5:51am (UK) Nepal Remains Cut off after King Seizes Power Nepal remained virtually cut off from the rest of the world today following King Gyanendra?s seizure of power, as authorities kept phone service and Internet connections shut down and imposed strict censorship of the media. Local phone service came back on for a few hours late yesterday, but was switched off again within two hours. International phone lines and all cellular service has remained cut since the king dismissed the government and assumed dictatorial powers on Tuesday, citing the government?s inability to halt a Maoist insurgency or call parliamentary elections. In his sweeping assertion of power, the king suspended several key provisions of the constitution, including freedom of the press, speech and expression, peaceful assembly, the right to privacy, and the right against preventive detention. Since then, dozens of politicians have been detained or put under house arrest, including ousted Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. Yesterday, state radio announced that private radio stations would no longer be allowed to broadcast news or opinion. All broadcasts were to remain ?purely entertainment,? the terse statement said. Earlier, a government edict printed in the state-run newspaper Gorkhapatra, said any news outlet publishing reports critical of ?the spirit of the royal proclamation? would be punished. Communist guerrillas, who say they are inspired by the late Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have been trying since 1996 to overthrow the government and establish a socialist state. More than 10,500 people have died since the fighting began.