Nepal shuts borders with India, China for 72 hours ahead of polls on Friday

 Nepal has shut its international borders with India and China for a period of 72 hours ahead of the local polls slated for Friday, according to the Home Ministry

Nepal has shut its international borders with India and China for a period of 72 hours ahead of the local polls slated for Friday, according to the Home Ministry. The government decided to shut the borders to prevent any untoward incidents during the polls which will be held in 753 local units, said the Ministry. Ministry spokesman Phanindra Mani Pokharel said that a directive has been issued to the respective administration offices of the districts bordering India and China to implement the recommendations.

The adjoining districts have been asked to halt all movements, except for emergency services, during the 72-hour period. Political parties are gearing up for Friday’s elections which come after a gap of five years. The ruling alliance, main opposition, CPN-UML, Madhes-based political parties are among contesting the polls. Nepal shares a 1,880-km border with India and a 1,414-km with China. Out of 77 districts, as many as 42 either share a border with India, China or both…Read More

California wildfire explodes, burning across 25 miles in day

A Northern California wildfire burning for more than three weeks roared to life after being stoked by high winds, spreading at a ferocious rate across an estimated 40 kilometres of mountainous terrain

A Northern California wildfire burning for more than three weeks roared to life after being stoked by high winds, spreading at a ferocious rate across an estimated 40 kilometres of mountainous terrain and parched foothills and destroying an untold number of homes. As thick smoke choked the air on Wednesday and cast an eerie orange hue across much of the region, thousands of people in communities near Oroville were ordered to evacuate. The fire even threatened the town of Paradise that was devastated just two years ago by the deadliest blaze in state history, causing a panic that led to a traffic jam as residents tried to escape.

Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the fire had conservatively burned about 1,036 square kilometers in 24 hours. “The unbelievable rates of spread now being observed on these fires it is historically unprecedented,” Swain tweeted. The North Complex fire was one of more than two dozen in the state, including three of five largest ever as wildfires burned across parts of the West amid gusty, dry conditions. Forecasters said some weather relief was in sight that could help firefighters overwhelmed by the blazes.

In Washington, more acres burned in a single day than firefighters usually see all year. Fires also forced people to flee homes in Oregon and Idaho. A blast of polar air helped slow wildfires in Colorado and Montana.Since the middle of August, fires in California have killed eight people, destroyed more than 3,600 structures, burned old growth redwoods, charred chaparral and forced evacuations in communities near the coast, in wine country and along the Sierra Nevada.

Iran issues arrest warrant for Trump in relation to Qasem Soleimani’s death

Iran has issued an arrest warrant for US President Donald Trump over the drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in January, CNN reported citing Iran's local media sources on Monday.

Iran has issued an arrest warrant for US President Donald Trump over the drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in January, CNN reported citing Iran's local media sources on Monday. According to Iran's semi-official Fars news agency, Trump is one of 36 people whom Iran has issued arrest warrants for in relation to the death of Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), but the Tehran attorney general Ali Alqasi Mehr said Trump was at the top of the list.

Mehr claimed that Trump would be prosecuted as soon as he stands down presidency after his term ends, Fars reported. Iran also said it had asked Interpol to issue a Red Notice for these 36 individuals, semi-official state news agency ISNA reported. \Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike at Baghdad International Airport in January along with five others, including Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Iran-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

The strike, condemned by Iran and its allies as an "assassination," raised the spectre of further regional destabilization. A spokesman for Iran's judiciary, Gholam-Hossein Esmaili, announced in early June that an Iranian citizen had been sentenced to death for allegedly working for foreign intelligence agencies. Esmaili claimed that Seyed Mahmoud Mousavi Majd disclosed the whereabouts of Soleimani to US intelligence officials...Read More