A Kingdom In Crisis

Can King Gyanendra of Nepal hold onto power? As a civil war with Maoist rebels rages in the Himalayan hills, in the capital of Kathmandu the outcry against Gyanendra's rule is intensifying. Thousands have taken to the streets in the past three weeks, burning cars, smashing shops and skirmishing with police. Demonstrators accuse Gyanendra of trying to return to the days when Nepal's kings were considered gods. They demand that he restore the elected government that he scrapped in October 2002 and replaced with his own royalist administration.

Gyanendra has proposed holding new elections within a year...