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The International Republican Institute (IRI), a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to advancing democracy and freedom globally, is deploying a delegation of international election observers to Kathmandu, Nepal, from March 1 to 7, 2026, to assess the conduct of the March 5 House of Representatives election.

This high-level mission, comprised of international policy and elections experts, will arrive in Kathmandu on March 1 to meet with a broad range of stakeholders, including the Election Commission, political parties, Interim Government officials, and civic organizations from across the Nepali political spectrum.

“Nepal’s House of Representatives election will be a critical test of whether its young democracy can respond to citizens’ demands for accountability, generational renewal, and more responsive governance,” said Steve Cima, IRI’s Resident Program Director for Asia-Pacific.  “The outcome will help determine whether the country can restore public trust in its institutions and move toward greater political stability.”

The delegation’s report, which will offer an impartial assessment of the quality and conduct of electoral processes, including thematic findings and recommendations from the pre-election period and election day administration, will be released in the weeks following the elections.

Since 1983, IRI has organized over 270 international election observation missions worldwide, earning a reputation for objectivity and professionalism. The mission will conduct its activities in accordance with the laws of Nepal and the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and the Code of Conduct adopted by the United Nations in 2005. All activities will be conducted on a strictly nonpartisan basis and without interfering in the electoral process.

Israel carried out heavy airstrikes on the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut on Monday, after the Iran-backed group launched missiles and drones towards Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Reuters reported. 

More than a dozen explosions rocked Beirut, witnesses said, in the most intensive strikes on the southern suburbs since a war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2024.

Lebanese security sources said airstrikes hit several areas of the southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, according to Reuters. 

Israel launched a new wave of strikes on Tehran on Sunday and Iran responded with more missile barrages, a day after the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei pitched the Middle East and the global economy into deepening uncertainty, Reuters reported. 

U.S. and Israeli strikes - and Iranian retaliation - sent shockwaves worldwide through sectors from shipping to air travel to oil, amid warnings of rising energy costs and disruption to business in the Gulf region.

The Israeli military said it had intercepted projectiles that were launched from Lebanon early Monday morning, in what could be the first sign of Lebanon's Shi'ite Muslim armed group Hezbollah, long one of Tehran's principal allies in the Middle East, entering the conflict, according to Reuters. 

The U.S. military announced on Sunday the first American casualties of President Donald Trump's intensifying attack on Iran, as a new poll showed only one in four Americans supported strikes against the Middle Eastern country, Reuters reported. 

As the conflict entered its second day, Trump said 48 Iranian leaders had been killed and that the U.S. military had started sinking Iran's Navy, destroying nine Iranian warships so far and "going after the rest."

U.S. aircraft and warships have struck more than 1,000 Iranian targets since Trump ordered the start to major combat operations on Saturday, the U.S. military said. The strikes include B-2 stealth bombers dropping 2,000-lb bombs on hardened, underground Iranian missile facilities, according to Reuters. 

Airlines are continuing to cancel and divert flights in the Middle East after the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran, BBC reported. 

Flights in and out of airports in Tel Aviv, Dubai, Doha and other international hubs in the region have been suspended. 

The UK Foreign Office is warning British citizens against all but essential travel to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Those already there have been advised to shelter.

Iran has launched attacks on the Gulf states as part its retaliation to US and Israeli strikes which began early on Saturday. Long-haul travel is being affected more widely, with Heathrow urging travellers to check with their airlines, according to BBC. 

Voter education program conducted by the Election Commission across the country with the objective of educating the importance of elections and the voting process and reducing invalid votes has been completed.

The Commission had conducted the voter education program in all 6,743 wards across the country. 

The voter education program which began on February 15 was completed on Sunday in all wards of 753 local levels across the country. 

Voter education volunteers were mobilized in every ward for the voter education program.

Election Commissioner Dr Janaki Kumari Tuladhar said that the program was completed through volunteers reaching out to voters at their doorsteps. 

She also praised the contribution of female community health volunteers, who made the targeted program successful.

Health volunteers have been given the responsibility to provide voter education since the 2079 BS general elections. 

For the purpose of the voter education program, the commission had also appointed the focal points at the local level, who served as monitors of the election voter education program and conducted orientation.

Holi, one of the major festivals observed in Nepal, is being celebrated in the hilly parts of the country today.

The festival of goodwill and harmony will be celebrated in Tarai tomorrow.

Also called Phagu Poornima, people celebrate this festival by smearing colorful powders and throwing colored water at each other while dancing and singing.

People of all ages, old and young as well as children participate in the festival.

Since age-old times, the Holi festival has been observed as a celebration of the victory of truth over falsehood.

As it is celebrated by one and all, the Holi festival has contributed to minimizing inequality and discrimination in the society.

Meanwhile, President Ram Chandra Paudel has wished that the Holi festival provides further inspiration to eradicate various types of distortions, anomalies and evil customs existing in the society, to protect and promote the indigenous culture and to maintain mutual harmony in the country.

President Paudel said that the Holi festival, which is celebrated with joy and happiness to celebrate the victory of truth over falsehood, justice over injustice, virtue over vice, and religion over unrighteousness, has a tradition of renouncing enmity and expressing goodwill and having fun with relatives and friends by applying colors and paints to each other with love and intimacy.

Vice President Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav, National Assembly Chairperson Narayan Prasad Dahal, former President Bidya Devi Bhandari, former Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, and other leaders have, in separate statements, also extended their best wishes to all those celebrating the festival today and tomorrow.

Inspector General of Police Dan Bahadur Karki has emphasized that police personnel should view the House of Representatives (HoR) election as a national commitment and fulfill their responsibilities with a collective sense of duty to guarantee a peaceful election. 

While addressing police staff today through audio-visual means about the security measures to be implemented before, during, and after the election, as well as current issues, he urged them to remember their obligations to the nation. 

Furthermore, he instructed them to be stationed in their designated areas with strategies developed from an analysis of security concerns.

 Inspector General of Police Karki highlighted the necessity for dependable security plans and the importance of ongoing coordination and collaboration with other security agencies.