Submit your Article

The Election Commission has formally recognized the working committee of the Nepali Congress led by Gagan Thapa.

A meeting of the Commission held on Friday granted official recognition to the Thapa-led committee, including authorization to use the party’s four-star flag and its election symbol, the tree.

With this decision, Thapa has officially become the President of the Nepali Congress.

Recently, a Special General Convention was held at Bhrikutimandap under the leadership of then General Secretaries Gagan Kumar Thapa and Bishwo Prakash Sharma.

The convention elected a new working committee under the headship of Thapa. 

A court in South Korea has sentenced the country’s former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, to five years in jail after finding him guilty on charges stemming from his declaration of martial law in December 2024, Aljazeera reported. 

Yoon was found guilty on Friday of charges that include obstructing authorities from executing an arrest warrant related to his martial law declaration, as well as fabricating official documents and failing to comply with the legal process required to impose martial law.

At Seoul’s Central District Court on Friday, Judge Baek Dae-hyun said Yoon had failed to uphold the Constitution and rule of law, according to Aljazeera. 

United States forces have seized an oil tanker in the Caribbean that the Trump administration said had links to Venezuela, the sixth tanker vessel detained as Washington moves to take full control of Venezuelan oil resources, Aljazeera reported. 

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the US Coast Guard had boarded the tanker Veronica early on Thursday.

Noem said the vessel had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s “established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean”.

Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal has said that preparedness is necessary to reduce earthquake damage.

Addressing a program held at local Bhugol Park, New Road to commemorate the 28th National Earthquake Safety Day today, he emphasized the need to enhance inter-governmental coordination to face disasters.

Home Minister Aryal stated that the efforts made by local governments should be institutionalized.

"Mutual practice and learning can enhance capacity. We must work on enhancing capacity in the implementation of basic indicators for civic awareness and a resilient city," he said.

Chairperson of the commemorative program and Deputy Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Sunita Dangol, said that the community's capacity should be made a tool for disaster preparedness, search and rescue, rehabilitation, and recovery.

“The first responders and supporters during disasters are the communities themselves. For a metropolitan city to become disaster-resilient, intergovernmental coordination, mutual exchange of knowledge and skills, and integrated planning are the first prerequisites. Let us work together for this,” she added.

At the program, Coordinator of the Disaster Management Committee of KMC, Prem Thapa, said, "Indigenous skills can be used to build resilient structures. Our ancient structures have withstood the tremors of large earthquakes. Let's promote these skills."

Officials from the Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, municipal council members of the metropolitan city, department heads, and representatives of non-governmental and social organizations active in disaster management attended in the programme.

The Earthquake Safety Day is observed with the slogan 'Governments at all levels, preparedness of all citizens: Earthquake-Resilient Nepal, the responsibility from now on'.

This Day is observed every year in commemoration of the devastating earthquakes of January 16, 1934 (Magh 2, 1990 BS) to raise awareness so that future generations do not have to bear the damage caused by the 1990 BS earthquake and the subsequent ones.

Earthquake Safety Day has been observed every year on Magh 2 since 2055 BS with the aim of involving generations in building safe settlements, based on the lessons learned from past devastating earthquakes.

Acting President of the Nepali Congress Purna Bahadur Khadka has called for a swift resolution to the disputes within the party, emphasizing the importance of adhering to past decisions and the precedents set by the Election Commission. 

Today, he visited the Commission accompanied by a majority of the office-bearers and members from the Central Committee elected from the party's 14th General Convention, where they submitted party documents and sought resolution of the ongoing issues. 

Khadka made it clear that any determination of Congress's official status that contradicts the Commission's previous decisions regarding party splits would be deemed invalid. 

In light of various news reports concerning Congress from multiple media sources, he presented a report to Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari, indicating that 885 convention delegates had retracted their signatures in relation to a special convention. 

Congress leader Dr Shekhar Koirala expressed optimism that the party's official status would be resolved through democratic processes and noted that the entire central committee was present to support this request. 

He pointed out that no commissioner could attain official status by initiating the election programme at Tundikhel, expressing confidence that the resolution of Congress's disputes would also follow similar principles. 

After receiving the submitted documents, Acting Chief Commissioner Bhandari remarked that the commission would reach a decision in accordance with legal standards and procedures, and he encouraged active involvement in all election activities.

The offices for the Chief Election Officer and Election Officer across all 165 constituencies will be established today in preparation for the House of Representatives elections set for March 5.

Kul Bahadur GC, the Assistant spokesperson for the Election Commission, said that the Chief Election Officer’s office will be located in the district headquarters, while Election Officer Offices will be set up in constituencies beyond the headquarters.

In total, there will be 77 Chief Election Officer Offices situated in district headquarters, alongside Election Officer Offices in 88 constituencies outside these headquarters.

The Chief Election Officer office will be led by the Chief Judge of the District Court, with 77 Chief District Judges appointed as Chief Election Officers and 88 second-class judiciary service officers designated as Election Officers.

Hong Kong police have confirmed that 168 people died in the massive blaze that ripped through an apartment complex in Hong Kong last November - seven more than previously announced, BBC reported. 

The ages of the victims ranged from six months to 98 years old, police said in a statement on Thursday. Of the victims, fifty-eight of them were male and 110 were female. Many of them were elderly residents who had lived in the apartment complex for decades.

The fire at Wang Fuk Court was the deadliest that the city had seen in decades, according to BBC. 

Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney hailed a “new strategic partnership” with China as he held talks in Beijing with president Xi Jinpingon Friday, the first visit there by a Canadian leader in eight years, The Guardian reported. 

Addressing Xi in the Great Hall of the People, Carney said that “together we can build on the best of what this relationship has been in the past to create a new one adapted to new global realities”.

Engagement and cooperation would be “the foundation of our new strategic partnership”, he said. “Agriculture, energy, finance, that’s where we can make the most immediate progress.”