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Air Canada will start canceling flights on Thursday in response to a looming strike by 10,000 flight attendants represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). A full shutdown of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights is expected by Saturday, potentially affecting around 130,000 passengers daily, Xinhua reported.

The move follows CUPE’s strike notice after eight months of failed talks over pay, pensions, benefits, and crew rest. Air Canada issued a 72-hour lockout notice and has requested government arbitration. Regional partner flights by Jazz and PAL Airlines will continue, carrying about 20 percent of daily passengers.

South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has rejected the latest US “South Africa 2024 Human Rights Report,” calling it inaccurate and misleading.

DIRCO criticised the report for relying on “discredited accounts” and misrepresenting incidents, including a case involving farm workers’ deaths that is still before the courts. It also dismissed claims of extrajudicial killings, saying police actions are subject to due legal process and independent investigation, Xinhua reported.

The department further challenged the report’s stance on the Expropriation Act, noting that, unlike Washington’s view, the UN Human Rights Office has welcomed the law as an important step toward correcting racial imbalances in land ownership.

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will visit Moscow on August 21 to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and discuss bilateral and international cooperation. The visit follows National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s trip to Russia and comes as US President Donald Trump imposes 50 percent tariffs on Indian imports of Russian oil, according to Firstpost.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit India later this year, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the SCO Summit in China, which Putin is also likely to attend. Analysts caution that while India could seek alternatives to the US market through Russia and China, such arrangements may favor China, especially as India-China ties remain tense over trade restrictions and the Ladakh standoff.

The Home Ministry of India has revised rules for Overseas Citizens of India (OCI), allowing cancellation of registration for those convicted of serious crimes, including abroad if the act is recognized under Indian law. OCI status can be revoked for sentences of two years or more, or charges carrying seven-year jail terms, Firstpost reported.

OCI cards grant lifelong, multiple-entry travel and certain economic and educational benefits but no voting rights. The move, under the Citizenship Act, 1955, aims to curb criminal or anti-national activities among cardholders.

Cancer survival in England and Wales has doubled over the past 50 years, with half of patients now living at least 10 years. Melanoma sees 10-year survival above 90 percent, and breast cancer has risen from 42 percent to over 76 percent since 1971, according to BBC.

Yet progress is slow for hard-to-detect cancers. Pancreatic, oesophagus, stomach, and lung cancers all have 10-year survival below 20 percent, with pancreatic under 5 percent.

Experts attribute improvements to earlier detection and better treatments, while the government plans a new strategy to tackle cancers with the poorest outcomes, BBC reported.

The Home Office in England will deploy 10 new live facial recognition vans across seven police forces to help track suspects in serious crimes. The vehicles, shared between Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Surrey, Sussex, Thames Valley and Hampshire, will scan faces in public and match them against a police watchlist, according to BBC.

Ministers say the system has helped make hundreds of arrests in London, but critics warn it risks enabling mass surveillance without proper legal safeguards. A public consultation is under way to set rules for its use, while the government insists it will be applied proportionately and without bias.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 5. 28 points to close at 2, 790. 95 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 1. 19 points to close at 480. 19 points.

A total of 15,847,873-unit shares of 321 companies were traded for Rs 6. 16 billion.

Meanwhile, Maya Khola Hydropower Company Limited (MKHC) was the top gainer today with its price surging by 5. 74 percent. Likewise, 10.25% KBL Debenture 2086 (KBLD86) was the top loser with its price dropped by 9. 48 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 1. 57 trillion.

A clash broke out between two groups at a juvenile correction center in Biratnagar on Wednesday.

Police said that a head constable was injured in the clash.

Security personnel have been deployed in the reform center to avert untoward incidents.

SP Narayan Chimariya, head of the District Police Office, Morang, Chief District Officer of Morang and chiefs of other security agencies are heading towards the incident site.

Details about the incident are awaited, police informed.