Submit your Article

Singer R. Kelly could face decades in prison when he is sentenced on Wednesday, nine months after being found guilty of running a scheme to sexually abuse women and children, BBC reported.

In September, a New York jury convicted the disgraced pop star of racketeering and eight counts of sex trafficking.

The 55-year-old R&B singer will spend at least 10 years in prison, with the maximum possible sentence being life.

Prosecutors have said he should spend at least 25 years behind bars.

The singer - known for the hit songs I Believe I Can Fly and Ignition (Remix) - was found to have been the ringleader of a violent and coercive scheme to lure women and children for him to sexually abuse.

The six-week trial heard how he trafficked women between different US states, assisted by managers, security guards and other entourage members, over two decades, according to BBC.

Prosecutors said he showed a "callous disregard" for his victims and showed no remorse.

"Indeed, the defendant's decades of crime appear to have been fuelled by narcissism and a belief that his musical talent absolved him of any need to conform his conduct - no matter how predatory, harmful, humiliating or abusive to others - to the strictures of the law," they said.

The court also heard how Kelly had illegally obtained paperwork to marry singer Aaliyah when she was 15 in 1994, seven years before the singer died in a plane crash.

The certificate, leaked at the time, listed Aaliyah's age as 18. The marriage was annulled months later.

After several delays, he will be sentenced at the US District Court in New York on Wednesday, BBC reported.

Kelly is separately facing trial in Chicago on child sex images and obstruction charges. He is also due to face sex abuse charges in Illinois and Minnesota.

Ghislaine Maxwell has been sentenced to 20 years in a US prison for helping former financier Jeffrey Epstein abuse young girls, BBC reported.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted in December of recruiting and trafficking four teenage girls for sexual abuse by Epstein, her then boyfriend.

One of her accusers said outside the court in New York that she should stay in prison for the rest of her life.

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019. 

He had been awaiting his own sex trafficking trial.

Ghislaine Maxwell's crimes took place over a decade, between 1994 and 2004.

Pronouncing the sentence, Judge Alison J Nathan said Maxwell's conduct had been "heinous and predatory".

"Ms Maxwell worked with Epstein to select young victims who were vulnerable and played a pivotal role in facilitating sexual abuse," she added, according to BBC.

She said the case called for a "very significant sentence" and that she wanted to send an "unmistakable message" that such crimes would be punished. 

As well as jail time, the judge imposed a fine of $750,000 (£610,000).

Maxwell, whose lawyers had argued for a term of less than five years, looked straight ahead and showed no emotion as the sentence was passed in front of a packed public gallery.

Earlier, she addressed her victims. She said she empathised with them, adding that she hoped her prison sentence would allow the victims "peace and finality".

Maxwell has been in custody since her arrest in July 2020, held mostly at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.

The case against the British former socialite has been one of the highest-profile since the emergence of the #MeToo movement, which encouraged women to speak out about sexual abuse, BBC reported.

Former CPN-UML Vice-Chairman Bamdev Gautam has announced the formation of a new political party--Nepal Communist Party Ekata Rastriya Abhiyan--on Tuesday.

He announced the formation of the new political party by organizing a press conference  at the Reporters' Club in Kathmandu this afternoon.

The party will have a 75-member Central Committee and a 15-member Standing Committee.

A Nepali parliamentary delegation led by Speaker of the House of Representatives Agni Prasad Sapkota has left for Azerbaijan to attend the conference of the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan on Tuesday.

The event will be held from June 30 to July 2.

House of Representatives member Pushpa Bhushal and National Assembly member Ram Chandra Rai and Sapkota's personal secretary Govinda Pathak among others are in the delegation team.

Speaker Sapkota is scheduled to address the conference on behalf on Nepal.

The conference is scheduled to endorse the Statute on working modalities of the Non Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network and issue the Baku Declaration.

A leak of toxic chlorine gas at Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba has killed 13 people and injured more than 260 others, state media report, BBC reported.

Authorities said a chemical storage container fell while being transported as a result of a crane malfunction.

CCTV footage showed the container being hoisted into the air and then suddenly dropping on to a ship and exploding.

A large cloud of bright yellow gas is seen spreading across the ground, sending people running for safety.

State media said on Monday night that 123 of the injured were still being treated at local hospitals for chemical exposure. Some were reportedly in a critical condition.

Chlorine is a chemical used in industry and in household cleaning products. It is a yellow-green gas at normal temperature and pressure, but is usually pressurised and cooled for storage and shipment, according to BBC.

When chlorine is inhaled, swallowed or comes into contact with skin, it reacts with water to produce acids that damage cells in the body. Inhaling high levels of chlorine causes fluid to build up in the lungs - a life-threatening condition known as pulmonary oedema.

Residents of Aqaba city, which is 16km (10 miles) north of the port, were advised to stay inside and close windows and doors following the leak, which happened at 15:15 (12:15 GMT) on Monday. 

Aqaba's southern beach, which is only 7km away and is a popular tourist destination, was also evacuated as a precaution, AFP news agency reported.

After several hours Minister of State for Media Affairs Faisal Shboul declared that there was no longer any risk to the city and its residents.

The Civil Defence Department sent specialist teams to the port to deal with the leak and clean-up operation. 

Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh flew to Aqaba and visited a hospital that was treating some of the injured.

He ordered Interior Minister Mazen Faraya to oversee a transparent investigation into the "regrettable" tragedy and to guarantee "all resources to ensure the total security of workers at the ports and all necessary precautions in relation to hazardous materials".

The deputy director of Aqaba's port told AlMamlaka TV that an "iron rope" carrying the container "broke" while it was being loaded on to a vessel, BBC reported.

The container was filled with between 25 and 30 tonnes of chlorine and was being exported to Djibouti.

Nepal reported 44 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 1, 852 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 38 returned positive. Likewise, 946 people underwent antigen tests, of which six were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of the virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 17 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 229 active cases in the country.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index plunged by 11.82 points to close at 1,921.31 points on Tuesday. 

Similarly, the sensitive index fell by 3. 22 points to close at 372. 60 points.

A total of 3,037,680 units of shares of 230 companies were traded for Rs 1. 05 billion.

Likewise, all sub-indices saw red in today’s market except for Life Insurance and Banking.

Meanwhile, CYC Nepal Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 9.99 percent. Likewise, Laxmi Equity Fund was the top loser with its price dropped by 5. 73 percent. 

At the end of the day, total market civilization stands at Rs 2. 73 trillion.

A traffic policeman brutally assaulted a doctor in Lalitpur.

An on-duty traffic policeman assaulted doctor Kul Bahadur Ghising at Kusunti In Lalitpur on Sunday evening.

The victim's relative said that Tamang sustained serious injuries on his mouth. He is undergoing treatment at the Lalitpur-based Alka Hospital.

According to the Traffic Police Office, Satdobato, Tamang was beaten up by Rajendra Thapa and the process to take action against him has been taken ahead.

Saying that Thapa assaulted Tamang while he was walking on the footpath, kith and kin of Tamang demanded stern action against Thapa and also the treatment expenses.