Submit your Article

Newcastle United secured a third successive Champions League victory with Dan Burn and Joelinton both on target in a 2-0 defeat of injury-plagued Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

England defender Burn curled in a majestic header after 11 minutes and Joelinton doubled the Premier League club's lead shortly after the restart with another header as Newcastle moved into the top eight in the table with nine points.

Despite a host of injuries that left them without eight first-team players including Spain international Nico Williams, Athletic did cause plenty of problems for Eddie Howe's side, according to Reuters.

Last year's finalists Inter Milan had to battle before beating Kairat Almaty 2-1 at the San Siro on Wednesday, with the Italians keeping their perfect record in this season's Champions League despite conceding their first goal of the competition, Reuters reported.

Inter are on 12 points after four games, alongside Bayern Munich and Arsenal, while Kairat remain on one point despite a brave performance which almost paid off.

Kairat had lost 5-0 to Real Madrid and 4-1 to Sporting and, after Inter had racked up nine goals in three games this looked the perfect chance for Cristian Chivu's side to improve their goal difference even further, according to Reuters.

Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen scored a second-half hat-trick to ensure a comfortable 3-0 away win over hapless Ajax Amsterdam in the Champions League on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Two of the three goals came from the penalty spot as the Nigerian international took his competition total this season to six with the Turkish club moving up from 16th to ninth place in the standings with nine points from four games.

Ajax, who have been European champions four times, remain rooted at the bottom of the 36-team table without a point, according to Reuters.

Barcelona fought back three times to snatch a 3-3 draw at Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday, equalising for the final time late in the game with an own goal from 20-year-old Belgium defender Joaquin Seys, Reuters reported.

Barcelona are now 11th in the standings on seven points from four matches while Club Brugge sit 22nd on four points, with both teams still in the hunt for qualification.
In a thriller at Brugge’s Jan Breydel Stadium, the home side opened the scoring through Nicolo Tresoldi in the sixth minute, after a quick counter by Carlos Forbs that exposed the vulnerability of Barcelona’s high defense.

The 21-year-old jet-heeled Portuguese forward controlled a long ball in his stride to beat the offside trap up the right channel before bursting into the box and crossing low for Tresoldi to score with a tidy finish past the goalkeeper, according to Reuters.

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) announced on Wednesday that 45-year-old Shao Jiayi has been appointed as the new head coach of China's men's national football team, Xinhua reported.

Born in 1980, Shao represented China at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan and played for several seasons in the German Bundesliga. After retiring, he once served as assistant coach of the national team and worked with various Chinese youth national teams as team leader and assistant coach.

Shao took charge of Chinese Super League (CSL) side Qingdao West Coast in July 2024. This season, the team currently sits ninth in the CSL with nine wins, ten draws and ten losses, according to Xinhua. 

Nepal has formally informed the Malaysian government that it cannot accept the new standards recently introduced for private recruitment agencies involved in sending Nepali workers to Malaysia. According to the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security, a diplomatic note conveying Nepal’s position has been dispatched to the Malaysian government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday. 

Ministry Spokesperson Joint Secretary Pitambar Ghimire said the government has told Malaysian authorities that the standards cannot be followed immediately and that labor-related issues can be resolved through bilateral talks and understanding.

Earlier, Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through a diplomatic note to the Embassy of Nepal in Kuala Lumpur, informed that it had decided to rationalize the number of licensed private recruitment agencies allowed to handle the recruitment and placement of Nepali workers. The process, according to Malaysia, will be merit-based and overseen by its Ministry of Human Resources.

The note outlined 10 mandatory criteria agencies that recruitment agencies must meet to qualify. These include having at least five years of operating experience, successfully managing at least 3,000 foreign workers in the past five years, and deploying workers to at least three destination countries during that period. Agencies must also possess valid operating licenses, maintain a clean legal record, demonstrate ethical recruitment practices, and operate fully equipped training and assessment centers. Additionally, they are required to provide at least five written testimonials from international employers.

Malaysia has asked Nepal to submit a list of agencies meeting these requirements by Nov 15. It has sent similar diplomatic notes to India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Myanmar. Malaysian authorities have defended the move as an effort to ensure that only experienced and responsible firms are involved in the recruitment process.

However, Nepal’s recruiting agencies and their umbrella organization, the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA), have strongly objected to the plan, calling it discriminatory and monopolistic. Issuing a statement, NAFEA said it firmly rejects any attempt to impose syndicate-based control in the recruitment sector.

A total of 5,174 prisoners and detainees who escaped during the GenZ protest on Sept 8 are still at large. According to the Department of Prison Management, 14,549 inmates had escaped from various prisons and juvenile reform centers across Nepal. Of them, 8,856 prisoners and 597 juveniles have since turned themselves in or rearrested. Earlier, on Sept 11, the Department had issued a public notice urging escaped inmates and juveniles to surrender at their respective prisons. The notice warned that those who failed to return by Oct 6 would face additional legal penalties under the Prison Management Act, 2079 (2022), and other prevailing laws.

Following the notice, Nepal Police Headquarters also repeatedly called on the fugitives to contact nearby prisons.

Director of the Department of Prison Management, Chomendra Neupane, said correspondence has been made to place the foreign fugitives on a blacklist. Considering the possibility of escape across the open border with India, the Department has shared details of the fugitives with border checkpoints and intensified surveillance along frontier areas.

Similarly, Director General of the Department of Immigration Ram Chandra Tiwari said all escaped inmates have been blacklisted to prevent them from fleeing through Nepal’s airports or open borders. “Given the open border with India, there’s a high chance that some of these fugitives may cross over. We have tightened checks at all border points and circulated their records to every airport,” Tiwari said.

According to Director Neupane, the Prison Act provisions stipulate up to five years in prison or a fine of Rs 50,000—or both for those who escape from prisons, reform centers, or rehabilitation homes while on probation or parole. In cases where inmates were involved in damaging prison property or aiding destruction during the escape, they could face up to 10 years’ imprisonment and fines up to Rs 100,000.

Neupane further warned that those who knowingly shelter, protect, or conceal escaped prisoners will also face punishment under the same Act. “If anyone is found helping fugitives evade capture or providing them shelter, they could face up to three years in jail or fines of Rs 30,000—or both,” he said.

The Department has formed a ‘Fugitive Search and Arrest Task Force’ in each district, coordinated by the Assistant Chief District Officer, to locate and apprehend the escaped inmates. Despite the large number of fugitives, authorities remain confident. “Since prison administrations have the inmates’ addresses and family records, they cannot hide for long,” Director Nyaupane asserted.

President Ram Chandra Paudel is returning home this afternoon after participating in the Second World Summit for Social Development held in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

During the visit, President Paudel addressed the main session of the Summit last Tuesday. 

He also addressed the high-level roundtable conference on strengthening the three pillars of social development: poverty eradication, full and productive employment and decent work for all, and social inclusion organized during the summit.

President Paudel had reached Doha on Monday, leading a Nepali delegation to participate in the World Summit that began on Tuesday. 

President Paudel was invited by the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to participate in the World Summit.