Nepal’s government announced tonight that a dawn-to-dusk curfew would be extended for a second day in the capital Katmandu in an attempt to foil a planned rally against King Gyanendra’s direct rule.

More than 25,000 pro-democracy activists rioted in the streets of a southern Nepalese town today, prompting police to fire shots that injured at least three people, an official said.

Maoist insurgents detonated a powerful land mine beneath a crowded bus today in rural Nepal, killing at least 38 people and wounding dozens more in one of the bloodiest attacks against civilians since the insurgency broke out nearly a decade ago, officials said.