Everest lockdown hits mountaineering economy

As Nepal goes to the polls, independent candidates say progressive platforms offer a desired alternative to traditional parties.

China has recorded its first COVID death since May. An 87-year-old man died in Beijing as daily infections in the country reached 24,000.

After no party emerged as a clear victor in national elections, Nepal is again facing a hung parliament, raising fears of protracted governmental instability.

The head of the world health body said an estimated 90% of people had some resistance to COVID-19 but infections are up, and he warned of new variants. News China may loosen COVID-19 measures was welcomed by the WHO.

Communities across Nepal are worried about increasing cases of missing children — fearing children are being trafficked for labor and sexual exploitation both in Nepal and abroad.

Only deaths resulting directly from respiratory failure due to a coronavirus infection will be counted as COVID-19 deaths under new Chinese rules. With the new guidelines in place, cases have risen but deaths declined.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the leader of the Maoist communist party, was backed by over half of the newly elected lower house of Parliament.

In Nepal, at least three mothers die every day while giving birth. The Himalayan nation has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. The far west of the country is one of the worst affected regions. For a simple check-up or ultrasound, some women have to walk for hours.

State-run TV has shown footage of smoke billowing up from the wreckage site following the crash near Pokhara International Airport. Nepal has been plagued by air travel safety issues for years.

It remains unclear what caused the flight to crash Sunday, Nepal's worst aviation disaster since 1992.

A Facebook live stream of the Nepal plane crash has gone viral online since Sunday; one of the passengers onboard the Yeti Airlines flight was recording the descent in Pokhara, just moments before the plane crashed. While other users online are also sharing more shocking plane crash videos that have nothing to do with the fatal Yeti Airlines flight. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

Kami Rita Sherpa has scaled the summit of the world's highest mountain almost every year since 1994. On the same day, however, a Moldovan climber became the fifth fatality on Everest this year.