In Nepal, authorities have carried out a broad crackdown against opponents of the royalist government. On Thursday, dozens of activists and politicians were arrested and phone lines cut off in advance of a banned rally against King Gyanendra in the capitol of Kathmandu. The rally, organized by a coalition of the country’s seven main political parties, was to demand the restoration of democracy to the country nearly one year after the king seized complete control last February. Protests against the monarchy have been growing in strength. Last week, close to 100,000 people demonstrated in the southeastern town of Janakpur.