Thousands rally in support of Nepal's former king and call for monarchy's return

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Thousands of supporters of Nepal's former king gathered outside Kathmandu airport Friday to greet him and demand the restoration of abolished monarchy in the Himalayan nation.

Gyanendra Shah waved to the cheering crowd from the sunroof of his car as hundreds of police officers in riot gear struggled to control the supporters crowding the main entrance at Tribhuvan International Airport.

“Bring back the king. We love our king more than our own selves. Restore constitutional monarchy,” the crowd chanted.

More supporters lined the route from the airport to the former king's private residence. The crowds were peaceful and no arrests were made.

The former king was returning from a trip to eastern Nepal.

Massive street protests in 2006 forced Gyanendra to give up his authoritarian rule, and two years later the parliament voted to abolish the monarchy as Gyanendra left the Royal Palace to live the life of a commoner.

An estimated 10,000 supporters turned out for a similar rally last year at the airport. Another pro-royal rally last year had turned violent leaving two dead and many injured.

Gyanendra has not commented on the calls for the return of monarchy. Despite growing support for the former king, Gyanendra has slim chances of immediately returning to power as the support is not as significant as that for other political parties opposing the idea.

The show of support for the monarchy comes ahead of crucial parliament elections next month. Pro-Gyanendra groups, which won about 5% of seats in the last election, are hoping to win seats.

Supporters gather to welcome Nepal's former King Gyanendra Shah upon his arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Supporters gather to welcome Nepal's former King Gyanendra Shah upon his arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Supporters gather to welcome Nepal's former King Gyanendra Shah, center, upon his arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Former King Gyanendra Shah waves to his supporters upon his arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Former King Gyanendra Shah receives flowers from supporters upon his arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A new crew rocketed toward the International Space Station on Friday to replace the astronauts who returned to Earth early in NASA's first medical evacuation.

SpaceX launched the replacements as soon as possible at NASA’s request, sending the U.S., French and Russian astronauts on an expected eight- to nine-month mission stretching until fall. The four should arrive at the orbiting lab on Saturday, filling the vacancies left by their evacuated colleagues last month and bringing the space station back to full staff.

“It turns out Friday the 13th is a very lucky day,” SpaceX Launch Control radioed once the astronauts reached orbit. “That was quite a ride,” replied the crew's commander, Jessica Meir.

NASA had to put spacewalks on hold and deferred other duties while awaiting the arrival of NASA’s Meir and Jack Hathaway, France’s Sophie Adenot and Russia’s Andrei Fedyaev. They'll join three other astronauts — one American and two Russians — who kept the space station running the past month.

Satisfied with medical procedures already in place, NASA ordered no extra checkups for the crew ahead of liftoff and no new diagnostic equipment was packed. An ultrasound machine already up there for research went into overdrive on Jan. 7 when used on the ailing crew member. NASA has not revealed the ill astronaut’s identity or health issue. All four returning astronauts went straight to the hospital after splashing down in the Pacific near San Diego.

It was the first time in 65 years of human spaceflight that NASA cut short a mission for medical reasons.

With missions becoming longer, NASA is constantly looking at upgrades to the space station’s medical gear, said deputy program manager Dina Contella. “But there are a lot of things that are just not practical and so that’s when you need to bring astronauts home from space,” she said earlier this week.

In preparation for moon and Mars trips where health care will be even more challenging, the new arrivals will test a filter designed to turn drinking water into emergency IV fluid, try out an ultrasound system that relies on artificial intelligence and augmented reality instead of experts on the ground, and perform ultrasound scans on their jugular veins in a blood clot study.

They also will demonstrate their moon-landing skills in a simulated test.

Adenot is only the second French woman to launch to space. She was 14 when Claudie Haignere flew to Russia’s space station Mir in 1996, inspiring her to become an astronaut. Haignere traveled to Cape Canaveral to cheer her on.

Hathaway, like Adenot, is new to space, while Meir and Fedyaev are making their second station trip. Just before liftoff, Fedyaev led the crew in a cry of “Poyekhali" — Russian for “Let's Go” — the word uttered at liftoff by the world's first person in space, the Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin, in 1961.

On her first mission in 2019, Meir took part in the first all-female spacewalk. The other half of that spacewalk, Christina Koch, is among the four Artemis II astronauts waiting to fly around the moon as early as March. A ship-to-ship radio linkup is planned between the two crews.

Meir wasn’t sure astronauts would return to the moon during her career. “Now we’re right here on the precipice of the Artemis II mission,” she said ahead of liftoff. “The fact that they will be in space at the same time as us … it’s so cool to be an astronaut now, it’s so exciting.”

SpaceX launched the latest crew from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Elon Musk’s company is preparing its neighboring Kennedy Space Center launch pad for the super-sized Starships, which NASA needs to land astronauts on the moon.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Crew 12 ESA astronaut Sophia Adenot, of France, leaves the Operations and Checkout building before heading to pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, on a mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Crew 12 mission astronauts, from left, pilot Jack Hathaway, Russian cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev, commander Jessica Meir and ESA astronaut Sophia Adenot, of France, leave the Operations and Checkout building before heading to pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, on a mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon spacecraft stands ready for launch on pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026 . (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Crew 12 astronauts, from left, pilot Jack Hathaway, Russian cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev, commander Jessica Meir and ESA astronaut Sophia Adenot, of France, leave the Operations and Checkout building before heading to pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, on a mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/John Raoux)