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China’s coastguard has seized Sandy Cay, a small sandbank in the Spratly Islands. CCTV showed officers raising the Chinese flag on the reef earlier in April, asserting control over the area, BBC reported.

In response, the Philippines, which also claims the reef, posted a similar photo of its police waving the flag and landed security guards on neighboring sandbanks. It's still unclear which sandbanks were involved.

China's "illegal presence" close to the sandbanks was denounced by the Philippine National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, which also reported seeing seven militia vessels and a coastguard ship, according to BBC.

While China has not established permanent occupancy of Sandy Cay, the incident adds to the region's extending tensions, which have resulted in frequent clashes. The White House expressed alarm over China's actions, as the dispute continues with rival claims from many countries.

Israel carried out an airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, targeting a Hezbollah site said to house precision-guided missiles. The attack came after an evacuation order, despite a ceasefire brokered five months ago by the US and France, according to BBC.

Lebanon’s presidency condemned the strike and urged international pressure to stop Israeli actions.

It was Israel’s first strike on Dahieh, Hezbollah’s Beirut stronghold, in nearly a month. Although the ceasefire remains officially in place, Israel continues hitting suspected Hezbollah targets, citing security threats, BBC reported.

The latest escalation adds new strain to the fragile truce and raises fears of fresh conflict along the Lebanese-Israeli border.

The Nepali film Anjila was specially screened at Bhojpur Municipality Hall in Bhojpur district. Directed by Milan Chams, the film was shown for the fourth time in the hall equipped with a digital screen and sound system, with the participation of around 500 spectators. Bhojpur Municipality Mayor Kailash Kumar Ale attended the screening.

Director Milan Chams, who was present at the event, expressed his pride in seeing continuous film shows in a place where movie theaters had previously shut down. “It is a historic achievement to have regular screenings in a location without a permanent cinema hall,” he said, adding that he was thrilled to be part of the occasion.

The special show coincided with the ‘8th International Invitational Mayor Bhojpur Gold Cup.’ Chams announced that the proceeds from the screening would go toward building a house for Anjila Tumbapo Subba, the film’s lead actress and real-life protagonist.

Mayor Ale also expressed his happiness at being able to host a meaningful film like Anjila and pledged continued support for such initiatives. Praising the movie team for taking on a role the state should fulfill, he announced a cash donation of Rs 50,000 from the municipality toward Anjila’s house construction. Director Chams said he hopes for similar support from other local governments across Nepal.

Currently in its seventh week of screening, ‘Anjila’ is still showing in about 40 locations nationwide, including the Kathmandu Valley. The team is preparing for a special 51-day celebration event on May 2. Though released on March 12, ‘Anjila’ has already secured a spot among the top five Nepali films of the year and, according to distributors, has grossed over Rs 100m.

Based on the life of Angila Tumbapo Subba, the captain of Nepal’s women’s national football team, the film stars Anjila herself in the lead role. According to director Chams, the film’s portrayal of struggles and dreams resonates deeply with audiences, creating a strong emotional connection. The movie also features performances by Prem Kumar Shrestha, Sunil Thapa, Dayahang Rai, Bijay Baral, Sirjana Subba, Mao Tse Gurung, Sumin Gurung, Buddhi Tamang, and others.

As the release date draws closer, the promotional campaign for the Nepali film ‘Oonko Sweater’ is gaining momentum. The film’s team has been touring different parts of the country, engaging directly with audiences. As part of this campaign, an event titled ‘Oonko Sweater Saajh Pokhara’ with Sujan Chapagain was held Friday evening along the scenic Fewa Lake in Pokhara.

Popular singer and the film’s music director, Sujan Chapagain, delivered a live performance in front of hundreds of spectators at Hallan Chowk. Chapagain performed hit songs from the movie, including ‘Makhmali’, ‘Kafle’, and ‘Phool’. Marking the 90th birth anniversary of the late legendary folk singer Jhalakman Gandharva, Chapagain also delivered a special tribute performance. He sang ‘Bala Joban’ alongside students from the Jhalakman Sarangi School, who captured the audience’s hearts with their sarangi performances. Jhalakman’s family and the Sarangi School were honored during the event.

The event saw the presence of actor Bipin Karki, actress Pariksha Limbu, debutant Alex Paras, artist Mao Tse Gurung, director Naveen Chauhan, executive producer Milan Khatri, distributor Pushkar Ghimire, and media executive Jeevan Parajuli, among others. 

Three new posters of Oonko Sweater were also unveiled during the program. Addressing the crowd, Bipin Karki described the film as original and urged audiences to watch it in theaters. Mao Tse Gurung shared that he always chooses to work with quality banners and readily accepted Artmandu’s offer for this film. Director Naveen Chauhan expressed confidence that the movie, like Artmandu’s songs, would satisfy audiences and encouraged everyone to look forward to its release on May 9.

Actress Pariksha Limbu said she was thrilled by the overwhelming audience response, while newcomer Alex Paras, who had previously gained attention for his role in Artmandu’s music video ‘Phoolthunge Rani’, expressed his excitement about interacting with audiences directly. Adding to the evening’s excitement, Alex and Pariksha performed a lively dance to the song ‘Kafle’, while artists from the Pokhara Art Center also entertained the crowd with vibrant dance performances. 

The next event in the ‘Oonko Sweater Saajh with Sujan Chapagain’ series is scheduled for May 1 in Dharan. 

While pursuing a Bachelor of Development Studies back in 2011, I was engrossed in questions of development and prosperity. Along with some economics, sociology, development, and research courses, a series of unresolved questions occupied my mind: What routes lead to development and prosperity? What policies benefit  the country and its residents the most? Is it better to have a market-led development or a government-led development? Back then, pursuing a degree in development studies wasn’t only about getting a job; I was also concerned about the country’s development, a sentiment that may have arisen as a result of indoctrinated nationalism during my school days.

During my undergraduate studies, I had the opportunity to observe the work of  some non-governmental development organizations. The more I saw of their work, the more  dissatisfied I became: their huge administrative costs, including handsomely paid overseas consultants, in comparison to the amount that reaches targeted people, and their hidden goals. As a result, a critical attitude toward such groups began to emerge. During one of my field visits to Saktikhor, Chitwan, I was shocked to learn that one of the development agencies had structured a  health camp in such a way that residents would be required to bring home medicine as well as a bible. This acknowledgment made me more critical of non-governmental development agencies  and piqued my interest in research as another option to pursue.

Think tank to rehabilitation center

I had the opportunity to work as an intern in a Kathmandu-based research institute during  the fifth semester. On one of the working days, my immediate supervisor said, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” The quote convinced me enough; after all, one is paid for his job, while  we are given nothing for free. Along with my internship, I eventually came across prominent  names like Milton Friedman, Ayn Rand, and Friedrich Hayek, as well as their concepts. I was also learning to write blogs and articles at the same time. Market-led development, I was taught, is better for a country. I was taught that the smaller the government, the greater the chance of  prosperity. My college lecturers, on the other hand, taught that huge government interventions  lead to prosperity. I wasn’t old enough to understand what was right and wrong. I was perplexed.

In one of my senior’s conversations, he emphasized why governments should not set  minimum wages by recounting an anecdote of the Cobra Effect (unintended consequences of public policy) in ancient India. He claimed that while populist politicians may set a higher  minimum wage, it ultimately hurts workers since businesses lay off employees to decrease costs  in order to sustain profit. I was persuaded by his logic, but I could not readily accept that the  government should not set a minimum wage because my single mother worked as a housemaid at one of Kathmandu’s casinos. I still wonder what one should hold on to—reasoning or lived  and witnessed experiences. I continued to be perplexed. What is right and what is wrong, what is  good and what is bad kept flowing through my mind. He went to the extent of saying that there is  no such thing as a public interest for the public is nothing but conglomeration of individuals. I was perplexed again. He recommended a few works the following days, including George Orwell’s Animal Farm, James D Gwartney’s Common Sense Economics, and Ayn Rand’s The  Fountainhead. 

On one of my holidays, I decided to buy those books and went to the bookstore. I  bought the books that were recommended to me because I have been writing poems since middle  school and also a big fan of literary works. Apart from the books that were recommended to me, I also bought Friedrich Nietzsche’s The Gay Science, despite not knowing who Nietzsche was at  the time, because I liked several of his aphorisms and verses.

While learning the fundamentals of research, I attended an event hosted by the institution where I worked. It had convened a meeting of our country’s top legislators and business leaders. My responsibility as an intern was to take notes on the event's speakers. As the sessions came to  an end, I realized that capitalists were pressing for legislative changes that would benefit them. Following the seminars, there was a grand closing party, with attendees approaching each other with drinks in hand and engaging in informal lobbying.

Wouldn’t such lobbying conflict with  public interests, I wondered! With the passage of time while I was learning to write, read and  make sense of the world; I came to realize that as an intern there I, rather than working as an  independent researcher, was merely working to promote the ideas of free-market and capitalism.

After six months of working at the institute, my internship period came to an end. I wrote several blogs to promote the ideas of free-market capitalism and Austrian economics, as well as co-authoring one working paper on property rights. It was as if I was praying to a god who I didn’t believe in. 

I was looking forward to working in another research institute since I wanted to improve  my research skills. Fortunately, after finishing my undergraduate studies, I was given the  opportunity to conduct study on the post-earthquake scenario. I was hoping for step-by-step  guidance from seniors because I was new to research. Unfortunately, the research institution  fired me in the middle of a three-month assignment citing reasons such as sharing a research  project with members outside the organization. Back then, I had written some emails to people  outside the organization seeking help for the project I was assigned.

I began to feel restless after being sacked from my work. For several nights, I was unable  to sleep. Questions like “what is right and what is wrong,” “what is good and what is bad,” made  me more agitated. My inability to work as a researcher, as well as my own thoughts, along with  marijuana use, made me increasingly restless, insomniac, and delusional. I was ultimately  admitted to a mental rehabilitation center. 

“God gives me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things  I can change, and wisdom to know the difference,” was inscribed on one of the walls of my  rehabilitation, where I lived for a month. These words had spoken to my soul. I was dissatisfied  with the way aid organizations operated in Nepal, but I eventually understood there was little I could do about it. 

Reflecting back with aphorisms and books 

After I got out of the rehabilitation center, books became my friends. Instead of going out  and meeting up with friends, I discovered solace in poetry and literature. Instead of visiting  friends, I would write poems and read books because I was embarrassed to meet them. In  Nietzsche's The Gay Science, I felt as if I found some answers to questions I had previously. To  be honest, I had no idea who Nietzsche was when I bought it.  

“There are no facts, only interpretations,” he writes, and “whichever interpretation  prevails at the given time is a function of power not truth.” These words spoke to my soul.  Maybe what I was taught (capitalism and free market as ultimate truth) is the virtue of power not of  truth. Concessional loans and grants provided to developing countries like Nepal by institutions  such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund are frequently subject to conditions. 

The conditions they propose best serve ideas of free market capitalism, and the Structural  Adjustment Program is one of the pieces of evidence. Meanwhile, in a world where capitalism  has developed the belief that people can do whatever they want for profit and self-interest, Nietzsche’s other aphorism makes a lot of sense. “That which is done out of love takes place beyond good and evil,” he writes in his book Beyond Good and Evil. Because businesses work  for the exclusive sake of profit, capitalism is subject to questions on morality. 

Another Nietzsche aphorism spoke to my spirit while I was still in a state of intellectual  perplexity. “Every profound thinker fears being understood more than being misunderstood,” he writes. The latter may hurt his vanity, but the former hurts his heart, his sympathy, which  continually cries, “Alas, why do you wish to go through what I went through?”

Because the aphorisms and phrases attracted my interest in Nietzsche, I began watching  Professor Jordan B Peterson’s online lectures, where he frequently discussed Nietzsche. I  purchased a book by Peterson and discovered that it partially answered my confusion  about political-economy. He writes in his book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, “....Almost every political or economic conversation follows this pattern, with each participant  striving to justify a predetermined, a priori viewpoint rather than learning something new or  adopting a different perspective (even for the novelty). As a result, both conservatives and  liberals believe their positions are self-evident, especially as they get more radical.”

Suraj Dhakal

The US Navy has deployed a sophisticated anti-ship missile system to Batan Island in the northern Philippines for the first time, in a blatant display of force near Taiwan. The move comes amid rising tensions with China, which has held large-scale military operations outside Taiwan to warn against the island's push for legal independence, as stated by the Firstpost.

On April 26, the US Marines airlifted the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) to Batan Island. Meanwhile, US and Filipino military conducted live-fire operations in Zambales province, targeting simulated hostile drones near the disputed South China Sea.

These operations are part of the annual Balikatan military drills, which have grown considerably this year, Firstpost reprted.

Approximately 9,000 US troops, 5,000 Filipino military, plus contingents from Australia, Japan, and other countries are deployed in numerous important areas throughout the region.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has opined that everyone should have a deep sense of gratitude and dedication towards mothers as they are the direct manifestation of mother Earth.

In his message of best wishes shared through a social site today on the occasion of the Matatirtha Aunshi festival, the Prime Minister wished for deepening the feeling of dedication and gratitude towards all mothers.

PM Oli has expressed heartfelt respect and tributes to all mothers on the day of Matatirtha Aunsi, a special day dedicated to paying gratitude and reverence to the mother. He stated that he cannot recollect his mother's face as she passed away when he was four years old.

"My mother's face is not very clear in my memory, because I was bereft of my mother's warm embrace when I was four years old. For me, the birthplace became a mother's image," the Prime Minister wrote in his social site post.

"Today is Matatirtha Aunshi or Mother's Day and I vaguely remember my mother's face,” he added.

The Kathmandu District Court on Sunday remanded Nepali Congress lawmaker Maya Rai to three days in judicial custody.

The Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office on Saturday night apprehended Rai from her residence in Kapan for misappropriating the funds of Kalimati-based Swarnalaxmi Savings and Credit Cooperative Society.

Rai, who is also a Nepali Congress central leader, had been at large for a long time after the Kathmandu District Court issued an arrest warrant against her on cooperative fraud and organized crime.

She was working as the joint secretary by staying on the Cooperative’s board of directors.

She has been kept at the District Police Range, Kathmandu in Bhadrakali.

Meanwhile, police have informed the Parliament members about the arrest of lawmaker Rai.