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The Election Commission (EC) has released the personal information of candidates who have filed their nominations for the House of Representatives elections scheduled for March 5. 

This disclosure is in line with the requirement to make public the personal details of those who have filed their candidacy for the elections. 

Under the first-past-the-post electoral system, the commission has published the personal information provided with the nomination papers of candidates whose nominations were accepted by the deadline, as stipulated in Section 22 (1) of the House of Representatives Election Directive, 2082 BS. 

EC Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai stated that the commission has disclosed the details of all candidates in compliance with legal requirements, emphasizing the importance of transparency, fairness, and reliability in the election process. 

The information is available on the commission's website, making it easier for voters, stakeholders, media, and the general public to access essential information about the candidates. 

In the first-past-the-post electoral system, a total of 3,486 candidacies have been registered across 165 constituencies nationwide. 

Among these, 3,089 candidates are male, 396 are female, and one candidate identifies as belonging to another category.

The Election Commission (EC) has announced that all arrangements have been completed for the National Assembly elections.

Voting will take place from 9 am to 3 pm today to fill 18 vacant seats.

Among the 18 seats, one seat from the Khas Arya category in Koshi Province will not be contested, while elections for the remaining 17 seats will be held today, according to EC spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai. 

Sunil Bahadur Thapa of the Nepali Congress has been elected unopposed for the Khas Arya seat in Koshi Province. Polling stations and centers have been established in all seven provinces for the voting of the remaining 17 positions. 

In Koshi Province, the polling center is located at the Provincial Election Office premises in Biratnagar, Morang; in Madhesh Province, at the Mahendrarayan Nidhi Mithila Cultural Centre in Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City–4, Dhanusha; and in Bagmati Province, at Bhutandevi Secondary School, Hetauda Sub-Metropolitan City–4, Makawanpur. 

Likewise, in Gandaki Province, the Provincial Election Office premises in Pokhara, Kaski; in Lumbini Province, at the Staff Gathering Center (Karmachari Milan Kendra) in Ghorahi, Dang; in Karnali Province, at the Provincial Election Office premises in Birendranagar, Surkhet; and in Sudurpashchim Province, at the Provincial Election Office premises in Dhangadhi, Kailali have been designated as polling centers, spokesperson Bhattarai stated. 

For the National Assembly member election, eligible voters include Provincial Assembly members, Mayors and Deputy Mayors of municipalities, as well as Chairpersons and Vice-Chairpersons of rural municipalities.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would impose a 100% tariff on Canada if it follows through on a trade deal with China and warned Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that a deal would endanger his country, Reuters reported. 

"China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A."

U.S. immigration agents shot and killed a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis on Saturday, officials said, sparking fierce protests and condemnations from local leaders in the second such incident this month, Reuters reported. 

The Department of Homeland Security characterized the incident as an attack, saying a Border Patrol agent fired in self-defense after a man approached with a handgun and violently resisted attempts to disarm him.

But bystander videos from the scene verified by Reuters showed the man, identified as 37-year-old Alex Pretti, holding a phone in his hand, not a gun, as he tries to help other protesters who have been pushed to the ground by agents, according to Reuters. 

Donald Trump has praised UK soldiers who fought in Afghanistan after his claim that allied forces avoided the front lines prompted criticism from veterans and politicians, BBC reported. 

Earlier this week Trump angered US allies by downplaying the role of Nato troops in the war and doubted whether the military alliance would be there for the US "if we ever needed them".

Trump's words drew condemnation from international allies, while Sir Keir Starmer called them "insulting and frankly appalling".

The UK prime minister spoke to Trump on Saturday, after which the US president used his Truth Social platform to praise UK troops as being "among the greatest of all warriors".

European Council President Antonio Luis Santos da Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be chief guests at India's Republic Day celebrations next Monday, BBC reported. 

Besides state banquets and the ceremonial pomp of the event, the two leaders will have a more pressing item on their agenda - advancing free trade talks with Asia's third largest economy. This comes at a particularly trying geopolitical moment for Europe, with President Donald Trump first threatening to escalate his trade war with European allies for opposing a US takeover of Greenland and then backing off.

The choice of guests also carries an important diplomatic message from India - Delhi is accelerating strategic and trade ties with the rest of the world as the impasse over Washington's 50% tariffs on India spills over into the new year, according to BBC. 

The government has decided to accept a grant assistance equivalent to USD  two million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for the Improvement Project of the Siddhartha Highway (Butwal-Pokhara). 

A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Thursday took a decision to this effect, Government spokesperson and Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal shared this at a press meet on Friday. 

Similarly, the meeting agreed to remove a ceiling on foreign investment under an automatic route in the determined enterprises/business. 

As per the meeting's permission, Secretary of Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development Dr Rajendra Parasad Mishra will attend the 'First South Asian Agroforestry and Trees Outside Forecast Conference' to be held in New Delhi of India from February 5 to 7. 

The meeting has decided to endorse the Foreign Minister's visit to Bangladesh, attending the funeral ceremony of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia last month. 

The government decided to give permission for the construction of an office building of the Province Public Health Laboratory on its five ropani of land in Bhaktapur district, according to Minister Aryal.  

Likewise, as per the cabinet decision, Water Supplies and Sanitation Division 3, Sindhupalchowk is allowed to use one ropani of land owned by the government in Kavre. 

Furthermore, the cabinet has decided to give an approval to a notice in the Nepal Gazette (Extraordinary Issue) regarding the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which was endorsed by the House of Representatives on March 11, 2025.

Forty-nine candidates across the country have withdrawn their nominations filed for the first-past-the-post elections to the House of Representatives scheduled for March 5, according to the Election Commission (EC).

At a weekly news conference organized by the EC today, EC Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai shared that 49 candidates withdrew their candidacies from different constituencies so far. The EC is getting more information on this. 

He opined that the final name list of candidates towards FPTP elections has been released through 77 offices of chief returning officers and 88 offices of election officers across the country.

These offices would provide election symbols to candidates of political parties as well as independent candidates from 4 pm-7 pm today itself, said EC's Joint Spokesperson, Kul Bahadur GC.