Police apprehend brother-in-law of Parwati Budha Rawat after 21-year-old is found dead in windowless hut in Accham district
A 21-year-old woman has died after spending three nights in an outdoor “period hut”, prompting police in Nepal to make their first ever arrest in connection with the illegal practice.
The tradition of chhaupadi, where menstruating women in Nepal are banished from their homes, is still widespread in remote and poorer parts of the country.
Continue reading...Rising temperatures linked to outbreaks of dengue fever high in the Kathmandu Valley, experts say
•Global heating behind record number of cases of the disease
Lilawati Awasthi is used to the risks that come from living in a remote mountainous district in the far west of Nepal. Floods, landslides and treacherous roads are a part of daily life. But this year she faced a new hazard: mosquitoes carrying a mystery illness.
When she began to feel sick in September she was not overly concerned at first. “I thought it was a simple fever, but it wouldn’t go away,” says the 50-year-old. “We went to the hospital and it turned out I was suffering from dengue.”
Continue reading...Thousands of Hindus head to southern Nepal for festival honouring goddess of power
Thousands of Hindus have gathered in southern Nepal before a festival believed to be the world’s largest ritual animal slaughter, despite court orders and calls by animal activists to end the event.
The sacrifices, set to begin on Tuesday, take place every five years in the village of Bariyarpur close to the Indian border, in honour of the Hindu goddess of power.
Continue reading...Nirmal 'Nims' Purja has climbed all 14 of the world's 8,000-metre-high mountains in a record-breaking 189 days. The Nepalese former British army soldier completed the last of his 14 climbs, to the summit of Shishapangma in China, at 8.58am local time on Tuesday. The previous record was held by Kim Chang-ho, of South Korea, who took seven years, 11 months and 14 days
Continue reading...Warning follows another night of violent skirmishes between police and protesters in city
Violent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have escalated to a “life-threatening level”, police have said, after a small bomb exploded and a police officer was stabbed in clashes overnight.
Peaceful rallies descended into chaos in the Chinese-ruled city on Sunday with running skirmishes between protesters and police in shopping malls and on streets. Black-clad activists threw 20 petrol bombs at one police station, while others trashed shops and metro stations.
Continue reading...The Nepali’s sudden death was attributed to ‘natural causes’ – but like hundreds of other young migrants who die in Qatar each year he worked in extreme temperatures
Revealed: hundreds of migrant workers dying of heat stress in Qatar each year
It is a grim place to die: a bunk bed in a filthy, crowded room, deep within Qatar’s largest labour camp, thousands of miles from home.
As Rupchandra Rumba lay there in the early hours of 23 June, his friends heard him struggle for breath.
Continue reading...Brutal cuts to US-funded reproductive health services threaten to throw progress in the south Asian country into sharp reverse
Devendra Amgai lost his job in November. The 42-year-old public health professional was working in one of Nepal’s more remote districts, distributing contraceptives to women.
The project was proving successful. With little alternative access to medicines or healthcare, local women were seeking out the clinic in ever-increasing numbers.
Continue reading...The annual Infra Jatra festival, named after the god of rain and heaven, is celebrated by worshipping, singing, dancing and feasting in Kathmandu valley
Continue reading...Permit will depend on climbers having ascended at least one 6,500-metre Nepalese peak
All climbers seeking a permit for Everest must have prior high altitude mountaineering experience and demonstrable training, a high-level commission for the Nepalese government has ruled.
The recommendation was issued by the body charged with looking at the issue of high-altitude safety after one of the deadliest seasons in recent years on Everest, which was blamed on inexperience and crowding near the summit.
Continue reading...Millions displaced in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, with Assam and Bihar among the worst-hit regions
More than 100 people have been killed and millions more affected by devastating floods and landslides across India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
In the Indian state of Assam, among the worst hit areas, agencies were working on a war footing to deal with the situation, the chief minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, said.
Continue reading...The death toll in Nepal from flash floods and landslides in the past three days rose to 47 on Sunday, with dozens more injured or missing. Incessant monsoon rains have pounded many areas in the mountainous country, submerging large portions of land, inundating homes, and destroying bridges and roads across the country
Continue reading...Aid worker Peter Dalglish, 62, sentenced for abusing two boys, aged 12 and 14
A former United Nations official has been jailed for sexually abusing children in Nepal after a trial that underscored the country’s growing appeal for foreign paedophiles.
Peter John Dalglish, 62, a high-profile humanitarian worker from Canada, was sentenced on Monday to two separate terms of nine years and seven years after being convicted last month.
Continue reading...Ice losses indicate ‘devastating’ future for region and 1 billion people who depend on it for water
The melting of Himalayan glaciers has doubled since the turn of the century, with more than a quarter of all ice lost over the last four decades, scientists have revealed. The accelerating losses indicate a “devastating” future for the region, upon which a billion people depend for regular water.
The scientists combined declassified US spy satellite images from the mid-1970s with modern satellite data to create the first detailed, four-decade record of ice along the 2,000km (1,200-mile) mountain chain.
Continue reading...On 23 May, an image taken by the climber Nirmal Pujra went viral. It showed a long queue of climbers waiting to reach the summit of Everest. Elia Saikaly, a film-maker, was on that climb. He describes the ascent, while the Guardian’s Michael Safi discusses why the number of people seeking to scale Everest has exploded. Plus: Helsinki’s radical solution to homelessness
May and June are the only months where weather conditions make it possible for climbers to reach the summit of Everest. This year, a record number of permits were issued by the Nepalese government, which, along with a rule that every climber has to be accompanied by a sherpa, led to there being more than 820 people trying to reach the summit. Eleven people died on the mountain, leading to questions about whether better regulation is needed.
The film-maker Elia Saikaly tells India Rakusen about his ascent on 23 May, a climb he has described as “Death. Carnage. Chaos. Lineups. Dead bodies on the route and in tents at Camp 4. People who I tried to turn back who ended up dying. People being dragged down. Walking over bodies. Everything you read in the sensational headlines all played out on our summit night.” The Guardian’s South Asia correspondent, Michael Safi, looks at the history of climbing Everest and whether this year’s events might prompt better regulation.
Continue reading...Death toll grows on world’s highest summit as climbers face challenging conditions
An experienced mountaineer has described the “death, carnage and chaos” at the top of Mount Everest as climbers pushed past bodies to reach the world’s highest summit.
The death toll on the mountain grew to 11 in the past day after an American doctor was killed while descending from the peak. It emerged also that an Australian climber was discovered unconscious but had survived after being transported downhill on the back of a yak.
Continue reading...Mountaineering is a physical pursuit demanding an affinity for suffering. Where it is cerebral is in its requirement of good judgment, most importantly in extreme situations when the mind is most clouded and consequences of bad decision-making tend to multiply.
Considering risks requires being honest with yourself. At what climbers call the objective level, that involves assessing dangers you may encounter – weather, avalanches, poor rock, even whether there will be overcrowding on your route.
Continue reading...Several climbers have died after enduring long waits to reach summit
A British climber has been named as the latest fatality on Everest, in a season marred by poor weather and overcrowding on the world’s highest mountain.
The death of Robin Fisher, who reportedly collapsed while returning from the summit, was announced by Mira Acharya, the director at the Nepalese Department of Tourism, which details fatalities on the mountain.
Continue reading...Latest deaths, including an Irish climber, come as others report ‘insane’ delays at the peak
Four more deaths have been reported on Everest as concerns grow about the risks posed by the severe overcrowding on the world’s highest mountain this year.
Kevin Hynes, 56, from Ireland, died in his tent at 7,000 metres early on Friday, having turned back before reaching the summit. The father of two was part of a group from the UK-based 360 Expeditions.
Continue reading...In a country where dirty water and poor sanitation jeopardise the lives of millions, moves are afoot to improve health facilities
It was midnight when Kalpana and Rohit Agri had to take their three-day-old daughter, Kritima, to Bardiya hospital in western Nepal. She was listless and, despite the antibiotics she’d been prescribed, had developed a high fever. Hearing her struggling to breathe, they woke a neighbour to take them.
Kritima was admitted with life-threatening neonatal sepsis, probably an infection she had picked up in the hospital where she was born.
Continue reading...Almost two decades ago the World Health Organization declared leprosy eliminated, but millions of cases go undiagnosed
One summer’s morning Paniya Sardar noticed a strange mark on her leg. It was the size of her palm, light in colour and felt numb to touch. She had no idea what had caused it.
The family took Paniya, then 14, to a private clinic near their home on the outskirts of Biratnagar, a city in southern Nepal, where they were sold lotions and pills and told not to worry. Three months later, a deep wound appeared on her foot. “This particular blister was pretty big and wouldn’t heal,” her father, Sita Sardar, says through an interpreter. Six months later, it was still there.
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