In mourning

THE economy of Nepal, much too dependent on tourism and foreign aid and vulnerable to conditions and opinions in neighbouring India, looks increasing fragile in the aftermath of the massacre of ten members of the royal family earlier this month. Even before the palace killings, Nepal's respected finance minister, Ram Sharan Mahat, was warning of falling tax revenues and soaring debt. This week it was hoped that at least most people would be back hard at work after two weeks of official mourning. But a manufacturer of woollen shawls for export to India said that even those of his employees who had turned up at the factory were not working. “They're standing around, still in shock.”