BBC is reporting a comprehensive peace deal in Nepal between the government and Maoist rebels:

In the words of one politician, it is “a new era for Nepal”. Another sees it as the beginning of the end of the monarchy; while for one Maoist leader it is one of the biggest breakthroughs in the history of Nepal.

The situation in Nepal has taken on an added element of tragedy in my mind because the Tibetan community there is a large one – I actually sponsor a monk at the Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu, and while he and his fellow monks have, for the most part, been safe during the country’s troubles, there have been some problems at the monastery. A couple of weeks ago, a Tibetan vendor at the Eastern Market Flea Market told me that rebels had recently robbed the monastery, stealing the money from the office (the vendor’s family live very close to Kopan).