Nepal's king seizes all power, isolates nation

There is very troubling news from Katmandu:

King Gyanendra dismissed Nepal's government Tuesday and declared a state of emergency, closing off his Himalayan nation from the rest of the world as telephone and Internet lines were cut, flights diverted and civil liberties severely curtailed. King Gyanendra denied his takeover was a coup, although soldiers surrounded the houses of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and other government leaders. The king also suspended several provisions of the constitution, including freedom of the press, speech and expression, peaceful assembly, the right to privacy, and the right against preventive detention, according to a statement from the Narayanhiti Palace.

This move comes just days after the Nepalese king cracked down on the Dalai Lama:

Nepal government has ordered the shutdown of the Office of the Dalai Lama's Representative and the Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office here. "The District Administration Office, Kathmandu today issued a notice to order the immediate closure of these two offices linked to the Dalai Lama as they were not registered at the District Administration Office", the Dalai Lama's Representative in Nepal, Wangchuk Tsering said.

Call me old-fashioned, but I get nervous when I see any nation kissing up to a repressive Communist regime.