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Police have confiscated a huge cache of marijuana from a loaded truck in Birgunj. 

DSP Om Prakash Khanal, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Parsa said that they have impounded the truck and arrested its driver Purna Bahadur Moktan (45) of Hetauda, Makwanpur and assistant driver Raj Bhulan of Hetauda-4.

He said that the police confiscated 53 kg marijuana from the truck (Na 3 Kha 6384) heading towards Parsa from Makwanpur during the security check.

Police said that they are looking into the case.

Mumbai Indians played for pride and they would be happy to finally get on the board with a five-wicket victory against Rajasthan Royals on Saturday, The Indian Express reported.

A win on the back of eight consecutive defeats is way too little and way too late, but at least, the five-time champions have broken their duck in this IPL.

A good, collective bowling performance from MI had restricted Rajasthan Royals to 158/6. Kumar Kartikeya, the debutant left-arm spinner, was impressive and returned with 1/19 from his four overs. Riley Meredith worked up good pace, hit Jos Buttler on the helmet with a sharp bouncer and bagged 2/24, according to the Indian Express.

Then, MI chased down the target via an 81-run third wicket partnership between Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma. There were jitters in the camp when Surya perished after scoring a 39-ball 51 and Varma departed a couple of deliveries later. Even in the final over, when only four runs were required for victory, Kieron Pollard’s dismissal had kept MI on the edge. But Daniel Sams hit the first ball he faced for a six and the MI fans were dancing in the aisles.

Manchester City remained the front-runner in the English Premier League title race after winning at Leeds 4-0 on Saturday, Associated Press.

Liverpool won at Newcastle 1-0 in an early kickoff to keep the pressure on City, which responded.

Rodri headed City into a halftime lead, and further goals from Nathan Ake, Gabriel Jesus and Fernandinho lifted it back above Liverpool by a point.

City coach Pep Guardiola made five changes after the midweek Champions League win against Real Madrid, but it made little difference as the defending champion secured a third straight league win for the first time in 2022.

However, it was not as easy as the scoreline might suggest against an embattled Leeds side hungry for points in their fight to beat the drop. Leeds’ first league defeat in six games left it one place and five points above third-from-bottom Everton, which has two games in hand.

Leeds was dealt another injury blow before kickoff when captain Liam Cooper limped out of the warmup and was replaced by Mateusz Klich. The new-look defence was undone in the 13th minute, according to the Associated Press.

Stuart Dallas was penalised for his foul on Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden’s excellent out-swinging free kick was headed home by Rodri.

Leeds’ wretched luck with injuries continued in first-half stoppage time when Dallas twisted his knee in a 50-50 challenge with Jack Grealish and was carried off the field on a stretcher.

City doubled its lead from another set-piece nine minutes after the break when Foden’s corner was headed goalwards by Ruben Dias and Ake turned to sweep the ball home from six yards at the far post.

Ake hobbled off soon after and was replaced by Oleksandr Zinchenko. Leeds went close through Raphinha, whose shot was deflected over by Aymeric Laporte, Associated Press reported.

But City sealed the match in the 78th when Ederson’s clearance was chested into Foden’s path and his throughball was buried by Jesus.

The Leeds players didn’t let their heads go down and Daniel James and Sam Greenwood saw successive goalbound shots blocked and fellow substitute Joe Gelhardt’s effort was saved by Ederson.

Fernandinho, a late replacement for Rodri, arrowed home a low shot in stoppage time, according to the Associated Press.

Real Madrid made it look easy this time.

With a title-winning campaign few could contest, Madrid clinched its record-extending 35th Spanish league title on Saturday, lifting the trophy with four rounds left after routing Espanyol 4-0 with its backup players, Associated Press reported.

Led by a red-hot Karim Benzema, Madrid was in control from the start, successfully fending off every run made by its challengers and comfortably winning its second league title in three seasons.

“We were very consistent throughout the season,” coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “We faltered in very few matches.”

Barcelona thought it could have had a chance to catch Madrid after improving late in the season, but it never came close. Sevilla was near the top for a period but could not keep up, eventually seeing its chances disappear after a demoralizing 3-2 loss to Madrid at home after leading 2-0 at halftime a few rounds ago. Defending champion Atlético Madrid got off to a slow start and never had enough momentum to contend, according to the Associated Press.

After its win over Espanyol, Madrid was 17 points ahead of Sevilla, 18 points in front of Barcelona and 20 points ahead of Atlético.

Madrid led in all but six rounds early in the season, being at the top since the 14th round in November.

It was Madrid’s third league title in the last six seasons, one more than Barcelona and two more than Atlético in that period. Before that, Barcelona had won six titles in eight seasons, with Madrid one and Atlético another, Associated Press reported.

Ukrainian forces fought village by village Saturday to hold back a Russian advance through the country’s east, while the United Nations worked to broker a civilian evacuation from the last defensive stronghold in the bombed-out ruins of the port city of Mariupol, Associated Press reported.

An estimated 100,000 civilians remain in the city, and up to 1,000 are living beneath a sprawling Soviet-era steel plant, according to Ukrainian officials. Ukraine has not said how many fighters are also in the plant, the only part of Mariupol not occupied by Russian forces, but Russia put the number at about 2,000. 

Russian state media outlets reported Saturday that 25 civilians had been evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks, though there was no confirmation from the UN Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency said 19 adults and six children were brought out, but gave no further details.

A top official with the Azov Regiment, the Ukrainian unit defending the plant, said 20 civilians were evacuated during a cease-fire, though it was not clear if he was referring to the same group as the Russian news reports.

“These are women and children,” Sviatoslav Palamar said in a video posted on the regiment’s Telegram channel. He also called for the evacuation of the wounded: “We don’t know why they are not taken away and their evacuation to the territory controlled by Ukraine is not being discussed.” 

Video and images from inside the plant, shared with The Associated Press by two Ukrainian women who said their husbands are among the fighters refusing to surrender there, showed unidentified men with stained bandages; others had open wounds or amputated limbs, according to the Associated Press.

A skeleton medical staff was treating at least 600 wounded people, said the women, who identified their husbands as members of the Azov Regiment of Ukraine’s National Guard. Some of the wounds were rotting with gangrene, they said.

In the video the men said that they eat just once daily and share as little as 1.5 liters (50 ounces) of water a day among four people, and that supplies inside the besieged facility are depleted. 

One shirtless man appeared to be in pain as he described his wounds: two broken ribs, a punctured lung and a dislocated arm that “was hanging on the flesh.”

“I want to tell everyone who sees this: If you will not stop this here, in Ukraine, it will go further, to Europe,” he said. 

AP could not independently verify the date and location of the video, which the women said was taken in the last week in the maze of corridors and bunkers beneath the plant. 

The women urged that Ukrainian fighters also be evacuated alongside civilians, warning they could be tortured and executed if captured. “The lives of soldiers matter too,” Yuliia Fedusiuk told AP in Rome, Associated Press reported.

In his nightly video address late Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy switched into Russian to urge Russian troops not to fight in Ukraine, saying even their generals expect that thousands more of them will die.

The president accused Moscow of recruiting new soldiers “with little motivation and little combat experience” so that units gutted early in the war can be thrown back into battle.

“Every Russian soldier can still save his own life,” Zelenskyy said. “It’s better for you to survive in Russia than to perish on our land.”

Naomi Judd, whose family harmonies with daughter Wynonna turned them into the Grammy-winning country stars The Judds, has died. She was 76, Associated Press reported.

Her daughters, Wynonna and Ashley, announced her death on Saturday in a statement provided to The Associated Press.

“Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” the statement said. “We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.” 

Naomi Judd died near Nashville, Tennessee, said a statement on behalf of her husband and fellow singer, Larry Strickland. It said no further details about her death would be released and asked for privacy as the family grieves.

The Country Music Hall of Fame will continue with a planned induction ceremony for The Judds on Sunday. 

“Naomi overcame incredible adversity on her way to a significant place in music history. Her triumphant life story overshadows today’s tragic news,” said Hall of Fame CEO Kyle Young in a statement. “Her family has asked that we continue with The Judds’ official Hall of Fame induction on Sunday. We will do so, with heavy hearts and weighted minds. Naomi and daughter Wynonna’s music will endure.”

They had also just announced an arena tour to begin in the fall, their first tour together in over a decade, according to the Associated Press.

The mother-daughter performers scored 14 No. 1 songs in a career that spanned nearly three decades. The red-headed duo combined the traditional Appalachian sounds of bluegrass with polished pop stylings, scoring hit after hit in the 1980s. Wynonna led the duo with her powerful vocals, while Naomi provided harmonies and stylish looks on stage. 

They also made a return to awards shows when they performed at the CMT Music Awards earlier this month.

“Honored to have witnessed “Love Can Build a Bridge” just a few short weeks ago,” singer Maren Morris posted on Twitter on Saturday.

“This is heartbreaking news! Naomi Judd was one of the sweetest people I’ve ever known,” singer Travis Tritt posted on Twitter, noting that he had worked with Judd several times on screen and during performances.

“Country music lost a true legend…sing with the angels, Naomi!!! We’re all sending up prayers for the Judd family today,” singer Carrie Underwood wrote on Twitter. 

After rising to the top of country music, they called it quits in 1991 after doctors diagnosed Naomi Judd with hepatitis C. Wynonna continued her solo career, Associated Press reported.

The Judds’ hits included “Love Can Build a Bridge” in 1990,“Mama He’s Crazy” in 1984, “Why Not Me” in 1984,“Turn It Loose” in 1988, “Girls Night Out” in 1985, “Rockin’ With the Rhythm of the Rain” in 1986 and “Grandpa” in 1986.

Born Diana Ellen Judd in Ashland, Kentucky, Naomi was working as a single mother and nurse in Nashville, when she and Wynonna started singing together professionally. Their unique harmonies, together with elements of acoustic music, bluegrass and blues, made them stand out in the genre at the time.

“We had a such a stamp of originality on what we were trying to do,” Naomi Judd told The AP after it was announced that they would be joining the Country Music Hall of Fame.

In an interview with the AP in March, Naomi Judd said she was already deep into preparation for the upcoming tour and was looking forward to the Hall of Fame induction, according to the Associated Press.

A powerful explosion killed more than 50 worshippers after Friday prayers at a Kabul mosque, its leader said, the latest in a series of attacks on civilian targets in Afghanistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Reuters reported.

The blast hit the Khalifa Sahib mosque in the west of the capital in the early afternoon, according to Besmullah Habib, the deputy spokesperson for the interior ministry.

The attack came as worshippers at the Sunni mosque gathered after Friday prayers for a congregation known as Zikr – an act of remembrance practised by some Muslims but seen as heretical by several Sunni groups.

Sayed Fazil Agha, the head of the mosque, said someone they believed was a suicide bomber joined them in the ceremony and detonated explosives. “Black smoke rose and spread everywhere, dead bodies were everywhere,” he said, adding that his nephews were among the dead. “I survived, but lost my beloved ones.”

A local resident, Mohammad Sabir, said he had seen people being loaded into ambulances. “The blast was very loud. I thought my eardrums were cracked,” he said.

The emergency hospital in downtown Kabul said it was treating 21 patients wounded in the blast and two were dead on arrival. A nurse at another hospital, who declined to be identified, said it had received several people in a critical condition, according to Reuters.

A health source said hospitals had so far taken in at least 30 bodies in total.

Scores of Afghan civilians have been killed in recent weeks in blasts, some of which have been claimed by Islamic State (IS). The latest attack came on the last Friday in the month of Ramadan, in which most Muslims fast, and before the religious holiday of Eid next week.

The Taliban rulers say they have secured the country since taking power in August and largely eliminated IS’s local offshoot. However, international officials and analysts say the risk of a militant resurgence remains.

Many of the attacks have targeted the Shia minority but Sunni mosques have also been attacked.

Bombs exploded on two passenger vans carrying Shia Muslims in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif on Thursday, killing at least nine people, Reuters reported.

Last Friday, a blast tore through a Sunni mosque during Friday prayers in the city of Kunduz, killing 33.

Nepal's marijuana ban could soon be up in smoke as lawmakers mull a return to the liberal drug policies that once made the Himalayan republic a popular pit stop on the overland 'hippie trail', AFP reported.

Half a century ago, thousands of fun-seeking backpackers from around the world made their way to Kathmandu to buy potent hash strains from government-licensed stores on 'Freak Street' - a lane named for long-haired and unkempt foreign visitors.

Washington's global war on drugs, and its accompanying pressure on foreign governments, prompted the closure of the capital's dispensaries in 1973, along with a cultivation ban that forced farmers to rip up their cannabis plants.

Now, with Western countries easing their own prohibitions on marijuana, the government and legal reform campaigners say it is time to stop criminalising a potent cash crop with centuries-old ties to the country's culture and religious practices.

'It is not justifiable that a poor country like ours has to treat cannabis as a drug,' Nepal's Health Minister Birodh Khatiwada told AFP.

'Our people are being punished... and our corruption increases because of smuggling as we follow decisions of developed countries that are now doing as they please.'

Khatiwada sponsored Nepal's first parliamentary motion advocating an end to the ban in January 2020, and two months later a bill was put to lawmakers seeking partial legalisation.

A change in government has stalled progress since, but in December of that year Nepal backed a successful campaign to have the United Nations reclassify cannabis out of its list of the world's most harmful drugs.

Nepal's home ministry has since launched a study into the medicinal properties and export potential of marijuana that is expected to support a revived parliamentary push to end the ban.

'It is a medicine,' said prominent activist Rajiv Kafle, who lives with HIV and began campaigning for legalisation after using the drug to treat his symptoms.

Kafle said ending the ban would be an 'important booster' to Nepal's tourism industry, which is still reeling from the Covid pandemic, and would also benefit Nepalis suffering from chronic illnesses, according to AFP.

While the current law allows for medicinal cannabis, there is no established framework for therapeutic use and the government still enforces a blanket ban on consumption and trafficking.

'So many patients are using it, but they are forced to do it illegally,' Kafle told AFP. 'They can get caught anytime.'

Enforcement of the ban is already patchy - tourists visiting Nepal's backpacker haunts are unlikely to encounter the long arm of the law for lighting up a joint in a Kathmandu back alley.

Authorities also look the other way during an annual festival held to honour the Hindu deity Shiva, the destroyer of evil, who is regularly depicted clasping a chillum pipe used to smoke cannabis.

Ganja smoke wafts around the grounds of Kathmandu's Pashupatinath Temple each year as holy men gather to celebrate and worshippers fill their own chillums with Shiva's 'gift'.

But elsewhere, penalties are harsh and regularly enforced. Marijuana dealers risk up to 10 years' jail time and police seize and destroy thousands of cannabis plants across the country each year, AFP reported.

'Part of our culture'

Prohibition interrupted a long tradition of cannabis cultivation in Nepal, where plants grew wild and their stems, leaves and resin were used in food, as clothing fibres or as a component of traditional Ayurvedic medicines.

'The ban destroyed an important income source in this region,' a farmer in western Dang district told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. 'It ignored how it was part of our culture and everyday life, not just... an intoxicant.'

Several Western countries have ended their own bans on marijuana use in recent years, including parts of the United States, which once spearheaded the global campaign to criminalise the drug, according to AFP.

In California, dispensaries sell 'Himalayan Gold', a strain that originated from Nepal and calls to mind the country's historic associations with weed culture.

A rejuvenated marijuana trade tailored to burgeoning export demand and cashing in on Nepal's existing 'international brand value' could prove highly lucrative, said Barry Bialek, a doctor working at a cannabis research centre at Kathmandu University, AFP reported.

'As a cash crop it can be good locally but also in the global market,' he told AFP. 'It can be a leader in the world.'