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Nepal defeated the USA in the first T20 Series by 17 runs.

In the match played at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, the USA scored 147 runs by losing seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs against the target of 165 runs posted by Nepal.

Nepal's Dipendra Singh Airee took three wickets while Karan KC, Rijan Dhakal and Gulsan Jha took one each.

Batting first, Nepal posted 164 runs by losing nine wickets in 20 overs. Nepal's captain Rohit Poudel contributed the highest 49 runs for Nepal's victory while Dipendra made 28 runs.

Likewise, Asif Sheikh and Anil Shah contributed 27 runs.

For the USA, Shayan Jahangir made the highest score for the team by contributing 60 runs. 

Nepal and the USA are scheduled to play three T20 matches. After that, both Nepal and the USA would participate in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League-2.

The Korean Embassy in Nepal hosted K-Culture on Thursday to mark the 50th anniversary of Nepal-Korea diplomatic relations.

As a pre-performance event on the same day, the Korean Restaurant Association in Kathmandu organized the K-Food Stalls and Korean Traditional Play Experiences. The K-Pop dance performance was followed by the 2024 K-Pop winners in Nepal.

The KUKKIWON Taekwondo Demonstration Team has shown the essence of Korea’s national martial art and its advanced techniques and skills through Taekwondo demonstration performance since its foundation in 1974.

The Team visited over 150 countries around the world to serve as a citizen diplomat promoting Korea's Taekwondo and K-Culture.

On the occasion, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea in Nepal Park Taeyoung highlights that the Embassy has been organizing various programs in cultural, economic and development areas to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between two countries. He also expressed that through the mutual cooperation programs, the close ties will be further deepened and the bilateral relation between Nepal and Korea will reach a new height.

The event was attended by the Korean community in Kathmandu, journalists, high-level government officials, representatives from the diplomatic missions in Kathmandu, and other esteemed guests.

The Embassy of the Republic of Korea also organizes Ambassador Cup Taekwondo competition to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Diplomatic Relations between Republic of Korea (RoK) and Nepal. The South Korean Ambassador Taekwondo Cup will kick-off tomorrow, Friday 18th October. Nepal Taekwondo Association is organizing the tournament at the International Sports Complex, Lalitpur.

The South Korean KUKKIWON Demonstration team from Korea will stage a taekwondo show at the opening of the contest.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 2, 000 per tola in the domestic market on Friday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 164, 400 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 162, 400 per tola on Thursday.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,980 per tola today.

The Kulekhani-Phakhel and Sisneri-Dakshinkali road sections have been closed for three days beginning today.

Shyamu Aryal, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of the District Police Office, Makawanpur, said that both the road sections would be shut for three days to fix hume pipes in Simkhola of Indrasarovar Rural Municipality-2 in Makawanpur district.

The drivers have been urged to travel along the alternative routes for three days. DSP Aryal suggested that travel could be done along the routes of Hetauda-Bhainse-Palung-Kathmandu and Hetauda-Thingan-Kathmandu.

Vehicular movement along the Buddhasingh road in Tanahun district was obstructed for 20 days after the landslides at Naldighat area in Vyas Municipality, Tanahun.

The local people have suffered severely after the vehicular obstruction for such a long time.

Several landslides were cleared along the Buddhasingh road but the landslides at Naldighat are yet to be cleared.

Coordinator of Buddhasingh Road Concern Committee, Siddhanta Thapa, said that their repeated pleas to clear the debris were unheard.

It is said that the locals of Bandipur Rural Municipality-6, Aabukhairani Rural Municipality-5 and Devghat Rural Municipality-3 and 4 have suffered the most after the vehicular obstruction there.   

The Gandaki Province Government has advanced the processes to develop this road as an alternative to Prithvi Highway to connect Tanahun and Chitwan districts.

Currently, preliminary works have been initiated to blacktop the Damauli-Sundhe section of the road.

Former One Direction singer Liam Payne, 31, whose chart-topping British boy band generated a global following of swooning fans, was found dead Wednesday after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, local officials said.

Buenos Aires police said in a statement that Payne fell from the third floor of the Casa Sur Hotel in the trendy Palermo neighborhood of Argentina’s capital, resulting in “extremely serious injuries.” Medics confirmed his death on the spot, the statement said.

Pablo Policicchio, the communications director for the Buenos Aires Security Ministry, said in a statement to The Associated Press that Payne “had jumped from the balcony of his room.” Police rushed to the hotel in response to an emergency call just after 5 p.m. local time, he said, warning of an “aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”

The hotel manager can be heard on a 911 call obtained by the AP saying they had “a guest who is overwhelmed with drugs and alcohol ... He’s destroying the entire room and, well, we need you to send someone, please.” The manager’s voice became more anxious as the call went on, noting the room had a balcony.

Alberto Crescenti, head of the state emergency medical system, told Argentina’s Todo Noticias TV channel that authorities were investigating the circumstances of his death and conducting an autopsy.

Payne had been vocal about struggling with alcoholism, posting a video in July 2023 to his YouTube channel where he said he had been sober for six months after receiving treatment. Representatives for Payne did not immediately return emails and calls.

Dozens of One Direction fans flocked from across Buenos Aires to the Casa Sur Hotel after the news broke, forming lines that spilled into the cordoned-off street outside the hotel where police stood sentinel. Forensic investigators were seen exiting the hotel, from where Payne’s body was removed around three hours after the fall. Young women filming with their cellphones expressed shock and heartbreak as a makeshift memorial with rows of candles and bouquets quickly grew outside the hotel.

“I didn’t think he was going to die so young,” 21-year-old Isabella Milesi told the AP.

Payne was one of five members of One Direction, which formed when they each auditioned for the British singing competition series “The X Factor” in 2010, two years after Payne’s first attempt to get on the show. At 16 the second time around, Payne sang Michael Bublé’s version of “Cry Me a River,” appearing nervous at the start but warming up with the audience’s cheers and applause.

After each singer failed to make it through the competition as solo acts, Simon Cowell and his fellow judges combined Payne, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson into what would become one of the most successful boy bands—even though they lost the competition.

Each member had their own persona, with Payne—who hailed from Wolverhampton, a city in the West Midlands region of England—being known as the responsible one. The band became known for their pop sound and romantic hits like “What Makes You Beautiful,” “Night Changes” and “Story of My Life.” Payne had prominent solos on songs including “Stole My Heart” and “Change Your Ticket,” co-writing several of the band’s hits. They had six Top 10 hits on the Billboard charts by the time they disbanded in 2016 and a highly loyal fan base, known as “Directioners,” many of whom were teen girls.

“I’ve always loved One Direction since I was little,” said 18-year-old Juana Relh, another fan outside Payne’s hotel. “To see that he died and that there will never be another reunion of the boys is unbelievable, it kills me.”

With his meteoric rise to fame, Payne had said that it took some time to adjust to the public eye.

“I don’t think you can ever deal with that, it’s all a bit crazy for us to see that people get in that sort of state of mind about us and what we do,” he said in a 2013 interview with the AP after recounting an experience where a fan was in a state of shock upon meeting him.

After the group’s dissolution, Payne—like each of his erstwhile bandmates—pursued a solo career, shifting toward EDM and hip-hop. His 2017 single “Strip That Down,” featuring Quavo, reached the Billboard Top 10, and stayed on the charts for several months. He put out an album “LP1” in 2019, and his last release—a single called “Teardrops”—was released in March.

Payne had a 7-year-old son, Bear Grey Payne, with his former girlfriend, the musician Cheryl who was known as Cheryl Cole when she performed with Girls Aloud. She was an “X Factor” judge during One Direction’s season, although their relationship began years later. Payne was previously engaged to Maya Henry, from August 2020 to early 2022. Henry released a novel earlier this year that she said was based on their relationship.

In addition to his son, he is survived by his parents, Geoff and Karen Payne, and his two older sisters, Ruth and Nicola.

AP

The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has said that the country now has an impact of westerly winds and the hilly belt of Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces have slight impacts of local winds too. 

The Department said that the temperatures across the country including in the Kathmandu Valley have dropped with the end of the monsoon season.

The minimum temperature of Kathmandu was recorded at 16 degrees Celsius today while the maximum temperature is predicted to remain in between 26 to 28 degrees Celsius. 

According to the Department, the weather is expected to remain partly to generally cloudy in the hilly areas and partly cloudy to mainly fair in the rest of the country. Light rain with thunder and lightning is likely to occur at a few places in the hilly region of Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces and at one or two places in the hilly region of the rest of the country.

Likewise, it is predicted that the weather will remain partly to generally cloudy in the hilly areas of Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces and partly cloudy to mainly fair in the rest of the country.

Light rain with thunder and lightning is likely to occur at one or two places in the hilly region of Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces.

One year has passed since Oct 7 marking the attack on Gaza Strip that killed more than 1100 people, including 10 Nepali students, and led to the capture of 250, including a young Nepali student, Vipin Joshi. The Israel-Hamas war in the Mideast has only escalated since then, killing more than 11000 people, mainly in southern Lebanon, with the intensification of Israel’s operation against Hezbollah. 

Even as a tenuous peace holds in the larger Mideast despite a widening war, latest developments like increasing hostilities between Israel and Iran and the former’s raids on the bases of the United Nations’ Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) offer little respite. 

Per reports, five peacekeepers of the 9500-strong UNIFIL, created in March 1978 to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, restore international peace and security and assist the Lebanese government in restoring its effective authority in the area, have sustained injuries in the attacks after Israel’s announcement of ‘limited incursions’ into the war-torn country.

These raids, which come barely a year after the loss of 10 Nepali lives in the Hamas attack and the disappearance of a student, should ring alarm bells for our government. This is because Nepal, as a significant contributor to the United Nations peacekeeping missions around the world, has troops deployed under the umbrella of UNIFIL as well.

As the birthplace of Gautam Buddha and several other enlightened beings, the onus is on Nepal to lead an international appeal requesting the warring parties not to target the keepers of a fragile peace, in the Mideast and beyond. 

Wars offer no solution to daunting problems facing the world. Sacred mantras in our holy scriptures like the Veds wish for peace on Earth and beyond, sing the glory of peace and the virtue of living together in perfect harmony with fellow humans and Nature.     

Therefore, the onus is on the government ruling this spiritual land of multiple faiths like Kirat, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shaivism, Bon and animism to lead an initiative for global peace by seeking to bring all warring sides together. Taking initiatives for hosting a global peace summit in Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha and other enlightened beings, can be a step in the right direction. 

Let Vijaya Dashami, which marks the triumph of good over evil, inspire us all to end this madness called war, once and for all.