Sherpa woman honoured for climbing Everest twice in one season =

Woman honoured for climbing Everest twice in one season =

   Kathmandu (dpa) - A Nepalese woman who climbed Mount Everest twice in the same season was recognized for her achievement by Guinness World Records in Kathmandu on Monday, the Nepal Mountaineering Association said.

   Chhurim Sherpa, 29, summited the world’s tallest mountain for the on May 12, 2011, and then repeated the feat a week later.

   Sherpa told a press conference she would continue to try to climb other mountains.

   The first successful ascent of Everest was in 1953. Several thousand climbers have summited the 8,848-metre mountain since then.
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Nepal's former crown prince suffers heart attack =

Feb 19,2012
   Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepal's former crown prince Paras Shah has suffered a heart attack, local media reported late Tuesday.

   The 41-year-old Paras was admitted in serious condition to Samitivej Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, according to Kantipur Television.

   Paras, known for his playboy lifestyle, has always been at the centre of controversy.

   In December he made headlines after he was arrested on charges of drug possession and later for smashing property at a luxury apartment in Bangkok, where he is resident.

   Paras became the heir to the throne after his cousin Dipendra Shah allegedly shot dead nine members of his family members in the infamous "royal family massacre" in 2001. But he lost the position when the monarchy was disestablished through a popular movement in 2008.
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Nepal opposition party enforces general strike =

   Kathmandu (dpa) - Schools and markets were closed Tueday and transportation was stalled in much of Nepal by a general strike called by an opposition political faction.

   A breakaway group of Maoists enforced the strike to protest a  decision by the major parties to form a consensus government headed by the Supreme Court chief justice to conduct elections for a new Constituent Assembly.

   On Monday, the caretaker government and four main parties agreed to form the new administration that was expected to be formally endorsed Tuesday with Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai's resignation.

   Nepal has been mired in a prolonged political crisis as the previous assembly failed to write a constitution before its term expired in May.
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Anti-rape demonstrators arrested in Nepal =

   Kathmandu (dpa)- Police arrested more than 20 anti-rape protesters in Nepal on Saturday for breaching a security cordon in front of the prime minister's residence, police said.

   "Police made arrests as some of the protests started chanting slogans and walking toward the residence gate," demonstrator Jaggannath Lamichanne said.

   "There was confrontation between police and demonstrators and some of the protestors were injured."

   For more than 50 days, people from different backgrounds have been demonstrating near the prime minister's residence in the capital.

   The protests, which came on the heels of similar protests in India, were triggered by the alleged rape and robbery of a young woman by government officials at the airport.

   On Saturday, the demonstrators said they were marking the ninth anniversary of the alleged torture and killing of Maina Sunuwar, a 15-year-old girl who disappeared after she was arrested by security personnel during the civil war.

   The government issued a report last month that demonstrators rejected because it didn't meet their demand to amend rape laws.
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Tibetan monk sets fire to himself in Nepal =

February 13, 2013

   Kathmandu (dpa) - A Tibetan monk who set himself on fire in Kathmandu early Wednesday was in serious condition, police said.

   "We put out the fire and took him to hospital after he had set himself on fire," said Keshav Adhikari, spokesman for the police.

   "The man hasn't spoken yet and the doctors have said his condition is serious."

   Police said the man entered a restaurant in Boudhanath area, which is home to many Tibetan refugees, poured petrol over himself and set himself on fire when leaving the restaurant.

   The monk is in his early 20s and immolated himself as a protest against the Chinese rule of Tibet.

   Twenty thousand Tibetans live in Nepal as registered refugees, with hundreds more living there without documentation.

   Nepal's government supports the one-China policy and forbids protests against China in Nepal.
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LEAD: Tibetan man dies in Nepal after self-immolating
Eds: Adds reference to other self-immolations, changes slug, see NEWS FEATURE epa 017 =

   Kathmandu (dpa) - A Tibetan protester who set himself on fire in Nepal died Thursday, police said, bringing the total of deaths from protest self-immolations in the region to 101 in the last four years.

   The man in his early 20s died due from multiple organ failure as a result of his burns sustained Wednesday, when he poured petrol over himself in a restaurant, ran into the street and set himself on fire, apparently in protest against China's rule of Tibet.

   The incident happened in Kathmandu's Boudhanath area, which is home to many Tibetan refugees. Police took him to hospital in critical condition.

   Twenty thousand Tibetans live in Nepal as registered refugees, with hundreds more living there without documentation.

   Nepal's government supports Beijing's one-China policy and forbids protests against China in Nepal.

   A 37-year-old former Tibetan monk in China died this month from self-immolation, a Tibetan rights group said Wednesday, the 100th death in four years.

    Tibetans complain that they are forced to speak only Chinese at school and in public places. They also say they are not allowed to leave their region without a permit and are more poorly paid than Chinese workers.
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2ND LEAD: Tibetan man dies in Nepal after self-immolating
Eds: Adds comments from Tibetan government-in-exile =

   Kathmandu (dpa) - A Tibetan protester who set himself on fire in Nepal died Thursday, police said, and the Tibetan government-in-exile called for a UN investigation into the continued self-immolations.

   The man in his early 20s died from multiple organ failure as a result of burns suffered Wednesday, when he poured petrol over himself in a restaurant and set himself on fire - apparently in protest at China's rule of Tibet.

   The incident took place in Kathmandu's Boudhanath area, which is home to many Tibetan refugees. While some 20,000 are registered refugees, hundreds more live there without documentation.

   Nepal's government supports Beijing's one-China policy and forbids protests against China in the country.

   A 37-year-old former Tibetan monk in China died this month from self-immolation, a Tibetan rights group said Wednesday, calling it the 100th death in Tibet in four years.

   Lobsang Sangay, prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, urged world leaders to send a United Nations representative to Tibet to investigate the "real cause" of continued self-immolations.

   Sangay said Thursday that 100 Tibetans in Tibet had burnt themselves since February 2009 and urged the international community to actively engage with China to stop the "deteriorating situation".
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Nepal government hires Pinochet lawyer to fight wartime case =

January 23, 2013 
 Kathmandu (dpa)- Nepal has hired the British law firm that handled a human rights case against Chilean ruler Augusto Pinochet to defend an army colonel arrested in Britain on charges of war crimes, local media reported.

   Colonel Kumar Lama has been in custody since January 3.

   “Kingsley Napley and its top solicitor, [Michael] Caplan, have already taken up Colonel Lama’s case," the Kathmandu Post quoted Nepali Ambassador Chandra Chalise as saying.

   "With the help of such a reputed law firm, we now hope that we will be able to get proper legal counsel."

   Lama was arrested on allegations of torture committed during the Maoist insurgency in Nepal, which lasted from 1996 to 2006.

   The next hearing is scheduled for January 24.

   The case has divided public opinion in Nepal. Human rights activists lauded the arrest, while the government and its supporters argued that the nation should deal with its own wartime cases through a future Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

   Pinochet who was arrested in by British authorities in 1988 but was later released on medical grounds and repatriated to Chile.
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Nepal's Maoists urge opposition to join April election =

Feb 2, 2013
   Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepal's Maoist party on Saturday called on the opposition not to boycott an election in three months to choose a constituent assembly.

   Nepal has been in a political deadlock since May, when the term of the Constituent Assembly, or parliament, expired after it failed to draft a new constitution.

   A caretaker Maoist government has been in power since.

   The political deadlock has been deepened by disagreement between the Maoists and the opposition over who should lead a national unity government.

   Opposition parties this week held rallies to protest the election in late April and vowed to boycott the vote.

   Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, who's the vice chairman of the party, called on the opposition to reverse its decision.

   He was speaking at the party's first general convention in 21 years. The party, which led a decade-long insurgency starting in the mid-90s, joined mainstream politics in a 2008 election.
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Author: Pratibha Tuladhar