A Year of Troubles

It's been almost a year since Nepal's King Gyanendra seized power, arresting hundreds of opposition figures and ending the country's 14-year experiment with democracy. There's every sign now that the King plans to continue in this autocratic vein. In an attempt to head off pro-democracy protests, police detained more than 100 politicians and activists in predawn raids last Thursday, while the government cut phone lines and ordered the army to enforce a daytime curfew in the capital. But tens of thousands of protesters defied the crackdown on Saturday, shouting "Gyanendra leave Nepal" and fighting pitched battles with riot police before being...