Around the World: Nepal

Last child soldiers freed

The last of Nepal's former child soldiers were released from government-run detention camps yesterday, given pocket money, civilian clothes and a chance to start new lives.

The final 237 former Maoist rebels left a camp in the country's mountainous west after a ceremony attended by government and UN officials, as well as former guerrilla leaders. The leftists fought the Nepalese government for 10 years before laying down their arms in 2006 and joining mainstream politics.