The death toll from a landslide in Nepal has risen to 19 after eight more bodies were pulled out from a mud-covered village in north-central Nepal, police said Sunday.

The death toll from a landslide in Nepal has risen to 19 after eight more bodies were pulled out from a mud-covered village in north-central Nepal, police said Sunday. Dozens of villagers in the remote hillside region of Sindhupalchowk district were buried under mud and stone after heavy rains caused a landslide early Friday. Rescuers dug out 11 bodies on Friday and have been searching for survivors. Helicopters were being used to reach the isolated site after the landslide blocked roads. Nineteen people remain missing but hopes that anyone had survived the landslip were fading, authorities said. "Search efforts are under way but we are losing hope of rescuing the missing people alive," local police official Madhav Kafle told AFP said. The houses hit by the landslide were among those rebuilt after a devastating 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal in 2015. Sindhupalchowk was among the worst-affected districts. The Himalayan nation has been badly hit by landslides and floods, with more than 200 people killed and 75 missing since monsoon rains began mid-June, according to the home ministry. The number of deadly landslides has increased this year, with experts saying the massive 2015 quake and more road construction could be triggering the deadly slips.

Nepal landslide toll rises to 19 as hope fades for missing

Nepal's only international airport was closed Friday after a plane skidded off the recently repaired runway, injuring two people, officials said.&nbsp;

The country has a poor flight safety record -- Nepali airlines are banned from European Union airspace -- and its airports are notoriously difficult to land in.

The Yeti Airlines ATR 72-500, arriving into Kathmandu from southern Nepal with 66 passengers, skidded about 15 meters (yards) into the grass.&nbsp;

"Our teams are working to remove the plane and reopen the airport," the airport's general manager Raj Kumar Chettri told AFP.&nbsp;

Chettri said that removing the Franco-Italian-made turboprop plane was taking a long time because heavy rain has made the area muddy.&nbsp;

Authorities took 11 hours to remove a domestic aircraft that suffered a similar runway excursion in September last year, months after a Malaysian jet with 139 people on board had aborted its takeoff and skidded off the runway.&nbsp;

In March 2018, a US-Bangla Airways plane crashed near the airport, killing 51 people.&nbsp;

The Himalayan nation has some of the world's most remote and tricky runways, flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge for even accomplished pilots.

Nepal's only international airport was closed Friday after a plane skidded off the recently repaired runway, injuring two people, officials said. The country has a poor flight safety record -- Nepali airlines are banned from European Union airspace -- and its airports are notoriously difficult to land in.

Nepal's only international airport was closed Friday after a plane skidded off the recently repaired runway, injuring two people, officials said. The country has a poor flight safety record -- Nepali airlines are banned from European Union airspace -- and its airports are notoriously difficult to land in. The Yeti Airlines ATR 72-500, arriving into Kathmandu from southern Nepal with 66 passengers, skidded about 15 meters (yards) into the grass. "Our teams are working to remove the plane and reopen the airport," the airport's general manager Raj Kumar Chettri told AFP. Chettri said that removing the Franco-Italian-made turboprop plane was taking a long time because heavy rain has made the area muddy. Authorities took 11 hours to remove a domestic aircraft that suffered a similar runway excursion in September last year, months after a Malaysian jet with 139 people on board had aborted its takeoff and skidded off the runway. In March 2018, a US-Bangla Airways plane crashed near the airport, killing 51 people. The Himalayan nation has some of the world's most remote and tricky runways, flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge for even accomplished pilots.

Nepal airport closed after plane skids off runway

A passenger bus collided with a truck in Western Nepal Saturday, killing at least six persons and injuring 17 others.

The accident took place when the microbus, en route to Nepalgunj from Tulsipur, collided with the truck near Muguwa river in Nepalgunj, police said.

Four passengers died on the spot while two others succumbed to their injuries at Kohalpur Teaching Hospital, police said.

The other injured passengers are undergoing treatment at the same hospital, they added.

Road accidents are quite common in Nepal as the Himalayan nation has many mountainous and narrow roads.

Most accidents take place due to poorly maintained vehicles and roads.&nbsp;

A passenger bus collided with a truck in Western Nepal Saturday, killing at least six persons and injuring 17 others. The accident took place when the microbus, en route to Nepalgunj from Tulsipur, collided with the truck near Muguwa river in Nepalgunj, police said.

A passenger bus collided with a truck in Western Nepal Saturday, killing at least six persons and injuring 17 others. The accident took place when the microbus, en route to Nepalgunj from Tulsipur, collided with the truck near Muguwa river in Nepalgunj, police said. Four passengers died on the spot while two others succumbed to their injuries at Kohalpur Teaching Hospital, police said. The other injured passengers are undergoing treatment at the same hospital, they added. Road accidents are quite common in Nepal as the Himalayan nation has many mountainous and narrow roads. Most accidents take place due to poorly maintained vehicles and roads.

Six people dead, 17 injured in road accident in Nepal

Nepal will receive internet bandwidth from China from tomorrow, ending the Himalayan nation&#39;s sole dependence on India for connecting to the cyberspace.

State-owned telecom company Nepal Telecom (NT) said that all the groundwork has been completed to formally connect Nepal with Chinese bandwidth from January 12.

&quot;The process of acquiring internet bandwidth from China has been completed. The commercial operation of the Nepal- China optical fibre link will begin from Friday, said Prativa Baidhya, spokesperson for NT.

However, NT did not disclose the actual volume of Chinese internet bandwidth that Nepal will receive.

The details will be made public after a formal inauguration tomorrow, she added.

In December 2016, NT had reached an agreement with China Telecom to acquire internet bandwidth. NT had begun the test transmission of the project from the first week of September last year.

With successful test transmission, Nepal will now be commercially connected with Chinese bandwidth, according to the official.

Chinese internet will be supplied via Rasuwagadhi gateway, according to sources at NT.

As the use of Internet has been increasing rapidly in the country, Chinese internet bandwidth is taken as an alternative source for Nepal to meet the ever-increasing bandwidth demand, she said.

The commercial operation of the Chinese bandwidth project will end Nepal&#39;s sole dependence on India for internet bandwidth.

Nepal is currently linked to the global internet connectivity through Indian telecom operators via different optical fibre connections in Biratnagar, Bhairahawa and Birgunj, among others, the Himalayan Times reported.

Besides ending the monopoly of bandwidth supply, the Chinese Internet gateway is also expected to facilitate service providers in Nepal to establish bandwidth connection with other countries via China.

Though Nepal Telecom is purchasing limited volume of the Internet from China in the first phase, the company will increase the volume of Chinese internet gradually in the coming days. 
&nbsp;

Nepal Telecom did not disclose the actual volume of Chinese internet bandwidth that Nepal will receive

Nepal will receive internet bandwidth from China from tomorrow, ending the Himalayan nation's sole dependence on India for connecting to the cyberspace. State-owned telecom company Nepal Telecom (NT) said that all the groundwork has been completed to formally connect Nepal with Chinese bandwidth from January 12. "The process of acquiring internet bandwidth from China has been completed. The commercial operation of the Nepal- China optical fibre link will begin from Friday, said Prativa Baidhya, spokesperson for NT. However, NT did not disclose the actual volume of Chinese internet bandwidth that Nepal will receive. The details will be made public after a formal inauguration tomorrow, she added. In December 2016, NT had reached an agreement with China Telecom to acquire internet bandwidth. NT had begun the test transmission of the project from the first week of September last year. With successful test transmission, Nepal will now be commercially connected with Chinese bandwidth, according to the official. Chinese internet will be supplied via Rasuwagadhi gateway, according to sources at NT. As the use of Internet has been increasing rapidly in the country, Chinese internet bandwidth is taken as an alternative source for Nepal to meet the ever-increasing bandwidth demand, she said. The commercial operation of the Chinese bandwidth project will end Nepal's sole dependence on India for internet bandwidth. Nepal is currently linked to the global internet connectivity through Indian telecom operators via different optical fibre connections in Biratnagar, Bhairahawa and Birgunj, among others, the Himalayan Times reported. Besides ending the monopoly of bandwidth supply, the Chinese Internet gateway is also expected to facilitate service providers in Nepal to establish bandwidth connection with other countries via China. Though Nepal Telecom is purchasing limited volume of the Internet from China in the first phase, the company will increase the volume of Chinese internet gradually in the coming days.

Nepal to use Chinese internet bandwidth from tomorrow, India's monopoly to end

Rani Maya Shrestha was working on a neighbour&#39;s potato farm when the first of Nepal&#39;s two massive earthquakes struck last year. She rushed home to find her husband buried in the ruins of their house northeast of the capital Kathmandu.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;I should have died with him,&quot; said Shrestha inside the tin hovel that has been her home for the last year. &quot;Without my husband, my life has become meaningless.&quot; 
 
The frail looking 45-year-old woman has no documents to prove her rights to her husband&#39;s property in the ancient town of Sankhu. She survives on around 75 cents a day from knitting mufflers and woollen caps. 
 
Twin quakes in April and May 2015 killed some 9,000 people in the Himalayan nation, leaving many women to fend for themselves in a country where widows face hostility, abuse, discrimination and even enslavement. 
 
Mina Adhikari says her life was shattered after she lost her school teacher husband in the disaster. She is now struggling to bring up their two sons alone. 
 
&quot;It drastically changed the way I am treated by society. Society does not accept me as one of them,&quot; the 33-year-old said by phone from the village of Gairigaon close to the 7.8 magnitude quake&#39;s epicenter in west Nepal. 
 
Women for Human Rights (WHR), a Nepali organisation which campaigns for widows&#39; rights, said women who had lost their husbands in the disaster faced a multitude of problems. 
 
&quot;There is superstition and stigmatisation. Widows have no status,&quot; said WHR&#39;s chief Lily Thapa ahead of International Widows&#39; Day on Thursday. 
 
She said many widows lacked documents to claim their dead husband&#39;s property or faced difficulties getting rebuilding grants because their marriage was not registered, as is common in Nepal. 
 
Some widows have also been abandoned when family members moved to new locations following the disaster, she added. 
 
Although Nepal has taken major steps to empower women since the end of its decade-long civil war in 2006, widowhood remains surrounded by taboos in this patriarchal society. 
 
Like other widows, Adhikari said she was no longer allowed to attend religious ceremonies or other celebrations because women who have lost their husbands are seen as inauspicious. 
 
In some places, widows are considered so unlucky that people steer clear of them in the street. 
 
Destitution and enslavement 
 
Nepal has around half a million widows. Many lost their husbands during the war or to HIV. Others were widowed when their husbands died in accidents while working overseas as migrant labourers.&nbsp; 
 
Another factor is child marriage, with girls in Nepal often married off as teenagers to much older men. 
 
When their husbands die many widows are left destitute. If they remain with their in-laws they may be confined to the house and treated like servants, activists say. In some cases the family may even blame the widow for her husband&#39;s death. 
 
The Loomba Foundation, a widows&#39; rights charity, said widows could face hostility because it was sometimes believed their husbands had died as punishment for immoral acts or crimes their wives had committed in a previous life. 
 
&quot;The younger the age of the husbands when they died, the greater the severity of the crime the widows (are believed to have) committed in the past life,&quot; the foundation said in a global report on widows last year. 
 
The charity says widows in Nepal are also regularly accused of killing their husbands deliberately or through neglect - including by passing on HIV. 
 
Traditionally, widows are required to shun merriment. They are banned from wearing red clothes and most jewellery. Many wear only white. 
 
Often forced into virtual seclusion, they are not supposed to remarry or move out of their in-laws&#39; homes, which leaves many open to exploitation. 
 
Most widows in Nepal are illiterate and two thirds are under 35, compounding the risks of abuse, activists say. 
 
In 2008, in recognition of the large number of war widows and popular aversion to widow remarriage, the government put forward a scheme to pay men $460&nbsp;incentive to marry widows. 
 
Widows protested, saying the proposal was open to abuse by traffickers and would turn them into commodities. Nepal&#39;s Supreme Court ordered the government to ditch the initiative. 
 
 
Widow President 
 
However, WHR&#39;s Thapa says things are slowly improving. Some widows have even defied tradition by wearing red during protests against discrimination. 
 
Thapa founded WHR 20 years ago following the death of her husband in the Gulf War while he was working with a peace mission in Iraq. 
 
The organisation, which has more than 2,000 widow groups nationwide, campaigns for better social and cultural rights, and helps widows secure property, economic independence and legal aid. 
 
Thapa says several discriminatory laws and policies have been amended in recent years. For example, a widow who remarries no longer needs to return her deceased husband&#39;s property. 
 
Social protections have also been strengthened, with all widows now entitled to a monthly allowance. 
 
Campaigners say it will likely take many years for old prejudices to die out. 
 
When Nepal&#39;s widowed President Bidhya Devi Bhandari visited a temple in the south last December some locals accused her of desecrating the shrine. 
 
The following day they &quot;cleansed&quot; the temple with holy water, saying her worship there had made it impure. 
 
Rights campaigner Durga Sob said the demeaning incident highlights the entrenched stigma faced by all widows in Nepal. 
 
&quot;This is extremely shameful,&quot; said Sob, head of Sankalpa, a network of women&#39;s groups. &quot;When the country&#39;s president is treated this way, just imagine what treatment the voiceless, uneducated and poor widows may be facing.&quot; 
 
(Reuters)

Women who lose their husbands have to fend for themselves in a country where widows face hostility, abuse, discrimination, even enslavement

Rani Maya Shrestha was working on a neighbour's potato farm when the first of Nepal's two massive earthquakes struck last year. She rushed home to find her husband buried in the ruins of their house northeast of the capital Kathmandu. "I should have died with him," said Shrestha inside the tin hovel that has been her home for the last year. "Without my husband, my life has become meaningless." The frail looking 45-year-old woman has no documents to prove her rights to her husband's property in the ancient town of Sankhu. She survives on around 75 cents a day from knitting mufflers and woollen caps. Twin quakes in April and May 2015 killed some 9,000 people in the Himalayan nation, leaving many women to fend for themselves in a country where widows face hostility, abuse, discrimination and even enslavement. Mina Adhikari says her life was shattered after she lost her school teacher husband in the disaster. She is now struggling to bring up their two sons alone. "It drastically changed the way I am treated by society. Society does not accept me as one of them," the 33-year-old said by phone from the village of Gairigaon close to the 7.8 magnitude quake's epicenter in west Nepal. Women for Human Rights (WHR), a Nepali organisation which campaigns for widows' rights, said women who had lost their husbands in the disaster faced a multitude of problems. "There is superstition and stigmatisation. Widows have no status," said WHR's chief Lily Thapa ahead of International Widows' Day on Thursday. She said many widows lacked documents to claim their dead husband's property or faced difficulties getting rebuilding grants because their marriage was not registered, as is common in Nepal. Some widows have also been abandoned when family members moved to new locations following the disaster, she added. Although Nepal has taken major steps to empower women since the end of its decade-long civil war in 2006, widowhood remains surrounded by taboos in this patriarchal society. Like other widows, Adhikari said she was no longer allowed to attend religious ceremonies or other celebrations because women who have lost their husbands are seen as inauspicious. In some places, widows are considered so unlucky that people steer clear of them in the street. Destitution and enslavement Nepal has around half a million widows. Many lost their husbands during the war or to HIV. Others were widowed when their husbands died in accidents while working overseas as migrant labourers. Another factor is child marriage, with girls in Nepal often married off as teenagers to much older men. When their husbands die many widows are left destitute. If they remain with their in-laws they may be confined to the house and treated like servants, activists say. In some cases the family may even blame the widow for her husband's death. The Loomba Foundation, a widows' rights charity, said widows could face hostility because it was sometimes believed their husbands had died as punishment for immoral acts or crimes their wives had committed in a previous life. "The younger the age of the husbands when they died, the greater the severity of the crime the widows (are believed to have) committed in the past life," the foundation said in a global report on widows last year. The charity says widows in Nepal are also regularly accused of killing their husbands deliberately or through neglect - including by passing on HIV. Traditionally, widows are required to shun merriment. They are banned from wearing red clothes and most jewellery. Many wear only white. Often forced into virtual seclusion, they are not supposed to remarry or move out of their in-laws' homes, which leaves many open to exploitation. Most widows in Nepal are illiterate and two thirds are under 35, compounding the risks of abuse, activists say. In 2008, in recognition of the large number of war widows and popular aversion to widow remarriage, the government put forward a scheme to pay men $460 incentive to marry widows. Widows protested, saying the proposal was open to abuse by traffickers and would turn them into commodities. Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the government to ditch the initiative. Widow President However, WHR's Thapa says things are slowly improving. Some widows have even defied tradition by wearing red during protests against discrimination. Thapa founded WHR 20 years ago following the death of her husband in the Gulf War while he was working with a peace mission in Iraq. The organisation, which has more than 2,000 widow groups nationwide, campaigns for better social and cultural rights, and helps widows secure property, economic independence and legal aid. Thapa says several discriminatory laws and policies have been amended in recent years. For example, a widow who remarries no longer needs to return her deceased husband's property. Social protections have also been strengthened, with all widows now entitled to a monthly allowance. Campaigners say it will likely take many years for old prejudices to die out. When Nepal's widowed President Bidhya Devi Bhandari visited a temple in the south last December some locals accused her of desecrating the shrine. The following day they "cleansed" the temple with holy water, saying her worship there had made it impure. Rights campaigner Durga Sob said the demeaning incident highlights the entrenched stigma faced by all widows in Nepal. "This is extremely shameful," said Sob, head of Sankalpa, a network of women's groups. "When the country's president is treated this way, just imagine what treatment the voiceless, uneducated and poor widows may be facing." (Reuters)

'I should have died too', Nepal's quake widows struggle to survive