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China's military moved army, naval, air force and rocket force units around Taiwan on Monday (Dec 29) for ⁠its "Justice Mission 2025" drills, aimed at testing combat readiness and delivering a "stern warning" against moves toward Taiwanese independence, Reuters reported. 

The Eastern Theatre Command announced the drills will involve live-fire exercises on Tuesday, in a statement containing a graphic demarcating five zones surrounding the island that will be under sea and air space ⁠restrictions for 10 hours from 8.30am.

This marks China's sixth major round of war games since 2022 after then-US House Speaker ⁠Nancy Pelosi visited the self-governed island, and follow a rise in Chinese rhetoric over Beijing's ‍territorial claims after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo, according to Reuters. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen a test launch of long-range strategic cruise missiles and called for the “unlimited and sustained” development of his country’s nuclear combat forces, according to state media, Aljazeera reported. 

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Monday that Kim expressed satisfaction as the cruise missiles flew along their orbit, set above the sea west of the Korean Peninsula, and hit their target.

The launch, which took place on Sunday, was the latest event Kim attended, in a flurry of activity by the North Korean leader to underscore the country’s military and economic progress before a key party congress expected to be held in early 2026, according to Aljazeera. 

At least 13 people died and almost 100 were injured after a train derailed in Mexico's south-western Oaxaca region, the Mexican navy said, BBC reported. 

The train, which was travelling between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, was carrying 241 passengers and nine crew members.

A total of 98 were injured, of whom 36 were being treated in hospital, the navy said, according to BBC. 

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky said progress had been made to end the Ukraine war during Florida talks but the US president admitted the problem of territory remained "unresolved".

While both the US and Ukrainian presidents described the talks as "great", Trump said "one or two very thorny issues" remained outstanding - most notably on the issue of land, BBC reported. 

Addressing reporters at Mar-a-Lago, Zelensky said they had come to an agreement on "90%" of the 20-point peace plan, while Trump said a security guarantee for Ukraine was "close to 95%" done.

The UK is to impose visa restrictions against people arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo after its government failed to agree to measures allowing the return of illegal migrants and foreign national offenders, BBC reported. 

Ministers say the DRC has not made changes required under the toughening up of the UK's asylum rules announced in November.

Fast-track visa processes will no longer apply to people from the country, while the Home Office said VIPs and politicians would no longer get preferential treatment when coming to the UK, according to BBC. 

The number of executions in Iran in 2025 is set to more than double compared to the amount which took place across the country in 2024, BBC reported. 

Norwegian-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group told the BBC it had verified at least 1,500 executions up until the start of December, adding that many more have taken place since.

Last year, IHR was able to verify 975 executions - although the exact number is never completely clear as Iranian authorities do not give official figures, according to BBC. 

The Election Commission has sanctioned the Election Code of Conduct 2082 BS, which will be implemented for the forthcoming House of Representatives elections slated for March 5. 

The code of conduct, which was published on the Commission's website today, is set to take effect in the first week of Magh (Mid-January). 

To ensure that the elections are clean, free, fearless, respectful, and credible, the Commission has revised certain aspects of the previous code. 

The approval of this code followed the incorporation of suggestions received on the draft. 

According to Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, the spokesperson for the Commission, the code will be applicable to the Government of Nepal and its Ministers, Provincial Governments and their Ministers, constitutional bodies and officeholders, as well as bodies and officials under the Government of Nepal or Provincial Governments, local executives and their members, and employees at federal, provincial, and local levels. 

This code of conduct for elections will extend to the Government of Nepal and its Ministers, provincial governments and their Ministers, constitutional bodies and officials, agencies of the Government of Nepal or provincial governments and their officials, local executive bodies and their members, along with employees of the federal, provincial, and local levels. 

It will also encompass security agencies, security personnel and employees, offices and employees of government, and public institutions, political parties and their affiliated organizations, candidates and related individuals, election representatives and vote counting representatives of political parties and candidates, as well as individuals holding public office, as mandated by the Commission. 

Such a code of conduct is established prior to each election to guarantee cleanliness, fairness, transparency, and a fear-free environment during the elections.

Nepali Congress has urged National Assembly Chairman  Narayan Prasad Dahal to immediately call a session of the upper house of the Federal Parliament. 

A team led by the Nepali Congress National Assembly Chief Whip Krishna Bahadur Rokaya today called on Chairman Dahal to inform him about the decision of the Congress Parliamentary Party and made this request.

National Assembly members Kamala Devi Pant, Kiran Babu Shrestha, Bishnu Sapkota and Padam Pariyar, among others, participated in the meeting.

Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party meeting held on December 25 had decided to urge the National Assembly Chair Dahal  to convene a session, stating that the House of Representatives, the lower house, was dissolved unconstitutionally amid the changed political situation in the country.

The party has demanded the immediate convening of a National Assembly session, saying such a meeting is necessary because the Assembly is the only active body within the sovereign federal parliament that represents the voice of the people.