Floods and landslides in Karnali render 10,500 people homeless
As many as 10,714 people have been rendered homeless due to the recent floods and landslides in Karnali Province. The Karnali Province Police Office Surkhet said that 5,282 people have become homeless due to the natural disaster in Mugu, followed by 1,763 in Kalikot district, 1725 in Jumla, 639 in Salyan, 566 in Surkhet, 474 in Humla, 207 in Dailekh, 25 in Dolpa, 18 in Jajarkot and 15 in Rukum West. One thousand seven hundred and twenty households have been displaced due to the floods and landslides. The Office said 723 households in Mugu, 368 in Jumla, 235 households in Kalikot, 139 in Surkhet, 127 in Salyan, 73 households in Humla, 44 in Dailekh, four households each in Dolpa and Rukum West and three households in Jajarkot have been displaced. Likewise, 36 persons have been killed in Karnali Province due to the floods and landslides triggered by incessant rains. Ten people lost their lives in Jumla, eight in Mugu, six in Kalikot, four in Humla, three each in Jajarkot and Salyan and one each in Dailekh and Dolpa. Twenty persons, including 17 in Kalikot and one each in Dailekh, Jumla and Dolpa, are missing due to the landslides and floods. Among the missing is also a Nepal Police constable. Similarly, 28 people in the province have sustained injuries due to the flood and landslide related incidents. The highest number of injured is in Kalikot. Ten persons have been injured in Kalikot. Similarly, six people have been injured in Humla, five each in Mugu and Jumla and one person each in Jajarkot and Rukum West. The Province Police Office stated that 1,140 houses have been completely damaged while 1,612 have suffered partial damage due to the flood and landslide. One thousand four hundred and seventy-seven households are at high risk from flood and landslide. The floods and landslides triggered by incessant rains for five days killed 246 cattle, including 251 in Mugu, 217 in Humla and 64 in Salyan district. Two thousand seven hundred and four police personnel were mobilized throughout the province for rescue and relief during the time of the natural disaster, the Office said.
Ukraine war: UN General Assembly condemns Russia annexation
The United Nations General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to condemn Russia's attempts to annex four regions of Ukraine, BBC reported.
The resolution was supported by 143 countries, while 35 states - including China and India - abstained.
As well as Russia, four countries rejected the vote, namely Belarus, North Korea, Syria and Nicaragua.
Although symbolic, it was the highest number of votes against Russia since the invasion.
Last week, in a grand ceremony in the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin signed documents to make the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson part of Russia.
The agreements were signed with the Moscow-installed leaders of the four regions, and came after self-proclaimed referendums in the areas that were denounced as a "sham" by the West.
The resolution calls on the international community not to recognise any of Russia's annexation claim and demands its "immediate reversal". It welcomes and "expresses its strong support" for efforts to de-escalate the conflict through negotiation.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was grateful to the countries that supported it.
"The world had its say - [Russia's] attempts at annexation is worthless and will never be recognised by free nations," he tweeted, adding that Ukraine would "return all its lands".
"The stakes of this conflict are clear to all, and the world has sent a clear message in response - Russia cannot erase a sovereign state from the map," he said, according to BBC.
Dame Barbara Woodward, Britain's ambassador to the UN, said Russia had failed on the battlefield and at the UN, adding that countries had united to defend the world body's charter.
The General Assembly vote was triggered after Russia used its veto power to prevent action at the Security Council - the body in charge of maintaining international peace and security. As permanent members, China, the United States, France and the United Kingdom also hold vetoes on the council, BBC reported.
There have been calls for Russia to be stripped of its veto power after the Ukraine invasion.
Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard needs 'headline writers' as pressure grows after Forest draw
Steven Gerrard says he needs his Aston Villa players to become "headline writers" if they are to improve on their disappointing early-season form, BBC reported.
Villa missed the opportunity to move up to ninth in the Premier League with Monday's 1-1 drawat Nottingham Forest.
While Villa are unbeaten in four, they have managed just seven goals from their nine top-flight matches so far.
"The important thing is how I get this team to be more potent," Villa boss Gerrard told Sky Sports.
"[For] Effort and application a lot of our play is OK until you get to a certain point. But look around the dressing room and you see [Philippe] Coutinho, [Emiliano] Buendia, [Ollie] Watkins, [Danny] Ings and [Leon] Bailey will be back soon.
"I need these players to step up and provide big moments and go and be headline writers for us."
Against Forest, Villa were reliant upon 37-year-old Ashley Young's superb strike to earn them a draw in an encounter where they struggled to create clear-cut opportunities despite having more than 60% possession.
Of their 12 efforts on goal, Watkins was the only other Villa player besides Young to find the target, and they rarely looked like adding to their tally from their 27 touches in the Forest penalty area.
"I don't think there was too much wrong with the performance up to a certain point," Gerrard added.
"It was a fantastic strike and it was one of a few moments of quality in the final third. Ashley [Young] is leading by example for us at the moment and we are really pleased with him.
"We are grinding at the moment. We are close to turning draws into wins, but to do that we need big players to step forward for us and give us a little more quality in the last bit of our play. In the last couple of games we are going away frustrated."
Nepal, Italy sign MoU establishing consultation mechanism
Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal and Ambassador of Italy to Nepal Vincenzo de Luca today signed a MoU on the Establishment of a Bilateral Consultation Mechanism between the two Foreign Ministries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in its twitter. The Mechanism will be an important platform for dialogue on a regular basis between the Ministries in further enhancing bilateral relations and promoting areas of cooperation, the Ministry said.
