Nepal se convirtió en el último país en pedir a sus ciudadanos que se queden en sus casas, como ya ocurrió en gran parte de Europa, en el sudeste asiático y en EEUU
Nepalese mountain guides say it will be hard to make ends meet after Nepal barred climbers from all mountains — including Everest — over the new coronavirus pandemic, in what is a major blow to the country’s tourism industry.
People in Nepal celebrate Holi but the numbers of attendees at an event in Kathmandu is much less than it has been in the past, due to fear of the novel coronavirus.
A US tourist filmed the largely empty streets of the Chinese city of Wuhan on Monday, a city of 11 million people which is the epicentre of the coronavirus and has been placed on lockdown as the virus has spread worldwide.
The new strain of coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has killed at least 81 people so far and infected more than 2,740, with the disease spreading from China to other countries, including the US, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Australia, Nepal and France. Cases were also reported in Taiwan, Canada, Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam.
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Indian authorities deploy medical teams to major entry points along its land border with Nepal as it steps up screening for the new coronavirus, days after a student tested positive for the deadly disease in Kathmandu, becoming the first South Asian country to report the virus. IMAGES
Rescuers intensify an increasingly desperate hunt for four South Korean trekkers and three Nepalis swept away by an avalanche in the Himalayas as a guide tells how he saw people carried off by the snow.
Asha Charti Karki remembers sneaking off with her boyfriend for their wedding while her parents thought she was out studying, joining a growing number of Nepali teenagers changing the trend of child marriage in the country.
What is thought to be the world’s biggest animal sacrifice swings into action in a remote area of Nepal despite efforts from activists who have long called for the festival – held every five years – to be stopped.
China and Nepal hailed the “beginning of a new era” in relations Sunday as President Xi Jinping ended his visit with promises of a railway and tunnel connecting the two countries.
Two nine-week-old red pandas are checked for the first time by caretakers at Chester Zoo in UK. The examination reveals that the twins are a male and a female in good health. The population of red pandas, listed as endangered, has declined by 40% over the past fifty years. According to the zoo, 10,000 red pandas still live freely in their natural habitats in Nepal, Bhutan, Burma and southern China.
Here are the top stories for Sunday, July 14th: New Orleans avoids worst of storm; Dozens dead in Nepal flooding; France celebrates Bastille Day; New York interrupted by power outage.
Nepal has commemorated the anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest more than 60 years ago amid a climbing season marred by the highest death toll in four years. (May 29)
Nepal’s reluctance to limit the number of permits it issues to scale Mount Everest has contributed to dangerous overcrowding, with inexperienced climbers impeding others and causing deadly delays, seasoned mountaineers said. (May 28)
Four bodies have been retrieved from Everest and some ten tonnes of garbage plucked from the mountain at the end of this year’s climbing season, Nepal authorities say.
Nepal hosts the first Wheelchair Asia Cup T20 Cricket Tournament in Kathmandu. The four-day tournament saw Nepal, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh take each other on.
Nepal says it has banned popular Chinese digital wallets Alipay and WeChat to prevent the loss of foreign currency earnings from tens of thousands of Chinese tourists.
A helicopter transfers Malaysian climber Chin Wui Kin to hospital in Kathmandu. He was stranded in the open for two nights on one of the world’s most treacherous mountains before being rescued. Climbing experts said it was a “miracle” that 48-year-old survived the freezing conditions on Mount Annapurna for so long.
For generations, Nepal’s mountains have been reserved for the men of the Sherpa tribe, but two widows are challenging this tradition, choosing to scale the world’s highest peaks after losing their husbands to Mount Everest.
Caterpillar fungus is a hybrid of a fungus that kills and lives in caterpillars. It has been used in traditional herbal medicine for many centuries but has gained popularity in recent decades. It can sell for up to 3 times its weight in gold. The high demand has driven up the price, which can be as much as about $63,000 per pound. Some towns in the Himalayas rely on collecting and selling this fungus for a living.
Following is a transcript of the video:
What would you do if a fungus invaded your body, and started consuming you from the inside? It sounds like something out of a horror film, but that’s actually what happens to a certain type of baby moth.
The fungus eats its way through the helpless moth larvae and then sprouts out of their heads like a spring daisy. But this rare hybrid, the caterpillar fungus, isn’t just totally fascinating, it’s also expensive. Sometimes selling for more than 3 times its weight in gold!
Caterpillar fungus grows in the remote Tibetan Plateau and Himalayan Mountains but that’s not the only place you can find it. Here we are in New York City’s Chinatown. And nestled among countless drawers of dried mugwort leaves and hibiscus flowers.
There it is a small pile of 50 or so pieces of dried caterpillar fungus. Here, 1 gram of it costs about $30. But even that might be considered a good deal. Vendors on eBay, for example, list a gram for up to $125. The price is so high because this hybrid creature is incredibly rare.
It shows up for only a few weeks each year in remote regions of Nepal, Tibet, India and Bhutan. And even then, the fungus can be tricky for collectors to find, hidden amidst a sea of grass. For centuries, it’s been a staple of traditional Tibetan and Chinese medicine.
Kelly Hopping: “Traditionally, it was used as a general tonic, for immune support.”
For instance, a family might add half of this to a chicken soup. And it’s even rumored that it can be used as a sort of Himalayan viagra though there’s little evidence to back it up. People also buy the fungus as a gift or use it for bribes or as a status symbol. As a result, better looking pieces fetch a higher price.
Kelly Hopping: “It’s all dependent on exactly the color of the caterpillar fungus, even the shape of its body when it died, all of these things that don’t necessarily have anything to do with medicinal value make all the difference for the economic value.”
In 2017, for example, high quality pieces sold for as much as $140,000 per kg, or about $63,000 per pound. Now, caterpillar fungus has always been pricey. But experts say its value really skyrocketed in the 1990s and 2000s because of a growing Chinese economy, and the resulting increase in disposable income. Which ultimately, helped drive a massive boom in harvest.
In the Tibet Autonomous Region, for example, collectors reportedly hauled out more than three times as much caterpillar fungus in the early 2000s, than they did in the 1980s. And now, many families depend on the cash it brings in.
In fact, experts say that up to 80% of household income in the Tibetan Plateau and Himalayas can come from selling caterpillar fungus. One district in Nepal reported collecting $4.7 million worth of caterpillar fungus in 2016. That’s 12% more than the district’s annual budget! But those profits are at risk.
Surveys indicate that annual harvests have recently declined.
Kelly Hopping: “The collectors themselves mostly attributed this to overharvesting, acknowledging that their own collection pressure was driving these declines.”
And it doesn’t help that it’s difficult to regulate the harvest.
Daniel Winkler: “All these different political units have different policy. In the end, it is really down to county level, how it’s implemented.”
Climate change is also causing problems. You see, the fungus is more abundant in areas with long, cold winters, which are increasingly hard to come by.
Daniel Winkler: “For the rural economy, if there’s a lot of loss, that would be devastating.”
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Young Nepalis create a map of the Dead Sea with used plastic bags in a bid to set a new international record and raise awareness about the vast volumes polluting the world’s oceans.
Despite progressive laws on paper, Nepal’s LGBT community continue to face huge hurdles accessing education and employment opportunities as well as the right to marry.
“Please enjoy your meal,” says Nepal’s first robot waiter, Ginger, as she delivers a plate of steaming dumplings to a table of hungry customers. The poor Himalayan nation is better known for its soaring mountain peaks than technological prowess, but a group of self-taught young innovators are seeking to change that with the five-feet (1.5 metre) robot that they built from scratch.
