The Himalayan kingdom of Nepal last week put aside its woes to celebrate its first royal wedding since most of the ruling family were wiped out in an “in-house” massacre 18 months ago. In alavish Hindu ceremony, Princess Prerna, 24, daughter of King Gyanendra – who assumed the throne after his brother, King Birendra, and nine other royals were massacred by the crown prince in June 2001 – wed Raj Bahadur Singh, a 29-year-old commoner. But the celebrations, which marked something of a comeback for the most traumatised royal family in the world, were only a temporary diversion to the country’s worsening troubles. In the last 18 months Nepal’s tourist industry – the landlocked kingdom’s largest foreign exchange earner – has collapsed. After years of containment, Nepal’s Maoist insurgents have cut loose and now control roughly 40 per cent of the country.All the signs are that the rebellion will continue to encroach on what remains under state control. Full Story
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