KING Gyanendra dismissed Nepal’s government and imposed a state of emergency yesterday, cutting off his Himalayan nation from the rest of the world as telephone and internet lines were severed, flights diverted and civil liberties severely curtailed.

King Gyanendra dismissed Nepal’s government yesterday and declared a state of emergency, taking control of the Himalayan kingdom for the second time in three years.

Thousands of demonstrators staging a protest against Nepal’s king were beaten back by police to in the capital Katmandu in clashes that injured about 60 protesters, police and witnesses said.

Eyewitnesses of Crown Prince Dipendra’s massacre of his parents and seven other royals during a family dinner told government investigators in Nepal that the prince went on the rampage because of his parents’ opposition to his choice of bride.

Police in Nepal have shot and wounded 14 curfew breakers as the Himalayan kingdom still attempts to come to terms with the royal massacre.

Police in Nepal have shot and wounded at least 14 people, doctors said today, and some 450 others have been arrested for violating a curfew.

Prince Gyanendra took the throne as Nepal’s new king today, hoping to rebuild a monarchy shattered by the massacre of the royal family.