Nepal's agriculture minister resigned Thursday following a storm of criticism after videos and photographs of him attempting to hug women during recent festival celebrations were posted online, officials said.
Images of Hari Prasad Parajuli, minister for agriculture development, trying to grab and hug women during Tuesday's celebrations marking the beginning of the annual rice planting season went viral on social media late Wednesday, sparking accusations of sexual harassment.
Full StoryBureaucratic customs procedures are slowing down aid deliveries to quake-devastated Nepal even as monsoon rains threaten to disrupt supply routes to the worst-hit areas, a senior U.N. official said Wednesday.
The landlocked Himalayan nation needs around $6.7 billion to recover from the disaster that killed more than 8,800 people, destroyed nearly half a million houses and left thousands in need of food, clean water and shelter.
Full StoryInternational donors led by India and China pledged around $3 billion to rebuild quake-devastated Nepal on Thursday, as the country's premier vowed "zero tolerance" of corruption and said all aid money would go to victims.
Nepal says it needs around $6.7 billion to recover from the April disaster, which killed more than 8,800 people, destroyed nearly half a million houses and left thousands in need of food, clean water and shelter.
Full StoryRescuers on Friday recovered 14 more bodies following a landslide triggered by heavy rains in northeast Nepal, taking the confirmed death toll to 35.
Up to 20 people are still missing after the landslide, which crushed villages in mountainous Taplejung district Thursday following incessant rains.
Full StoryLandslides triggered by heavy rains have left at least 21 dead and dozens missing in northeastern Nepal, prompting officials to evacuate villagers living in the riskiest areas, police said Thursday.
Rescuers struggled to reach affected villages in mountainous Taplejung district after the landslides, which hit just weeks after twin quakes killed 8,700 people, damaged roads and bridges, and swept away houses.
Full StoryNepal's rival political parties have struck a historic agreement to end years of deadlock on a new constitution that will divide the country into eight provinces, spurred by a devastating earthquake.
The deal reached late Monday comes weeks after an earthquake that killed thousands and piled pressure on politicians to end a stalemate that has paralyzed the country.
Full StoryNepalese troops recovered four bodies after a helicopter which had been delivering relief supplies crashed Tuesday in a region devastated by twin earthquakes in recent weeks, the army and police said.
The aircraft from Kathmandu-based Mountain Helicopters came down in a forested area north of the capital, police said.
Full StoryThousands of children, many still traumatized from losing homes and loved ones, returned to class Sunday as Nepal's schools formally reopened following a devastating earthquake that claimed more than 8,600 lives.
Many children attended lessons in temporary classrooms made of bamboo or in tents on playing fields after their schools were destroyed or badly damaged in the quake that struck on April 25.
Full StoryNepal's government said Wednesday it had imposed a three-month ban on adoptions to try to stop vulnerable children being trafficked after a devastating earthquake.
The Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare said it imposed the ban as part of a package of measures after rescuing more than 50 children.
Full StoryThousands of villagers have returned to their homes in quake-hit Nepal's mountainous northwest after a river which was dammed by a landslide began flowing normally again, a local official said Monday.
The landslide late Saturday night had sent mud and rocks tumbling into the Kali Gandaki river in Myagdi district, creating a two-kilometer-long (1.2 mile) artificial lake and sparking fears of flash flooding.
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