filed on grounds of grave misconduct and constitutional violations
MANILA: An alliance of civil society groups in the Philippines filed an impeachment complaint on Monday against Vice President Sara Duterte, on grounds of grave misconduct and constitutional violations.
The daughter of firebrand former President Rodrigo Duterte has been embroiled in a bitter row with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and is the subject of an enquiry into her spending by the House of Representatives. She denies wrongdoing.
Monday’s complainants included civil society and religious leaders, as well as former government officials critical of her father.
“The Vice President has reduced public office to a platform for violent rhetoric, personal enrichment, elitist entitlement and a shield for impunity,” Teresita Quintos Deles, one of the complainants, said in a statement.
A representative of the Akbayan opposition party endorsed the complaint in the Philippine House of Representatives.
Duterte’s office said requests for comment had been relayed to the vice president.
The impeachment bid is the latest twist in a high-profile row among three of the Philippines’ highest office-holders, after the collapse of a powerful alliance between their families led to Marcos’ landslide win in the 2022 election.
“This impeachment is not just a legal battle but a moral crusade to restore dignity and decency to public service,” said Leila de Lima, a spokesperson for the complainants and a staunch critic of an anti-narcotics campaign run by Duterte’s father.
The complaint accused Duterte of violating the Philippine constitution by refusing to attend hearings on her budget which violated the system of checks and balances, and graft, both as vice president’s office and when she was the education minister.
It also accused her of gross incompetence and dereliction of duty.
Sara Duterte recently said she had contracted someone to kill Marcos, his wife and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the president’s cousin, if she herself were to be killed. Later she said the remarks had been taken out of context.
On Friday, in remarks that drew criticism from some lawmakers, Marcos said any impeachment complaint against his estranged vice president would only distract Congress and not help people.
The Philippines’ lower chamber of congress is dominated by allies of Marcos, which could allow her impeachment to go through the lower chamber before an impeachment trial in the Senate.
Germany’s Scholz announces Ukraine military aid in visit to Kyiv
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made an unexpected visit to Kyiv on Monday
- His second second since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago
BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made an unexpected visit to Kyiv on Monday, vowing his country would remain Ukraine’s biggest supporter in Europe and promising delivery this month of military aid worth $683 million (€650 million).
The visit, his second since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, signals Germany’s support at a time of uncertainty ahead of President-elect Donald Trump taking the reins at the White House and as Russian forces make territorial gains.
Scholz will hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is set to push NATO to invite Ukraine to join the military alliance at a meeting in Brussels this week.
The German chancellor’s visit also comes as he faces a tough battle for re-election at a snap vote in February after his coalition collapsed in November.
His own record on supporting Ukraine has been under scrutiny both from those who wanted him to do more to help Kyiv and, on the other side, those voters who want Germany to pull back from sending weapons and aid to Ukraine.
“Germany will remain Ukraine’s strongest supporter in Europe,” Scholz wrote on X.
At the meeting with Zelensky, he said he would “announce further military equipment worth €650 million, which is to be delivered in December.”
Bangladesh court acquits ex-PM Khaleda Zia’s son in 2004 deadly grenade attack
- Tarique Rahman, others were found guilty in 2018 of targeting a rally held by supporters of PM Sheikh Hasina, who led opposition at the time
- The ruling comes as the country suffers political tension after Hasina fled to India in August following a mass uprising that killed hundreds
DHAKA: Bangladesh’s High Court on Sunday acquitted former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s son, Tarique Rahman, and overturned a verdict against him over a deadly 2004 grenade attack on a political rally.
The ruling comes at a critical time as the South Asian country suffers political tension after long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country to India in August following a mass uprising that left hundreds dead. Rahman serves as the acting chairperson of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party while in self-exile in London, and he could become Bangladesh’s next leader if his party is voted into power.
Rahman and 48 others were found guilty in 2018 in the attack targeting a rally held by supporters of Sheikh Hasina, who led the opposition at the time, leaving two dozen people dead and wounding about 300 others. A court sentenced 19 of them to death while Rahman got life in prison, with Zia’s party accusing the ruling of being politically motivated.
A two-member judge panel scrapped Sunday the entire 2018 ruling for all 49 men, following an appeal lodged by the defendants. Shishir Monir, a defense lawyer, told reporters the court declared the trial and verdict “illegal”.
“As a result, all defendants have been acquitted,” he said.
Zia, who ruled the country as prime minister between 2001-2006, and Hasina are the country’s most powerful politicians and long-time rivals.
Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus has been chosen as the country’s interim leader since Hasina’s escape, but authorities have been struggling to enforce order amid mob justice, chaos and claims of systematic targeting of minority groups, particularly Hindus, which Yunus said are “exaggerated.”
Hasina’s Awami League party blasted the court ruling in a Facebook post on Sunday, saying it wasn’t “Yunus’ Kangaroo court” and that the people of Bangladesh would be the ones trying those responsible for the attacks.
Zia’s party welcomed Sunday’s ruling.
The attorney general’s office can appeal the ruling in the country’s Supreme Court.
The Yunus-led government has not declared any timeframe for the next election, but Rahman and his party want the new election sometime soon. Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami party, which shared power with Zia’s party in 2001-2006 with important portfolios in the Cabinet, said it wants to allow the Yunus-led government to stay in power to bring in reforms in various sectors before a new election.
Hasina faces charges of crimes against humanity for deaths during the summer’s student-led uprising. The interim government has sought help from Interpol to arrest Hasina. It is not clear if India will respond to any request from Bangladesh for Hasina’s extradition under a mutual treaty.
Australian police arrest 13 people and seize a record 2.3 tonnes of cocaine from a fishing boat
- The drugs had a sale value of $494 million and equaled as many as 11.7 million street deals if they had reached the country of 28 million people
- The smugglers made two attempts to transport the drugs to Australia by sea from a mothership floating hundreds of kilometers offshore
WELLINGTON: Australian police seized a record 2.3 tonnes of cocaine and arrested 13 people in raids after the suspects’ boat broke down off the coast of Queensland, authorities said Monday.
The drugs had a sale value of 760 million Australian dollars ($494 million) and equaled as many as 11.7 million street deals if they had reached the country of 28 million people, federal police said in a statement.
Investigators told reporters in Brisbane that the drugs were transported from an unidentified South American country.
The arrests on Saturday and Sunday followed a monthlong investigation after a tipoff that the Comancheros motorcycle gang was planning a multi-ton smuggling operation, Australian Federal Police Commander Stephen Jay said.
The smugglers made two attempts to transport the drugs to Australia by sea from a mothership floating hundreds of kilometers (miles) offshore, Jay said. Their first boat broke down, and the second vessel foundered on Saturday, leaving the suspects stranded at sea for several hours until police raided the fishing boat and seized the drugs, he said.
The mothership was in international waters and was not apprehended, Jay said.
Authorities have seized more than one ton of cocaine before, Jay said, but the weekend’s haul was the biggest ever recorded in Australia.
Those charged are accused of conspiring to import the drug into Australia by sea and were due to appear in various courts on Monday. The maximum penalty under the charge is life in prison.
Some were arrested on the boat while others were waiting on shore to collect the cocaine, police said. Two were under age 18 and all were Australian citizens, they said.
“Australia is a very attractive market for organized criminal groups to send drugs such as cocaine,” Jay said.
