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The weather will be partly to generally cloudy in many parts of the country for three more days due to the general influence of the low pressure system around Bihar of India and the local wind, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said.

There is a possibility of light rain along with thunder and lightning in the hilly region. It will be partly to generally cloudy in the hilly region of Province 1, Bagmati Province and Gandaki Province.

The Department said there are chances of light rain accompanied by thunder and lightning in one or two places of the hilly region in Gandaki Province and Province 1.

The weather update shared by the Meteorological Forecasting Division states that the minimum temperature in Kathmandu Valley today was 17 degrees Celsius and the maximum 25.8 degrees Celsius.

Similarly, Jumla recorded the lowest minimum temperature of 5.0 degrees Celsius while Dipayal recorded the highest temperature of 35 degrees Celsius in the last 24 hours. RSS

Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki has expressed his hope that the nation would head towards the path of prosperity after the three-tier election.

In his address to a function organized to mark the 24th anniversary of the Reporters’ Club Nepal here today, he said that the people would have a massive participation in the three tiers of election.

“We will conclude the elections as a mega festival,” the government Spokesperson said, adding that the government was serious about holding the elections in a free and fearless environment.

He said that all political parties should have a common resolution and concerted efforts to realize people’s aspirations for a prosperous Nepal.

 “We have guaranteed freedom of Press in the Constitution,” he said, adding the incumbent government was always conscious for the protection of it.

Sharing about the government's plan of developing Nepal as the richest country in the entire Asia in 10 years, the minister said that the government was moving ahead accordingly.

The government spokesperson on the occasion took time to make it clear that Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s India visit taking place from tomorrow would contribute to further consolidating bilateral ties. RSS

Unidentified persons set two vehicles on fire at Dammara in Beni Municipality of Myagdi district along Beni-Darbang road section on Thursday.

Birendra Gurung, Inspector at the District Police Office, said that the unidentified persons torched a van (Dha 1 Ja 986) and a taxi (Dha 1 Ja 726) which were parked on the road this morning.

Police said that they are searching for the persons involved in the incident. RSS

Two persons died and three others sustained injuries when two motorbikes collided with each other in Parsa on Thursday.

Police said that the motorbikes (Na 3 Pa 1026 and Province 2-03-004) collided head-on in Pokhariya Municipality of Parsa district at around 10 am today.

DSP Om Prakash Khanal, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Parsa, said that both the riders died on the spot in the incident.

The deceased have been identified as Lalan Patel (35) of Gulariya, Dhobini Rural Municipality-2, Parsa and Hasindar Sahani (29) of Ekdarawa, Sakhuwa Prasaini, Parsa.

Police said that the pillion riders Rejadin Maya (30) of Dhobini, Ranjit Mahato and Supen Raut (19) of Ekdarawa, Sakhuwa Prasaini-5 were injured in the incident.

DSP Khanal said that they are undergoing treatment at the Birgunj-based Narayani Hospital.

The ruling parties have decided to move ahead unitedly in the upcoming local level elections.

A meeting of the ruling parties held at Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s official residence in Baluwatar on Thursday agreed to tie up in the elections.

The parties have agreed to make decisions on fielding the candidates of the metropolitan cities from the center and give rights to the lower level for others, a leader who attended the meeting said.

He said that the parties have agreed to move ahead on the remaining process of electoral alliance by holding a discussion in the next meeting.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said that the alliance will move ahead unitedly in the upcoming elections.

He said so while addressing a program organized at the Reporters Club in the Capital on Thursday.

Saying that they have moved ahead by overcoming all the difficulties, the prime minister said that they will move ahead by resolving all the problems in the future also.

“I have become the prime minister with the support of the parties in the coalition,” he said, adding, “We will move head unitedly in the elections as well.”

Prime Minister Deuba said that he is serious about holding the elections in a free and fearless manner.

Saying that the role of the media would be vital to make the elections successful, he sought help from the media fraternity to make the forthcoming polls a grand success.

Prime Minister Deuba, who is also the President of Nepali Congress, said that the media has played an important role to bring changes in the society.

A main ally of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan quit his ruling coalition on Wednesday after reaching a pact with opposition parties seeking to oust him, signalling Khan may be running out of options as he tries to stay on in power, Reuters reported.

Former cricket star Khan, 69, is battling a series of defections from his ruling alliance in the face of increasing questions over his performance, including his government's management of a struggling economy, beset by double-digit inflation and rising deficits.

An increasingly united opposition has moved to force him from office in a no-confidence vote due between Thursday and Monday, in which support from Khan's allied parties was critical. 

The leader of Khan's main parliamentary ally, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui announced his party was joining the bloc looking to oust Khan following a written agreement between the two sides.

"I announce that we (MQM) are with you (opposition) in this change," Siddiqui said at a press conference alongside opposition leaders on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Khan's party does not have a simple majority in the National Assembly by itself and needs the support of coalition allies and the MQM, based in the southern port city of Karachi, has been his biggest ally in parliament. 

"We have sent our resignations to the prime minister," Amin-ul-Haq, a member of Khan's cabinet from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), told local television channel Geo News.

Khan's ouster would likely mean another round of instability in the nuclear armed south Asian country, in which the military has a long record of intervening in politics and no prime minister has completed a full five-year term in its history.

Opposition parties accuse Khan of mismanaging the economy, foreign policy and resorting to heavy-handed measures against critics.

With the support of the MQM, the combined opposition has, on paper, the requisite numbers to oust Khan when the vote happens in the next five days, Reuters reported.

Opposition leaders Shahbaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, standing alongside MQM's Siddiqui, called on Khan to resign before the vote now that he had lost the majority.

"It is a tradition that if you lose majority, you should step down," Sharif said.

However, Khan's aides said he will not back down or resign.

"He will not resign. He will fight till last ball," Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. "He will probably be present in the parliament during the vote on Sunday."

Ahmad said Khan would also be giving a televised address to the nation later on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

As Sri Lankans faint in day-long queues for fuel and swelter through stifling evening blackouts by candlelight, anger is mounting over the worst economic crisis in living memory, AFP reported.

A critical lack of foreign currency has left the island nation unable to pay for vital imports, leading to dire shortages in everything from life-saving medicines to cement.

Long lines for fuel that start forming before dawn are forums for public grievances, where neighbours complain bitterly about government mismanagement and fret over how to feed their families as food prices skyrocket.

"I've been standing here for the past five hours," Sagayarani, a housewife, told AFP in Colombo while waiting for her share of kerosene, used to fire the cooking stoves of the capital's poorer households.

She said she had seen three people faint already and was herself supposed to be in hospital for treatment, but with her husband and son at work she had no choice but to wait under the blistering morning sun.

"I haven't eaten anything, I'm feeling very dizzy and it's very hot, but what can we do? It's a lot of hardship," she said, declining to give her surname, according to AFP.

Trucks at the port are unable to cart food and building materials to other urban centres, or bring back tea from plantations dotted around Sri Lanka's verdant inland hills.

Buses that normally transport day labourers across the capital sit idle, some hospitals have suspended routine surgeries, and student exams were postponed this month because schools ran out of paper.

"I've been living in Colombo for 60 years and I've never seen anything like this," Vadivu, a domestic worker, told AFP.

"There's nothing to eat, there's nothing to drink," she added. "The politicians are living in luxury and we are begging on the streets."

Sri Lanka will be experiencing 10-hour daily power cuts from Wednesday, announced Public Utilities Commission of the island nation, according to AFP.

The Ceylon Electricity Board said in a statement that they were "compelled to take demand management measures due to inadequate power generation, as a result of fuel shortage and unavailability of generators."