Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 92

No more Uyghurs left in immigration detention center: Thai police

Thailand said Thursday there are no longer any Uyghurs stranded in its immigration facilities following the internationally criticized repatriation of 40 Uyghur men to China in late February, in an apparent move to put an end to the confusion over the total number of detainees. Thailand put the men on a plane to Xinjiang on Feb. 27, saying China had given assurances that they would not be

Indian mural that spent decades on Norwegian hospital wall sells for record $13.8m

A forgotten oil-on-canvas masterpiece by Indian painter MF Husain, rediscovered decades later, has rewritten the record books for Indian art. Husain's Untitled (Gram Yatra), a sprawling 14-foot-wide mural, sold for an unprecedented $13.8m (£10.6m) at a Christie's auction in New York last week. It shattered the previous high for Indian art of $7.4m (£5.7m), fetched by Amrita Sher-Gil's The Story

Tibet’s remarkable linguistic diversity is in danger of extinction

Three days after he was released from prison in December, a Tibetan village leader named Gonpo Namgyal died. As his body was being prepared for traditional Tibetan funeral rites, marks were found indicating he had been brutally tortured in jail.His crime? Gonpo Namgyal had been part of a campaign to protect the Tibetan language in China. Gonpo Namgyal is the victim of a slow-moving conflict that

Taiwan is under a triple security threat

Taiwan’s national security is increasingly jeopardized – externally, from two different directions, and also from within. The largest and most direct threat, of course, is the People’s Republic of China. Beijing’s long-standing position is that Taiwan must not formally politically separate itself from China. The red line for military action by the PRC has never been crystal clear. Taiwan

Hegseth says US to boost ties with Philippines as deterrence against China: 'Peace through strength'

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Friday that the Trump administration intends to boost military ties with the Philippines to strengthen deterrence against Chinese aggression in the disputed South China Sea. The assurance came during a meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Philippines, part of Hegseth’s trip to Asia to reaffirm Washington's "ironclad" commitment to the region

Myanmar earthquake death toll soars past 1,000 as Thailand scrambles to rescue trapped Bangkok workers

At least 1,000 people are dead after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck near Mandalay in Myanmar and rocked neighboring Thailand. The quake was the largest to hit Myanmar in more than a century. The US Geological Survey estimated that the death toll could top 10,000.•Myanmar’s giant neighbors China and India have sent teams to help with rescue efforts. A Chinese team was the first international

Water, ice, society, and ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

This Water, ice, society, and ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HI-WISE) assessment report provides a partial update to the first HKH assessment report, focusing on the interlinkages between cryosphere, water, ecosystems, and societies in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH). The vision, encouragement, and support of the former Director General of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain

Opinion: The glacier crisis is no longer a remote, abstract problem

We are losing our glaciers. They are retreating at an accelerated rate, and the consequences are not confined to remote mountaintops – they will affect us all.Having spent much of my life scaling the high mountains of the Himalayas, I have seen this loss unfold firsthand. But translating that visceral experience into urgency for someone living in a coastal metropolis like Hong Kong or Mumbai can

Trump’s tariffs won’t save Musk from China’s BYD

No one wins in a trade war, as economists have insisted for decades. Yet Elon Musk sure does seem to be blowing this maxim to smithereens. In January 2024, the Tesla billionaire warned that America’s electric vehicle industry had no chance of beating China’s without massive tariffs. Fast forward 14 months and Musk finds himself in the winner’s circle as Trump hits the global car industry with 25%

US building walls while China erecting windmills

Dozens of foreign CEOs are gathering in Beijing this week for the annual China Development Forum (CDF). Against the backdrop of heightened global uncertainty, Beijing is sending its message to the world: As the US pursues protectionist “America First” policies, the world’s second-largest economy is open for business. The Chinese government has, on several occasions, iterated its determination to