Has Bhutan discovered the secret to happiness? In this small kingdom nestled between India and China, wealth is less important than well-being. So instead of GDP they measure GDH, gross domestic happiness! So what is the secret to happiness in Bhutan? Well, they say it's their rejection of a consumer society. But in our globalised world, how long will the young generation resist the lure of modernity?
Burma's authoritarian regime loosens its grip, but is it just going through the motions? We also head to Cambodia where our reporter shows us the effects of flooding in Cambodia. Finally, forget Will and Kate, we bring you a royal wedding with a happiness factor you can actually measure!
Bhutan's hugely popular king married a 21-year-old student on Thursday in a colourful ceremony showcasing the rich Buddhist culture of one of the world's most remote and insular countries. Amid clouds of incense and chanting monks, the 31-year-old King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck crowned his queen at the end of a series of rituals in the 17th-century fortified monastery chosen for the occasion.
France 24 meets ethnic Nepalese who were expelled from Bhutanin the 1990s. Almost 20 years after they were expelled, many are still living in wretched conditions in refugee camps.
The new King of Bhutan, Jigme Wangchuk, was crowned on Nov. 6. An Oxford University graduate, he intends to maintain the Gross National Happiness standard his father introduced to measure the well-being of his people, while ushering in democracy.
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck has been crowned King of Bhutan at the age of 28, in Thimphu, capital of this little Himalayan state. The Oxford-educated bachelor is the youngest living monarch in the world.
Voting began in the small Himalayan nation of Bhutan Monday in elections that will select the country's first democratic government and mark the end of absolute royal rule, an AFP reporter said.
Long ruled by the Wangchuck family, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is holding its first democratic elections on Monday. With the two main candidates locked in a tight race, electoral bickering is at an all time high. (Story: S. Silke)
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