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Martyr Shukraraj Shashtri was remembered on the first day of Martyrs Week today. A program was held at local Pachali of Teku where Shashtri attained martyrdom during the then Rana regime for his fight for democracy. The program was organized by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office. Martyrs’ Week is observed from Magh 10-16 in the Nepali month each year in commemoration to all those people who sacrificed their lives to devolve the State power confined to the certain families to the people. Kathmandu Metropolis mayor Balendra Shah, deputy-mayor Sunita Dangol and metropolis chief administrative officer Basanta Adhikari among others laid wreaths on the statue of Shashtri on the occasion. Shastri, who was born in Benares, India in 1950 BS, completed his primary education in Dehradun, India. After he came back to Nepal, Shastri got involved in the movement against the tyrannical Rana regime. He was arrested on the charge of speaking against the Rana rule in a people’s gathering at local Indra Chowk on Mangsir 13, 1994 BS. After three years, he was executed on Magh 10, 1997 BS by hanging from a tree at Pachali. Dharmabhakta Mathema, Ganga Lal Shrestha and Dashrath Chand, the noted fighters for democracy, were executed subsequently on different dates.  

The outbreak of measles, an acute viral respiratory illness, has gripped Banke district. Out of eight local levels in the district, 265 persons have been found infected with the virus in five local levels. A child has died of measles in Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City. Minister of Health and Population of federal government Padam Giri visited the measles-affected areas of Nepalgunj and met the families of the patients. “The minister met the family member of the deceased. He said he would take a special initiative to take the measles under control in Nepal,” Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City Health Branch Chief Ram Bahadur Chand said, adding, “There is a slim chance of virus spreading as more people than the target group have been vaccinated against measles and rubella. Vaccination focal person of the District Health Office Naresh Shrestha said that six children of Nepalgunj ward-7 were found infected with the virus for the first time on December 27. A two-year-old child of Nepalgunj -5 died of measles on January 4. By that time, only 36 persons were infected with the measles in Nepalgunj. The concerned authority started administering vaccines against the measles from January 6. A person was found infected with the virus in Khajura Rural Municipality on January 8. The authority also started administering vaccines to the people in the rural municipality from January 17. A person infected with the measles was also found in Nainpur Rural Municipality on January 18. According to the District Health Office, 265 persons have been found infected with measles in five local levels of the district. Nepalgunj alone has 205 patients.  

Nine people were killed in a mass shooting in the city of Monterey Park, California, late on Saturday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said, Reuters reported.

“Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide detectives are responding to assist Monterey Park Police Department with a shooting death investigation. There are nine deceased,” the department said in a brief statement.

“There is no additional information available at this time.”

The department said the suspect was male, but it was not clear if he was still at large.

The shooting took place after 10 p.m. (0600 GMT on Sunday) around the location of a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration held in Monterey Park, U.S. media reported.

Footage posted on social media showed injured people on stretchers being taken to ambulances by emergency staff. Around the scene of the shooting – reported to have been at a dance club – police guarded cordoned-off streets, the video showed.

“Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones tonight in our neighboring city, Monterey Park, where a mass shooting just occurred,” Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a tweet, according to Reuters.

Tens of thousands of people had attended the festival earlier in the day.

The Los Angeles Times quoted the owner of a nearby restaurant as saying that people who sought shelter in his property told him there was a man with a machine gun in the area.

Seung Won Choi told the newspaper that he believed the shooting took place at a dance club.

Monterey Park is a city in Los Angeles county, around 7 miles (11 km) from downtown Los Angeles, Reuters reported.