PM Deuba urges NRNs to invest in Nepal
Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has urged the non-resident Nepalis to use their skills, capital and technology for the development of Nepal. Speaking at a program organized on the occasion of NRN Day on Tuesday, he urged all the Nepalis living abroad to invest in Nepal. The prime minister also urged the Nepalis to search foreign investors in coordination with the Nepali embassies abroad and invest in Nepal. He also urged the Nepalis to give priority to the Nepali products and take them abroad. Prime Minister Deuba claimed that the citizenship will be provided to the non-resident Nepalis by amending the act in the near future. Meanwhile, he thanked the NRN for its support in Nepal during the Covid-19 pandemic among other occasions.
Who will succeed Xi Jinping as China’s leader? It’s complicated.
All eyes are on Xi Jinping at the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress that begins in Beijing on Sunday. Barring a major upset, the most powerful Chinese leader in decades will extend his rule, undoing the previous convention of top leaders serving two five-year terms before stepping aside, The Washington Post reported.
With authority tightly held in one man’s hands, it’s easy to forget the remaining 2,295 delegates attending the conclave in Beijing. But it is among these jockeying cadres that experts in Chinese politics search for clues about just how much power Xi has — and how long he is liable to hold it.
The primary focus will be on the Politburo’s Standing Committee, the seven-member body at the pinnacle of decision-making power. If Xi is able to stack the committee with loyalists, then there will be few signs of checks on his personal control.
Turnover at the top of the party had previously been encouraged by an informal age limit known as “seven up, eight down” whereby officials who are 67 years of age or younger take on new positions, while those 68 years old and above retire. Sticking to this rule-of-thumb would create two new slots for Xi to fill with allies.
But that norm may no longer hold. Xi, who is 69, is at minimum set to ignore the purported rule for himself — and may also do so to promote allies to the Politburo. “It’s not about age any more. It’s about whether you are on Xi’s side,” said Yang Zhang, a sociologist at American University’s School of International Service.
One key indicator of Xi’s power will be if extra members of the current committee are pushed into early retirement, with most attention being on Premier Li Keqiang, who at 67 has not reached the informal age limit.
The other big question is whether a successor will emerge from the reshuffle. Before Xi, a pathway for future leaders had begun to form, where an heir-apparent took on a Standing Committee position and the vice presidency five years before they were appointed to the top job. Both Xi and his predecessor, Hu Jintao, ascended in this manner, according to the Washington Post.
But that precedent, too, was broken when no officials young enough to serve three terms made the Politburo Standing Committee in 2017. Analysts tracking Chinese politics warn against expecting an anointed successor this year either, arguing that Xi’s extended rule could bypass entirely the generation that will dominate the 370-odd full and alternate members of the Central Committee (the body below the Politburo) over the next 10 years. “It’s in everyone’s interests not to mention the issue of succession,” said Zhang.
“Even if politicians born in the 1960s make it to the Politburo Standing Committee, they will merely be Xi’s technocrats.” It’s more likely that the eventual successor will be from the 1970s generation, but that crop of leaders is currently too young and inexperienced for a clear favorite to be selected at this juncture, Zhang said.
Even if none of them will head the party, officials born in the late 1950s and 1960s are the ones who will implement, interpret and, perhaps occasionally, challenge Xi’s policy agenda as he forges ahead with ambitious plans to tackle inequality and social ills while simultaneously securing the country’s position as a military, economic and technology power, The Washington Post reported.
Thai PM orders tighter gun control, drugs crackdown after mass killing
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday (Oct 10) ordered law enforcement agencies to tighten gun ownership rules and crack down on drug use following a mass killing by an ex-policeman at a daycare centre that has left the nation in shock, Reuters reported. A total of 36 people including 24 children were killed in a knife and gun rampage last week by an ex-cop who later killed himself in Uthai Sawan, a town 500km north-east of Bangkok. It was one of the worst child death tolls in a massacre by a single killer in recent history. General Prayut has instructed authorities to proactively search and test for the use of illicit drugs among officials and communities, and step up treatment for addicts, government spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri said in a statement. The prime minister has ordered government registrars to revoke the gun licenses of registered owners who have reportedly behaved in a way that "threatens society" and "creates chaos or causes unrest", Anucha said, alongside a crackdown on illegal gun sales, weapons smuggling, and the use of illegal firearms. Thai authorities plan to recall guns from officials and police officers who have misused their firearms or have behaved aggressively on duty. Regular mental health checks will also be required for gun license applicants and holders, chief police general Damrongsak Kittprapas told reporters, according to Reuters. Gun ownership is high in Thailand compared with some other countries in Southeast Asia. Illegal weapons, many brought in from strife-torn countries, are common.
Ukraine war: US condemns 'brutal' Russian strikes on Ukraine
Russia has been widely condemned after bombarding cities across Ukraine, including launching missile strikes on the centre of Kyiv for the first time, BBC reported.
The US said the "brutal" attacks had hit non-military targets, including a university and children's playground, and promised ongoing military aid.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply shocked".
Vladimir Putin said the attacks were retaliation for Saturday's explosion on a key bridge linking Russia to Crimea.
Ukraine says 83 missiles were launched of which more than 43 were shot down.
In a defiant video, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said that "Ukraine cannot be intimidated. It can only be more united."
The deadly barrage included strikes on the cities of Lviv, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia, and were some of the worst Ukraine has seen for months.
At least 14 people were killed and scores more were injured, officials said.
Several regions were left without electricity and water after missiles hit energy infrastructure.
Residents in the capital Kyiv said Russia appeared to be targeting civilian areas which were busy with Monday morning commuters, including the children's playground, university and the popular Taras Shevchenko park.
Antonio Guterres described the strikes as "another unacceptable escalation of the war" for which civilians were paying the highest price.
The EU said a war crime had been committed, while European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Russia stood for terror and brutality, according to BBC.
Mr Biden said the attacks demonstrated "the utter brutality" of Putin's "illegal war".
China and India, which have not condemned the war, called for a de-escalation.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine's Ambassador to the UN, said his family had been in a residential area in Ukraine when it was attacked by the latest Russian missiles and they were unable to go to a bomb shelter.
He said Russia had already killed some of his relatives, calling it "a terrorist state" that must be deterred in the strongest possible ways to prevent further atrocities. He added that Russia's delegation to the UN left "a trail of blood" whenever it entered the General Assembly hall.
The General Assembly is holding an emergency meeting following Russia's latest attacks. Although the session was convened because of the Kremlin's annexation of four partly-occupied Ukrainian regions following sham referendums, it has been overshadowed by this morning's attacks, BBC reported.
