Nepal protests escalate with mass rally

Pro-democracy activists vowed to hold a mass rally today in Kathmandu despite the royal government’s ban on demonstrations in Nepal’s capital, as protests escalated against King Gyanendra’s rule.

Protesters planned to march from several points and converge in the centre of Kathmandu for a mass protest rally, said Subash Nemwang of the Communist Party of Nepal, a member of a seven-party alliance that is demanding that the king restore democracy.