Birds on the runway in Kathmandu have disrupted international air traffic, causing six incidents in the past two months. In one, a departing aircraft sucked a bird into an engine and skidded to a halt, causing the diversion of incoming flights. A growing municipal garbage dump near the airport is attracting a large number of scavengers, and thus far the solution has been to hire locals to shoot at the birds to keep them out of the flight path. International carriers are threatening to stop flying to Kathmandu if the problem isn’t solved. Luckily, no one has yet been injured in bird incidents.
Regarding the Maoist insurgency, recent robberies of tourists have been denied by the rebels, who claim that common criminals have perpetrated the acts instead. The Maoists claim they have no intention of robbing foreign tourists, while other reports say the insurgents are only interested in raising funds for their cause, and that if you’ve been robbed you’ll be given a receipt that will protect you from further robberies.