Submit your Article

Locals have announced that they would not let government authorities dumb garbage of Kathmandu Valley in Sisdole and Banchare Danda.

Organizing a press conference in Kathmandu on Thursday, locals said that they would not allow the authorities to dump garbage in Banchare Danda from August 17.

Shreeram Dhungana, Coordinator of the Banchare Danda Struggle Committee, said that they would not let the garbage of Kathmandu Valley dumb in Banchare Danda until their demands are met.

They accused the government and the Kathmandu Metropolitan City of not taking any step to implement the agreement signed on June 10.

The Struggle Committee concluded that the government has been betraying the locals of Sisdole and Banchare Danda over and over again.

Hundreds of angry protesters loyal to the powerful cleric Muqtada al-Sadr broke into Baghdad's heavily protected Green Zone on Wednesday, denouncing the nomination of a new prime minister, CNN reported.

Mohammed Shiya al-Sudani was formally nominated to lead the country on Monday by the Coordination Framework, the largest Shiite alliance in the Iraqi parliament. 

His nomination followed the mass resignation of al-Sadr's parliamentary bloc, a group of over 70 lawmakers who withdrew from the governing body last month in an apparent show of force after months of political stalemate.

since parliamentary elections in October; Sadr's own attempts to form a government have previously foundered amid opposition from rival blocs. 

"If the Sadrist bloc remaining [in parliament] is an obstacle to government formation, then all lawmakers of the bloc are honorably ready to resign from parliament," Sadr said in a televised speech in June.

The cleric, who positions himself as against both Iran and the United States, is immensely popular. His bloc's success in the October vote threatened to sideline Iran-aligned Shiite blocs that have long dominated the oil-rich country's politics, according to CNN.

On Wednesday, al-Sadr told protesters at the Parliament building that their "message" had been received and that they should return home.

"A revolution of reform and rejection of injustice and corruption. Your message has been received. You have terrified the corrupt. Pray, and return home safely," he tweeted.

The outgoing government of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi also issued a statement calling on the Sadrist protesters to "to immediately withdraw from the Green Zone," preserve public and private properties and to abide by the instructions of the security forces. 

"The security forces will be committed to protecting state institutions and international missions, and preventing any disturbance of security and order," al-Kadhimi added, CNN reported.

Manchester United have completed the signing of Argentina defender Lisandro Martinez from Ajax in a deal worth up to 67m euros (£57m), BBC reported.

United manager Erik ten Hag was keen to be reunited with the 24-year-old, who he signed for Ajax in 2019.

He joins the club on a five-year contract which keeps him at Old Trafford until 2027, with the option of a further year.

"It's an honour to join this great football club," Martinez said.

"I've worked so hard to get to this moment and, now that I'm here, I'm going to push myself even further."

Martinez made 120 appearances for Ajax after moving from Argentinian side Defensa y Justicia for £6.3m in 2019, and also played for Newell's Old Boys.

He has won seven caps for Argentina since making his senior debut in March 2019, and played once in the country's successful Copa America campaign in 2021.

"I've been lucky enough to be part of successful teams in my career and that's what I want to continue at Manchester United," he said.

"There will be a lot of work to get to that moment, but I firmly believe that, under this manager and coaches, and together with my new team-mates, we can do it."

Martinez played under Ten Hag at Ajax and won the Eredivisie title with the club in 2021 and 2022, as well as the Dutch Cup in 2021.

He was also Ajax's player of the year for the 2021-22 season, according to BBC.

"He's a warrior and I think the fans will admire him. He has an attitude, fighting spirit," Ten Hag said.

"He brings aggressiveness in the game, in a good way. I think we need that.

"But he's also skilful, he can deal with the ball and he's left-footed."

United's football director John Murtough added: "We are delighted that he has chosen to join Manchester United and we are looking forward to seeing him develop further and help the team achieve the success we are aiming for."

The centre-back is United's third signing of the summer following the arrivals of Christian Eriksen on a free transfer and Dutch full-back Tyrell Malacia, BBC reported.

Efforts continue to lure Frenkie de Jong to Old Trafford from Barcelona.

Gas prices jumped after Russia further cut gas supplies to Germany and other central European countries after threatening to earlier this week, BBC reported.

European gas prices rose almost 2%, trading close to the record high set after Russia invaded Ukraine. 

Critics accuse the Russian government of using gas as a political weapon.

Russia has been cutting flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany, with it now operating at less than a fifth of its normal capacity.

Before the Ukraine War, Germany imported over half of its gas from Russia and most of it came through Nord Stream 1 - with the rest coming from land-based pipelines.

By the end of June, that had reduced to just over a quarter.

Russian energy firm Gazprom has sought to justify the latest cut by saying it was needed to allow maintenance work on a turbine.

The German government, however, said there was no technical reason for it to limit the supply.

Ukraine has accused Moscow of waging a "gas war" against Europe and cutting supplies to inflict "terror" on people.

Meanwhile, Poland has said it will be fully independent from Russian gas by the end of the year. 

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said: "Even now, Russia is no longer able to blackmail us in the way it blackmails Germany for example."

The UK would not be directly impacted by gas supply disruption, as it imports less than 5% of its gas from Russia. However, it would be affected by prices rising in the global markets as demand in Europe increases, according to BBC.

European wholesale gas prices closed at €204.85 (£172.08) per megawatt hour - the third highest price on record. The all-time high was achieved on 8 March when prices closed at €210.50 (£176.76) per megawatt hour.

However, this time last year the wholesale gas price in Europe was at just above €37 (£31.08) per megawatt hour.

UK gas prices rose 7% on Wednesday so the price is now more than six times higher than a year ago. However, it is still well below the peak seen in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

UK energy bills increased by an unprecedented £700 in April, and are expected to rise again with one management consultancy warning a typical energy bill could hit £3,850 a year by January, much higher than forecasts earlier this month.

BFY said its forecast reflected the increase in wholesale prices over the past few weeks with the ongoing tensions with Russia sparking concerns over winter supplies.

The latest reduction in flows puts pressure on EU countries to reduce their dependence on Russian gas even further, and will likely make it more difficult for them to replenish their gas supplies ahead of winter.

Since the invasion of Ukraine European leaders have held talks over how to reduce its dependence on Russian fossil fuels, BBC reported.

The US central bank has announced another unusually large interest rate hike as it battles to rein in soaring prices in the world's largest economy, BBC reported.

The Federal Reserve said it would increase its key rate by 0.75 percentage points, targeting a range of 2.25% to 2.5%.

The bank has been raising borrowing costs since March to try to cool the economy and ease price inflation.

But fears are rising the moves will tip the US into recession. 

Recent reports have shown falling consumer confidence, a slowing housing market, jobless claims rising and the first contraction in business activity since 2020.

Many expect official figures this week will show the US economy shrank for the second quarter in a row.

In many countries, that milestone is considered a recession though it is measured differently in the US.

At a press conference, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged that parts of the economy were slowing, but said the bank was likely to keep raising interest rates in the months ahead despite the risks, pointing to inflation that is running at a 40-year high, according to BBC.

"Nothing works in the economy without price stability," he said. "We need to see inflation coming down...That's not something we can avoid doing."

Almost one million people in a suburb of Wuhan - China's central city where the coronavirus was first recorded - have been placed under lockdown, BBC reported.

Jiangxia district residents have been ordered to stay inside their homes or compounds for three days after four asymptomatic Covid cases were detected.

China follows a "zero Covid" strategy, including mass testing, strict isolation rules and local lockdowns.

This has resulted in far fewer deaths than in many other countries.

But the strategy is facing growing opposition as people and businesses continue to face the strain of restrictions.

In Wuhan, a city of 12 million people, regular testing uncovered two asymptomatic cases two days ago.

Two more cases were found through contact tracing, and shortly after the lockdown order was issued.

Wuhan became known around the world in early 2020 as the first place scientists detected the new coronavirus - and the first city to be put under harsh restrictive measures. 

At the time, the wider world was shocked by the strict lockdown, but many cities and countries were soon forced to impose their own similar measures, according to BBC.

Later, China became known as a Covid success story, with restrictions lifted much earlier than in many other countries. 

But that has changed again, with China pursuing a "zero Covid" strategy resulting in frequent local lockdowns, rather than trying to live with the virus as in most other countries. 

Last month, Shanghai - China's giant financial capital with nearly 25 million residents - finally emerged from a strict two-month lockdown, though residents are adapting to a "new normal" of frequent mass testing. 

A rising number of Chinese companies and factory production lines are maintaining a closed-loop system in order to follow the goal of completely eliminating Covid.

In order to keep parts of the economy open, employees have been told to live temporarily in their workplaces to minimise contact between work and home.

Earlier this week, scientists said there was "compelling evidence" that Wuhan's Huanan seafood and wildlife market was at the centre of the Covid outbreak.  

Two peer-reviewed studies re-examined information from the initial outbreak in the city.

One of the studies shows that the earliest known cases were clustered around that market. The other uses genetic information to track the timing of the outbreak. 

It suggests there were two variants introduced into humans in November or early December 2019, BBC reported.

Together, the researchers said this evidence suggests that the virus was present in live mammals that were sold at Huanan market in late 2019. 

They said it was transmitted to people who were working or shopping there in two separate "spill-over events", where a human contracted the virus from an animal.

One of the researchers involved, virologist Prof David Robertson from the University of Glasgow, told BBC News that he hoped the studies would "correct the false record that the virus came from a lab".

China has seen more than 2.2 million cases and 14,720 deaths since the pandemic began in 2019, according to America's Johns Hopkins University, according to BBC.

Are you a Nepali passport holder? Prepare then to be greeted by suspicious looks and a salvo of queries, whether you are traveling to Amsterdam, Bangkok or Cairo. Nepalis have become notorious among airport authorities the world over for overstaying their visa or even disappearing into thin air. Probe a little and you will be told that Nepalis are also ‘uncouth’ and ‘rude’. It is thus only natural that other countries should try to avoid them. The Nepali passport is unvalued for the same reason. According to the latest Henley Passport Index, the Nepali passport is the seventh worst in the world—even behind the passport of the communist dictatorship of North Korea. While Nepalis are allowed visa-free entry into 38 countries, the North Koreans are welcomed into 40. 

That Nepalis are considered ‘escape-prone’ and ‘mannerless’ in turn has a lot to do with the wretched state of their homeland. Its national politics is in shambles: the country has not had a government that has served out its term in the past 32 years of democracy. The economy is, likewise, in tatters, with the finance minister openly working for vested interests and without a clue about running the country’s financial system. Tourism infrastructure and facilities are shoddy. The influence of black-money ever on the rise. Very few good jobs are being created, and even when they are, the pay and perks tend to be rather poor. Most of its youngsters thus want to escape the country the first chance they get.  

Another reason for Nepal’s continued slide in the passport index is its poor handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Other countries are not assured that those tested in Nepal are virus-free. That the country should find itself ranked alongside the likes of war-torn Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan again says much about how the rest of the world sees Nepal. The old bunch of corrupt and immoral leaders are taking the country down with them. Before they fully succeed, it is time to boot them out of office in the upcoming elections. A thorough clean-up of the old, stinking stable could for once attract the right kind of international attention.

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu is arriving in Nepal on Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he will stay in Nepal only for one day.

His visit to Nepal, at a time when the parties are divided over the issue of implementing the State Partnership Program (SPP), has been taken meaningfully.

The government had directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform the United States that Nepal will not be a part of the SPP.

But, the Ministry has not informed the United States about the issue yet.

On Wednesday, the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives had directed the government to make Nepal's position clear on the SPP.

In recent times, the ruling and the opposition parties have been debating on the issues of Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and SPP.

Six fringe communist parties have announced protests against the MCC and SPP.

Earlier, Lu, who visited Nepal on November 17, 2021, had held separate meetings with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka among other leaders.