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Nick Kyrgios won tennis’s latest Battle of the Sexes against Aryna Sabalenka in a dispiriting contest in Dubai that veered uneasily between exhibition, gimmick and outright circus, The Guardian reported. 

The Australian, who has won only one competitive singles match since the end of 2022 and has slipped to 671 in the world rankings, was sweating heavily and breathing hard as early as the fifth game of the match. Yet to no one’s great surprise, the extreme power of his serve, combined with the spin and velocity of his groundstrokes, proved too much for the women’s No 1 player.

“It was a really tough match,” the 30-year-old Kyrgios insisted after his 6-3, 6-3 victory. “ I didn’t know what to expect. She broke my serve numerous times and honestly she was hitting some amazing shots. She is a hell of a competitor. It could have gone either way," according to The Guardian. 

Two popular leaders have formed an alliance ahead of March parliamentary elections in Nepal that will challenge the older parties which have dominated the Himalayan nation's politics for over three decades, party officials and analysts said on Monday, Reuters reported. 

Rapper turned-Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah, known as Balen, a popular elected official, joined the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) or national independent party, led by a former TV host-turned politician Rabi Lamichhane on Sunday, party officials said.

They said under the agreement with RSP, 35-year old Balen will become the prime minister if the RSP wins the March 5 elections while Lamichhane, 48, will remain the party chief.

Both have vowed to address the demands raised during the "Gen Z" or youth-led protests against widespread corruption in September in which 77 people were killed and led to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigning, according to Reuters. 

Sixteen people have been killed and three left injured after a fire tore through a nursing home for elderly residents in northern Indonesia, local authorities say, BBC reported. 

The fire department was alerted to a fire at Damai retirement home in the city of Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, on Sunday night at around 20:30 local time (12:30 GMT).

Many victims were found inside their rooms, the city's fire and rescue agency chief Jimmy Rotinsulu told news agency AFP, adding that they were likely elderly residents who were resting for the evening when the fire broke out, according to BBC. 

Political parties, including major ones, are preparing to submit their closed lists of candidates for the Proportional Representation (PR) system under the House of Representatives (HoR) election–2082 BS today, which is the second and final day for submission.

According to the schedule released by the Election Commission (EC), the submission of PR lists began on Sunday. 

While several smaller parties submitted their lists on the first day, major parties such as the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML,  Nepali Communist Party (NCP), and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) are expected to submit their lists today. These parties have scheduled internal meetings before formally approaching the EC.

Political parties must submit supporting documents along with the lists, including confirmation that candidates’ names appear on the voter list, their voter ID numbers, and copies of citizenship certificates.

EC Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said that scrutiny of the lists submitted on December 28 and 29 will take place from December 30 to January 4. If corrections are required, parties will be allowed to make adjustments between January 5 and 11. Verification of the lists will be conducted from January 12 to 17. The preliminary closed list will be published on January 18, while the final list is scheduled for publication on February 3.

A total of 100 political parties, using 93 election symbols, have applied to participate in the PR system. Each party is required to submit a list containing between 11 and 110 candidates.

For the HoR elections scheduled for March 5, the number of registered voters stands at 18,903,689. Voters will cast their votes using two separate ballots: one for the direct election and another for the proportional representation system.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 600 per tola in the domestic market on Monday. 

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 270, 000 per tola today.  It was traded at Rs 270, 600 per tola on Sunday. 

The price of silver, however, has increased by Rs 60 and is being traded at Rs 4, 895 per tola.

AC Milan beat Hellas Verona 3-0 on Sunday to leapfrog leaders Inter and provisionally move top of the standings thanks to a brace from Christopher Nkunku as the French forward opened his Serie A account for the season, Reuters reported. 

Christian Pulisic scored the opener in first-half added time from a corner after Verona stubbornly held the home side at bay before Nkunku scored twice in five minutes for his first brace in over a year.

Victory in their final game of the year moved Milan to 35 points -- two points clear of derby rivals Inter, who face Atalanta away later on Sunday. Verona remain 18th, according to Reuters. 

Archie Gray's first senior goal gave Tottenham Hotspur a vital 1-0 Premier League win at Crystal Palace on Sunday, ending Spurs' poor away run and easing pressure on their manager Thomas Frank, Reuters reported. 

Spurs thought they were ahead against the run of play when Richarlison tapped in Pedro Porro's inviting cross, but the goal was disallowed for offside.

Jean-Philippe Mateta should have put Palace in front but headed over from close range after Maxence Lacroix nodded a free kick across the face of goal, according to Reuters. 

Lautaro Martinez scored to give Inter Milan an important 1-0 win at Atalanta on Sunday, sending his side into the New Year at the top of Serie A, Reuters reported. 

Inter lead a tightly contested league table on 36 points, one clear of city rivals AC Milan and two ahead of Napoli.

Marcus Thuram appeared to have fired Inter into the lead just before the interval, but the goal was ruled out after an offside by Martinez in the build-up, according to Reuters.