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WORLD NEWS Thursday 5 November 2020
Facing pandemic economic woes, Nepal reopens to adventurers

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA Mount Everest. "We are not another coronavirus test
Associated Press opening the country for all before being allowed to go
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) visitors and only mountain- up the mountains.
— Adventurers looking to eers and trekkers who have Local guides, porters, cooks
scale Nepal's Himalayan taken prior permit will be al- and helpers who will be
peaks and trek its moun- lowed to come to Nepal," part of any mountaineer-
tain trails can finally do so said Rudra Singh Tamang, ing support team will be re-
for the first time in seven director general of Nepal's quired to take coronavirus
months, as the country re- Department of Tourism. tests and prove they have
opens to foreigners even as "We are opening to a sec- been living in areas with no
the coronavirus pandemic tor of visitors who we know infections for the past two
has left it short of hospital we can handle and man- weeks.
beds. Foreign visitors are a age." "We are trying to revive the
major source of income for Rather than a visa on arriv- tourism industry that was
Nepal and the closure has al, visitors now need to get badly hit by the pandemic, This photo provided by Seven Summit Treks, shows a team of
impacted the estimated prior approval, give details but we are not taking any mountaineers from Bahrain who were given special permission
800,000 people who work of their itinerary, hire a local changes or any risks," Ta- to scale Mount Lobuche in Nepal, Oct 3, 2020.
in the tourism industry. outfitting company and mang said. "We did a test Associated Press
For now the reopening will have health insurance that run just recently with a for-
come with restrictions and covers COVID-19 treat- eign expedition team and attempt scale the highest threatening symptoms to
mainly be limited to those ment. They are required now have good idea how peaks, while the fall is pop- stay at home in isolation.
seeking to to climb or trek to take a coronavirus test to manage the adventure ular for trekkers who come Earlier in the fall season, a
its famous peaks. Nepal is before leaving their home tourists." to hike the mountain trails. team of mountaineers from
home to the eight of the country, stay for a week Spring is the mountaineer- The spring mountaineer- Bahrain was given special
14 highest mountains in the in quarantine at a hotel in ing season when foreign ing season was canceled permission to scale Mount
world, including the tallest, Kathmandu and then take climbers come to Nepal to in March when the scale Lobuche and Mount
of the pandemic became Manaslu. They were made
Quake toll rises to 116 in Turkey; clear and was followed by to follow all the new rules
the country mostly closing placed by the government
rescuers finish searches its borders to outsiders. and reported no problems.
Nepal has reported 176,500 The success of the expe-
coronavirus infections since dition was celebrated by
the pandemic began and the mountaineering com-
Tayyip Erdogan pledged 984 deaths. The nation of munity in Nepal, as was
not to give up until the fi- 30 million people is running the government decision
nal person was recovered. short on hospital beds and to reopen to all qualified
Rescuers' spirits were raised the government has asked mountaineers and trekkers
Tuesday when they pulled
a 3-year-old girl from the patients with less than life in October.q
wreckage of her fam-
ily home 91 hours after the
quake.
The tremors were felt across
western Turkey, including in
Istanbul, as well as in the
Greek capital of Athens.
In this photo provided by the government's Disaster and Some 1,700 aftershocks fol-
Emergency Management Agency, a rescue worker holds Ayda lowed, 45 of which were
Gezgin by the hand in the rubble of a collapsed apartment greater than 4.0 magni-
building in the Turkish coastal city of Izmir, Turkey, Tuesday, Nov. tude. In Izmir, the quake re-
3, 2020, after they discovered the young girl alive, four days duced buildings to rubble
after a strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece. or saw floors pancake in
Associated Press
on themselves. Authori-
By ANDREW WILKS agencies recorded it as ties have detained nine
Associated Press less severe. people, including contrac-
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Mehmet Gulluoglu, head tors, for questioning over
death toll in last week's Ae- of Turkey's Disaster and the collapse of six of the
gean Sea earthquake rose Emergency Management buildings. Turkey has a mix
to 116 on Wednesday as Presidency, said search of older buildings and new
rescuers in the Turkish city and rescue operations buildings make of cheap or
of Izmir finished searching had been completed at illegal construction that do
buildings that collapsed in 17 buildings that fell in Izmir. not withstand earthquakes
the quake. The rescue operation has well. Regulations have
All but two of the victims been roaring at full tilt since been tightened to strength-
were killed in Izmir, Turkey's Friday, pulling 107 survivors en or demolish older build-
third-largest city. Two teen- from the rubble. ings, and urban renewal is
agers died on the Greek Of the 1,035 people injured underway in Turkish cities,
island of Samos, which lies in the quake, 137 remained but experts say it is not hap-
south of the epicenter of hospitalized on Wednes- pening fast enough.
Friday's earthquake. The day, the agency added. The country sits on top
U.S. Geological Survey reg- Following a Cabinet meet- of two major fault lines
istered the quake's magni- ing on Tuesday evening, and earthquakes are
tude at 7.0, although other Turkish President Recep frequent.q