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Baburam Bhattarai and Mahindra Raya Yadav have been picked as the Chairpersons of the newly-formed Nepal Samajbadi Party.

The party was formed after Dr Bhattarai led team quit the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP), Nepal, some weeks ago.

The first meeting of the party held in Lalitpur on Saturday formed 189-member central committee, selecting Dr Bhattarai and Yadav as the chairpersons.

Ganga Narayan Shrestha is named as the party’s co-chair while Hisila Yami, Durga Sob and Bhakta Bahadur Shah are the vice-chairs.

Ramesh Prasad Yadav is picked as the party’s general secretary.

The Election Commission has issued a notice calling upon political parties wishing to contest the elections to the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly to be held on November 20 for registration.

The Commission has notified the political parties registered with the Commission until August 4, 2022 to register themselves for the purpose of the elections. The deadline for the party registration is until August 16.

When submitting an application for party registration, details about the party, the number of officers and members of the party's central executive committee, province and district committees, and the date the party submitted its annual audit report to the commission must be disclosed.

Similarly, the date of the last election of the party's central level and province level executive committee, whether the political party's organizational form is at the central level or province level or not, should be disclosed.

According to the Political Party Act, when two or more parties apply for party registration for the purpose of taking a single election symbol and participating in the election, the application should be made in accordance with the political party regulations, the Commission has said today.

The application should include a copy of the decision of the Central Committee to register the party for the election purposes, the party's statute, regulations and manifesto, the annual audit report of the financial year 2021/22, and other necessary documents, and it has to be submitted with signature of the major office-bearers of the party.

The UN's nuclear watchdog has called for an immediate end to any military action near Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, warning of a "very real risk of a nuclear disaster".

IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said he was "extremely concerned" by reports of shelling at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, BBC reported.

It comes as Ukraine said parts of the facility were "seriously damaged" by Russian military strikes.

Russia seized the plant in March.

It has kept its Ukrainian employees, but Kyiv accuses Russian forces of firing rockets at civilian areas from the site, employing "terror tactics".

Friday's strikes underline "the very real risk of a nuclear disaster that could threaten public health and the environment in Ukraine and beyond", Mr Grossi said in a statement.

"Any military firepower directed at or from the facility would amount to playing with fire, with potentially catastrophic consequences," he added.

Ukrainian staff must be able to carry out their important duties "without threats or pressure", he said, adding that the IAEA should be allowed to provide technical support.

"For the sake of protecting people in Ukraine and elsewhere from a potential nuclear accident, we must all set aside our differences and act, now. The IAEA is ready," said Mr Grossi, days after stating the plant was "completely out of control".

The operator of the Zaporizhzhia plant said the Russian missile strikes had forced the closure of one "power unit", adding that there was a risk of radioactive leaks.

The strikes "caused a serious risk for the safe operation of the plant", operator Enerhoatom wrote on Telegram, according to BBC.

Moscow said Ukraine carried out the attack.

The BBC was unable to verify the reported damage at the nuclear plant.

However, the EU has hit out at Moscow over the latest shelling with the bloc's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, saying it "condemns Russia's military activities" around the plant.

"This is a serious and irresponsible breach of nuclear safety rules and another example of Russia's disregard for international norms," he said, and called for the IAEA to be granted access to the plant. 

Russian forces hold the plant and surrounding areas, close to Ukrainian-held territory. It consists of six pressurised water reactors and stores radioactive waste.

Civilians in nearby Nikopol, which lies across the river and is still under Ukrainian control, told the BBC that the Russians were firing rockets from the area around the plant and moving military hardware into the compound.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that "any bombing of this site is a shameless crime, an act of terror".

The plant is in the city of Enerhodar, in the south-east of Ukraine along the left bank of the River Dnieper (Dnipro in Ukrainian), BBC reported.

The UK defence ministry says Russia is using the area to launch attacks - taking advantage of the "protected status" of the nuclear power plant to reduce the risk of overnight attacks from Ukrainian forces.

The United States has accused Beijing of "provocative" and "irresponsible" actions after Taiwan said China rehearsed an attack on the island, BBC reported.

The White House said Beijing was attempting to "change the status quo" over Taiwan.

The heightened tensions follow a trip to Taiwan by a US delegation led by senior Democrat Nancy Pelosi.

China views the visit as a challenge to its claims of sovereignty over Taiwan, which sees itself as distinct.

Taiwan's defence ministry said Chinese ships and planes carried out missions in the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, with some crossing the median line - an unofficial buffer separating the two sides. Taiwanese fighter jets were scrambled to warn them away.

The Taiwan military said the exercises were a simulated attack on the island.

Beijing hasn't commented on the latest exercises, but is expected to continue military drills in the air and seas around Taiwan until Sunday.

Washington has accused China of escalating tensions.

"These activities are a significant escalation in China's efforts to change the status quo. They are provocative, irresponsible and raise the risk of miscalculation," a White House spokesperson said. 

"They are also at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, which is what the world expects."

China said Ms Pelosi's visit "seriously threatened" peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, according to BBC.

China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be under Beijing's control. However, Taiwan is a self-ruled island that sees itself as distinct from the mainland.

But any hint of recognition of this by world leaders enrages China. It announced on Friday that sanctions have been placed on Ms Pelosi and her family over the visit.

Beijing also announced it was halting co-operation with the US in several key areasincluding climate change, military talks and efforts to combat international crime.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused China of taking "irresponsible steps" by blocking key communication channels with Washington.

Ms Pelosi - a long-time China critic and the highest-ranking US politician to travel to the island in 25 years - arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday, despite Beijing's warnings, BBC reported.

During her visit, Ms Pelosi said that "the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy".