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Himalayan kingdom declared it would not waver in its "war against terrorism." An unknown number of Maoists firing automatic weapons stormed a district headquarters in Sandhikharka in southwestern Nepal Friday and set fire to 13 government buildings and two houses, a senior army official said.

Nepal has a "clear roadmap" to restore democracy, amid mounting international criticism of King Gyanendra's seizure of power and suspension of civil liberties.

Nepal's first test-tube twins were delivered, a day after the kingdom reported the birth of the country's first test-tube baby, official state television said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will pay a lightning visit to India on March 16, her first since she took over the post at the start of the year, an Indian government spokesman said.

Nepal has extended for two months the house arrest of two former prime ministers and four other top political leaders held since King Gyanendra grabbed power February 1.

Nepal's first test-tube baby was born to a couple who had been childless for 18 years, state radio reported.

Nepalese King Gyanendra's power grab last month "probably emboldened" the Maoist rebels seeking to overthrow him, a US official said.

US ambassador to Nepal James Moriarty was prevented from meeting a former prime minister who has been under house arrest since King Gyanendra seized power in the Himalayan country a month ago, the US embassy said.

More than 70 Maoists have been killed in a fierce clash with Nepal's army, an official said as the foreign minister warned the world to accept the king's power grab or face a communist takeover of the Himalayan country.

Nepalese troops and police maintained armed escorts for trucks carrying supplies to the capital despite a decision by Maoist rebels to call off a nationwide transport blockade.

Nepal's Maoist rebels called off a 14-day-old nationwide transport blockade staged to protest King Gyanendra's seizure of power, while the army said at least three dozen rebels died during clashes in the country's west.

At least three dozen Maoist rebels in Nepal were reported killed in clashes as guerrillas raided a TV station in the latest violence to shake the kingdom since King Gyanendra seized power, officials said.

The United States was urged to join Britain and India in suspending military aid to Nepal to protest the king's power grab, which has reportedly led to increasing human rights abuses.

Nepal's king called on Britain and India to reactivate military aid packages which they froze after he sacked the government, saying Nepal needed help to fight Maoist rebels.

A crippling transport blockade by Maoist rebels has prevented bottled oxygen needed for vital surgery from reaching a major hospital in southwestern Nepal, officials said, as Britain and India announced they had suspended military aid to the Himalayan country.

Nepal faces a freeze in international military aid if its king, who has seized absolute power, does not restore fundamental rights to the people within the coming weeks, the United States warned.

Nepal's army chief has pledged to respect human rights as security forces seek to crush a Maoist revolt following King Gyanendra's seizure of power.

Nepal came under international pressure after the United States, European Union and India recalled their ambassadors from the Himalayan outpost to protest King Gyanendra's seizure of absolute power.

The US ambassador to Nepal has been asked to return to Washington for consultations the State Department said, two weeks after that country's King Gyandera sacked the government, declared a state of emergency, and took absolute power.

US military and other aid to Nepal is at risk following the seizure of absolute power by King Gyanendra, Washington's top envoy to the Himalayan kingdom warned.

Nepal's pro-democracy activists are feeling the noose tightening around them with several having been arrested or driven underground since King Gyanendra seized power on February 1.

Maoist guerrillas assume greater control of the Himalayan outpost.

Nepal's King Gyanendra was facing mounting opposition from a legal challenge and planned street protests as top lawyers said his emergency rule was against the spirit of the constitution.

Nepal's army said that activists rounded up after the king's power grab a week ago could be locked up for three months, as the new government warned traders and citizens against hoarding food and fuel before a protest strike called by Maoist rebels.

Political and student leaders held in the wake of King Gyanendra's seizure of power in Nepal a week ago could remain locked up for three months, army spokesman Brigadier General Dipak Gurung said.

Nepal's King Gyanendra is counting on a highly loyal army to keep his hold on the throne after seizing power, suspending civil rights and enforcing emergency rule in the Himalayan state, analysts say.

The White House said that it had "real concerns" about the February 1 power grab by Nepal's King Gyanendra and urged him to enact democratic reforms.

Nepal's new government headed by the king has offered to hold unconditional talks with Maoist rebels to end an insurgency that has claimed more than 11,000 lives.

Nepal's government said schools and businesses should remain open to show civil life has not been disrupted since King Gyanendra sacked the previous administration and assumed power, state-run radio said.

Nepal's new government has vowed to crack down on corruption and poverty, state media reported, as Maoist rebels warned they would bring the country to a halt if King Gyanendra did not reverse his power grab.

Nepal's new government vowed to crack down on corruption and ensure good governance but said multi-party democracy will only be restored and elections held once it has defeated Maoist rebels.

Nepali security forces battling Maoist rebels will be told to uphold human rights but guerrillas face tough action if they refuse King Gyanendra's call for peace talks, the kingdom's army chief warned.

The US envoy in Nepal met the Himalayan kingdom's foreign minister to express concern over King Gyanendra's power grab and sought immediate restoration of democratic rights, the US State Department said.

Nepal's new government told Maoist rebels to hold peace talks or risk "alternate steps" and imposed a ban on any criticism of King Gyanendra's seizure of power.

Nepal's new government headed by King Gyanendra called on Maoist rebels to hold peace talks or risk "alternate steps," as the Himalayan nation entered its third day cut off from the outside world.

With their leaders in detention and their rights removed, Nepal's political parties have been left powerless after the king seized control of the country, while the long-suffering people of Kathmandu go about their business with apparent indifference.

A South Asian summit at which the prime ministers of rivals India and Pakistan were set to meet has been postponed after India's Manmohan Singh pulled out, Pakistan said.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will not attend a summit of seven South Asian nations next week, officials said.

Nepal's King Gyanendra unveiled a new cabinet, a day after sacking the government and imposing an indefinite state of emergency in a move that has sparked international condemnation.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan led demands for an immediate restoration of democracy in Nepal as the world body, governments and human rights groups condemned a power grab by King Gyanendra.

The United States said it was "deeply troubled" by an apparent setback to democracy in Nepal, where King Gyanendra has assumed power after dismissing the government and imposing a state of emergency.

King Gyanendra dismissed Nepal's coalition government and enforced an indefinite emergency, igniting charges he had staged a coup in the Himalayan outpost battling a Maoist revolt.

King Gyanendra has dismissed Nepal's coalition government and taken charge of administering the country which is battling a Maoist revolt, as political leaders accuse him of staging a coup.

King Gyanendra dismissed Nepal's coalition government and seized control of the country which is battling a Maoist revolt as political leaders accused him of staging a coup.

Some 150 Maoist guerrillas died in fierce fighting with security forces in Nepal's remote southwest region, a top army official said.

Last Tuesday the residents of Katmandu were jarringly reminded that their nation is not the idyllic redoubt it used to be.

Petitions from three developing countries were presented to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Paris today asking that sites in Belize, Nepal and Peru be protected from the effects of climate change.

A Nepalese man taken hostage in Iraq this week has been freed and is being looked after by his employers, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

It was on a Himalayan mountaintop in the mid-1990s that millionaire Microsoft executive John Wood discovered his true calling.

A nine-day truce between Maoist rebels and the Nepalese government has come to a bloody end, with 12 rebels killed in fierce clashes with security forces, an army source said.

A senior US diplomat visited two major Bhutanese refugee camps in southeastern Nepal, the foreign ministry said.

Nepal is to suspend military action against Maoist rebels during the Hindu festival period from October 20 until November 14, an official said.

Nepal to unite to restore democracy, saying otherwise a Maoist revolt wracking the country would only escalate.

A senior US government official arrived in Kathmandu for talks with Nepalese authorities about the Maoist insurgency wracking the Himalayan nation, a US embassy official said.

Nepal and India are speeding up the process leading to construction of what could be the world's highest dam on the Sapta Koshi River in eastern Nepal.

Nepal's tourism ministry upheld the claim by mountaineer Pemba Dorji Sherpa that he had scaled Everest in a time of eight hours and 10 minutes on May 21 this year.

The US State Department announced it has authorized the departure of non-emergency personnel and family members of the US Embassy in Nepal's capital and suspended Peace Corps aid work in the country due to security concerns.

The US embassy said it is recommending the suspension of Peace Corps aid work in Nepal and the departure of embassy dependants after a bomb attack on the American cultural centre in Kathmandu.

Suspected Maoist rebels hurled a bomb at the US cultural centre in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu that exploded inside the compound, causing damage but no casualties, police said.

Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba arrived in India where he is expected to seek more help from New Delhi in tackling a deadly Maoist revolt racking his homeland.

Nepal said it would withdraw a curfew clamped on Kathmandu following rioting to protest the killing of 12 Nepalese in Iraq.

The United States condemned "in the strongest terms" the killing of 12 Nepalese by their abductors in Iraq, saying the murders showed the contempt armed groups in Iraq had for their own people.

Nepal briefly lifted a curfew imposed on the capital after widespread rioting in response to the slaying of 12 Nepalese in Iraq, as the death toll from the unrest rose to two.

Nepal was plunged into mourning by reports that 12 of its citizens had been brutally murdered by kidnappers in Iraq, as fears mounted for two French journalists also seized by militants.

Nepal was thrown into shock and disbelief after Islamic militants in Iraq claimed through a grisly video to have killed 12 labourers who had left the cash-strapped Himalayan kingdom to earn money.

Nepal said it could not immediately confirm an Islamic militant group's claim to have beheaded 12 workers from the Himalayan kingdom kidnapped in Iraq.

King Gyanendra of Nepal, which is torn by a Maoist rebellion seeking his ousting, expressed hope for the future by tying a sacred thread around his chest.

Nepal's ruling coalition expressed hope for peace talks to end eight years of war as the capital returned to normal after Maoist rebels who control much of the countryside lifted a blockade.

Nepal's capital is returning to an uncertain normality as Maoist rebels who control much of the countryside lifted a blockade of Kathmandu but gave the government one month to compromise.

Maoist rebels called off a blockade of Nepal's capital Kathmandu which panicked the city of 1.5 million people for a week but warned the guerrillas would launch major attacks if their demands were ignored.

Nepal's government renewed its appeal to Maoist rebels for talks in a bid to get them to call off a six-day blockade of the capital, hit by new jitters as suspected guerrillas shot dead a pedestrian.

More than 1,000 Maoist rebels stormed a district headquarters in Nepal's northwestern mountains, bombing government buildings and killing at least one soldier, as they kept up a blockade of the capital, police said.

Maoist rebels who have cut off Nepal's capital for four days pledged to expand their blockade to the Tibetan border as fresh violence left six people dead.

Nepal's government said it was checking labour records for information on 12 of its citizens reportedly abducted in Iraq, where the Himalayan kingdom has no diplomatic representation.

Maoist rebels who have cut off Nepal's capital for four days, pledged to expand their campaign to the Tibetan border as fresh violence left a police officer dead.

Maoist rebels who have cut off Kathmandu for three days attacked security forces and bombed buildings inside the Nepalese capital, as the government partially agreed to guerrilla demands for lifting the blockade.

Maoist rebels opened fire on the security forces and bombed a government building in the heart of Kathmandu as their blockade of the ancient capital entered a third day.

Nepal's deputy prime minister appealed to Maoist rebels who are blockading the capital using fear rather than force for talks to end the two-day-old stand-off, as food prices began to rise.

The blockade declared by Nepal's Maoist rebels of the ancient capital, Kathmandu, echoes the tactics of Peru's shadowy Shining Path militants -- the ruthless movement upon which they model themselves.

A blockade of the Nepalese capital called by Maoist rebels entered a second day, causing a rise in food prices and prompting the government to declare the city had enough supplies for a month.

Maoist rebels cut off routes to Nepal's capital Kathmandu in their first blockade of the city since they launched their insurgency to overthrow the constitutional monarchy eight years ago.

Many top companies in Nepal shut down after Maoist rebels bombed a luxury hotel, raising fears for the health of the Himalayan kingdom's tourism-dependent economy.

Suspected Maoist rebels set off bombs at one of Nepal's top hotels, forcing it to close after it tried to defy a guerrilla deadline for the kingdom's leading companies to shut down.

Suspected Maoist rebels set off bombs Monday at one of Nepal's top hotels in an apparent warning on the eve of a guerrilla deadline for the kingdom's top businesses to shut down, witnesses said.

Charles Sobhraj, the infamous serial killer of Western backpackers in Asia in the 1970s, was sentenced to life in prison in Nepal where he was accused of a double murder in 1975.

Japanese encephalitis, a viral illness spread by mosquitoes, has killed at least 56 people in western Nepal in the past week while 60 others have died from diarrhoea, a public health official said Wednesday.

The new US ambassador to Nepal urged Maoist rebels waging a bloody rebellion in the Himalayan kingdom to give up their weapons and hold for peace talks with the government.

Five days of incessant rain have caused heavy flooding and landslides in Nepal's southeastern and southwestern regions killing 23 people.

With drought crippling parts of western Nepal, women in the world's only Hindu kingdom are reverting to the ancient tradition of ploughing fields naked in a bid to appease the rain god.

Fourteen policemen were killed and four injured in southwestern Nepal when their bus hit a landmine planted by Maoist rebels, a senior police official said.

A landmine blast killed 21 policemen and injured 16 others in Nepal in the deadliest attack attributed to Maoist rebels since the prime minister was reappointed and called for new peace talks.

Tamae Watanabe, the oldest woman to scale Mount Everest, said she planned to keep on conquering the Himalayas after she climbed the world's fourth largest peak, Mount Lhotse, at age 65.

Nepal announced a probe after the new record for the fastest ascent of Mount Everest was challenged by the climber whose timing was broken.

At least 45 people were killed and millions of dollars were lost in revenue during a three-day Maoist rebel strike across Nepal.

Thirty-four people died in Maoist rebel violence as students opposed to Nepal's king brawled with police in renewed turmoil despite the resignation last week of the royalist premier, officials said.

Nepal's embattled Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa announced he had resigned in "the interests of the nation" to try to defuse a mounting crisis over the country's political future.

Nepal's royal-appointed Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa announced he had resigned "in the interests of the nation" to try to defuse a mounting crisis over the country's political future.

Nepal's pro-royal government lifted restrictions on protests against King Gyanendra and released opposition leaders rounded up hours earlier, urging reconciliation to end a month-long showdown.

James Moriarty, tapped to become the next US ambassador to Nepal, pledged at a confirmation hearing that the United States would lend its support as the government in Kathmandu battles a violent Maoist insurgency.

BANGKOK, Thailand -- The worst tragedy in Nepal this last week was not the murder of most of the country's royal family, as truly awful as that was.