Nepalinews

MADRID:  Real Madrid’s high-profile ‘BBC’ forward line has come in for criticism this season and while some of their team mates have defended the old guard, the club’s new generation are doing the heavy lifting for Zinedine Zidane’s team. That was again the case on Sunday as Madrid beat Eibar 3-0, with Karim Benzema dropped to the bench for 21-year-old Marco Asensio, who forced an own goal and scored Real’s second, while in-form playmaker Isco, 25, dominated in midfield. Gareth Bale is still out injured and Real’s all-time top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo struggled to get involved in the game up front but, thanks to the contributions of Asensio and fellow Spain international Isco, it did not matter. Benzema bore the brunt of the criticism after being panned for his display against Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League on Tuesday, but the France forward at least set up Madrid’s third goal, finished by Marcelo. “If I talk about my team mates, I will defend them to the dea

MILAN:  Juventus midfielder Sami Khedira grabbed a hat-trick as the Serie A champions came from behind to thump Udinese 6-2 away on Sunday despite playing for more than an hour with 10 men. Big-spending AC Milan were also a man down before the half hour at home to lowly Genoa after their captain Leonardo Bonucci was sent off for elbowing — but their game ended in a 0-0 draw. Lazio kept pace with third-placed Juve on 22 points from nine games after Ciro Immobile scored twice in a 3-0 win over Cagliari to take his tally to 13 league goals this season. Napoli lead the standings with 25 points after Saturday’s 0-0 draw at home to second-placed Inter Milan, who have 23. Hapless Benevento became the first side in Serie A history to lose their first nine games of the season as they were sunk 3-0 at home by Fiorentina, while fifth-placed AS Roma recorded their 11th successive away league win, 1-0 at Torino. Juve, who had taken one point from their previous two games, went beh

KATHMANDU:  International media have reported that few Nepali banks have become latest to fall victim to hackers siphoning off millions of dollars by targeting the backbone of the world financial system, SWIFT. SWIFT, or Society for Worldwide Interbank Telecommunication, is a global financial messaging system that thousands of banks and commercial organisations across the world use to transfer billions of dollars every day. It has been learned that the concerned authorities of the banks have already requested the Nepal Rastra Bank to initiate the cancellation of transfer of funds with the Central Banks of other countries where the money have already been transferred of lately. The incident occurred on the day of Laxmi Puja during the Tihar Festival. Meanwhile, it has not been clear, how, where and how much money have been transferred from Nepali banks. It has been learned that NIC Asia Bank among others’ SWIFT codes have been hacked by unknown hackers by using malware

The government has begun the process to distribute embossed number plates for vehicles on the basis of provincial structure against the current zonal format. This means that vehicles will now be issued embossed number plates based on the province they are registered in. Tok Raj Pandey, spokesperson for Department of Transport Management (DoTM), said that a proposal has been sent to the Cabinet to start distribution of embossed number plates for vehicles under the provincial format. DoTM had begun installing embossed number plates on vehicles belonging to the government and diplomatic agencies from August 20. However, the then Development Committee of the Legislature-Parliament had directed the government to introduce provincial format for the distribution of embossed number plates over the zonal format as the country has already adopted provincial and federal system of governance. “Following the direction from the parliamentary committee, we have made necessary amendments

BEIRUT:  Amid an anti-gay crackdown in  Egypt  since a rainbow flag was hoisted at a Cairo concert, gay dating apps are sending users tips on how to protect themselves from entrapment. The flag was raised last month at a concert headlined by Mashrou’ Leila, a Lebanese rock band whose singer is openly gay. It was a rare public show of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in the conservative Muslim country, and was met with a swift zero-tolerance response. Since then nearly 70 people have been arrested, and more than 20 have been handed sentences ranging from six months to six years, according to Dalia Abdel Hameed of the rights group  Egypt ian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). US-based gay dating apps, like Grindr and Hornet, used by millions globally, have provided  Egypt ian users with extra safety tips in Arabic. “It will make people take more precautions … we know that the police are under pressure to arrest people and they are goi

TOKYO:  Fresh off a decisive election victory, Japan’s leader pledged Monday to tackle what he called Japan’s two national crises: the military threat from North Korea and an aging and shrinking population. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a news conference that he is committed to protect the Japanese people’s prosperity and peace from any contingency. He also referred to Japanese people who were abducted years ago and are believed to still be held by North Korea. “I will pursue decisive and strong diplomacy to tackle North Korea’s missile, nuclear and abduction issues and put further pressure to get it to change its policy,” he said. His ruling coalition got voters’ endorsement to stay in power in elections for Japan’s more powerful lower house Sunday. Abe said Japan’s decreasing population and aging is “the biggest challenge” for his Abenomics policy aimed at Japan’s economic recovery from deflation. “The problem is progressing by the minute, and we cannot afford wai

KATHMANDU:  The government has decided to appoint Secretary Lok Darshan Regmi as the Chief Secretary. A meeting of the Council of Ministers held at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), Singha Durbar today promoted Home Secretary Regmi to the post of Chief Secretary. Now, he serves as the 24th chief secretary of the government. He was promoted to secretary four years ago in 2013. Incumbent Chief Secretary Rajendra Kishor Chhetri is retiring Tuesday due to age-limit. Talking to mediapersons following the meeting, Spokesperson for the government and Minister for Information and Communications Mohan Bahadur Basnet said the meeting also decided to install Shankar Prasad Adhikari to the post of Secretary at the Ministry of Finance. Likewise, Naindra Prasad Upadhyay has been installed as the Secretary at the Public Service Commission, Madhu Prasad Regmi as the Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Mohan Krishna Sapkota as the Secretary at the Ministry

KATHMANDU:  A total of 41 women candidates are contesting in the first round of elections to the House of Representatives and State Assemblies, in 32 districts scheduled for November 26. Of them, 18 women are contesting in the House of Representatives and the rest in the State Assemblies. According to the Election Commission, a total of 323 members would be elected in the House of Representatives and 484 in the State Assemblies. As per the latest details received from the Joint Election Operation Centre, 103 women candidates from the Nepali Congress, 62 from the CPN-UML and 49 from the CPN-Maoist Centre have filed their candidacies. Similarly, 81 women candidates from the Naya Shakti Party Nepal, 55 from Federal Socialist Forum Nepal, 43 from Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Democratic), 24 from Jana Samajbadi Party Nepal, 38 from United Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Nationalist) and Mongol National Organisation are contesting in the elections to the House of Representatives a

NEW YORK:  A Japanese software company is suing Apple Inc in a US court over the trademark for the term “animoji”, alleging the US technology company stole the name to use on a feature of its iPhone X. Tokyo-based Emonster kk sued Apple on Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, saying it holds the US trademark on the term animoji and that Apple’s use of the word is a “textbook case” of deliberate infringement.An Apple spokesman declined to comment. Apple’s animoji feature allow users to animate the facial expressions of emojis using facial recognition technology. It will be included on the iPhone X which is scheduled for release in November. Phil Schiller, Apple’s chief marketing officer, touted the animoji feature during the iPhone X launch event on Sept 12, calling it a “great experience” for communicating with family and friends. Emonster chief executive Enrique Bonansea launched an animated texting app in 2014 called Animoji and registered a trademark on the produ

NEW YORK:  Kate del Castillo says she just “wants closure” and is hoping to get it from the release of her new three-part docuseries “The Day I Met El Chapo,” now on Netflix. The documentary tells del Castillo’s version of events surrounding a 2015 meeting with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, a Mexican drug lord who at the time was hiding from authorities. He’s since been captured and extradited to the US and is awaiting trial. When del Castillo met with Guzman, she said it was with the intent to make a film about his life. She brought along two film producers and actor Sean Penn, who went on to write an article for Rolling Stone magazine about the encounter. Since then, del Castillo and Penn have clashed over their accounts of what happened. Del Castillo also suggests that Penn tipped off authorities to the meeting which ultimately led to Guzman’s capture. Penn, through publicist Mark Fabiani, describes del Castillo’s efforts as “nothing but a cheap National Enquirer-esque

MADRID:  A controversial Gerard Deulofeu strike sent  Barcelona  on their way to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Malaga on Saturday as they stretched their lead at the top of La Liga. In the second minute at the Nou Camp, the ball clearly ran out of play before Lucas Digne crossed for Deulofeu, who flicked it in with a superb backheel, leaving Malaga irate. Barcelona  struggled to break the visitors down as they searched for a second, which came in the 56th minute when captain Andres Iniesta fired a deflected strike home. Luis Suarez missed a golden opportunity as the Catalans failed to score a third but still moved four points clear of second-placed Valencia, who beat Sevilla 4-0. “For me it’s legal. I believed it (stayed on), that’s why I continued,” Deulofeu said on Spanish television afterwards. In the wake of protests in the city following the Spanish government’s move to reduce the autonomy of Catalonia, the atmosphere was charged. However things were much quie

SEOUL:  South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in said on Sunday the government will continue to phase out nuclear-generated electricity, following a public opinion survey that dealt a blow to his plans to do so. “We will completely stop all plans for the construction of new nuclear reactors like the government previously stated,” Moon said in a statement distributed to reporters by his office.“The government will also step up usage of natural gas and renewables in order to maintain its stance of phasing out nuclear-generated power.” Moon’s statement came after a public opinion survey on Friday found a majority of almost 60 percent in favour of resuming the stalled construction of two reactors. The president asked his supporters on Sunday to respect the outcome of the survey, which he called a “wise and intelligent” response. Completing the two reactors could mean a reversal of a strategy to slowly reduce nuclear energy’s share of the power mix, and also significantly eat into th

BERLIN:  Champions  Bayern  Munich continued their winning run under new coach Jupp Heynckes with a 1-0 victory at Hamburg SV on Saturday to join leaders Borussia Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga. Corentin Tolisso fired in the winner in the 52nd minute after some sloppy defending from 10-man Hamburg to lift them to 20 points, level with Dortmund who let a two-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 at Eintracht Frankfurt. Bayern , who twice hit the post, found it hard going against a spirited Hamburg side but once Gideon Jung was sent off with a straight red card in the 38th minute, the visitors gradually found more space. Tolisso snatched the winner seven minutes after the restart as Heynckes, who took charge earlier this month after Carlo Ancelotti was sacked, made it three wins in three games in all competitions since taking over. “You could see Hamburg were very motivated and were fighting hard,” Heynckes told reporters. “We struggled from the start and we did not keep the

LJUBLJANA:  Polls opened in the Slovenian presidential election on Sunday with incumbent President Borut Pahor running for his second five-year mandate against eight other candidates. Opinion polls had shown that Pahor, who is running as an independent and says his main task is bringing people together, will win most votes but the question remains whether there will be a need for a second election round. If no candidate wins at least 50 percent of votes in the first round, the two candidates with the most votes will compete in a second round on November 12. Apart from Pahor, the most likely candidate to get into the second round is the mayor of Kamnik Marjan Sarec, who is backed by his own non-parliamentary centre-left party Lista Marjana Sarca, opinion polls showed. “A lot will depend upon turnout, upon whether young people will come to vote. In this case Pahor would benefit as he is the king of the Instagram and is therefore more likely to get votes of the young,” Tan