Submit your Article

South Korea's military shrank by 20% in the past six years to 450,000 troops, largely due to a sharp drop in the population of males of enlistment age for mandatory service in the country with the world's lowest birthrate, a report said on Sunday, Reuters reported.

The dramatic decline in the pool of available males for military service is also causing a shortfall in the number of officers and could result in operational difficulty if it continues, the defence ministry said in the report.

The report was made to the ruling Democratic Party member of parliament Choo Mi-ae, whose office released it.

South Korea's military has steadily declined since the early 2000s when it had about 690,000 soldiers. The pace accelerated during the late 2010s and there were about 563,000 active-duty soldiers and officers in 2019, according to Reuters.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Kyiv "values and fully supports" a joint statement by European leaders on achieving peace in Ukraine while protecting Ukrainian and European interests, Reuters reported.

French, Italian, German, Polish, British, Finnish and European Commission leaders on Saturday welcomedU.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to try to end the war, but emphasised the need to pressure Russia and provide security guarantees for Kyiv.

"The end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people today for the sake of peace in Ukraine, which is defending the vital security interests of our European nations," Zelenskiy wrote on X, according to Reuters.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said that the government was determined to seek a permanent solution to the problem of irrigation in the Tarai.

Taking to social media, PM Oli expressed happiness over completion of 76.54 percent paddy plantation in eight districts of Madhes Province. He mentioned that the government is determined to find a permanent solution to irrigation by ending the dependency on rainwater in Tarai in the coming year.  

"I made an aerial inspection of the drought-hit zone in Tarai a few days ago. The government took special decision of relief and support in Tarai area, declaring Tarai-Madhes as drought-hit zone", the Prime Minister opined. 

PM Oli writes, "Activities for the installation of 500 deep-boring had been started for the time being. The construction of Sunkoshi-Marin diversion has been forwarded for a long-term solution. The rainfall also took place in Tarai-Madhes last week which has helped the paddy plantation. Total 76.54 percent paddy plantation has been completed in eight districts of Madhes Province. I hope that paddy will be planted in the remaining areas within a few days."

A Royal Bengal tiger has been found dead near Malibasti of Thori Rural Municipality-4 in Parsa district.

Information Officer at the District Police Office, Kishor Lamsal, shared that the tiger was found dead about 500 meters south from the Postal Highway in Malibasti at 7:30 am today. 

A team under the command of Assistant Sub Inspector Dharmendra Sah from Police Post Bijaybasti has been deputed after locals informed about the incident. 

A team from the Parsa National Park has also reached the incident site for the necessary investigation. 

Ranger Jayram Neupane of the Parsa National Park said that the dead tiger has been brought to the Parsa National Park for postmortem.

Three persons were injured when a train hit a car near Thapa Chowk in Brahmapuri, Janakpurdham Sub-Metropolitan City-9.

The Nepal Railways train coming from Pipradhi Station in Mahottari to Janakpurdham hit the car (Bagmati Province 01-025Cha 1290) at 8: 30 am today, District Police Office Spokesperson Barun Bahadur Singh.

According to local eyewitnesses, a loud noise was heard when the train hit the car, which was reportedly carrying three people. 

Luckily, the occupants of the car escaped with minor injuries, while the car suffered significant damage.

The train service was disrupted for some time after the accident. 

Further investigation is underway on the matter, shared Police Spokesperson Singh.

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has called out Uefa over a tribute to Palestinian footballer Suleiman al-Obeid it posted on social media which failed to refer to the circumstances surrounding his death, BBC reported.

On Thursday, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) said Obeid was killed in an Israeli attack while waiting for humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza Strip the previous day.

The 41-year-old, who was known as the "Pele of Palestinian football" according to the PFA, scored more than 100 goals during his career, including two in 24 international matches, according to BBC.

In a post on X on Friday, Uefa said: "Farewell to Suleiman al-Obeid, the 'Palestinian Pele'.

European allies have rallied behind Ukraine in a renewed surge of support, insisting that any peace talks with Russia must include Kyiv, BBC reported.

"The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine," said a joint statement issued by the leaders of the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Finland and the European Commission.

Their statement came after US President Donald Trump announced he would meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday in a renewed effort to end the war, according to BBC.

Concerned that Ukraine will not be invited to its own peace talks, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that any agreements without Kyiv would amount to "dead decisions".

Haiti’s government announced Saturday that it is implementing a three-month state of emergency in the country’s central region as gang violence surges, Associated Press reported.

The measure will cover Haiti’s West, Artibonite and Center departments “to continue the fight against insecurity and respond to the agricultural and food crisis,” according to a government statement.

The region — known as Haiti’s rice basket — has been under attack in recent years, with gangs killing farmers or forcing them to abandon their fields as they raze nearby communities, according to Associated Press.