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Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said the government is never intended at taking political revenge against any individual remanded to police custody for alleged involvement in significant cooperative fraud.

Addressing today's session of the House of Representatives (HoR), the Prime Minister said that this is not the first time a high-profile political figure has been remanded to custody. Such cases had occurred in the past as well.

"A false narrative is being pushed that the government is attempting to take political revenge against an individual under investigation for alleged involvement in cooperative fraud," he said.

He further added that it is inappropriate to continuously obstruct the House over the confinement of a person who is under police investigation, especially when the case is sub judice in court.

The Prime Minister was referring to the parliamentary protest by lawmakers from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), who have objected to the remanding of their party Chair, Rabi Lamichhane, over allegations of cooperative fraud.

PM Oli stressed the need to strengthen all pillars of democracy including the Parliament, government, and judiciary, by keeping them away from the influence of "mass manipulation." He reiterated that judicial decisions are independent and are not influenced by the government.

He also stated that the government remains focused on promoting political and policy stability, as well as reviving the economy.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister stressed that the Parliament should not be used as a platform for creating social media content based on fabricated and misleading narratives.

He asserted that the current political coalition will remain intact until the next general elections, scheduled for 2084 BS.

Bangladeshi anti-corruption officials testified in court on Wednesday against former British Minister Tulip Siddiq, accused of using her familial connection to deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to obtain state-owned land plots in the South Asian country, Associated Press reported.

Siddiq, who is Hasina’s niece, resigned from her post as an anti-corruption minister in Prime Minister Keir Starmer ’s government in January following reports that she lived in London properties linked to her aunt and was named in an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh.

She is being tried together with her mother, Sheikh Rehana, brother, Radwan Mujib, and sister, Azmina. Siddiq has been charged with facilitating their receipt of state land in a township project near the capital, Dhaka. The four were indicted earlier and asked to appear in court, however, the prosecution said they absconded and would be tried in absentia, according to Associated Press.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy travelled to Berlin on Wednesday for a German-hosted virtual meeting with Donald Trump and European leaders, two days before the U.S. president meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Reuters reported.

Europe's leaders are trying to drive home the perils of selling out Kyiv's interests at the first U.S.-Russia summit since 2021.

Trump has said the Alaska talks will be a "feel-out" meeting as he pursues a ceasefire in Moscow's war on Ukraine, having said last week, to consternation in Kyiv and Europe, that any deal would involve "some swapping of territories".

Jailed former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak won a major court battle on Wednesday that took him a step closer to being able to serve out a years-long jail term over the multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal at home, Reuters reported.

Najib, imprisoned since August 2022 in one of several cases related to 1MDB, has been seeking a judicial review to compel authorities to confirm the existence of and execute a royal order issued by former King Al-Sultan Abdullah entitling him to serve the remainder of his jail sentence under house arrest.

In a unanimous decision, the Federal Court, Malaysia's top tribunal, said on Wednesday it accepted that there was a royal document related to granting house arrest for Najib but it was not in a position to determine its authenticity, according to Reuters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is joining European leaders in talks aimed at increasing pressure on US President Donald Trump to side with Ukraine during Friday's summit with his Russian counterpart in Alaska, BBC reported.

In an online call with Trump on Wednesday, the leaders are expected to reiterate that no decisions should be taken without Ukraine, including changing its borders by force.

Trump has said any peace deal would involve "some swapping of territories" and it is believed one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's demands is that Kyiv surrenders the parts of the Donbas it still controls.

On Tuesday, Zelensky said such a concession could be used as a springboard for future attacks by Russia, which has been making gains recently, according to BBC.

Real Madrid said it “firmly rejects” having a regular-season Spanish league game played in the United States and warned of “a turning point in the world of football.”

Villarreal, in contrast, is promising free travel and tickets for season-ticket holders if its match against Barcelona in Miami is approved in what would be a first for the league. The 17th-round match in La Liga would be played at the Hard Rock Stadium, Associated Press reported.

Madrid said Tuesday it has taken action to keep the Dec. 20 match from happening in the U.S., claiming it would hurt the “integrity of the competition” and the “legitimacy of the results.”

“The measure, which was taken without prior information or consultation of the clubs participating in the competition, infringes the essential principle of territorial reciprocity, which applies in two-legged league competitions (one match at home and the other at the home of the opposing team), upsetting the competitive balance and giving an undue sporting advantage to the applicant clubs,” Madrid said, according to Associated Press.

The U.N. chief warned Israel that the United Nations has “credible information” of sexual violence and other violations by Israeli forces against detained Palestinians, which Israel’s U.N. ambassador dismissed as “baseless accusations," Associated Press reported.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a letter to Ambassador Danny Danon that he is “gravely concerned” about reported violations against Palestinians by Israeli military and security forces in several prisons, a detention center and a military base.

Guterres said he was putting Israeli forces on notice that they could be listed as abusers in his next report on sexual violence in conflict “due to significant concerns of patterns of certain forms of sexual violence that have been consistently documented by the United Nations," according to Associated Press.

Typhoon Podul hit Taiwan's sparsely populated southeast coast on Wednesday packing winds of up to 191 kph (118 mph), as a large swathe of southern and eastern parts of the island shut down and hundreds of flights were cancelled, Reuters reported.

Taiwan is regularly hit by typhoons, generally along its mountainous east coast facing the Pacific.

"Destructive winds from typhoon expected. Take shelter ASAP," read a text message alert issued to cellphone users in parts of Taitung early on Wednesday. The alert warned people of gusts above 150 kph (93 mph) in the coming hours, according to Reuters.