At least 68 killed in Nepal’s worst air crash in 30 years
Updated 9am, 16th January (AEST)Kathmandu, NepalReuters At least 68 people were killed on Sunday when a domestic flight crashed in Pokhara in Nepal, the country’s Civil Aviation Authority said, in the worst air crash in three decades in the small Himalayan nation. Hundreds of rescue workers were scouring the hillside where the Yeti Airlines flight, […]
Floods death toll rises in India and Nepal
New Delhi, IndiaReuters Floods unleashed by days of unseasonal heavy rain have wrecked crops, blocked roads and washed away bridges in northern India, killing at least 46 people, officials said on Wednesday, as they mounted rescue efforts for those stranded. Aerial images gave glimpses of engorged rivers and partially submerged villages in affected areas in […]
Bring back your empty oxygen tanks to help conquer COVID, Nepal urges Everest climbers
Kathmandu, NepalReuters Nepal is so short of oxygen canisters that it has asked climbers on Mount Everest to bring back their empties instead of abandoning them on mountain slopes, an official said on Monday, as it struggles with a second wave of the coronavirus. The country issued climbing permits to more than 700 climbers for […]
No work and little savings, Nepal’s Sherpa widows face uphill battle
Kathmandu, NepalThomson Reuters Foundation After conquering Mount Everest and shattering taboos, two Nepali Sherpa widows face a new challenge – the coronavirus pandemic which has shut down all climbing and trekking activities, leaving them without jobs. Nima Doma Sherpa and Furdiki Sherpa made global headlines when they scaled the 8,850 metre mountain last year to […]
Essay: China and India’s deadly Himalayan clash is a big test for Modi. And a big concern for the world.
In an article first published on The Conversation, IAN HALL, of Australia’s Griffith Asia Institute, looks at the background to this week’s fatal clash on the Indian-Chinese border…
Climbers must be trained to tackle Everest, panel says after deaths
Kathmandu, NepalReuters Nepal must make training and experience in high altitude climbing mandatory for all climbers on Mount Everest and other high peaks, a government panel said on Wednesday, following the deadliest climbing season in four years. Eleven climbers were killed or went missing on the 8,850 metre mountain in May – nine on the […]
SUMMIT FEVER: EVEREST’S BUDGET CLIMBING BOOM MAY PUT INDIANS MOST AT RISK
ABHIRUP ROY and GOPAL SHARMA, of Reuters, report on growing death toll in this year’s Himalayan climbing season…
Melting glaciers threaten Asia’s drought buffer, scientists warn
Tbilisi, GeorgiaThomson Reuters Foundation Countries from India to Kazakhstan are far more dependent on melting glaciers for water than previously thought, particularly in summer droughts, scientists said on Wednesday, warning that rising temperatures were threatening supply. Each summer, the 95,000 glaciers in the mountain region spanning from Kyrgyzstan’s Alai range to the Himalayas produce enough […]
POSTCARDS: AS TOURISTS FLOCK TO HIMALAYAS, WOMEN LEAD PLASTICS CLEAN-UP
ATHAR PARVAIZ, in an article published by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports from India…
STRANGESIGHTS: UPSIDE-DOWN CHRISTMAS TREES; FLAT EARTH ROCKET LAUNCH BACK ON; AND, YETI MYTH – BUSTED!
DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…