Good morning. We’re covering explosive protests in Nepal. Also:
Plus, why Japan’s 7-Eleven stores are so special.
What’s behind the fiery protests in Nepal?The sheer number of prominent buildings that were set on fire by young protesters during the second day of unrest in Kathmandu yesterday is staggering. Protesters set fire to the Supreme Court building and the Parliament building. They set fire to the home of the prime minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, who resigned hours earlier, and to the headquarters of his political party, the Communist Party of Nepal. They burned the headquarters of the Nepali Congress party, the houses of three former prime ministers and the house of the home minister, who’d resigned on Monday after security forces fired into crowds of young demonstrators that day, killing 22. As of late Tuesday, the situation in Kathmandu was in flux. The military sent in troops to restore order, with some spotted on the street, and it was unclear who was running the country. Nepal’s main international airport was shut down and flights that were scheduled to land there were diverted to other countries. Here are three things we know about the protests so far: The protests were sparked by a ban on social media: Last week, the authorities banned 26 services, including WeChat, YouTube and LinkedIn, citing failures to register with the government. There’s a robust culture of free speech in Nepal, and social media had become a vehicle for criticizing what’s widely perceived as a deeply corrupt, two-tier society, comprising elites and everyone else. (Nepalese have used hashtags like #nepobabies and #nepokids to criticize the lavish lifestyles of politicians’ children.) But in Nepal, social media is about more than free speech: “The country’s biggest slow-burning crisis centers on jobs,” my colleague Alex Travelli wrote. “Getting one is a herculean task in Nepal.” With many Nepalese working abroad and sending remittances back home, the social media ban “had the effect of isolating families from their faraway breadwinners,” Alex wrote. The government repealed the ban after the first day of protests, but by that point, anger was already boiling over. Nepal is the latest South Asian country to oust its prime minister: Barely a year ago, similar scenes played out in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. That country’s prime minister, long the most powerful figure in the country, fled after being driven from office by street protests, following a security crackdown that killed 1,400 people. About three years ago, the same happened in Sri Lanka. In all three countries, the protesters have been young; in Nepal, the seemingly leaderless movement has embraced the label “Gen-Z protests.”
What is making the region so volatile? “The primary answer is that nobody knows,” Alex told us. “These countries are very different economically, socially, in their positioning vis-à-vis major powers in the world.” But what they do have in common are serious unemployment problems among young people, and a system of entrenched elites. It’s also not yet clear how the political upheaval in either Bangladesh or Sri Lanka will ultimately play out: Bangladesh is still searching for political stability, while Sri Lanka’s economy is struggling. In Nepal, we’re still waiting to see how things will look in the coming hours, but my colleague Bhadra Sharma, who is in Kathmandu, has painted a picture of a city on edge: “Some protesters encircled my motorbike and then rushed it when they realized that I was a journalist. They only let me pass after I mouthed an antigovernment slogan,” he wrote, at about 9:15 p.m. Kathmandu time. Security forces “are not the only ones with guns and other weapons.” Interested in providing feedback on this newsletter? Take our short survey here.
In Japan, convenience stores like 7-Eleven are indispensable. Konbini, as they’re known, are meticulously organized and stocked with high-quality prepared foods like onigiri rice balls and egg salad sandwiches. Now, the Japanese parent company of 7-Eleven is betting billions of dollars that it can expand business in North America by turning its stores there into food meccas. Here’s why.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times.
Can a book change the world?Robert Langdon, Dan Brown’s recurring hero and fictional professor of symbology, is back. In “The Secret of Secrets,” Brown’s new thriller, Langdon zigzags across Prague, where guns are fired, locks are picked and secrets are revealed. The novel insists that books have the power to upend our assumptions about reality, spark conspiracies, and save or end lives. “The Secret of Secrets” is “a wistful testament to the power of the printed word,” writes our critic A.O. Scott. “At a time when reading sometimes seems to be in terminal decline and books have ceded influence to listicles, podcasts and video, it’s heartening to pick up a fat volume that dares to insist otherwise.”
Bake: Add cocoa powder to Rice Krispies treats. Watch: Here are 80 — yes, 80 — movies to check out this season. Listen: On her latest album, a Colombian avant-gardist looks inward. Sweat: Skip the pub crawl and embrace Ireland’s saunas. |
