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Nepal reported 230 new Covid-19 cases and two deaths on Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 1, 956 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 128 returned positive. Likewise, 2, 880 people underwent antigen tests, of which 102 were tested positive. The Ministry said that 78 infected people recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours. As of today, there are 2, 505 active cases in the country.

The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has decided to open advance online booking of tickets of public vehicles for the upcoming Dashain festival from September 17. A meeting of the transport entrepreneurs and the DoTM held recently decided to open advance ticket bookings for long-route and short-route public vehicles targeting the Dashain festival from Saturday. Transport entrepreneurs should make arrangements for online booking as much as possible while booking tickets in advance. DoTM Director Ishwori Dutta Paneru said that the meeting has decided to conduct effective monitoring of commuter buses leaving and entering the Kathmandu Valley in cooperation with the DoTM, traffic police, consumers' forum and entrepreneurs.

The Nepal government on Wednesday expressed deep condolences over the loss of lives and property due to recent earthquakes in Sichuan, China. “Our heartfelt condolences at the tragic loss of lives and property due to the quakes,” read a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Our thoughts and prayers are with those families who lost their dear ones and are affected by this natural calamity,” the statement further read. At least 65 people died and dozens were injured after an earthquake hit China's southwestern Sichuan province on Monday.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 11. 97 points to close at 1,939.88 points on Wednesday. Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 1. 70 points to close at 377. 38 points. A total of 2,943,769 unit shares of 224 companies were traded for Rs 82 billion. Meanwhile, Sunrise First Mutual Fund was the top gainer today with its price surging by 7. 72 percent. Likewise, Prime Debenture was the top loser with its price dropped by 5. 88 percent. At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 78 trillion.

A document describing a foreign government’s military defences, including its nuclear capabilities, was found in the FBI’s search last month of former US President Donald Trump’s Florida home, according to a report in the Washington Post.

The US newspaper, which cited people familiar with the matter, did not identify the foreign government discussed in the document, nor did it indicate whether the foreign government was friendly or hostile to the United States. Trump representatives and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Reuters news agency. The FBI recovered more than 11,000 government documents and photographs during its August 8 search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, according to court records. According to the Post report, some of the seized documents detailed top secret US operations that required special clearances beyond top secret clearance, Aljazeera reported. Some of the documents are so restricted that even some of the Biden administration’s most senior national security officials were not authorised to review them, the Post said. National Intelligence Director Avril Haines said late last month she would conduct a “classification review” of the documents seized by investigators during the search of Mar-a-Lago, as well as “an Intelligence Community (IC) assessment of the potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure of the relevant documents”. The US Justice Department is investigating Trump for removing government records from the White House after he left office in January 2021 and keeping them at his Florida estate, according to Aljazeera. Trump and his allies have denied any wrongdoing, saying at various times that some documents may have been inadvertently removed from the White House, or claiming that Trump had already declassified the documents. On Monday, a federal judge agreed to Trump’s request to appoint a special master to review records seized in the FBI search, a move that is likely to delay the Justice Department’s criminal investigation.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 1, 000 per tola in the domestic market on Wednesday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 93, 000 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 94, 000 per tola on Tuesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 92, 500 per tola. It was traded at Rs 93, 500 on Tuesday. Similarly, the price of silver has decreased by Rs 25 and is being traded at Rs 1, 110 per tola today.

A rape complaint has been filed against Nepal cricket team skipper Sandeep Lamichhane. Police said that a 17-year-old girl filed the complaint against Lamichhane at the Metropolitan Police Circle, Gaushala. According to the complaint, Lamichhane had raped the girl in various places of Kathmandu and Bhaktapur on August 22. She claimed that Nepal’s leg spinner Lamichanne had raped her at room number 305 of a hotel in Kathmandu-9. She has been sent to the One-Stop Crisis Management Centre for medical check-up. Police said that they are looking into the case.