Submit your Article

Thirteen passengers were killed while five were injured when a sugar-laden truck came into contact with coaster in Rahim Yar Khan’s (RYK) Liaquatpur tehsil, according to a Rescue 1122 handout, Dawn reported.

According to the handout, the accident occurred in Feroza town and rescue officials from Liaquatpur and Khanpur tehsils along with 10 emergency vehicles as well as district administration’s cranes were involved in the rescue and clearance operation.

The handout said that the dead and the injured were moved to Feroza Rural Health Centre for treatment.

RYK Deputy Commissioner (DC) Syed Musa Raza told Dawn.com that the rescue operation was completed after 7:30pm.

He said that an inquiry would be initiated to ascertain the main reason for the incident after the completion of rescue activities, according to Dawn.

According to a handout from the district information office, medical aid was being provided to the injured and the DC instructed that the bodies be sent back to their native areas after identification.

CPN-UML lawmaker Yogesh Bhattarai has urged Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balen Shah to come to the UML headquarters with a concrete proposal to manage waste.

Saying that the government has not shown any interest in managing the waste of Kathmandu, Bhattarai urged Mayor Shah to come to the UML headquarters.

He said so while speaking at the meeting of the House of Representatives.

“It has already been 71 days that the waste has not been collected from Kathmandu. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has not taken any initiatives for the same,” adding, “That is why, I urge Mayor Balen Shah to come to the UML headquarters with a concrete proposal.”

“The UML will support you fully and firmly,” Bhattarai further said.

He urged all to be united to protect Kathmandu which is rich in culture.  

A man was murdered in Gorkha on Saturday.

Buddhi BK (35) of Dharam Panima, Palungtar Municipality-5 was murdered last night.

He was attacked while returning home after taking part in Ropai Jatra at Thanti Pokhari at around 10 pm.

Critically injured in the attack, BK was rushed to the Aanppipal Hospital for treatment but doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

SP Kedar Khanal of the District Police Office, Gorkha said that they have taken three persons under control in suspicion for their involvement in the incident.

Sri Lanka said on Saturday it has agreed that the Chinese survey vessel pol can dock at its southernmost port, the Chinese-run Hambantota on August 16, despite security concerns raised by neighbouring India and the United States, Reuters reported.

Foreign security analysts describe the Yuan Wang 5 as one of China's latest generation space-tracking ships, used to monitor satellite, rocket and intercontinental ballistic missile launches.

Both China and India have tried to expand their influence in Sri Lanka, which is facing its worst economic crisis in its post-independence history.

India has provided more help to Sri Lanka this year than any other nation. But it fears its bigger and more powerful rival China will use the Hambantota port near the main Asia-Europe shipping route as a military base.

Sri Lanka formally handed over commercial activities at the port to a Chinese company in 2017 on a 99-year lease after struggling to repay its debt.

The Pentagon says Yuan Wang ships are operated by the Strategic Support Force of the People's Liberation Army, according to Reuters.

On Friday, India rejected claims that it has put pressure on Sri Lanka to turn the vessel away.

"We reject categorically the 'insinuation' and such statement about India. Sri Lanka is a sovereign country and makes its own independent decisions," Arindam Bagchi, a foreign ministry spokesman, said.

The man suspected of stabbing renowned author Salman Rushdie in western New York pleaded not guilty Saturday to attempted murder in the second degree and other charges, his attorney says, CNN reported.

Hadi Matar, 24, is accused of stabbing Rushdie -- whose controversial work has triggered death threats -- at a speaking engagement on Friday, authorities said. 

Matar, a New Jersey resident, also was charged with assault in the second degree, with intent to cause physical injury with a deadly weapon. Matar pleaded not guilty, according to Nathaniel Barone, his public defender. The attorney said Matar has been "very cooperative" and communicating openly, but he did not discuss the content of those conversations.

He was refused bail and remanded to the Chautauqua County Jail. Matar's next court appearance is Friday.

Rushdie, 75, was stabbed on stage at the Chautauqua Institution before he was slated to give a lecture, New York state police said Friday. He was airlifted to a hospital in northwestern Pennsylvania and underwent surgery, a Pennsylvania police official said. The hospital said it had no update to provide on his condition Saturday.

Rushdie's injuries included three stab wounds to the right side of the front of his neck, four stab wounds to his stomach, a puncture wound to his right eye, a puncture wound to his chest, and a laceration on his right thigh, according to Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt, who provided details of the injuries during Matar's arraignment.

Rushdie may lose his right eye, the county prosecutor added, according to CNN.

On Friday, Rushdie was put on a ventilator and was unable to speak, his agent, Andrew Wylie, told The New York Times. "The nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged," Wylie said. "The news is not good."

The FBI is working with local and international authorities in its investigation into the attack, including "international partners in the United Kingdom to provide additional resources, since the victim is a UK-US dual citizen," a spokesperson told CNN on Saturday.

Barcelona were frustrated in their opening La Liga game as Rayo Vallecano held on for a goalless draw, BBC reported.

Robert Lewandowski was among the summer recruits that were making their debuts, but he could not break the deadlock.

The Poland striker was adjudged offside with a first-half effort, and smashed the best chance after the break wide.

Sergio Camello nearly grabbed a winner for Vallecano, while Barca midfielder Sergio Busquets was sent off in stoppage time for a second yellow card.

Having registered four of their new signings to play only 24 hours before kick-off, there was a cause for optimism around the Nou Camp as the game began.

Barca had been unable to register new players because of La Liga financial regulations, but freed up funding with several "economic levers" which allowed Lewandowski, Andreas Christensen and Raphinha to start this game, while Franck Kessie was named on the bench. 

The hosts had 21 shots to Vallecano's four, but as the game wore on. tensions began to grow as the visitors remained resolute in defence.

Lewandowski, signed from Bayern Munich for £42.6m, had the best chance after the break when he spun his marker but could only fire wide as he failed to score on the opening day of a season for the first time in eight years, according to BBC.

Bangladesh, one of the world's fastest-growing economies, has raised fuel prices by more than 50% in just a week, BBC reported.

It blames rising oil prices in the wake of the war in Ukraine. Thousands of people have taken to the streets in protest, as another South Asian nation faces a growing financial crisis. 

As he queues up to get petrol for the truck that he uses to transport vegetables, Mohammad Nurul Islam says he's scared that he may soon have to resort to begging. 

An unexpected rise in fuel prices in Bangladesh has seen petrol prices go from 86 taka (91 cents, 75p) a litre, to 130 taka ($1.37, £1.13).

Diesel and kerosene have also risen by by 42.5%. 

The steep increases have left Mohammed, who has been working for a transport company for the last nine years, struggling to pay for the basics.

The 35-year-old, who lives in the northern city of Dinajpur, takes fresh produce from his hometown to the capital, Dhaka. 

He has two young children and his parents to support, but says his bosses can't afford to pay him his full salary now the fuel price hike has come in.

"When I go to the market, I can't buy enough food for my family. If the price of fuel keeps increasing like this, I can't look after my parents or send my children to school, according to BBC.

"If I lose my job, I might have to start begging in the street," he says. 

Countless others in the nation of more than 168 million people are facing a similar predicament. 

Like many other countries, Bangladesh has been at the sharp end of the global rise in oil prices in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

"We know the price increase is big, but what can we do if the cost of the fuel increases in foreign countries?" the country's energy minister, Nasrul Hamid, told BBC Bangla. 

Denying accusations of economic mismanagement by the government, Mr Hamid said his administration had already given out subsidies to avoid rises in the past, but the hikes were now unavoidable. 

"If the global prices come down by a certain point, we will try to make some adjustments," he added.

After news of the rise was announced last week, thousands protested at petrol stations across the country in scenes reminiscent of Sri Lanka, calling for the increases to be reversed. 

Protests in Bangladesh have been sporadic, but the anger and resentment is growing.

Nasrul Hamid believes his country will avoid the fate of Sri Lanka, even though foreign currency reserves are falling. 

In July, Bangladesh - whose economy had been lauded as one of the fastest-growing in the world - became the third South Asian nation to seek a loan from the International Monetary Fund, after Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

But for Mossammad Zakia Sultana, who can barely afford the bus fare to take her sick child for treatment, any help will be too late. 

As public transport fares rise because of soaring fuel costs, she's making only the most essential journeys.

She speaks to the BBC on the bus on the way to the hospital, her teenage daughter beside her. She says that recent rises in food prices have already hit her hard. 

"Not only has the bus fare increased, the price of everything in the market has also increased, making it difficult for me to run my family expenses," she says.

"It's not just bus fares. Rickshaws and other transport have gone up, so it is getting difficult just to get out of the house."

In more remote areas of Dinajpur, the stories are similar. Sheuli Hazda works in the paddy fields in the rice-producing district of Phulbari.

She says she can barely afford to buy the food she farms. 

"With the sudden price hike of the fuel, the cost of farming has become very expensive," she says.

"Our salaries barely cover our living costs. Everything is so expensive, we can't buy enough rations to feed our children." 

As the cost of living rises in Bangladesh, people like Sheuli say their earnings are becoming worthless, according to BBC.

"If the government doesn't reduce the fuel price soon, we will starve to death."

At least seven people have been injured after gunmen opened fire at separate locations in the city of Jerusalem, Israeli officials have said, BBC reported.

The attackers shot at a bus and opened fire in a car park near the historic Western Wall at 01:24 local time (22:24 GMT), emergency officials said.

Police have launched a search for the gunmen, who fled after the attacks.

A police spokesperson told local media that the incident is being treated as a suspected terror attack. 

The ambulance service, Magen David Adom (MDA), said it was treating several people, including two who were in a critical condition.

The victims - six men and one woman - have been taken to hospitals in Jerusalem, MDA added. 

It remains unclear as to how many shooters were involved, however Hebrew media has reported that police are searching for at least two suspects.

Video on social media showed heavily armed police at the scene and local media reported that worshippers had been briefly prevented from leaving the Western Wall compound. 

A police spokesperson said officers have "begun securing the area, investigating the case and searching for the suspects, who fled". 

The Times of Israel reported that at least one attacker had waited for the bus to arrive at a stop, before opening fire as passengers boarded, according to BBC.

"The bus was full, jam-packed," driver Daniel Kanievsky told local media. "I stopped at a bus stop at King David's Tomb and then I heard gunfire, people started yelling, people were hurt inside the bus." 

The Western Wall is one of the holiest sites in Judaism and thousands of worshippers go on a pilgrimage to the site every year to pray. 

The attacks come a week after Israeli raids targeting Palestinian militants in the Gaza strip killed 44 people. An Egypt-brokered ceasefire brought an end to three days of intense violence, BBC reported.