Nepal set to become world's newest republic today

Nepal stood on the brink of becoming the world's newest republic yesterday as an assembly charged with ending 239 years of royal rule was sworn in amid tight security.

But with the world's last Hindu king still in the pink-hued, 1970s-era concrete palace that dominates central Katmandu, political leaders were threatening to remove him by force.

"He has no choice, but if he refuses to leave the palace we will use the law to force him out of there," said Baburam Bhattarai, the deputy leader of the former Maoist rebels.