KATHMANDU, Nepal — 22 April 2009 — The bowlers achieved speeds of 124mph, the air thin, the yaks bemused. Unlikely as it may seem, a Twenty20 style cricket match was played on the old lake bed near the few lodges which make up Gorak Shep on Tuesday. Nearby, the tents of the mountaineers scaling Everest, […]
Row over National Games reflects the difficulties of Nepal’s peace
KATHMANDU, Nepal – 08 April 2009 – For over a decade, the Nepalese Army and the Maoist rebels spent most of their time training their weapons on one another. Following a peace agreement made by a political alliance of the seven major political parties – though no representatives from the Nepalese military – the war […]
Stoned: Britain’s Fuddled Cannabis Policy
“Jeeves! Could you please get me a good pound of Afghan hash?” could well have been a common saying of a rich Victorian Englishman, for until the 1920s, you could buy hashish in most good British shops, including Harrods. A century later, it is estimated some five million people use cannabis in the United […]
Champagne Anglais
Sussex, UK – Though spring is almost at end, when the night comes, portable heaters are sometimes used to warm the vines here on this bit of Sussex down. Frost could be costly without them for their owner, the Ridgeview Wine Estate, for these are no ordinary grapes, these are for Champagne production. English Champagne? […]
Chinese Olympic Torch delayed on Mount Everest
NEPAL, Namche Bazaar – Hampered in their efforts by an early onset of the south Asian Monsoon, the Chinese Olympic Torch is still stuck on the Tibetan side of Mount Everest, delayed by bad weather, according to reports from the Tibetan side. "From piecing together various fragments we know the Chinese mountaineers are waiting […]
Nepal puts ban on grain exports
NEPAL – The Nepalese government have followed many other governments around the world in putting a ban on the export of grains from the country, a government official said Thursday. Rice prices have risen 35% in recent weeks. A 30 kilo bag of rice now costs NRs 1,500, up from NRs 1,100 some weeks […]