Mike Verdi-Cotts
@m24v-c.bsky.social
In love with all things Tibetan, Nepalese and Indian. Endlessly curious about their politics, culture, food and people (Maybe a little obsessed!). Campaigner for a Free Tibet.
Reposted by Mike Verdi-Cotts
Unredacted plans show “super-embassy” includes a concealed, thermally managed underground chamber built ~1m from core City fibre optic backbones (LINX, financial & transatlantic traffic). Wall demolition enables access during construction; cooling implies compute. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
January 13, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Unredacted plans show “super-embassy” includes a concealed, thermally managed underground chamber built ~1m from core City fibre optic backbones (LINX, financial & transatlantic traffic). Wall demolition enables access during construction; cooling implies compute. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
The Kathmandu Post
kathmandupost.com/national/202...
Nipah is a serious virus that spreads from fruit bats, animals, or infected people. It can cause fever, breathing problems, and brain swelling. It can be deadly, and there’s no cure or vaccine, so prevention and quick care matters.
kathmandupost.com/national/202...
Nipah is a serious virus that spreads from fruit bats, animals, or infected people. It can cause fever, breathing problems, and brain swelling. It can be deadly, and there’s no cure or vaccine, so prevention and quick care matters.
Nepal on alert after Nipah cases found in India’s West Bengal state
Officials say cross-border movement heightens risk of spread of the disease, which is highly fatal and has no cure.
kathmandupost.com
January 16, 2026 at 9:15 AM
The Kathmandu Post
kathmandupost.com/national/202...
Nipah is a serious virus that spreads from fruit bats, animals, or infected people. It can cause fever, breathing problems, and brain swelling. It can be deadly, and there’s no cure or vaccine, so prevention and quick care matters.
kathmandupost.com/national/202...
Nipah is a serious virus that spreads from fruit bats, animals, or infected people. It can cause fever, breathing problems, and brain swelling. It can be deadly, and there’s no cure or vaccine, so prevention and quick care matters.
Reposted by Mike Verdi-Cotts
#China defended its 1963 takeover of the #ShaksgamValley after #India objected to CPEC projects there. Beijing called its actions “beyond reproach.” India said Shaksgam & all of PoK are its territory & vowed to take steps to protect its interests.
www.tibetanreview.net/china-reject...
www.tibetanreview.net/china-reject...
China rejects India’s claim of sovereign infringement by its BRI projects with Pakistan - Tibetan Review
(TibetanReview.net, Jan13’26) – China has on Jan 12 defended its illegal acquisition in 1963 of the Shaksgam Valley of India’s Union territory of Ladakh, following New Delhi’s sharp criticism on Jan 9...
www.tibetanreview.net
January 13, 2026 at 8:38 PM
#China defended its 1963 takeover of the #ShaksgamValley after #India objected to CPEC projects there. Beijing called its actions “beyond reproach.” India said Shaksgam & all of PoK are its territory & vowed to take steps to protect its interests.
www.tibetanreview.net/china-reject...
www.tibetanreview.net/china-reject...
Reposted by Mike Verdi-Cotts
Protests in #China are rising but swiftly suppressed, with coverage removed. Freedom House’s China Dissent Monitor logged 5,000+ cases in 2025, & Sky found protest numbers up 48% in the first 11 months of last year compared with 2024.
@freedomhouse.bsky.social
www.tibetanreview.net/far-more-pro...
@freedomhouse.bsky.social
www.tibetanreview.net/far-more-pro...
Far more protests taking place in China than reported, trying to cover them invites frightening ordeal - Tibetan Review
(TibetanReview.net, Jan12’26) – Given the regime-threatening protests that are being staged across Iran these days by a people no longer able to endure the economic hardship caused by their theocratic...
www.tibetanreview.net
January 12, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Protests in #China are rising but swiftly suppressed, with coverage removed. Freedom House’s China Dissent Monitor logged 5,000+ cases in 2025, & Sky found protest numbers up 48% in the first 11 months of last year compared with 2024.
@freedomhouse.bsky.social
www.tibetanreview.net/far-more-pro...
@freedomhouse.bsky.social
www.tibetanreview.net/far-more-pro...
Reposted by Mike Verdi-Cotts
State of Statelessness shows why #Tibetan exile is lived through intimacy, family, and ritual, not spectacle. Quiet films can still carry political weight when a people’s identity and future are under threat. ★★★undersells it. www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ja...
State of Statelessness review – Dalai Lama presides over intimate dramas about Tibetans’ life of exile
Tibetan directors, who all live outside Tibet, deliver a quartet of films that explore the pain of separation and migration
www.theguardian.com
January 13, 2026 at 10:15 AM
State of Statelessness shows why #Tibetan exile is lived through intimacy, family, and ritual, not spectacle. Quiet films can still carry political weight when a people’s identity and future are under threat. ★★★undersells it. www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ja...
We recently visited the atmospheric Shree Karma Raja Mahavihar Tibetan Buddhist monastery at Swayambhunath, Kathmandu. It's a centre for monastic study, rituals, meditation, and preservation of Vajrayana traditions in the Swayambunath complex,visited by pilgrims and monks. Definitely worth a visit!
January 13, 2026 at 9:04 AM
We recently visited the atmospheric Shree Karma Raja Mahavihar Tibetan Buddhist monastery at Swayambhunath, Kathmandu. It's a centre for monastic study, rituals, meditation, and preservation of Vajrayana traditions in the Swayambunath complex,visited by pilgrims and monks. Definitely worth a visit!
The Kathmandu Post
kathmandupost.com/interviews/2...
Younger voters want change, accountability, and new leadership, but the same parties and faces still dominate. While frustration is clear, real political change is uncertain, making it feel like a mix of hope and political routine.
kathmandupost.com/interviews/2...
Younger voters want change, accountability, and new leadership, but the same parties and faces still dominate. While frustration is clear, real political change is uncertain, making it feel like a mix of hope and political routine.
Free and fair election key to restoring Nepal’s international reputation
Use of force on Gen Z protesters fell outside standards of legitimacy, necessity and proportionality.
kathmandupost.com
January 12, 2026 at 7:56 AM
The Kathmandu Post
kathmandupost.com/interviews/2...
Younger voters want change, accountability, and new leadership, but the same parties and faces still dominate. While frustration is clear, real political change is uncertain, making it feel like a mix of hope and political routine.
kathmandupost.com/interviews/2...
Younger voters want change, accountability, and new leadership, but the same parties and faces still dominate. While frustration is clear, real political change is uncertain, making it feel like a mix of hope and political routine.
Reposted by Mike Verdi-Cotts
Around 1,000,000 TIBETAN CHILDREN have been forced into Chinese boarding schools, where their native language is not allowed.
China’s attack on #Tibetan culture doesn’t stop at Tibetan Buddhism. Read more about the erosion of the Tibetan language: savetibet.org/beyond-neith...
China’s attack on #Tibetan culture doesn’t stop at Tibetan Buddhism. Read more about the erosion of the Tibetan language: savetibet.org/beyond-neith...
January 9, 2026 at 4:41 PM
Around 1,000,000 TIBETAN CHILDREN have been forced into Chinese boarding schools, where their native language is not allowed.
China’s attack on #Tibetan culture doesn’t stop at Tibetan Buddhism. Read more about the erosion of the Tibetan language: savetibet.org/beyond-neith...
China’s attack on #Tibetan culture doesn’t stop at Tibetan Buddhism. Read more about the erosion of the Tibetan language: savetibet.org/beyond-neith...
Reposted by Mike Verdi-Cotts
"Tibet remains a frontier in more than a geographic sense. It stands at the edge of a political system that does not tolerate difference easily. Until this is addressed Tibet will remain a symbol of how [...] silence replaced self-rule" sundayguardianlive.com/news/how-chi...
How China Silenced Its Frontiers: Tibet and the Death of Promised Autonomy
Tibet is one of the clearest cases of how China’s frontier regions lost the autonomy they were once expected to have. For decades before 1950,
sundayguardianlive.com
January 8, 2026 at 8:16 PM
"Tibet remains a frontier in more than a geographic sense. It stands at the edge of a political system that does not tolerate difference easily. Until this is addressed Tibet will remain a symbol of how [...] silence replaced self-rule" sundayguardianlive.com/news/how-chi...
Reposted by Mike Verdi-Cotts
Chinese Youth Stand for Tibet highlights a documentary on #Tibetan writer @woeser.bsky.social, once seen as a potential “successor of the red cause”. The film uses her dossier to show how the state tried to control her life & silence her writing:
chineseyouthstandfortibet.substack.com/p/woeser
chineseyouthstandfortibet.substack.com/p/woeser
Produced by Zhu Rikun | The Broken Egg Under the Red Flag: Tsering Woeser and Her Dossier
Woeser was initially expected to become a "successor" of the red cause, but in reality she diverged from this predetermined path. She persisted in speaking out against persecution suffered by Tibetans
chineseyouthstandfortibet.substack.com
January 5, 2026 at 3:32 AM
Chinese Youth Stand for Tibet highlights a documentary on #Tibetan writer @woeser.bsky.social, once seen as a potential “successor of the red cause”. The film uses her dossier to show how the state tried to control her life & silence her writing:
chineseyouthstandfortibet.substack.com/p/woeser
chineseyouthstandfortibet.substack.com/p/woeser
Reposted by Mike Verdi-Cotts
China’s broken promises and human rights abuses are highlighted in the CECC’s 2025 report.
Read more on #China’s continued oppression of the #Tibetan people and their culture: savetibet.org/us-congressi...
Read more on #China’s continued oppression of the #Tibetan people and their culture: savetibet.org/us-congressi...
January 5, 2026 at 7:13 PM
China’s broken promises and human rights abuses are highlighted in the CECC’s 2025 report.
Read more on #China’s continued oppression of the #Tibetan people and their culture: savetibet.org/us-congressi...
Read more on #China’s continued oppression of the #Tibetan people and their culture: savetibet.org/us-congressi...
Road widening on the Prithvi Highway has brought constant dust, noise and traffic jams for locals. Landslides & unfinished surfaces block travel, damage businesses, and worsen air quality. Vehicles crawl for hours, people face health problems, and daily life is disrupted with little relief in sight.
January 7, 2026 at 2:37 PM
Road widening on the Prithvi Highway has brought constant dust, noise and traffic jams for locals. Landslides & unfinished surfaces block travel, damage businesses, and worsen air quality. Vehicles crawl for hours, people face health problems, and daily life is disrupted with little relief in sight.
Reposted by Mike Verdi-Cotts
Human Rights Watch earlier noted that China had an ongoing two-tier system for passport issuance: #Tibetans face far more stringent procedures & scrutiny compared to Han Chinese. Officials can require additional layers of review, & travel for religious reasons is treated as suspicious/unlawful:
China declared 2025 as “Visit #Nepal Year” and pledged 500k tourists, but Nepal is seeing declining arrivals from China—partly due to Beijing’s long‑standing restrictions on passports for ordinary Tibetans.
www.tibetanreview.net/beijings-vis...
www.tibetanreview.net/beijings-vis...
Beijing’s ‘Visit Nepal’ push fails, Tibetans continued to be denied passports - Tibetan Review
(TibetanReview.net, Jan03’26) – China in Jun 2024 declared 2025 as “Visit Nepal Year in China” and promised to bring at least 500,000 Chinese tourists to the country. However, the Himalayan country ha...
www.tibetanreview.net
January 4, 2026 at 5:29 AM
Human Rights Watch earlier noted that China had an ongoing two-tier system for passport issuance: #Tibetans face far more stringent procedures & scrutiny compared to Han Chinese. Officials can require additional layers of review, & travel for religious reasons is treated as suspicious/unlawful:
Reposted by Mike Verdi-Cotts
Nepal is just one of at least 150 countries to which Chinese companies are supplying surveillance technology. This technology is now a key part of China’s push for global influence.
religionnews.com/2025/12/22/u...
religionnews.com/2025/12/22/u...
US tech enabled China’s surveillance empire. Now Tibetan refugees in Nepal are paying the price
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — This technology is now a key part of China’s push for global influence, as it provides cash-strapped governments cost-effective, if invasive, forms of policing — turning…
religionnews.com
January 3, 2026 at 11:00 PM
Nepal is just one of at least 150 countries to which Chinese companies are supplying surveillance technology. This technology is now a key part of China’s push for global influence.
religionnews.com/2025/12/22/u...
religionnews.com/2025/12/22/u...
Reposted by Mike Verdi-Cotts
Thinking about volunteering at a food bank but don't know where to start? This guide has everything you need to know.
How to volunteer at a food bank
www.bigissue.com
December 8, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Thinking about volunteering at a food bank but don't know where to start? This guide has everything you need to know.
The Kathmandu Post
kathmandupost.com/national/202...
Nepali universities often face significant political influence, with student unions and party-affiliated groups affecting administration, appointments, and campus governance.This politicisation can hinder academic independence. Reform is needed.
kathmandupost.com/national/202...
Nepali universities often face significant political influence, with student unions and party-affiliated groups affecting administration, appointments, and campus governance.This politicisation can hinder academic independence. Reform is needed.
Government pushes to free universities from political grip
Bill in the works to bar the prime minister from becoming the university chancellor and restore academic autonomy.
kathmandupost.com
December 3, 2025 at 11:16 AM
The Kathmandu Post
kathmandupost.com/national/202...
Nepali universities often face significant political influence, with student unions and party-affiliated groups affecting administration, appointments, and campus governance.This politicisation can hinder academic independence. Reform is needed.
kathmandupost.com/national/202...
Nepali universities often face significant political influence, with student unions and party-affiliated groups affecting administration, appointments, and campus governance.This politicisation can hinder academic independence. Reform is needed.
China is building a massive hydropower dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet. The state-led project raises major concerns due to seismic risk, fragile Himalayan geology, and potential downstream impacts on India and Bangladesh. Environmental and safety worries are growing
savetibet.org/beyond-the-b...
savetibet.org/beyond-the-b...
Beyond the Bridge: Warning signs of geologic instability and hydropower dam-induced displacement and disaster in Tibet
November 21, 2025 The November 11, 2025, collapse of the
savetibet.org
November 27, 2025 at 6:40 AM
China is building a massive hydropower dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet. The state-led project raises major concerns due to seismic risk, fragile Himalayan geology, and potential downstream impacts on India and Bangladesh. Environmental and safety worries are growing
savetibet.org/beyond-the-b...
savetibet.org/beyond-the-b...
Reposted by Mike Verdi-Cotts
WATCH the collapse of the Red Flag bridge in eastern Tibet. This disaster is yet another consequence of China’s reckless hydropower construction scheme. Read more about how these projects threaten lives, displace Tibetans and harm the Tibetan environment: savetibet.org/beyond-the-b...
November 26, 2025 at 4:23 PM
WATCH the collapse of the Red Flag bridge in eastern Tibet. This disaster is yet another consequence of China’s reckless hydropower construction scheme. Read more about how these projects threaten lives, displace Tibetans and harm the Tibetan environment: savetibet.org/beyond-the-b...
The Kathmandu Post
kathmandupost.com/letters/2025...
Nepal can tackle this by making government deals transparent, boosting independent watchdogs, going digital to cut favours and picking people for jobs on merit, protecting whistleblowers, and giving media more power to call out dodgy behaviour.
kathmandupost.com/letters/2025...
Nepal can tackle this by making government deals transparent, boosting independent watchdogs, going digital to cut favours and picking people for jobs on merit, protecting whistleblowers, and giving media more power to call out dodgy behaviour.
kathmandupost.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:35 AM
The Kathmandu Post
kathmandupost.com/letters/2025...
Nepal can tackle this by making government deals transparent, boosting independent watchdogs, going digital to cut favours and picking people for jobs on merit, protecting whistleblowers, and giving media more power to call out dodgy behaviour.
kathmandupost.com/letters/2025...
Nepal can tackle this by making government deals transparent, boosting independent watchdogs, going digital to cut favours and picking people for jobs on merit, protecting whistleblowers, and giving media more power to call out dodgy behaviour.
The Kathmandu Post
kathmandupost.com/national/202...
Nepal’s government faces persistent concerns about nepotism. Adarsh Shrestha appointing his wife and relatives to the prime minister’s secretariat has intensified criticism and fueled youth-led demands for transparency.
kathmandupost.com/national/202...
Nepal’s government faces persistent concerns about nepotism. Adarsh Shrestha appointing his wife and relatives to the prime minister’s secretariat has intensified criticism and fueled youth-led demands for transparency.
Nepal Gen Z Front demands sacking of PM’s chief personal secretary over nepotism
Front demands immediate revocation of all appointments and disclosure of secretariat members.
kathmandupost.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:51 AM
The Kathmandu Post
kathmandupost.com/national/202...
Nepal’s government faces persistent concerns about nepotism. Adarsh Shrestha appointing his wife and relatives to the prime minister’s secretariat has intensified criticism and fueled youth-led demands for transparency.
kathmandupost.com/national/202...
Nepal’s government faces persistent concerns about nepotism. Adarsh Shrestha appointing his wife and relatives to the prime minister’s secretariat has intensified criticism and fueled youth-led demands for transparency.
Nepal has registered 125 political parties to contest the upcoming March 5, 2026 parliamentary elections — many of these are brand new groups formed by youth activists who were involved in the Gen Z anti-corruption protests.
November 22, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Nepal has registered 125 political parties to contest the upcoming March 5, 2026 parliamentary elections — many of these are brand new groups formed by youth activists who were involved in the Gen Z anti-corruption protests.