Submit your Article

The death toll in a Baitadi bus accident has reached 13. 

The bus was carrying wedding attendants. 

Eight among them died on the spot and five others breathed their last at Dadeldhura Hospital. 

The Bajhang-bound bus (Supa Province 02 001 Kha 1119) from Purchaidi Municipality-7, Bhawane of Baitadi  met with an accident at Purchaidi-7 Badgaun Mode on Thursday. 

Baitadi Police Chief Deepak Kumar Roy said that 40-year-old Keshav Raj Joshi of Bitthadchir Rural Municipality-7, Bajhang, 13-year-old Ashok Raj Joshi from the same place, 35-year-old Basanta Joshi, 41-year-old Bisna Dutta Joshi, 60-year-old Mohan Dev Bhatta of Kedarsyu Rural Municipality, Bajhang, 40-year-old Basanta Raj Ratala of Jayaprithvi Municipality, Bajhang, and 40-year-old Pushpa Awasthi of Purchaudi-7, Baitadi died on the spot. The identity of a person is yet to be established. 

Those pronounced dead at Dadeldhura Hospital include 17-year-old Bisna Dutta Joshi of Bitthadchir Rural Municipality-7, Bajhang, 28-year-old Deepk Raj Joshi of the same place, 46-year-old Kisana Dutta Joshi, 27-year-old Keshav Raj Bhatta from Bassi, Kedarsyu Municipality-7, and 15-year-old Sushil Joshi of Purchaudi Municipality-7, Baitadi. 

Thirty-four others injured in the accident are being treated in Dadeldhura, Dhangadhi, and Bajhang. 

The bride and groom, however, were not onboard the bus, it has been informed. 

The Election Commission has stated that printing and packing of ballot papers for 25 districts for the first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system has been completed. 

According to the information provided by the EC, printing and packing of ballot papers for Dolpa, Mugu, Jumla, Kalikot, Humla, Jajarkot, Dailekh, Rukum West, Salyan, Surkhet, Bajura and Achham has been carried out. 

Similarly, printing and packing of ballots for 25 districts, including Bajhang, Doti, Dadeldhura, Darchula, Baitadi, Kailali, Kanchanpur, Panchthar, Ilam, Tehrathum, Bhojpur, Okhaldhunga, and Sunsari has been completed. 

Printing of ballots for 60 districts has also been completed, but packing is still remaining. 

According to the EC, the printing of ballots has reached its final stage with packing also gradually progressing. 

The printing of ballots is taking place at Janak Education Materials Centre Limited. 

As informed, the printing of ballots for the proportional electoral system has been completed. 

A total of 20,830,000 ballots for the proportional system have been printed, packed, registered, and prepared for delivery. 

Similarly, 20,323,000 ballots need to be printed for the FPTP electoral system. 

The printing of ballots for the FPTP electoral system started on January 30. 

Likewise, 1,098,200 sample ballots have been printed and delivered to various districts, the Commission stated. 

The Justice Department has hired 33 new immigration judges, including 27 temporary ones, after firing or pushing out more than 100 others as the Trump administration seeks out new recruits to serve as what it dubs "deportation judges."

The Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review said the new immigration judges were sworn in on Thursday, following the October hiring of 36 immigration judges, including 25 temporary ones, after months of workforce cuts, Reuters reported. 

The new judges will serve in immigration courts in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

Ukraine and Russia have conducted a rare exchange of prisoners of war and civilians after two days of US-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi, BBC reported. 

A total of 157 Ukrainians - seven of them civilians - and 157 Russian soldiers were returned home in the first such swap in four months.

Russian, Ukrainian and US teams took part in the talks in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, with the main sticking points believed to be territorial concessions Ukraine is under pressure to make and security guarantees for it to prevent further Russian attacks if a deal is agreed to end the four-year war, according to BBC. 

Sir Keir Starmer has apologised to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein for believing Lord Mandelson's "lies" and appointing him as the UK's ambassador to the US, BBC reported.

The prime minister began a planned speech on funding to improve local communities by addressing the growing anger over how he had dealt with the issue.

While he acknowledged it had been publicly known for some time that Lord Mandelson knew Epstein, he said: "None of us knew the depths and the darkness of that relationship."

Senior US and Iranian officials are expected to meet in Oman later for direct talks amid a crisis that has raised fears of a military confrontation between the two countries, BBC reported. 

The discussions come after a US military build-up in the Middle East in response to Iran's violent repression of nationwide anti-government protests last month, that human rights groups say killed many thousands of people.

Uncertainty over the location and scope had threatened to derail the talks, which are part of a diplomatic effort by regional mediators to de-escalate tensions, according to BBC. 

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged all the bodies concerned to make the upcoming elections to the House of Representatives human rights-friendly by fully adhering to the election code of conduct. 

The elections to the House of Representatives are taking place on March 5. 

Stating that it has been monitoring the human rights situation in the run up to the HoR elections, NHRC requested everyone to make the election friendly to human rights.

At a discussion held on Thursday with the chiefs and representatives of different organizations monitoring the elections, the NHRC stressed the effectiveness of election monitoring and observation, according to NHRC Spokesperson Dr Tikaram Pokharel.

The citizen's right to voting in a confidential way should not be violated. If any audio and video record is made on voting and uploaded on social platforms, it breaches voter's privacy, NHRC said, adding that contents produced and disseminated to offend others' dignity, is sheer violation. It should also be monitored well, NHRC underlined.  

The human rights watch body also showed concern over some candidates and offices of some political parties violating the election code of conduct.

The Election Commission (EC) has informed that printing of ballot papers for the first-past-the-post category in 60 constituencies has been over. 

Assistant Spokesperson at EC, Kul Bahadur KC, said that a total 7.26 million sheets of ballot papers were printed for the direct election of the House of Representatives scheduled for March 5. 

Similarly, packing of the printed ballot papers for 25 districts has been completed so far.

Except for a few districts of Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces, the ballot paper printing is accomplished. A total of 20.32 million sheets of such papers are required for the FPTP category of election. 

The ballot papers for the proportional category have already been printed. The printing is going on at Janak Education Materials Centre.

The EC has given priority to the districts in remote and mountainous regions. 

Preparation is afoot to send all printed ballot papers by February 15.