Tibetan women arrested in Nepal

Police in Nepal have arrested 562 Tibetan women at an anti-China rally in Kathmandu.

The protesters shouted: "We want free Tibet" in the first all-female demonstration against Chinese rule in their homeland.

Many were wearing black armbands and had their mouths gagged with cloths.

Others wept as they were dragged along the road to police vans and trucks and driven to detention centres.

Police said the protesters would be freed later.

Nepal considers neighbouring China a key trade partner, and has been cracking down on protests by exiled Tibetans against Beijing.

More than 20,000 Tibetans have been living in Nepal since fleeing their Himalayan homeland.

One 70-year-old protester said: "We are not against Nepal. Our protests are against China. So why are they arresting us?"

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