Gold price increases by Rs 200 per tola on Wednesday
The price of gold has increased by Rs 200 per tola in the domestic market on Wednesday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 91, 600 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 91, 800 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 91, 100 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver is being traded at Rs 1, 145 per tola today.
NC spokesperson Mahat defends PR closed list
Nepali Congress spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat has said that the closed list of Proportional Representation category was prepared by holding discussions with all the leaders. He said so by organizing a press conference at the party office on Tuesday. Some leaders of the establishment faction have expressed their dissatisfaction with the list submitted to the Election Commission. “Desires of all the leaders may not have been fulfilled,” he said, “But, I hope that they will make the candidates of Nepali Congress and ruling coalition victorious. The new government will be formed under the leadership of Nepali Congress if that happens. This is the democratic process.” The Congress leaders said that the list was prepared by holding discussion with the office bearers, former office bearers, Parliamentary Board and leaders of all the seven provinces among others. He said that the party had not discriminated any one while preparing the list. Talking to journalists at the party office on Tuesday, Guru Raj Ghimire of the establishment faction said that the party had done injustice while preparing the list of Proportional Representation category. “This means, we do not need our names to be included in the list but justice. We will wait till the correction of the closed list. We are ready to face action but will not remain silent,” he said.
8 killed in Salyan jeep accident
Eight persons died when a jeep met with an accident at Mulpani in Kapurkot of Salyan on Wednesday. The deceased have been identified as jeep driver Jit Bahadur Bohara (21) of Jalbang, Kapurkot Rural Municipality-6, Salyan, Dharma Oli (37), Top Bahadur Oli (40), Basanta Oli (11), Suresh Khatri (30), Kum Lal Oli (70), Kumari Oli (55) and Lalit Oli (35). Police said that they died on the spot. Critically injured in the incident, Tilak Oli (35) of Jalbang, Kapurkot Rural Municipality-6 is undergoing treatment at the Provincial Hospital. Santosh Khanal, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Salyan, the jeep (Ra 1 Ja 563) was heading towards Jalbang, Kapurkot Municipality-6 from Nepalgunj when the incident occurred at around 2 am today.
Cuba without electricity after hurricane hammers power grid
Hurricane Ian knocked out power across all of Cuba and devastated some of the country’s most important tobacco farms when it slammed into the island’s western tip as a major hurricane Tuesday, Associated Press reported.
Cuba’s Electric Union said in a statement that work was underway to gradually restore service to the country’s 11 million people during the night. Power was initially knocked out to about 1 million people in Cuba’s western provinces, but later the entire grid collapsed.
Ian hit a Cuba that has been struggling with an economic crisis and has faced frequent power outages in recent months. It made landfall as a Category 3 storm on the island’s western end, devastating Pinar del Río province, where much of the tobacco used for Cuba’s iconic cigars is grown.
Tens of thousands of people were evacuated and others fled the area ahead of the arrival of Ian, which caused flooding, damaged houses and toppled trees. Authorities were still assessing the damage, although no fatalities had been reported by Tuesday night.
Ian’s winds damaged one of Cuba’s most important tobacco farms in La Robaina.
“It was apocalyptic, a real disaster,” said Hirochi Robaina, owner of the farm that bears his name and that his grandfather made known internationally.
Robaina, also the owner of the Finca Robaina cigar producer, posted photos on social media of wood-and-thatch roofs smashed to the ground, greenhouses in rubble and wagons overturned.
State media said Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel visited the affected region.
Cuba’s Meteorology Institute said the city of Pinar del Río was in the heart of the hurricane for an hour and a half.
“Being in the hurricane was terrible for me, but we are here alive,” said Pinar del Rio resident Yusimí Palacios, who asked authorities for a roof and a mattress.
Officials had set up 55 shelters and took steps to protect crops, especially tobacco.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Cuba suffered “significant wind and storm surge impacts” when the hurricane struck with top sustained winds of 125 mph (205 kph).
Ian was expected to get even stronger over the warm Gulf of Mexico, reaching top winds of 130 mph (209 kph) approaching the southwestern coast of Florida, where 2.5 million people were ordered to evacuate.
As the storm’s center moved into the Gulf, scenes of destruction emerged in Cuba. Authorities were still assessing the damage in its world-famous tobacco belt, according to Associated Press.
Local government station TelePinar reported heavy damage at the main hospital in Pinar del Rio city, tweeting photos of collapsed ceilings and downed trees. No deaths were reported.
Videos on social media showed downed power lines and cut off roads in the provinces of Pinar del Rio, Artemisa and Mayabeque. A hospital in Pinar del Río was damaged.
“The town is flooded,” said farmer Andy Muñoz, 37, who lives in Playa Cajío in Artemisa.
He said many people lost their belongings due to the storm surge.
“I spent the hurricane at home with my husband and the dog. The masonry and zinc roof of the house had just been installed. But the storm tore it down,” said Mercedes Valdés, who lives along the highway connecting Pinar del Río to San Juan y Martínez. “We couldn’t rescue our things ... we just ran out.”
IMF sounds alarm on UK tax cut plans
The International Monetary Fund has openly criticised the UK government over its plan for tax cuts, warning that the measures are likely to fuel the cost-of-living crisis, BBC reported.
In an unusually outspoken statement, the IMF said the proposal would be likely to increase inequality and add to pressures pushing up prices.
Markets have already raised alarm over the plans, sending the pound plunging.
The government says the measures will kickstart economic growth.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled the country's biggest tax package in 50 years on Friday. The £45bn cut will be funded by government borrowing.
The IMF works to stabilise the global economy, and one of its roles is to act as an early economic warning system.
"Furthermore, the nature of the UK measures will likely increase inequality," it said.
The IMF said that the government publishing a fiscal plan on 23 November gave it an opportunity to "re-evaluate" tax measures, "especially those that benefit high income earners".
The UK government proposals would scrap the top rate of income tax, and end a cap on bankers' bonuses, among other measures.
The announcement on Friday sparked days of financial turmoil, as investors dumped the pound and UK debt. On Monday the pound fell to record lows against the dollar.
Some of the country's biggest lenders suspended mortgage deals amid the uncertainty.
It added that Mr Kwarteng was due to publish his medium-term plan for the economy on 23 November, which would include ensuring that UK debt falls as a share of economic output in the medium term, according to BBC.
Meanwhile, Lord Frost, the former Brexit minister and close ally of Prime Minister Liz Truss, criticised the IMF's statement.
He told the Daily Telegraph: "The IMF has consistently advocated highly conventional economic policies. It is following this approach that has produced years of slow growth and weak productivity.
"The only way forward for Britain is lower taxes, spending restraint, and significant economic reform."
BBC economics editor Faisal Islam says the IMF's "stinging rebuke... reflected similar concerns from the world's major finance ministries that a crisis brewing in the UK could spill over into a global slowdown".
Its chief economist Huw Pill said the Bank "cannot be indifferent" to the developments of the past days.
He said the Bank would have to deliver a "significant monetary policy response" to protect sterling.
Speaking to BBC Two's Newsnight, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers described the situation facing the UK as "very ominous".
"I can't in all honesty remember a time when a set of policy announcements from a G7 country elicited so negative a response both from markets and from economic experts," he said.
"When a country sees its interest rates rise by [as much as they have] in two days at the same time that its currency is falling in a major way, that is a sign that there has been a major loss of market credibility and market confidence.
"The kind of warning that Britain received from the IMF today is a kind of warning that comes much more frequently to emerging markets with new governments than to a country like Britain."
Asked about the UK's plans at an event in Washington, White House economic adviser Brian Deese said he had not been surprised by the negative reaction of the markets and that it was important to focus on "fiscal prudence, fiscal discipline", the Reuters news agency reported, BBC reported.
Moody's credit rating agency said on Wednesday that the UK's plan for "large unfunded tax cuts" was "credit negative" and would lead to higher, persistent deficits "amid rising borrowing costs [and] a weaker growth outlook". Moody's did not change the UK's credit rating.
Spain snatch dramatic win over Portugal to advance
Alvaro Morata grabbed a dramatic winner as Spain beat Portugal in Braga to qualify for the Nations League Finals, BBC reported.
The ex-Chelsea striker scored in the 88th minute from close range after Nico Williams headed the ball into his path.
Portugal only needed a point to advance and had chances to score but Liverpool's Diogo Jota and Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo both missed.
Spain will be joined in June's finals by Croatia, Italy and the Netherlands, who are expected to host all the games.
Portugal began the night top of Group A2 and will be wondering just how they failed to book their place at next summer's four-nation tournament.
They had won the inaugural competition in 2018-19 and were the better team for most of the match in northern Portugal.
An excellent pass from Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes was collected by Jota, who shot at goal but was denied by a fine one-handed save by Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon.
The hosts continued to create the better opportunities with Fernandes hitting the side-netting and Ronaldo having a shot blocked by Simon early in the second half.
Substitute Williams, who plays for Athletic Bilbao, made a difference for Spain and twice had efforts saved by Diogo Costa, according to BBC.
But the Portugal goalkeeper was beaten with only two minutes remaining when Williams' header went past him with Morata hooking the ball into the roof of the net from close range.
Spain were runners-up in the Nations League Finals in 2021 and now have a chance to win the tournament in June.
Iran protests: Death toll rises to 76 as crackdown intensifies - rights group
At least 76 protesters have been killed by Iranian security forces during 11 days of unrest sparked by the death of a woman in custody, activists say, BBC reported.
Iran Human Rights (IHR), a Norway-based organisation, accused authorities of using disproportionate force and live ammunition to suppress the dissent.
State media have put the number of dead at 41, including several security personnel, and blamed "rioters".
Hundreds of people have also been arrested, 20 of them journalists.
"The risk of torture and ill-treatment of protesters is serious and the use of live ammunition against protesters is an international crime," said IHR's director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. "The world must defend the Iranian people's demands for their fundamental rights."
The UN human rights office also said it was very concerned by the authorities' violent response and urged them to respect the right to protest peacefully, according to BBC.
The anti-government demonstrations have spread to more than 80 cities and towns across Iran since the funeral of Mahsa Amini on 17 September.
She collapsed after being taken to a detention centre to be "educated" and died in hospital following three days in a coma.
The police said Ms Amini died after suffering sudden heart failure, but her family have dismissed that and alleged that she was beaten by officers.
The protests against the morality police and hijab law triggered by her death quickly evolved into the most serious challenge that Iran's Shia Muslim clerical establishment has faced in years, BBC reported.
Videos posted on social media have shown women defiantly burning their headscarves on bonfires and cutting their hair in public to cheers and chants of "Women, life, freedom" and "Death to the dictator" - a reference to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Ukraine war: Russia to open war enlisting hub on Georgia border
Russia is to open an army enlisting centre on the border with Georgia, where massive queues have formed as Russian men try to flee the country to avoid being sent to fight in Ukraine, BBC reported.
Officers at the Verkhniy Lars crossing will be tasked with serving summons to "citizens of the mobilisation age", the authorities say.
Recent satellite images have shown queues going for miles from Russia.
All those crossing into Georgia look exhausted, a BBC correspondent says.
They are hungry and sleep deprived - but relieved to have reached safety, Rayhan Demytrie says. People have been coming in groups of walkers, dragging their suitcases behind them. Others have arrived in car or on bikes.
One man, Ilya, showed our correspondent a polaroid of his baby daughter Arisha. He said he wanted to see her grow up, and not die in the senseless war in Ukraine.
Another young man from Moscow said the reason he was fleeing was because of the man in the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin.
Everyone says the same thing: they disagree with the war - but the extent of repression in Russia makes them powerless, our correspondent says.
The interior ministry of Russia's North Ossetia republic, where the Verkhniy Lars crossing is, said 60 of its personnel had already been deployed there, describing the situation as "extremely tense".
It added that the army enlisting centre would be opened "in the nearest future".
Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev vowed on Tuesday to protect the safety and welfare of Russians fleeing a "hopeless situation".
The Russian defence ministry on Tuesday said it would not seek the extradition of Russian nationals travelling abroad to avoid being drafted into the army, according to BBC.
President Putin announced what he described as a partial mobilisation on 21 September, with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu later saying 300,000 reservists would be called up.
But reports in opposition Russian media suggested that up to one million people could be called up, pointing out that the actual number of those who would be enlisted was classified.
A number of military experts in the West and Ukraine say Mr Putin's decision to call up reservists shows that Russian troops are failing badly on the battlefield in Ukraine - more than seven months after Moscow launched its invasion.
"There are cases when the decree is violated," Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that "all the errors will be corrected".
On Tuesday, Sergei Baranovsky, the top official responsible for war mobilisation efforts in the extreme north-eastern Magadan region, was sacked.
Multiple reports - backed by footage on social media - say people with no military experience, or who are too old or disabled, are being called up.
Since the mobilisation announcement, more than 2,000 people have been detained at protests across Russia.
"We are deeply disturbed by the large number of people who have reportedly been arrested," UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said on Tuesday, BBC reported.
In one of the most shocking and widely-discussed incidents, a man shot and critically injured an army recruitment officer in the Siberian city of Ust-llimsk on Monday.
