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Minister for Communications and Information Technology Jagadish Kharel has expressed confidence that all political parties will participate in the House of Representatives (HoR) elections scheduled for March 5.

Addressing a program at Kalinag Secondary School in Kalinchowk-8 in Dolakha district on Sunday, Minister Kharel said that a favourable environment for polls has been created, adding that this message should be spread across the country.

"The major responsibility of this government is to hold elections. The government is ready for holding polls and all political parties are taking part," Kharel added.

Likewise, Minister Kharel stated that the government was working to maintain good governance in the country. 

This government has accorded priority to the tasks of good governance by curbing corruption, according to Kharel.

The Supreme Court has ordered the release of Durga Prasai from custody while hearing a writ of habeas corpus filed by his son, Nirajan.

A bench of Justices Nahakul Subedi and Shrikant Poudel issued the order on Sunday. Prasai was arrested from his residence at midnight on Nov 18 on charges of making statements that allegedly disturbed public peace.

In its ruling, the Court noted that legal representatives had informed the bench of a new agreement to conduct the Mahaabhiyan program of which Prasai is a part in a peaceful manner.

Given this changed context, the Court stated that the basis for continuing the investigation or keeping Prasai in custody no longer existed.

As a result, the Supreme Court nullified the arrest warrant and all related investigative procedures, including the extension of custody.

The bench ordered that a writ of habeas corpus be issued, directing authorities to immediately release Prasai from what it described as “illegal detention.”

Police have arrested a prisoner, who had escaped from the Chitwan prison during the September 8-9 Gen-Z protests, from Jhapa. 

According to police, Ashish Subba (29) of Shivasatakshi Municipality–8 was arrested from his house on Sunday. Subba had been in custody for investigations in a pangolin trafficking case.

The Area Police Office in Jhiljhile shared that Subba would be sent to the Chitwan prison. 

Six years since its establishment, the Social Security Fund has collected a total of Rs 95.44 billion from its contributors.

According to the Fund, the amount was collected from its 2.64 million plus contributors of 22,309 listed enterprises.

Likewise, the Fund has settled the claims of Rs 17.64 billion so far.

 As shared by the Fund, Rs 2.51 billion was paid for medical expenses, Rs 228.6 million for accidents and disabilities, and Rs 290.7 million from the dependent family security scheme.

It shared that more than Rs 14.6 billion was paid for the retirement claim scheme.   

Effectiveness of the Fund has improved as the foreign migrant workers should mandatorily participate in the contribution-based social security system.

The Physical Infrastructure Reconstruction Fund received Rs 10.1 million from Life Insurance Corporation Nepal on Sunday.

Chief Executive Officer of LIC Nepal Pranaya Kumar handed over a cheque of the amount to Finance Minister Rameshwor Prasad Khanal.   

The Fund is established by the government for the reconstruction of physical structures damaged from arson and vandalism during the Gen-Z protests that happened on September 8 and 9.

Likewise, the employees of F1 Soft International, E-Sewa and Fonepay Payment Service Limited contributed Rs 7.5 million to the Fund. 

Chairman of F1Soft Group Siddhantha Thakuri handed over the bank cheque to Minister Khanal on November 19.  

The Fund has received Rs 93 million as of Sunday, Spokesperson of Finance Ministry Tanka Prasad Pandey said. 

A bank account, 1960100102070004, has been opened at Rastriya Banijya Bank, Singha Durbar branch for the reconstruction fund.

The government has established the Physical Infrastructure Reconstruction Fund for the reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure, economic recovery, and relief operations. 

The government has also appealed to the provincial and local governments, the private sector, Nepali and foreign citizens, the non-resident Nepali community, friendly nations, development partners, and international organizations to extend their support in this campaign for reconstruction.

Israel's military has killed a senior member of the militant group Hezbollah in an air strike on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, despite a ceasefire, BBC reported.

It described Haitham Ali al-Tabtabai, Hezbollah's chief of staff, as a veteran of the group who had held a series of senior positions.

Lebanon's health ministry said at least five people were killed and 28 others wounded in the strike, which hit an apartment building in the densely populated Dahieh district, according to BBC.

A "tremendous amount of progress" has been achieved in talks to finalise a US-proposed peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, BBC reported.

But "there's still some work to be done", Rubio said after meeting Ukrainian and European negotiators in Geneva, Switzerland.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there were "signals that President [Donald] Trump's team is hearing us".

The United States is poised to launch a new phase of Venezuela-related operations in the coming days, four US officials told Reuters, as the Trump administration escalates pressure on President Nicolas Maduro's government, Reuters reported.

Reuters was not able to establish the exact timing or scope of the new operations, nor whether US President Donald Trump had made a final decision to act. Reports of looming action have proliferated in recent weeks as the US military has deployed forces to the Caribbean amid worsening relations with Venezuela.

Two of the US officials said covert operations would likely be the first part of the new action against Maduro. All four officials quoted in this article spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of impending action by the United States, according to Reuters.