Bhutan Buddhist leader ordains 144 women, resuming tradition
June 24, 2022 GMT(RNS) — On Tuesday (June 21), the Je Khenpo, the senior Buddhist authority in Bhutan, began ordaining a group of 144 women as bhikshunis, or female monks, at the Ramthangkha monastery in the tiny Himalayan country.
Oscars diary: A yak in the classroom, a family in Hollywood
March 25, 2022 GMTLOS ANGELES (AP) — “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom," became the unlikeliest of Oscar contenders when it was nominated this year for best international film. The story of a young man in Bhutan who goes on an unexpected and life-changing journey to become a teacher in the nation's remote mountains is the first feature from director Pawo Choyning Dorji and the first film in the history of the small Himalayan country to be nominated.
Bhutan fully vaccinates 90% of eligible adults within a week
July 28, 2021 GMTGAUHATI, India (AP) — The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has fully vaccinated 90% of its eligible adult population within just seven days, its health ministry said Tuesday.
The tiny country, wedged between India and China and home to nearly 800,000 people, began giving out second doses on July 20 in a mass drive that has been hailed by UNICEF as “arguably the fastest vaccination campaign to be executed during a pandemic.”
India, China to pull back troops from border confrontation
August 28, 2017 GMTNEW DELHI (AP) — India and China have agreed to pull back their troops from a face-off in the high Himalayas where China, India and Bhutan meet, signaling a thaw in the monthslong standoff, India's government said Monday...
AP Explains: India and China face off in border standoff
July 25, 2017 GMTNEW DELHI (AP) — It was the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan that sounded the alarm: Chinese soldiers had arrived with bulldozers and excavators, and were building a high-mountain road near India's border — in an area the two nuclear-armed Asian giants have disputed for decades...