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Pratham Gurung has been declared the winner of Mero Voice Universe Season-2, a singing competition based on a reality show. Similarly, Rista Gurung has been declared the winner of Mero Dance Universe Season-2.

Both were declared the winners at the grand finale of Mero Voice Universe and Mero Dance Universe Season-2 organized by Intra National Welfare and Support Foundation at Sunrise Conference Center Godavari, Lalitpur on Friday. 

Both the winners received a cash prize of Rs 10 million each, life insurance worth Rs 2.5 million, free air tickets and various other prizes.

Amrita Rai became the first runner-up of Mero Dance Universe while Situ Maharjan became the second runner-up, Suraj Sinjali Magar the third runner-up, Susana Koirala the fourth runner-up and Sajan Pakhrin Tamang the fifth runner-up. They received cash prize of Rs 2.5 million, Rs 1 million, Rs 600,000, Rs 500,000 and Rs 400,000 in cash respectively. They also bagged life insurance policy from Citizens Life Insurance.

Similarly, Topraj Tamang became the first runner-up of Mero Voice Universe,  Junu Prasai the second runner-up, Wange Gurung the Third runner-up, Prashant Pokharel the fourth runner-up and Deepraj Rai fifth runner-up. They received Rs 2.5 million, 1 million, Rs 600,000, Rs 500,000 and Rs 400,000 in cash respectively along with a life insurance policy from Citizens Life.

In the cultural group dance competition, Bhutanese Refugee Dance Group came first to win a cash prize of Rs 2.5 million while Manaslu Word College won the first runner-up title to win Rs 1.5 million. Similarly, Yuma Maharani Dance Group became the second runner-up and received Rs 1 million while Nepal Police received Rs 500,000 as the third runner-up and Tareli Cultural Group came fourth and received Rs 300,000 in the group dance category.

Speaker Devraj Ghimire, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Badri Prasad Pandey, Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolitan City Chiribabu Maharjan, and others dignitaries presented awards and trophies to the winners.

There is a possibility of heavy rainfall at one or two places in the hilly areas of Bagmati and Karnali Provinces today. 

Moderate rainfall is also likely at some places in Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces along with the hilly regions of the country, as well as at a few places in the Tarai region, according to the Weather Forecasting Division.

The weather will remain generally cloudy throughout the country today. In addition, there is a possibility of wind gusts in Madhesh Province along with the Tarai regions of Koshi and Lumbini Provinces.

Later tonight, the weather will remain generally cloudy in Koshi and Madesh Provinces along with the hilly regions of the country and partly cloudy in the rest of the country. There is a possibility of moderate rainfall at a few places in Koshi, Madhesh, Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces along with the remaining hilly regions of the country, as well as at one or two places in the Tarai region. There is also a possibility of heavy rainfall at one or two places in the hilly areas of Gandaki Province.

The meteorological analysis by the Division says that the monsoon low pressure line is currently located near the normal position. There is the influence of water vapor-rich air coming from the Bay of Bengal.

The US state of New Jersey has declared a state of emergency as Hurricane Erin threatens to cause coastal flooding, rip currents and gale-force gusts along the Atlantic coasts of the US and Canada, BBC reported.

Early on Friday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) stressed that conditions still posed a threat to life - even as the storm continued to drift away from North America.

The first hurricane of the Atlantic season is weakening and will soon lose its status, before bringing rain to the UK next week.

In the meantime, a storm surge up to a metre (3ft) in height is possible in US states such as Rhode Island and Virginia, as well as Canada's Atlantic coast, according to BBC.

Postal services around the world are pausing deliveries to the US over confusion around new import taxes that must be paid on parcels from the end of the month, BBC reported.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month ending the global import tax exemption on low-value parcels, which takes effect from 29 August.

While gifts worth less than $100 will remain duty-free, the changes mean all other packages will face the same tariff rate as other goods from their country of origin.

Postal services, including Royal Mail and Germany's DHL, said they would suspend deliveries until they had proper systems in place to deal with the new rules, according to BBC.

The Socialist Front Nepal has concluded that the agreement signed between India and China for reopening a trade route via Nepal's territory in Lipulekh pass has caused a serious shock to Nepal's sovereign right.   

Issuing a statement today, the Front has expressed its concerns to the India-China agreement stating that the deal on Lipulekh pass would infringe upon Nepal's sovereign indivisibility.  

The Front has urged the government of Nepal to inform the concerned countries through diplomatic channels about the facts and protest the agreement, and make efforts to reclaim Nepal's land.  

The Front has stated that its serious attention was drawn to the agreement signed between India and China to reopen their bilateral trade route through Lipulekh pass connecting Pulan and Gunji.

Jointly released by CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal  CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal Netra Bikram Chand and Chairman of Nepal Samajbadi Party Mahindra Yadav, the statement mentioned that Lipulekh pass, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani are Nepal's inseparable parts based on historical evidences and bilateral treaty.  

Stating that the Indian side encroached upon those parts of Nepal in the past, the Front has urged the government to bring back the areas through diplomatic efforts.

The Members of the House of Representatives (HoR) continued expressing concern over the agreement signed between India and China for reopening the trade route via Lipulekh and called for resolving the issue through diplomatic process.

In the Special Hour of HoR meeting today, Ramhari Khatiwada said the agreement relating to reopening of the trade routes via the Lipulekh, Limipyadhura and Kalapani area should be diplomatically addressed. Stating that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is likely to visit both neighbours in a few days, he emphasized the need to solve the issue through diplomatic talks. 

He underscored the need for all Nepalis to unite and support the Head of the Government in this issue.

Likewise, Metmani Chaudhary echoed a similar view as Khatiwada and urged the government to raise the issue and resolve it by dealing diplomatically. 

Prabhu Shah questioned why the diplomatic notes sent by Nepal to India and China a decade ago asserting Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani belong to Nepal went unacknowledged. 

He also raised a question about the performances of the ambassadors in those countries and thus demanded their performance evaluation. 

The FBI is searching the Maryland home and Washington office of John Bolton, who served in President Donald Trump’s first administration as national security adviser but later became critical of the president, as part of an investigation into the handling of classified information, a person familiar with the matter said Friday, Associated Press reported.

Bolton was not detained and has not been charged with any crimes, said the person, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation by name and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. 

After the search at Bolton’s home started, he was spotted Friday morning standing in the lobby of the Washington building where he keeps an office and talking to two people with “FBI” visible on their vests. He left a few minutes later and appeared to have gone upstairs in the building. Agents were seen taking bags into the office building through a back entrance, according to Associated Press.

Gaza City and its surrounding area is now experiencing famine, a UN-backed body of food security experts has confirmed, BBC reported.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which is used by governments and international bodies to identify hunger levels around the world, has raised its classification to Phase 5 - the highest and most severe.

It says that over half a million people across the Gaza Strip are facing "catastrophic" conditions characterised by "starvation, destitution and death".

Israel said the IPC report was based on "Hamas lies". It continues to restrict the amount of aid entering Gaza and has previously denied there is starvation in the territory, according to BBC.