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A pedestrian died after being hit by a microbus at Nauranga in Geruwa Rural Municipality-6 of Bardiya on Tuesday.

The deceased has been identified as Basanta Tharu (32) of Rajapur Municipality-1, Bardiya.

Critically injured in the accident, he breathed his last during the course of treatment at the Nursing Home in Nepalgunj.

The microbus (Bhe 1 Kha 3364) heading towards Gola from Nepalgunj hit him at around 6 pm yesterday.

Police said that they have impounded the bus and arrested its driver for investigation.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 200 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 94, 000 per tola today.

Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 93, 500 per tola.

The yellow metal was traded at Rs 93, 800 per tola on Tuesday.

Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 5 per tola and is being traded at Rs 1,165 per tola today.

Chitra Lekha Yadav has been appointed as the chief whip and Min Bishwokarma as the whip of the Parliamentary Party of the Nepali Congress.

Chief Secretary at the party office Krishna Prasad Paudel said that Parliamentary Party leader and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba appointed them on Wednesday.

Yadav has been appointed as the chief whip after Bal Krishna Khand was appointed the Home Minister.

Similarly, Nepali Congress central member Bishwokarma was appointed as the whip after Pushpa Bhusal was elected as the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives recently.

Barcelona have signed Poland striker Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich on a four-year contract worth 50m euros (£42.6m), BBC reported.

The 33-year-old had one year left on his contract with the German champions but in May said: "My story with Bayern is over.".

He has joined his new team-mates in Miami as part of Barcelona's four-match tour in the United States.

"I'm finally here. I'm delighted to be at Barca," Lewandowski said.

"The last few days have been very long, but the deal is done and now I can focus on a new chapter and challenge in my life. 

"I've always wanted to play in La Liga and for the big clubs. 

"I'm here to help Barca get back to the top and win as many titles as possible." 

Lewandowski, who had a buyout clause of 500m euros (£425.9m), joined Bayern on a free transfer in 2014 after his departure from Borussia Dortmund, according to BBC.

He scored 50 goals in 46 games last season as he helped Bayern win a 10th straight Bundesliga title. 

Lewandowski has scored 344 times in 374 games for the club and is their second-highest scorer of all time behind Gerd Muller.

He has won the league in all eight of his seasons at Bayern and also won the Champions League in 2019-20.

Lewandowski is Barcelona's fourth signing of the summer following Brazil winger Raphinha joining from Leeds United in a deal worth up to £55m, while Ivory Coast midfielder Franck Kessie and Denmark defender Andreas Christensen have arrived on free transfers after their respective contracts with AC Milan and Chelsea came to an end.

France winger Ousmane Dembele has also signed a contract extension with Barcelona this summer, BBC reported.

Meanwhile, Bayern have signed the Netherlands defender Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus on a five-year contract in a deal worth 77m euros (£65.6m).

After enjoying a long reign as the king of streaming, Netflix faces a tough fight to keep its crown, BBC reported.

It lost almost 1m subscribers between April and July, as the number of people quitting the service accelerated.

But that was not as many as the streaming giant had feared. 

Asked what may have stopped subscriptions sliding further, the firm's chief executive, Reed Hastings, said: "If there was a single thing, we might say 'Stranger Things.'" 

The new season of the hit drama has been a phenomenal success, and may have helped stem the exodus of Netflix customers.

The company reported its first subscriber loss since 2011 in April, news that was followed by hundreds of job cuts.

Rivals are challenging its dominance, while price hikes have taken a toll.

The subscriber losses reported on Tuesday were the biggest in the firm's history, with the US and Canada home to the highest number of cancellations in the quarter, followed by Europe, according to BBC.

Guy Bisson, executive director at Ampere Analysis, said it was "inevitable" that Netflix would start to see its grip on the market loosen.

"When you're the leader, there's only one direction to go, especially when a large amount of competition launches, which is what Netflix has seen in the last couple of years," he said. 

It is a stark change for Netflix, which enjoyed years of seemingly unstoppable growth, as it revolutionised the way people around the world consumed entertainment.

Its position as a global behemoth was cemented when the pandemic hit in 2020 and people, stuck at home with few other options for entertainment, flocked to monster hits like Squid Game and The Crown.

But as pre-pandemic habits return, Netflix has struggled to attract new sign-ups - and maintain the loyalty of existing members, especially as the cost of living crisis leads to belt tightening.

The company also faces fierce competition from the likes of Apple TV, HBO Max, Amazon Prime and Disney+. Netflix was once the disruptor, making video rental stores like Blockbuster redundant. But the disruptor is fast becoming the disrupted, BBC reported.

Nteflix's move to make its service more expensive has also put off some customers.

Records have tumbled and firefighters faced new blazes as much of Western Europe baked in a gruelling heatwave, BBC reported.

The UK, normally used to milder climates, saw temperatures of more than 40C (104F) for the first time. 

Germany saw its hottest day of the year so far while Portugal raised its death toll after days of excess heat. 

Deadly wildfires have swept the continent. The UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned there was worse to come.

Heatwaves have become more frequent and more intense, and last longer because of human-induced climate change.

"In the future these kinds of heatwaves are going to be normal, and we will see even stronger extremes," WMO chief Peterri Taalas said.

In addition to record temperatures in the UK, several fire services declared major incidents after a surge in fires.

A major blaze in Wennington, east London, set homes alight. Residents who had to be evacuated told the BBC that some eight homes and possibly a local church had been destroyed in the fire, while a firefighter at the scene described it as "absolute hell". 

In France, 64 different areas registered record-high temperatures on Monday, according to BBC. 

Although the all-time high for mainland France has not been topped, the south-west of the country has experienced its biggest wildfires in more than 30 years. Since 12 July, fires have engulfed more than 19,300 hectares (47,700 acres) of the wine-growing Gironde region.

Some 34,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes.

In Belgium, a fire broke out in dunes at the Belgian resort of De Haan, setting several vehicles alight. But following the ferocious heat, the country is now bracing itself for thunderstorms that could lead to 20-30mm of rain in some region, Le Soir newspaper reports.

On Tuesday, Germany experienced its hottest day of 2022. The national weather service recorded 39.3C at 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT) in the western city of Duisburg.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands saw one of its hottest days on record on Tuesday with 39.5C in Maastricht, forecasters said.

Temperatures in Portugal have decreased significantly. However, more than 1,000 heatwave-related deaths have been recorded since last week. 

Wildfires have become a common consequence of these extreme temperatures across Europe. 

Central and north-western Spain has also been ravaged by wildfires. 

The Copernicus monitoring service - part of the EU's Earth observation programme - said total carbon emissions from wildfires between June and July are the highest seen in Spain for the period since 2003.

In Greece, a wildfire fuelled by gale-force winds raged on the mountainous region of Penteli, near Athens. It has damaged homes and and prompted local authorities to evacuate at least four areas and a hospital. 

Forecasters in Italy are warning of temperatures as high as 40-42C between Wednesday and Friday, BBC reported.

Several wildfires have already been reported in the country, and blazes that broke out on Monday evening in Tuscany were still raging on Tuesday afternoon.

Sri Lanka's MPs are set to vote for a new president after their former leader fled the country and quit amid protests over the country's economic crisis, BBC reported.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, currently interim leader, has been nominated for the role by the ruling party and is seen as the frontrunner.

But protesters want him to go too after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned. 

The PM faces a serious challenge from Dullas Alahapperuma, a dissident ruling party MP backed by the main opposition.

Whoever is elected by parliament will have a mandate to serve out the rest of Mr Rajapaksa's term, which ends in November 2024.

Sri Lanka is effectively bankrupt and facing acute shortages of food, fuel and other basic supplies.

The country needs a stable government to continue stalled negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package.

Mr Rajapaksa's administration and family, which have ruled the country for nearly two decades, have been blamed for the current crisis, according to BBC.

He fled to the Maldives last week after crowds took over government buildings, demanding political leaders - including Mr Wickremesinghe - step down. Mr Rajapaksa then flew to Singapore and officially resigned late on Thursday.

A total of 225 parliamentarians are eligible to vote on Wednesday. If a contender receives more than half of the preferential vote, they win the position outright.

It is a three-way contest between Mr Wickremesinghe, Mr Alahapperuma and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the left-wing National People's Power Party. 

Mr Alahapperuma is a senior MP from the governing Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) - the Rajapaksas' party which swept to victory in a landslide in the last elections.

A former minister under that administration, he was among the cabinet members who quit en masse shortly after protests began in April.

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa was initially expected to run for president, but in a last-minute twist on Tuesday he withdrew from the race, saying it was for the "greater good" of the country. 

He added that his party - which has about a quarter of the seats in parliament - would work towards Mr Alahapperuma's victory. Reports say he could get the job of prime minister in such an eventuality, BBC reported.

Mr Wickremesinghe, a six-time prime minister who has never served a full term, is perhaps the most contentious of the three candidates.

Some protest organisers have vowed to continue demonstrating if he becomes president, with many pointing out that he has close links with the Rajapaksa family. 

"He came into power saying he was going to hold everyone accountable, the Rajapaksas even, but he did nothing," said university student Anjalee Wanduragala. 

"It's absurd to think that people are going to trust him again."

A US judge has ordered that Twitter's lawsuit against Elon Musk go to trial in October, a blow to the world's richest man who had asked for a delay, BBC reported.

Mr Musk walked away from his $44bn (£36bn) bid to buy Twitter earlier in July, prompting the company to sue him.

Twitter hopes that the court will order Mr Musk to complete the takeover at the agreed price of $54.20 per share.

The tech billionaire has accused Twitter of withholding information about fake accounts.

His legal team has called for the trial to be held early next year due to its complexities, but Twitter asked for a September date.

On Tuesday, a judge in the state of Delaware agreed with the company and said a delay to the trial would cast a "cloud of uncertainty".

"Delay threatens irreparable harm," Chancellor Kathaleen St Jude McCormick said. "The longer the delay, the greater the risk."

The lawsuit accused Mr Musk of a "long list" of violations ahead of the potential merger and argued that he had "cast a pall" over the company, according to BBC.

At the hearing on Tuesday, Twitter's lead counsel William Savitt said the ongoing uncertainty about whether the takeover would go forward or not "inflicts harm on Twitter everyday".