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Filing of nominations for the local level elections slated for May 13 has begun from today.

The poll body has set Sunday and Monday aside for the parties to file nominations—from 10 am to 5 pm.

Earlier, the poll body had given only one day to  file the nominations.

The Election Commission had set aside two days considering the geographically difficult areas.

There are 753 local levels in the country. There are six metropolitan cities, 11 sub-metropolitan cities, 276 municipalities and 460 rural municipalities.

Former State Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Development of Madhesh Pradesh Dimple Jha passed away on Saturday. She was 42.

Leader Jhapa, a permanent resident of Matsari, Durga Bhagwati Rural Municipality-3, Rautahat, had been suffering from cancer for a long time.

She was a wife of former minister and federal lawmaker Anil ajha.

Jha died during the course of treatment at a hospital in Kathmandu.

Sri Lanka’s beleaguered prime minister has come under increased pressure to step down as a cabinet minister and other senior party members back street protests calling for resignations over a worsening economic crisis, Aljazeera reported.

Media minister Nalaka Godahewa on Saturday announced his support for the thousands outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office who are demanding he and other members of his powerful family quit.

Sri Lanka is suffering its most painful economic downturn since independence from British rule in 1948, with months of lengthy blackouts and acute shortages of food, fuel and other essentials.

The crisis has sparked countrywide protests, with angry demonstrators camped outside Rajapaksa’s office for more than three weeks.

Under pressure, the president dropped two of his brothers – Chamal and Basil – and nephew Namal from the cabinet this month, but protesters rejected the changes as cosmetic, according to Aljazeera.

Godahewa, previously a staunch Rajapaksa loyalist, said the president should sack his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa – the head of the family – and allow an all-party interim government to take over.

He said the government had lost its credibility after the police killing of a protester on Tuesday.

Godahewa said he had offered his resignation but President Rajapaksa had not accepted it.

“We need to restore political stability to successfully meet the economic crisis,” Godahewa said in a statement on his Facebook page.

“The entire cabinet, including the prime minister, should resign and [there should be] an interim cabinet that can win the confidence of all.”

Several senior ruling party members, including Dullas Alahapperuma, a former media minister and cabinet spokesman, have also asked the premier to step down, Aljazeera reported.

“I urge the president to appoint a smaller cabinet with a genuine consensus representing all parties in parliament for one year maximum,” Alahapperuma said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, police and the military stepped up security in the central town of Rambukkana on Saturday, ahead of the funeral of 42-year-old Chaminda Lakshan, who was shot dead when police broke up a protest against spiralling fuel prices.

Food, fuel and electricity have been rationed for months and the country is facing record inflation. Hospitals are short of vital medicines and the government has appealed to citizens abroad for donations.

Finance minister Ali Sabry, who is in the United States to negotiate a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, warned on Friday that the economic situation in the South Asian nation will likely worsen even further, according to Aljazeera.

“It is going to get worse before it gets better,” Sabry told reporters. “It is going to be a painful few years ahead.”

After a divisive election campaign, France decides on Sunday whether to give centrist Emmanuel Macron five more years or replace him with its first far-right president in Marine Le Pen, BBC reported.

She faces an uphill battle, with the polls giving her 44-year-old opponent a possible 10-point lead.

In order to win they both need to attract voters who backed other candidates in the first round.

But these are two polarising figures in France, and no votes are guaranteed.

Mr Macron's detractors call him arrogant and a president of the rich, while the far-right leader has been accused of having close ties to Russia's president.

Mr Macron came to power on a whirlwind promise of change but many complain they are yet to see it. His presidency has been buffeted by protests, the Covid pandemic and now rising prices, according to BBC.

Marine Le Pen, meanwhile, has learned from the mistakes she made when she was resoundingly beaten by the same opponent in the second round in 2017.

This is her third tilt at the presidency and if she fails it could be her last. 

The great unknown in this election is how many voters will refuse to back either candidate, whether by casting a blank ballot or not turning out at all. Much of France is on holiday and turnout could be historically low.

The campaign has been short but the choice for voters is clear, between a pro-European sitting president and a nationalist candidate who seeks to ban the headscarf and restrict immigration.

Polls open at 08:00 (06:00 GMT) with voting set to end some 12 hours later. 

Whatever the result, Mr Macron will address voters on Sunday evening from a stage at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, BBC reported.