Women in Nepal are 30 times more likely to die during childbirth than their peers in the UK – comparable to the level during the Industrial Revolution in the UK.

A review of student visas is to be conducted after numbers coming to the UK leapt by one-third last year to more than 300,000, it was confirmed today.

The Dalai Lama celebrated his 75th birthday today with hundreds of cheering followers in Dharmsala, northern India, which has been his home since he fled Tibet after a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.

Nepal's Prime Minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal, resigned yesterday in an attempt to resolve a political crisis and save the peace process more than three years after the end of a decade-long Maoist civil war. "I have decided to resign to clear the way for a political consensus," he said in a televised address.

Maoist opposition supporters armed with bamboo sticks enforced a general strike that closed transportation, schools and markets across Nepal yesterday to demand the Prime Minister's resignation.

I nominated Minna Hepburn and her ethical clothing collection because the Finnish-born designer ticks so many boxes, not just ethically but on the style front as well. I've always loved vintage and I like a good "story" in my clothes – and you get that in her use of lace and antique fabrics. She has a transparent production process, and uses organic materials. There's a romantic, old-fashioned feel but also a modern approach to production and sustainability.

England rugby star Josh Lewsey is undertaking the ultimate challenge in attempting to summit Mount Everest in aid of Help for Heroes. He'll be writing an exclusive diary during the expedition which you can keep up to date with here at The Independent.

I was serving in the Falklands War when I was wounded at Bluff Cove. We were hit by artillery fire. The left side of my back was torn out by shrapnel, I tried to crawl but could not move. I was convinced I was going to die. I cannot describe the pain. It was unbearable. But, I noticed that neither my men nor I were screaming or shouting. We had accepted, that as Gurkhas, we were going to die honourably on the battlefield.

MoD papers from 2007 reveal questions over relocation charges paid by veterans

Nepal and China have agreed to recognise the snow and rock heights of Mount Everest, ending a long-standing debate about the height of the world's tallest mountain, officials said today.

Gyanendra was so unpopular when he ascended to the throne after the massacre of the Nepalese royal family that the country soon became a republic. Now he wants to return

A record-breaking Nepalese Sherpa flew to Mount Everest today to prepare to scale the world's highest mountain once again and scatter the ashes of its most celebrated climber, Sir Edmund Hillary.

Investigation into fate of £2m collected from veterans demanded