Nepal crisis deepens as protesters line streets

NEPALESE police were last night struggling to enforce a curfew imposed to keep persistent thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators off the streets as the Himalayan country’s political crisis deepened.

The protesters were trying to enter the city limits of Kathmandu, the capital, when police first fired tear gas, then rubber bullets, independent Kantipur television reported. Doctors at a hospital said they treated three people injured by rubber bullets.

Kathmandu was under a day-long curfew for the fourth straight day. On Saturday, clashes between security forces and tens of thousands of demonstrators left more than 200 people injured.