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Property worth around Rs 1. 5 million was reduced to ashes when a fire broke out at a furniture factory in Gauradaha, Jhapa on Sunday. DSP Basanta Pathak of the District Police Office, Jhapa said that the fire broke out at the Payal Furniture factory owned by Munilal Sharma in Gauradaha Municipality-1 at around 3 am today. DSP Pathak said that the factory was completely destroyed in the flame. The reason behind the fire was electric short circuit. The fire was later taken under control with the help of fire engines of Gauradaha, Damak and Kamal Rural Municipality, police personnel and locals at around 4: 30 am.    

Se Sokna, a sixth-grade student at the Angkomnob Primary School in Bati district, 40 km south from Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, was elated after receiving a Chinese-donated "Kit of Love" on Thursday, saying that the package was very useful, Xinhua reported. "This kit is very valuable for us and I like it," she told Xinhua after receiving the package, which included a school bag, stationery, a stainless-steel water bottle, and a stainless-steel lunch box, among others. Another sixth-grade student San Sokchen, 12, said he was very grateful to China for the donation, saying that the package had not only aided his study, but also helped improve his personal hygiene. "I received a school bag, tinned fish, a bottle of Ovaltine, a water bottle, and a lunch box," he told Xinhua. "I'm very happy and excited." Jointly funded by Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund and China Foundation for Peace and Development (CFPD) via Cambodia's Civil Society Alliance Forum (CSAF), the "Kit of Love" project was launched here by Cambodia's Minister of Post and Telecommunications Chea Vandeth and Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. Liu was visiting Cambodia as head of a CPC delegation from Aug. 23-26, and he had met with ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP)'s president and Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, and also some other party leaders. CSAF's planning and project director Chea Munyrith said the three-month project aimed to meet the needs of stationery among students, to encourage them to study hard, to help improve hygiene and environment, and to connect the hearts of peoples of the two countries, according to Xinhua. "A total of 10,000 'Kits of Love' will be donated to students in three target areas, including capital Phnom Penh, Preah Sihanouk province and Tboung Khmum province," he told Xinhua. Munyrith said the "Kit of Love" project would not only contribute to reducing poverty, but also to improving the well-being of students in rural areas. "We believe that this project will deepen the bonds of solidarity, friendship, and brotherhood between our two countries and peoples," he said. Nget Sam Oeun, principal of the Angkomnob Primary School, where the project was launched, said a total of 257 students in the school had received a "Kit of Love" each. "This is a good project because it has helped improve health and hygiene for rural students," he told Xinhua. "The project will importantly contribute to improving health and hygiene for primary school students, particularly helping protect them from the COVID-19 pandemic." "The 'Kit of Love' truly reflects the kind hearts of the Chinese people towards their Cambodian counterparts, and it has also brought smiles and hopes to rural children in Cambodia," he added, Xinhua reported.

Serena Williams will play alongside older sister Venus in the US Open doubles in what will be the final tournament of her career, BBC reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday signed a decree introducing financial benefits for people who left Ukrainian territory to come to Russia, including pensioners, pregnant women and disabled people, Reuters reported. The decree, published on a government portal, establishes monthly pension payments of 10,000 roubles ($170) for people who have been forced to leave the territory of Ukraine since Feb. 18. Disabled people will also be eligible for the same monthly support, while pregnant women are entitled to a one-off benefit. The decree says the payments will be made to citizens of Ukraine and the self-styled Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics - two breakaway Russian-backed entities in eastern Ukraine that Moscow recognised as independent in February in a move condemned by Ukraine and the West as illegal. On Feb. 18, Putin ordered every person who arrived in Russia from Donetsk and Luhansk to be given a payment of 10,000 roubles. Moscow has been giving Ukrainians Russian passports in what Ukraine and the United States say is an illegal effort by Moscow to annex territory it has occupied as part of what they regard as an imperialist Russian land-grab, according to Reuters. Moscow says it is prosecuting "a special military operation" to protect itself and defend Russian-speakers who it says were persecuted by Ukrainian authorities, something Kyiv denies.

A car driven by Princess Diana in the 1980s sold for 650,000 pounds ($764,000) at auction Saturday, just days before the 25th anniversary of her death, Associated Press reported.

Silverstone Auctions said there was “fierce bidding” for the black Ford Escort RS Turbo before the sale closed. The U.K. buyer, whose name was not disclosed, paid a 12.5% buyer’s premium on top of the selling price, according to the classic car auction house.

Britain and Diana’s admirers worldwide are preparing to mark a quarter century since her death. She died in a high-speed car crash in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997.

Diana drove the Escort from 1985 to 1988. She was photographed with it outside boutique shops in Chelsea and restaurants in Kensington. She preferred to drive her own car, with a member of her security team in the passenger seat.

The RS Turbo Series 1 was typically manufactured in white, but she got it in black to be more discreet. Ford also added features for her security, such as a second rear-view mirror for the protection officer, according to Associated Press.

The car has just under 25,000 miles on it.

Last year, another Ford Escort that Diana used sold at auction for 52,000 pounds ($61,100).

The Election Commission (EC) has called for applications from national and international organizations if they wish to carry out the role of observers in the Nov 20 parliamentary and provincial assembly elections. The applicant organization should have working experience in good governance, election, democracy, peace-building and human rights in order to qualify as election observers.   The objective of such observation is to ensure election credibility. But there are questions about its effectiveness despite the big sums spent in the process.   “Poll observation in Nepal is superficial,” says Binod Sijapati, a political analyst and election-expenditure researcher.  In the 2017 elections, the commission had granted poll-observing permits to 53 national organizations but only 47 of them actually monitored the polls. And just 24 of these organizations submitted their election monitoring reports.  There was also international monitoring from the likes of the European Union, the Carter Center, and the Asia Network for Free Elections (ANFREL). Representatives from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Maldives, and Indonesia were invited as guest observers.  It was Nepal’s first elections after adopting the federal set-up, in which 72 people were deployed as special observers, 1,434 as long-term observers, and 8,528 others as short-term observers. The election governing body issues short- and long-term permits to poll observers. The short-term observers mainly monitor the situation in the run-up to the vote while primarily focusing their assessment on the main election day. The long-term observers, on the other hand, will have the mandate to oversee the entire election process, including the vote-count. But Sijapati says most observers focus just on the election day.  Election observers, he adds, routinely certify elections as fair and peaceful after cursory observation of polling stations.  “Observers see the deployment of security forces, voters queuing up and the political party cadres helping the voters. That’s about it,” he says. “They fail to go beneath the surface.”  Compared to other countries, Nepal has a track record of holding elections in a free and fair manner. Sijapati argues that this is because the poll observers have been endorsing elections in Nepal without really monitoring the electoral process.    In the first Constituent Assembly (CA) elections held in 2008, the Carter Center had courted criticism for hurriedly endorsing the polls despite multiple  incidents of vote-rigging and violence in several parts of the country. The center had submitted a positive election observation report, stating that despite some challenges the polls were held in a free and fair manner.  “A few problems were observed regarding ensuring the secrecy of the vote, family voting, and improper assisted voting, but these cases were relatively isolated,” it had said in its preliminary observation report.  Nepali politicians publicly confess to spending millions of rupees on electioneering. Use of political goons to capture voting booths and luring of voters with money and gifts are also common. But national and international organizations fail to monitor and report such activities Sijapati says poll observers either cannot identify these issues or they miss them as they are too focused on the election days.  Many election-observing organizations also fail to abide by the laws and codes of ethics prepared by the EC. In 2017, for instance, only half of the organizations submitted their monitoring reports. As per the code of ethics, national and international poll observers should submit their preliminary report within the 15 days of elections and the final report within a month.   But Pradip Pokharel, chairperson of Election Observation Committee Nepal, defends the works of the national and international observers.  “International community awaits our reports to recognize or give legitimacy to Nepal’s elections,” he says. “The role of election observers in Nepal is pivotal.”  He claims election observers do look into the issues that go beyond the voting day.  “We provide valuable suggestions to make the election even more free, fair and less expensive. But the Election Commission ignores our recommendations,” Pokharel adds.   Dolakh Bahadur Gurung, a former election commissioner, says the EC should strictly monitor the activities of the observers.  “While we should discourage the observers from imposing impractical conditions,” he says. “They should also be made to submit their reports on time and to refrain from unethical practices.”  Duties of observers  -Observers shall at all times recognize and respect the custom, culture, and sovereignty of Nepal -Observers shall respect the election officials, and exhibit a respectful and courteous attitude towards election officials, voters, volunteers, and candidates -Observers must undertake their duties in an unobtrusive manner and not interfere with the election process -Observers shall refrain from influencing or providing guidance to persons involved in the electoral process/voting -Observers must observe the voting on polling day from a reasonable distance, and refrain from talking to voters inside the polling station and from asking voters about their political inclination  -Observers shall not issue any disputable statement disturbing the operation of polling -Observers must refrain from slanderous or defamatory public statements regarding the ECN or any other electoral stakeholders or voters -Observers shall maintain due secrecy on the matters pertaining to voting and counting -Observer organization must submit a preliminary report within 15 days of the election and a final report within 30 days after the election result is published (Source: Election Commission)