KATHMANDU, Oct 9, 2008 (AFP) - Poor visibility caused the crash at a tiny airstrip in Nepal's Mount Everest region that killed 18 people, including 12 German tourists, officials said Thursday.

KATHMANDU, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - A small passenger plane crashed on landing Wednesday morning in Nepal's Everest region, killing 18 people believed to be mostly German tourists, Nepalese officials said.

The aircraft, flying from the capital Kathmandu to Lukla in eastern Nepal, burst into flames after crash-landing on the sloping airstrip, eyewitnesses reported.

KATHMANDU, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - A passenger plane crashed on landing at a remote airfield in Nepal's Everest region on Wednesday, killing 18 people most of whom were German tourists, Nepalese officials said.

KATHMANDU, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - The three-year-old daughter of a Nepalese watch repairer became a 'living goddess' on Tuesday after being approved by the country's new atheist government.

KATHMANDU, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Nepal's president has backed the choice of a three-year-old girl to be worshipped as a living goddess, officials said Monday -- upholding age-old tradition despite the Maoist government's atheist stance.

KATHMANDU, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Nepal's president has backed the choice of a three-year-old girl to be worshipped as a living goddess, officials said Monday -- upholding age-old tradition despite the Maoist government's atheist stance.

KATHMANDU, Oct 5, 2008 (AFP) - Three skydivers entered the record books on Sunday, plunging from above the height of Mount Everest to land at the world's highest drop zone.

The daredevil adventurers -- from Britain, New Zealand and Canada -- said they had magnificent views as they rocketed past the world's highest peak.

KATHMANDU, Oct 5, 2008 (AFP) - Three skydivers in Nepal entered the record books on Sunday, plunging from above the height of Mount Everest to land at the world's highest drop zone.

The daredevil adventurers -- from Britain, New Zealand and Canada -- said they had magnificent views as they rocketed past the world's highest peak.

MADRID, Oct 5, 2008 (AFP) - Spanish mountaineer Edurne Pasaban on Sunday moved closer to achieving her goal of becoming the first woman to climb the world's 14 highest peaks after scaling mount Makalu on the border between Nepal and China, Spanish media reported.

KATHMANDU, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - Nepal's deposed king Thursday visited a Hindu temple in his first public appearance since the abolition of the monarchy in the Himalayan nation.

Former king Gyanendra Shah -- regarded by loyalists as the incarnation of a Hindu god -- has been living a quiet life since being ousted in May by Nepal's Maoist-dominated assembly.

LONDON, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - Former Nepalese Gurkha soldiers on Tuesday won a legal test case on their bid for the right to settle in Britain, their lawyers said.

'Today we have seen a tremendous and historic victory for the gallant Gurkha veterans of Nepal,' said one lawyer, after the High Court ruled in favour of the Gurkhas, some 2,000 of whom could be effected by the verdict.

LONDON, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - Former Nepalese Gurkha soldiers won the right to settle in Britain on Tuesday, in what their lawyers hailed as an 'historic victory' for the veteran fighters.

Ending a two-year legal battle, the High Court in London ruled in favour of them in a test case affecting some 2,000 Gurkhas who retired from the British army before 1997.

LONDON, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - Retired Nepalese Gurkha soldiers cheered and wept with joy Tuesday after winning the right to settle in Britain, a state they and their comrades fought and died for.

LONDON, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - Former Nepalese Gurkha soldiers awaited a High Court ruling Tuesday on their demand for the right to settle in Britain, which could effect the future of 2,000 such veterans.

KATHMANDU, Sept 29, 2008 (AFP) - Nepal's new Maoist government has taken over the task of selecting a girl to be a 'living goddess,' ousting royal priests from a role they fulfilled for centuries.

KATHMANDU, Sept 28, 2008 (AFP) - Nepal's new Maoist government has declared war on sleaze in the capital Kathmandu, saying the increasing numbers of massage parlours and nude dance bars are driving up crime and immorality.

KATHMANDU, Sept 22, 2008 (AFP) - Budget cuts to a Nepali festival celebrating a 'living goddess' have sparked protests and prompted charges that the new Maoist government intends to launch a cultural revolution.

For centuries, Nepal's kings received blessings from the Kumari, a young girl from the Buddhist Newar community revered as a living incarnation of a Hindu goddess.

KATHMANDU, Sept 21, 2008 (AFP) - Nepal's Maoist-led government has delivered an ambitious budget aimed at lifting millions of rural poor out of poverty, but critics say the former rebels face an uphill task to implement it.

LONDON, Sept 16, 2008 (AFP) - Former Nepalese Gurkha soldiers marched on London's High Court on Tuesday to press their campaign for the right to settle in Britain, ahead of a judicial review into their legal challenge.

LONDON, Sept 16, 2008 (AFP) - Hundreds of former Nepalese Gurkha soldiers marched on London's High Court Tuesday to press their demand for the right to settle in Britain, as a judge began a judicial review of their legal challenge.

LONDON, September 15, 2008 (AFP) - Former Nepalese Gurkha soldiers delivered a petition to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday, on the eve of a legal hearing on their challenge seeking the right to settle here.

NEW DELHI, September 15, 2008 (AFP) - Nepal's new Maoist Premier Prachanda on Monday promised new business-friendly policies as he urged Indian companies to invest in agriculture, tourism and infrastructure in his impoverished nation.

NEW DELHI, September 15, 2008 (AFP) - Nepal's new Prime Minister Prachanda was to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Monday in New Delhi on issues ranging from trade ties to flood control measures, officials said.

LONDON, Sept 15, 2008 (AFP) - Former Nepalese Gurkha soldiers delivered a petition to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday, on the eve of a legal hearing on their challenge seeking the right to settle here.

NEW DELHI, September 14, 2008 (AFP) - Nepal's new Prime Minister Prachanda arrived in New Delhi Sunday on his first visit to the Himalayan nation's southern neighbour since he took on the job last month.

The Maoist leader will meet Indian Premier Manmohan Singh and other political and business leaders during his five-day visit, a foreign ministry statement said.

KATHMANDU, September 14, 2008 (AFP) - Tej Man Prajapati's mother was inconsolable as she tearfully blessed her son on the forehead with red powder before he went through security at Nepal's scruffy international airport.

KATHMANDU, September 13, 2008 (AFP) - Nepal's new prime minister Prachanda's first visit to India, due to start Sunday, is aimed at 'building a new and smooth relationship' between the neighbours, a minister said Saturday.

KATHMANDU, September 13, 2008 (AFP) - At least six people have been killed in southern Nepal in rampages by wild elephants in the last two days, police said Saturday.

'Five people were trampled to death overnight while one was killed on Friday morning in the villages of Saptari and neighbouring Siraha districts,' police officer Bhoj Narayan Shrestha told AFP.

KATHMANDU, September 13, 2008 (AFP) - Nepal's Prime Minister Prachanda on Saturday visited the palace of the king his Maoist party battled to overthrow, which is being turned into a museum.

'Prime Minister Prachanda came to inspect the preparations to open former King Gyanendra's palace as a museum,' Sharad Bista, a senior official at the Narayanhiti Palace Museum told AFP.

KATHMANDU, September 10, 2008 (AFP) - Thousands of Maoist fighters confined to camps as part of Nepal's peace deal are to be integrated into the national army within six months, the country's new president said Wednesday.

NEW DELHI, September 9, 2008 (AFP) - India's top investigating agency on Tuesday sought Nepal's help to solve the murder of a schoolgirl which has transfixed the nation since the crime was committed four months ago.

KATHMANDU, September 9, 2008 (AFP) - Nepal's ruling Maoists must prosecute soldiers and their own fighters who committed rights abuses during the country's recent bloody civil war, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.

KATHMANDU, September 9, 2008 (AFP) - In the 1940s Sita Bishwokarma's grandfather took out a loan worth 120 dollars, and since then his family has lived in virtual slavery, victims of a practice that Nepal has now vowed to end.

AMMAN, September 8, 2008 (AFP) - A Jordanian subcontractor for US construction and services giant KBR denied on Monday accusations of human trafficking to Iraq after a group of Nepalese sued the two companies last month.

SINGAPORE, August 31, 2008 (AFP) - The surviving Nepalese conjoined twin who underwent a marathon operation in Singapore seven years ago is to return to the city-state in September for reconstructive skull surgery, a report said Sunday.

GENEVA, August 29, 2008 (AFP) - The Red Cross on Friday said it had launched an appeal for 1.4 million Swiss francs (1.3 million dollars, 860,000 euros) to help thousands of vulnerable people hit by flooding in Nepal.

WASHINGTON, August 28, 2008 (AFP) - A Nepalese man and relatives of 12 of his slain comrades filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday against the construction and services giant KBR on charges of human trafficking, for allegedly tricking the men into working in Iraq.