Idaho police release the names of 6 killed in Yellowstone crash
earlier this month.
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Idaho State Police said Jianping Li, 71, of Guangxi, China, and Xiaoming Jiang, 66, of Guilin, China, died from the May 1 crash along with Ivana Wen, 28, of Milan.
Two of the deceased travelers were California residents: Li Nie, 64, and Aifeng Wan, 53, both of Arcadia. The van's 30-year-old driver Yu Zhang, of Eastvale, California, was also killed.
Idaho police earlier Friday listed Jian Shi, 56, of Shanghai, as among the dead but later corrected their statement to say Shi sustained injuries but survived the crash.
Police said the first statement should have included Li as among the dead.
There were 14 people in the van. Of the 13 passengers, 12 had Chinese nationality and one was Italian, police said. Survivors were taken to nearby hospitals with injuries.
The truck's driver also died. Authorities earlier identified him as Isaih Moreno of Humble, Texas.
Investigators determined the Dodge Ram driven by Moreno crossed the center line and collided with the Mercedes van driven by Zhang.
Police said they were continuing to investigate why the truck crossed the center line.
The highway where the crash happened south of West Yellowstone, Montana, offers a way to get between Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons in the spring before a north-south route is plowed and the park fully opens for summer.
Yellowstone is one of the largest national parks in the U.S. and draws millions of visitors each year. It is home to the iconic geyser Old Faithful and has wolves, bison and more than 50 other mammal species. It's primarily located in Wyoming but it also extends in parts of Montana and Idaho.
Seventeen percent of Yellowstone's visitors came from other countries in 2016, according to a park visitor use study with the most recent comprehensive data available. Of international visitors, 34% came from China and 11% from Italy.
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Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Typhoon Wipha causes major flight disruptions in Hong Kong and southern China
Typhoon Wipha caused major flight disruptions Sunday in Hong Kong and at some nearby airports in China as it moved west along the southern coast. Airports in Hong Kong, Shenzhen , Zhuhai and Macao canceled or postponed all their daytime flights, their websites showed. Some high-speed train service in the area was suspended. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category Public Policy MBA PGDM Data Science Healthcare MCA Others Artificial Intelligence Degree Product Management Digital Marketing Finance Management Leadership Data Science Data Analytics CXO healthcare Project Management Design Thinking others Operations Management Technology Cybersecurity Skills you'll gain: Duration: 12 Months IIM Calcutta Executive Programme in Public Policy and Management Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Economics for Public Policy Making Quantitative Techniques Public & Project Finance Law, Health & Urban Development Policy Duration: 12 Months IIM Kozhikode Professional Certificate Programme in Public Policy Management Starts on Mar 3, 2024 Get Details The Hong Kong Observatory issued a hurricane signal No. 10 , its highest warning. The eye of the storm was passing just south of the city around midday with maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers (87 miles) per hour, the Observatory said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Play this game for 1 minute and see why everyone is addicted. Undo The government said over 200 people had headed to public shelters and that it had received dozens of reports of fallen trees. Hong Kong Disneyland and other amusement parks were closed. The storm, which reached typhoon strength overnight, was headed toward Macao and the neighboring Chinese city of Zhuhai. It was forecast to make landfall late Sunday and continue moving west, reaching Vietnam later this week. Live Events Wipha, which is a Thai name, passed over the Philippines at tropical storm strength and drenched parts of Taiwan on Saturday. Names for typhoons in the western Pacific are chosen by the countries in the region. In the Philippines, the storm intensified seasonal monsoon rains , leaving at least one villager dead in floodwaters in northern Cagayan province. More than 370,000 people were affected by days of stormy weather, including 43,000 who fled to government-run emergency shelters or homes of relatives due to flooding, landslides and fierce wind. More than 400 houses were damaged in the onslaught, officials said.
The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
Tibet in translation: how the capital city of Lhasa has been reshaped, and rewritten
The changes in Tibet's Lhasa are perhaps most evident in the heart of the old city, Barkhor Square, where the revered Jokhang Temple stands. Built in 639 CE by the 'first king of unified Tibet', Songtsen Gampo, the deities of the Buddha were brought by his two wives, Tang Dynasty's Princess Wencheng and Princess Bhrikuti from Nepal. Built around this temple, where Buddhists would do a daily parikrama, was a bustling market. In 2007, it was packed with stalls selling jewellery, handicrafts, wooden bowls, prayer flags, incense and food. Today, Barkhor stands as an empty piazza, with shops at the far ends of the square. Watch: The developing city of Tibet - Lhasa | Kailash Manasarovar Yatra Decades-long transformation In 2012, as part of a drive to give Lhasa a facelift, the stalls were cleared, and street vendors moved from outside the Jokhang temple, and along the main Youthok Lam (street) that leads to the Potala Palace. The signage is now almost entirely in Chinese, and the shopkeepers belong to China's Han ethnic majority unlike in the past, when they were mostly Tibetan. Many of those moved out are now housed in a multi-story concrete mall, Tibet Market. On the ground floor, the main corridor has more Han shopkeepers, with Tibetans relegated to the lines behind or floors above. Inside the Jokhang Temple, and at the opera, Princess Wencheng, which has been performed in Lhasa and other parts of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) for more than a decade, the Chinese queen, and link to Buddhism are played up over the ties to Nepal and India. This summer, Lhasa hosted another opera — a combination of a local epic, King Gesar, with the Confucian Shi Jing (Book of Poems). The three most visible changes at Barkhor Square — infrastructural, demographic and cultural — represent the transformation of Tibet over the past few decades. As a member of three Indian journalist delegations invited to Lhasa by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I have witnessed these changes during visits in 2007, 2014 and June 2025. Infrastructural changes After annexing Tibet in 1950, most of the Chinese government's planning focused on security, especially concerning Tibetan Buddhism and monks. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Jokhang Temple was closed for worship. But, by the turn of the century, there was a shift towards controlling the region through a blitzkrieg of investment. China's 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-2005), cleared by the National People's Congress, allocated over $4 billion for infrastructure development in Tibet, which rose to $21 billion in the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10), for developing expressways, a high-speed rail project, and more than 300 key projects. The launch of the Beijing-Lhasa train in 2006, which defied the steep climb to the Qinghai plateau, was hailed as an engineering marvel but speeded the influx of mainland Chinese to the region. The drive from the airport to Lhasa city, which once took almost three hours, now takes just 45 minutes due to tunnels bored through the mountains, and solar panels everywhere indicate a renewable energy transition. Experts and Tibetan activists say that the rapid construction of roads, tunnels, airports, and concrete cities like New Lhasa, across the Kyichu (Lhasa River) from Old Lhasa, has caused environmental damage, speeded global warming, and melted glaciers in a land that cradles the world's highest mountains and is the source of many of Asia's rivers. According to our tour-guides, rising temperatures in Lhasa and disappearing snow, even over Mount Kailash, are palpable. The construction, mining and malls mandated by the Chinese government's development plans have brought many workers and mainland Chinese seeking jobs. We meet many in the shopping areas as well as the government offices we visit. From 2010 to 2020, the population of Tibet (or Xizang, as the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) mandated the region's six prefectures be called in official documents) grew from about 2.7 million to 3.1 million. But the percentage of Tibetans or ethnic minorities dropped from nearly 90% to 86%, indicating a demographic change. Linguistic politics The language in Lhasa has shifted — Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua) is taught in schools to inculcate 'national unification and strengthen ethnic unity' through a 'modern education' according to a 2023 CPC paper. All official documents and signage now use the Chinese name 'Xizang' and not Tibet. At Lhasa's School Number 8 — where many international delegations are brought — the main language of instruction appears to be Mandarin, though we were taken to a class where students were chanting in Tibetan, and another where a scholar was practising the Tibetan script. This is a sensitive subject for the Chinese government, amid UN Special Rapporteurs' criticism that about 1 million Tibetan children had been 'separated from families' and pushed into schools that sought to 'assimilate Tibetans into majority Han culture'. While the CPC paper details measures to continue the study of Tibetan Buddhism 'adapted to China's reality', it also lists cultural changes that are more obvious to the eye in Lhasa. Relocation projects for poorer and rural Tibetans resemble Beijing hutongs (alleyways lined with houses) rather than smaller, colourful Tibetan homes seen in the countryside. There, we meet Tibetan families in a room where photographs of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chairman Mao are prominently displayed. Security forces, that we saw regularly in 2007, patrolling Lhasa streets with riot control gear and cattle-prongs to deal with self-immolation protests, are less visible. In busy areas, we see high-tech police surveillance vans, however. The disappearance of links to India, a regular travel destination for Tibetans now more restricted by a heavily controlled Nepal-Tibet border, is evident. In 2007, stalls at Barkhor sold Bollywood DVDs, shops stocked Indian products, and monks at Jokhang and the Potala Palace spoke to us in Hindi. Two decades later, very few speak, or admit to speaking, Hindi at all. Erasing the Dalai Lama The biggest change centres on erasing any reference to the 14th Dalai Lama, now 90 years old. He escaped from Lhasa 65 years ago, but his influence remains a concern for the Chinese government. All photographs of him are banned, and worshipping him is illegal. However, in 2007, I met Tibetans who, recognising me as an Indian, asked about him and showed photos concealed in their jackets, or behind shop counters. In 2014, during a brief period of openness following Chinese government talks with Dalai Lama representatives, we visited his summer home in Norbulingka, where Tibetans thronged to offer khadas (silk scarves) to his belongings — furniture, a radio set, even a towel rack. This time, we are told Norbulingka is closed. I ask a young man in Barkhor if he is following the Dalai Lama's birthday celebrations in Dharamshala. 'Yes,' he says, pointing to his chest as he looks around furtively, and adds, 'but only inside my heart.' suhasini.h@
The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
The Art Deco style book at 100
If you're on Marine Drive in Mumbai, you most certainly have seen Pizza by the Bay, the Italian restaurant on the ground floor of Soona Mahal, one of the most striking Art Deco buildings on the bustling seaface. The streamlined building, built in 1937, features cantilevered balconies, vertical accents topped with stepped ziggurat motifs, and a rooftop turret. The Queen's Necklace on Marine Drive houses beautiful examples of this architectural style that took root a century ago, marked by geometric patterns, porthole windows, nautical motifs and the iconic Deco signage. In fact, Mumbai has the second largest collection of Art Deco edifices across the world, second only to Miami Beach. The centenary of the movement in 2025 calls for celebration — and quiet reflection. One hundred years ago, on the banks of the Seine in France, the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, a landmark exhibition that ran for seven months in 1925, marked the birth of Art Deco, a design language that departed from the ostentation of Art Nouveau, the excesses of Victorian, and classical architecture. Emerging alongside the functional minimalism of German Bauhaus and the modernity of materials like glass, concrete, and steel, Art Deco embraced a bold aesthetic, featuring motifs such as frozen fountains, ziggurats (rectangular stepped tower), sunbursts, speed lines, and elements from Egyptian and Aztec cultures. In the years bookended by the two World Wars, migration and travel brought it to India. Affluent Indians, introduced to the aesthetic in Europe, asked architects back home to incorporate Deco elements into their new construction. Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, and Kolkata saw its strongest architectural expressions, while cities such as Pune, Hyderabad, and the Chettinad region developed more local interpretations. Today, not all of it has survived, and there is an urgent need for documentation and conservation. But, on the brighter side, contemporary movements in textile, typography and design have been incorporating Art Deco motifs into their visual vocabulary. But more on that later. Documenting Deco, one city at a time Atul Kumar, founder-trustee of the Art Deco Mumbai Trust, and his team have documented Mumbai's Art Deco heritage, identifying 1,324 buildings since 2017. From residential multi-storeys with geometric ventilators and chevron patterns to government edifices and cinemas, the Trust's interactive map shows those interested where they are located. In its sister city, Pune, the buildings have a strong vernacular influence. 'We see the incorporation of mythology, lotus motifs and the Devanagari script,' says Kumar. Sugandhi Building, a family owned three-storeyed residential structure in Budhwar Peth, is a favourite for its evocative lotus imagery, vibrant palette, and trademark Deco features such as circular portholes and a mandap-like deck — its moniker derived from a family that specialised in perfumery and fragrances, living in Pune for over 200 years. Hari Krupa or Mehendale Building, a two-storeyed mixed-use building with shops on the ground level, in Sadashiv Peth, is a prime example of how local craftsmen wove Art Deco influences into the local fabric, with religious iconography such as swastiks and omkars, sunbursts and chevrons. 'There is a unique melding of western and Indian styles — the designs are more intricate, and not as stylised as the Art Deco form,' he shares. As most of the 90 residential buildings in Pune now house families and commercial enterprises, documentation has been tough. 'We are focusing on outreach and sensitisation. Urban pressures [such as rapid plot development] are similar across cities, and there is no incentive to preserve or restore these homes. But the families we visited are keen to learn more about their heritage,' adds Kumar. This sentiment is echoed by Adhiraj Bose, who has been documenting Kolkata's Art Deco heritage since 2017. The city has one of India's earliest high-rise Deco buildings — the Tower House, built in 1928 — and a residential home, Jahaj Bari on Elgin Street, shaped like a ship, reflecting the city's love for maritime imagery. Bose leads heritage walks, photographing hundreds of residences in Lake Town and various government buildings. 'Demolition and redevelopment are more popular and economically viable than restoration. The Red Bari café opposite the Kalighat temple, Roastery Coffee House in Gariahat, with its deep ochre and white walls, and the Broadway Hotel are examples of 'repurpose and restore' initiatives,' explains Bose, who is currently striving to preserve the vestiges of single family Deco homes in his neighbourhood, Lake Town. Just a fashion statement 'I've never looked at Art Deco seriously,' says New Delhi-based architect Gautam Bhatia. 'I feel it is not an architectural style; it is more a decorative and ornamental one. It was a temporary, transitory phase going from the classicism of the late 19th and early 20th century into modernism. In India, what you see is a sort of exaggerated opulence in buildings — fancy lighting, stylised lettering, metallic ornamentation, all of which is two dimensional. It doesn't have the appeal of any kind of three dimensional spatial quality. It is what people would construe as a kind of fashion statement in architecture. You didn't need to worry too much about what is inside. In fact, in a lot of places, the spatial quality was completely neglected. Which is why Art Deco was perfect for cinemas. It drew people in from the outside into complete darkness. The only thing that is attractive about Art Deco is that it made people look at architecture. It is like a painting on a street. You can't ignore it. It made people look up and stare — whether it was Regal Cinema or some apartment block in South Bombay.' As told to Surya Praphulla Kumar Inclusion of local sensibilities Meanwhile, in the capital, where mostly Mughal and British Colonial styles dominate, Art Deco still manages to shine. Architect Geetanjali Sayal, founder of Deco in Delhi, a narrative website and Instagram page, began documenting the style around 2020 with researcher Prashansa Sachdeva. With 22 'pure deco' buildings, and a mix of four hybrid and 13 influenced structures, 'we took a cartographical approach, starting with hand-drawn maps of Chandni Chowk and Daryaganj, archiving individual houses and small neighbourhoods', says Sayal. 'The focus wasn't just on ornamentation, but design features like fireplaces, staircase structures, and flooring.' Smaller cities saw the rise of Indo-Deco, a blend of modern construction and local sensibilities. Heritage architecture enthusiast Smita Babar highlights Chettinad's façades with its egg-lime plaster and stencil drawings, tucked away in the bylanes of Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu. The mansions reflect a desire to straddle two worlds at the turn of the 20th century, when affluent Chettiar bankers built homes with traditional courtyards framed by imported glass, marble, and teak, adopting Art Deco elements for their façades. 'Bas-relief figures of goddess Lakshmi sit alongside running bands, concrete and metal grills, and chevrons, highlighting how Art Deco was adapted,' she explains. Abandoned by families who migrated to cities, many homes (estimated to be between 10,000 and 15,000, according to UNESCO) are maintained by caretakers or agents. 'Any restoration or conservation will require a material-based approach, picking singular elements for restoration.' And one of the people stepping up to help is New Delhi-based architect Aishwarya Tipnis, who has developed a material toolkit — a free, research-based, online resource — to aid practitioners with the restoration process as well as directions on where to find the materials and skills. 'A homeowner on Pusa Road in Delhi wanted to preserve their home and used it for terrazzo [material made with marble chips embedded in a cement or epoxy] conservation,' says Sayal, while Tipnis, whose goal is to aid informed renovation and restoration, adds, 'We have to train professionals to embrace change in ways that are aesthetically, economically, and environmentally appropriate for the future.' 'It is good to see a new appreciation of spaces such as Manik Bagh as early expressions of distinctly Indian modernism, going beyond the overly simplified view that they were simply copies of what was trendy in the West. The collective vision of Maharaja Yeshwantrao Holkar II of Indore and architect Ekhart Muthesius of Berlin, Manik Bagh brought modernist design principles into an Indian context and began to shape the early thinking around Indian Modernism and Deco.'Yeshwant Rao HolkarHotelier and heritage conservationist Letterforms meet legacy Art Deco has shaped not just Mumbai's shimmering skyline; its visual grammar has also permeated the city's typography. Tanya George, a Mumbai-based custom type designer, has been fascinated by its fonts. 'I started noticing letterforms on buildings — printed, flex, and with adaptations of Indian scripts. Art Deco's design captured the spirit of looking forward, so even their letterforms have longevity,' she explains. George created Dekko during the pandemic (2020-21), a Deco-inspired typeface featuring tall figures, narrow fonts, and exaggerated waistlines, as seen in Devanagari and Latin scripts. 'The project started with studying the letter forms, and the lockdown gave me more time to flesh out the design. Versions of the fonts have been used for identity across projects,' she says. Sketches helped with the genesis of the English font, and the Devanagiri script followed suit. In her project with the Art Deco Mumbai Trust, she recreated the sign for Empress Court, an Art Deco building constructed in 1936, using archival photographs and modern materials such as stainless steel and polyurethane. Behind the sparkle In May 2024, a vintage suite of Art Deco Platinum Jewellery was the highlight of online auction house AstaGuru's 'Jewellery, Silver and Timepieces'. Comprising a necklace, bracelet, ear clips, and a ring, the set sold for ₹1,86,91,200. 'Globally, vintage and period-specific pieces are increasingly seen as style statements,' says Mumbai-based jewellery expert Jay Sagar. 'Contemporary designers are drawing heavily from classic Art Deco motifs to create modern pieces that pay homage to the originals.' For instance, jewellery designer Hanut Singh, whose pieces have been showcased by celebrities across the globe, offers a modern take on Art Deco, experimenting with rock quartz in jewels, or the crescent moon shape paired with the linearity in pavè diamonds, offering a glimpse into the glamour of the era. Art Deco has also inspired restaurant interiors. 'The Bombay Canteen features vintage-inspired furnishing, terrazzo flooring, and intricate detailing,' says Sameer Seth, founder and CEO of Hunger Inc. Hospitality, adding that their Art Deco Cocktail Book features cocktails named after landmarks such as Liberty Cinema, Soona Mahal, and Sea Green Hotel. At the Bombay Sweet Shop's Byculla store, the interiors feature curved glass displays and hand-blown glass lights, reminiscent of Mumbai's iconic cinemas. And the signages of both 'have typefaces that are bold, streamlined, and with geometric forms', says Seth. According to designer and restorer Kunal Shah, Art Deco's timeless quality endears it to today's designers. 'There's interest in objects like home décor, jewellery, rugs, saris, sunglasses, and shoes,' says Shah, who in 2022, curated a paean to Mumbai's Deco movement with architectural photographs, art, collectibles, fashion, furniture, and typography at Gallery 47-A in Khotachiwadi. Juxtaposing Deco's standout features against the current city design aesthetic, he says, 'Art Deco sits uncomfortably with current aesthetic choices since today's interior design style is aspirational, while [the former] was restrained and self-assured.' Porbandar's gem In the last wave of palace building, and in the early half of the 20th century, several significant Art Deco royal palaces were built — most famously Umaid Bhawan in Jodhpur, Manik Bagh in Indore, New Palace in Morvi, and Huzoor Palace in Porbandar. 'Not many know about the last one. With its many wings and endless views of Porbandar's French Riviera-like azure ocean, the Huzoor Palace is an architectural wonder,' says Deepthi Sasidharan, founder-director of Eka Archiving Services. 'From its curving balconies and walls, ceramic and marble tiled geometric patterned walls and floors, to the pastel hued interiors and custom made thematic lights, fittings and carpets, it is an Art Deco masterclass.' As told to Surya Praphulla Kumar Woven into borders and pallas Elements of Art Deco are, however, finding a new expression in Indian textiles and jewellery. In its Azalea collection (2024-25), Jaipur Rugs has reimagined iconic motifs with a bold black-and-gold palette in hand-knotted rugs. 'The bold geometry, symmetry, and glamour have a quiet dialogue with India's textile traditions,' says Rutvi Chaudhary, the brand's director. 'By reimagining these motifs, we celebrate this cross-cultural legacy and present it in a contemporary manner.' Raw Mango's Art Deco sari collection creates shapes and forms characteristic of the movement, with streamlined woven ornamentation that is geometric and stylised, translating them into silk and brocade. Think arched scalloped pallas with gold zari and hand-embroidered borders of architectural motifs. 'The collection began as a questioning of possibilities,' says Sanjay Garg, founder and textile designer, adding, 'The challenge of any motif incorporation is to accurately capture the essence of textiles.' The research process spanned a minimum of two years or more in terms of design and sampling at the studio, whose flagship store in Chennai, Malligai, is housed in a stunning Art Deco two-storey house built in the 1960s on Cenotaph Road. A century ago, India embraced a modern design language, imbuing it with its own cultural tapestry, creating Indo-Deco. Today, Indian practitioners of the style remain optimistic that this timeless design syntax will endure in form and function, supported by greater awareness, informed restoration, and detailed documentation. 'In the classroom, Art Deco is still not discussed in the same breath as other architectural styles because of the vast array of architectural wealth across the country. Our effort to document, study and preserve it, is to give the movement its due recognition,' Sayal concludes. The freelance writer is based in Chennai.
