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The death toll from a suicide bombing at the Kaaj Educational Center in Afghanistan's capital Kabul has gone up to 43.  The casualty figures in Friday's college bombing in the Hazara neighbourhood are likely to rise further, as per the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Till now 43 persons have been killed and around 83 are wounded with girls and young women as the main victims. "Human toll from Friday's college bombing in Hazara neighborhood of Afghan capital continues to rise. 43 killed. 83 wounded. Girls & young women are the main victims.  Casualty figures likely to rise further. Verification process continues by UNAMA human rights teams in Kabul," tweeted UNAMA.  Earlier, on Friday the blast occurred in the 13th security area of Kabul, Taliban spokesperson Abdul Nafee Takour was quoted as saying by TOLO news.  There are multiple media reports claiming that about 100 students of the institute have been killed in the attack, however, the UNAMA said that its human rights teams in Kabul are helping to establish an accurate record of the college attack in the Hazara neighborhood. Earlier, a number of women from Afghanistan's minority Hazara community on Saturday protested in Kabul against the terror attack at the Kaaj Educational Center. The women protestors dressed in black chanted slogans against the genocide of minorities and demanded their rights, Pajhwok Afghan News reported.  This explosion comes a few days after a blast was reported near the Wazir Akbar Khan area of Kabul that sparked a global outcry. The recent blast outside the Russian Embassy in Kabul was also condemned in the strongest terms.  This series of blasts come as the Taliban completed one year of its rule in Afghanistan following the ouster of the US-backed civilian government last year. Rights groups said the Taliban had broken multiple pledges to respect human and women's rights. Meanwhile, the Taliban on Monday shot into the crowd of young girls who were peacefully protesting in Herat to demand their right to go to school.  "Young girls were peacefully protesting in Herat today to demand their right to go to school & the Taliban began shooting into the crowd. Don't abandon the women of Afghanistan. Be their voice. Innocent lives are being lost because we choose to be silent," tweeted Shabnam Nasimi, Policy Special Advisor to former UK Minister for Afghan Resettlement and Minister for Refugees.  After capturing Kabul in August last year, the Islamic authorities imposed severe restrictions on women's and girls' rights, suppressed the media, and arbitrarily detained, tortured, and summarily executed critics and perceived opponents.  Rights groups say that the Taliban's human rights abuses have brought widespread condemnation and imperiled international efforts to address the country's dire humanitarian situation. (ANI)

Two persons who died in a bus accident in Hetauda have been identified. Tek Bahadur Karki, spokesperson of District Police Office Makwanpur informed that the deceased are 60-year-old Dilli  Bahadur Darzi, who lives near Damak-5 Model Campus in Jhapa, and 51-year-old Kalpana Rajwanshi, who lives in Belbari Municipality-8 of Morang. The bus number Na 7 Kha 2032, which was going from Kathmandu to Damak, got out of control and had an accident last night at Hetauda sub-metropolis-15 section of Makwanpur. 36 people on the bus were injured in the accident. 30 of the injured have been discharged after treatment. District Police Office Makwanpur said that two injured persons have been sent to Kathmandu and three persons to Bharatpur for further treatment. One person is being treated in Hetauda.

At least 1,695 people were killed while 12,865 were injured so far (October 2) since mid-June due to the devastating floods and rains in Pakistan, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Sunday.  Pakistan has endured severe monsoon weather since mid-June 2022, causing widespread flooding and landslides with severe repercussions on human lives, property, agriculture, and infrastructure. To date, 81 districts across five of Pakistan's six provinces have been declared 'calamity hit' by the Government of Pakistan—with Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces being the worst hit.  As of mid-September, 33m people had been affected, at least 1,481 persons have died, over 12,720 people have been injured and an estimated 7.6 million persons may be temporarily displaced. The floods have also caused the damage and destruction of 1.8 million houses, with 1.5 million houses in Sindh province alone. Meanwhile, the United Nations is set to launch another appeal this week for an additional $600m to Pakistan to help the country recover from the impact of the record-breaking floods. "2nd Follow-up meeting of Steering Committee for Coordination Regarding International Assistance for Flood Relief Activities, chaired by Mr Humair Karim, Acting Secretary EAD to discuss mapping of humanitarian assistance and relief efforts," Pakistan's Economic Affairs Division (EAD) said in a tweet.  "The UN is in process of launching a Revised Humanitarian Appeal on 4th of Oct in which additional USD 600 million will be asked for immediate relief assistance," it added. The Dawn newspaper reported that Pakistan EAD Secretary Humair Karim informed donors and relief agencies that the UN would launch the revised humanitarian appeal on October 4 for $600m additional aid.  Earlier, the UN launched a flash appeal in August for $160m assistance for flood relief support. Karim said the grant was not considered enough in the face of the unprecedented devastation. Since the start of the floods, the number of houses destroyed has doubled and the number of houses damaged has increased by an estimated 63 percent With no designated places to take shelter, a considerable part of the population has been displaced and an estimated 575,000 people live in relief camps.  Community infrastructure such as roads, bridges, schools, and health facilities have also been destroyed by the floods. Damaged houses and infrastructure, crowded living space and sub-standard living conditions for those displaced have exposed a large population to water-borne diseases and hindered access to safe and clean water.  It is estimated that 20 percent of water systems are damaged in Khyber Pallitunkhwa, 30 percent in Balochistan, and up to 50 percent in the hardest hit areas of Sindh and Punjab provinces. With 3.5 million acres of crops devastated and over 936,000 livestock lost, people have also seen their livelihoods affected. (ANI)

Hilaree Nelson, an American ski mountaineer received Buddhist cremation at Swayambhunath Temple, a famous Buddhist site in Kathmandu, on Sunday afternoon. She had fallen into a crevasse while skiing down the peak of Mt. Manaslu with her partner, Jim Morrison, on Sept 26. The 49-year-old was hit by an avalanche on her way back to the base. Her body was brought to Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu. "It should be a beautiful tribute which Hilaree's family and I feel this is how she would want things performed," her partner Morrison wrote on his Instagram. ‘It’s truly a necessity to have a passion as a compass in life’ was Nelson’s philosophy and she lived by it. Passionate about mountaineering, she had climbed many peaks all over the world. She was the first female to summit two 8000-meter peaks (Everest and Lhotse) in 24 hours. Nelson was named one of Men’s Journal’s ‘Top 25 Most Adventurous Women in the Last 25 Years’ as well as one of National Geographic’s ‘Adventurers of the Year in 2018’. In 2018, Nelson and her partner also performed the first ski descent of the Dream Line on Lhotse. It was one of the boldest runs of all time. “She was pretty attached to Nepal,” says Jiwan Ghimire, her best friend. “She was a mountaineering enthusiast, and the high peaks of Nepal always had her rushing back after her first visit in 2005,’’ he adds. Nelson started skiing when she was three years old. She was a mother of two and the current North Face Global Athletic Team Captain in Telluride, Colorado.