Nepal landslides claim 12 lives

21 July 2011 Last updated at 14:23 GMT Monsoon rains have also caused widespread flooding in Nepal A Dutch trekker has been killed by a landslide in Nepal.

Another trekker and their guide were injured in the landslide in Langtang region north-west of Kathmandu.

The Dutchman is the 12th person to die this week in a series of landslides in the mountainous nation, officials say.

In one incident, a girl of 17 was killed when her home was buried in debris outside the capital, AFP news agency reported. Heavy monsoon rains trigger landslides every year in Nepal.

Analysts say the number of casualties has risen notably this year, and that the increase in landslides may be linked to changing weather patterns and deforestation.

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'First gay wedding' held in Nepal

20 June 2011 Last updated at 18:17 GMT The couple said they were happy to contribute to the campaign for gay rights in Nepal A lawyer and a college professor - both from the US - have celebrated what they say is Nepal's first public lesbian wedding ceremony.

The nuptials were performed on Monday near the capital, Kathmandu.

Same-sex marriages are not legal in Nepal, but the country is drafting laws to guarantee sexual rights.

Courtney Mitchell, 41, and Sarah Welton, 48, from Denver, Colorado, celebrated in a Hindu Nepalese tradition at the Dakshinkali temple.

Local gay rights activists and supporters attended the ceremony - carried out by a Hindu priest - as did close friends and member of parliament Sunilbabu Pant, a gay rights activist.

He told the Associated Press news agency that it was the first public wedding ceremony of a lesbian couple in the mostly conservative nation.

'Dream come true'

Correspondents say same-sex marriages are not officially legal in Nepal, even though the supreme court has ordered the government to legally guarantee sexual rights and end discrimination.

The laws are still being drafted, but political differences have delayed their passage into law.

Mr Pant said while Monday's wedding did not hold any legal status, "it was a huge achievement for gay rights campaign in Nepal".

Mr Pant's Blue Diamond Society has been fighting for gay rights for several years, and recently opened a travel agency hoping to attract foreign gay couples to come to Nepal for weddings and honeymoons.

The couple said they were happy to be married in Nepal and to contribute to the campaign for gay rights in the country.

"It was my dream wedding come true. This is a fabulous ceremony," Ms Welton said.

Ms Mitchell said that it was because of progress over the gay rights issue since 2003 that she had decided to come to Nepal to get married.

"We are very excited about all this progress... and I really wanted to show my support for Nepal," she said.

The couple met at a birthday party five years ago have adopted a 9-month-old girl.

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Nepal declared free of landmines

14 June 2011 Last updated at 17:34 GMT Mines have been cleared but improvised explosives still pose a threat The UN has declared Nepal free of landmines after troops destroyed the country's last minefield.

The declaration came five years after the end of the civil war between the army and Maoist rebels.

Prime Minister Jhalnath Khanal flipped a switch to trigger the last landmine - laid to protect the main civil aviation radio tower south of Kathmandu.

Since the end of the conflict, mines have caused 473 casualties in Nepal - 78 of which were fatal.

Nepal is now the second country in Asia after China to become landmine-free.

'Historic'

"One more milestone on the road to peace, as we declare Nepal minefield-free," UN official Robert Piper declared.

The tower at Phulchoki is used by flight controllers to communicate with aircraft flying across the Himalayan nation.

It was guarded by an army camp that was surrounded by a minefield to protect it against attacks by Maoist rebels.

"Today is a historical day because Nepal has been liberated from all kinds of landmines," Mr Khanal said.

The UN however cautioned that there are still areas where both sides planted homemade bombs - and efforts to clear those continue.

The prime minister was on hand to see the last mines being decommissioned

Landmines explode by themselves when someone walks nearby, while homemade bombs are normally deliberately set off by a combatant.

The Nepalese army laid 53 minefields during the war - many around key strategic locations such as telecommunication towers and army bases.

Phulchoki minefield site manager Captain Diksha Raj Bhandari told the BBC that the steep terrain and harsh weather conditions meant that removing the mines was often a delicate and painstaking operation - and one that had claimed the lives of three army personnel.

Clearing the mines was agreed under a 2006 peace deal with the Maoist rebels.

The remote location of many of the fields meant the task took far longer than the 60 days first anticipated.

The BBC's Joanna Jolly in Kathmandu says the blowing up of the last mine at Phulchoki was a symbolic end to this side of the conflict - but Nepal's political parties still have a long way to go before they secure peace.

The focus now moves back onto the politicians who need to work together to ensure conflict does not return to the country, our correspondent adds.

Despite a recent agreement to extend the deadline for writing a new constitution and deciding the future of some 19,000 former Maoist soldiers, there is still no clear progress on these issues.

Although it has committed to mine clearing, Nepal is yet to sign the international Ottawa treaty banning all landmines.

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Nepal

18 February 2011 Last updated at 17:57 GMT With its ancient culture and the Himalayas as a backdrop, landlocked Nepal has a romantic image.

It is nonetheless one of the world's poorest countries, and is struggling to overcome the legacy of a 10-year Maoist insurrection.

Until Nepal became a republic in May 2008, it had been ruled by monarchs or a ruling family for most of its modern history in relative isolation.

A brief experiment with multi-party politics in 1959 ended with King Mahendra suspending parliament and taking sole charge in 1962.

Democracy's return

Democratic politics was introduced in 1991 after popular protests, but was marked by frequent changes of government. The last king of Nepal, Gyanendra, twice assumed executive powers - in 2002 and 2005.

Continue reading the main story Politics: Historic elections in April 2008 led to abolition of centuries-old monarchy Economy: Civil strife wrecked the economy and Nepal is dependent on aid; tourism is a key foreign exchange earnerMaoist rebels waged a decade-long campaign against the monarchy, leaving more than 12,000 people dead and 100,000 people displaced according to UN figures.

When King Gyanendra's direct rule ended under public pressure in April 2006, the rebels entered talks with the parliamentary government on how to end the civil war.

A peace deal was agreed in November, although the Maoists continued to press for abolition of the monarchy.

Parliament agreed to the condition in December 2007, and the Maoists emerged as the largest parliamentary party after elections in April 2008.

The monarchy was abolished a month later, and a Maoist-dominated government took office in August.

The Maoist-led coalition government disintegrated in May 2009, and was succeeded by another coalition excluding the Maoists.

Nepal has been at odds with neighbouring Bhutan over the repatriation of thousands of Bhutanese refugees of Nepalese descent who fled violence in Bhutan in the early 1990s.

Nepal has a flourishing tourism industry, but faces problems of deforestation and encroachment on animal habitats.

Most of the population depend on agriculture, and the UN estimates that about 40% of Nepalis live in poverty.

Foreign aid is vital to the economy, and Nepal is also heavily dependent on trade with neighbouring India.

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