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The two border points—Tatopani and Rashuwagadhi—towards China have been closed for the past two weeks. Director General of the Customs Department Kamal Prasad Bhattarai said that China closed the two border points without informing the Nepal government officially. Though China has not given a specific reason to close the border points, the northern neighbor might have closed the border due to a surge in Covid-19 cases, he said. Bhattarai, however, said that the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies was informed verbally about the border closure. According to statistics, around 25 percent of the commerce passes through these border posts. The border closure will add more pressure on traders at a time when the biggest festivals are round the corner, Director General Bhattarai said. The government is in a dilemma on how to approach China to reopen the border for two-way trade as the northern neighbor had closed the border points one-sidedly. “We have talked with the concerned ministry to open the border. The officials have told us that they will take the initiatives to resolve the problem,” he said, adding, “We cannot do anything.” Nine border points of 10 districts have been opened for trade between Nepal and China. Tatopani and Rasuwagadhi, however, were the only border points which were in full operation. The container trucks with goods worth billions of rupees have remained stranded at the border points. China closed the Tatopani border point on August 10 and the Rasuwagadhi border point on August 14. The Tatopani-Khasa border point, which remained close for four year following the devastating earthquake of 2015, reopened on May 29, 2019.

Se Sokna, a sixth-grade student at the Angkomnob Primary School in Bati district, 40 km south from Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, was elated after receiving a Chinese-donated "Kit of Love" on Thursday, saying that the package was very useful, Xinhua reported. "This kit is very valuable for us and I like it," she told Xinhua after receiving the package, which included a school bag, stationery, a stainless-steel water bottle, and a stainless-steel lunch box, among others. Another sixth-grade student San Sokchen, 12, said he was very grateful to China for the donation, saying that the package had not only aided his study, but also helped improve his personal hygiene. "I received a school bag, tinned fish, a bottle of Ovaltine, a water bottle, and a lunch box," he told Xinhua. "I'm very happy and excited." Jointly funded by Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund and China Foundation for Peace and Development (CFPD) via Cambodia's Civil Society Alliance Forum (CSAF), the "Kit of Love" project was launched here by Cambodia's Minister of Post and Telecommunications Chea Vandeth and Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. Liu was visiting Cambodia as head of a CPC delegation from Aug. 23-26, and he had met with ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP)'s president and Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, and also some other party leaders. CSAF's planning and project director Chea Munyrith said the three-month project aimed to meet the needs of stationery among students, to encourage them to study hard, to help improve hygiene and environment, and to connect the hearts of peoples of the two countries, according to Xinhua. "A total of 10,000 'Kits of Love' will be donated to students in three target areas, including capital Phnom Penh, Preah Sihanouk province and Tboung Khmum province," he told Xinhua. Munyrith said the "Kit of Love" project would not only contribute to reducing poverty, but also to improving the well-being of students in rural areas. "We believe that this project will deepen the bonds of solidarity, friendship, and brotherhood between our two countries and peoples," he said. Nget Sam Oeun, principal of the Angkomnob Primary School, where the project was launched, said a total of 257 students in the school had received a "Kit of Love" each. "This is a good project because it has helped improve health and hygiene for rural students," he told Xinhua. "The project will importantly contribute to improving health and hygiene for primary school students, particularly helping protect them from the COVID-19 pandemic." "The 'Kit of Love' truly reflects the kind hearts of the Chinese people towards their Cambodian counterparts, and it has also brought smiles and hopes to rural children in Cambodia," he added, Xinhua reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday signed a decree introducing financial benefits for people who left Ukrainian territory to come to Russia, including pensioners, pregnant women and disabled people, Reuters reported. The decree, published on a government portal, establishes monthly pension payments of 10,000 roubles ($170) for people who have been forced to leave the territory of Ukraine since Feb. 18. Disabled people will also be eligible for the same monthly support, while pregnant women are entitled to a one-off benefit. The decree says the payments will be made to citizens of Ukraine and the self-styled Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics - two breakaway Russian-backed entities in eastern Ukraine that Moscow recognised as independent in February in a move condemned by Ukraine and the West as illegal. On Feb. 18, Putin ordered every person who arrived in Russia from Donetsk and Luhansk to be given a payment of 10,000 roubles. Moscow has been giving Ukrainians Russian passports in what Ukraine and the United States say is an illegal effort by Moscow to annex territory it has occupied as part of what they regard as an imperialist Russian land-grab, according to Reuters. Moscow says it is prosecuting "a special military operation" to protect itself and defend Russian-speakers who it says were persecuted by Ukrainian authorities, something Kyiv denies.

The Nepal Police have decided to mobilize 71,693 police personnel for the elections to the House of Representatives and the Province Assembly scheduled for November 20. The number is around 10,000 thousand more than that deputed for the May 13 local elections. Central Police Spokesperson Deputy Inspector General of Police Tek Prasad Rai said that the Home Ministry had proposed the recruitment of 120, 000 temporary police personnel for the two-tier elections taking place at once.  During the May 13 elections, 100, 000 temporary police personnel were deputed. The number of security personnel in the Federal and Province elections will increase, bearing in mind the possibility of the rise in the number of voters and polling centers, it is said. However, the Nepal Police awaits the endorsement of the proposal by the Home Ministry to go with further official procedures for the mobilization of security forces for the elections. Now the police are busy with the international preparations. Prior to this, in view of the polls, the police set up a Central Election Cell headed by Additional Inspector General Sahakul Bahadur Thapa and election cells required at its subordinate offices, and province and district level.  It plans to classify the polling stations as general, sensitive and most-sensitive zones and depute the security workforce accordingly. It has already demanded 1,494 motor vehicles, over 700 communications sets and a required quantity of arms from the Ministry for the elections.