PTI, Kathmandu
Nepal’s two main Communist parties CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre have struck a historic merger deal and formed the country’s biggest political bloc after their sweeping win in the federal and provincial polls, a move experts say may usher in much-needed political stability. The Left Alliance of the CPN-UML, led by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and CPN-Maoist Centre, led by former premier Prachanda, had in December secured 174 seats in the 275-member Parliament in the provincial and parliamentary polls.
Sharif can’t head his party also
AFP, Islamabad
Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a disqualified politician cannot lead a political party, ordering the removal of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as head of the country’s ruling party.
The decision comes months after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) passed a law allowing Sharif to remain at its helm despite being removed from the premiership and barred from holding any office over graft allegations last July.
Bahrain rights activist jailed for 5 years
AP, Dubai
A Bahraini human rights activist was sentenced to five years in prison on Wednesday for criticising Saudi Arabia’s air strikes in Yemen and accusing Bahrain’s prison authorities of torture, his lawyer and fellow activists said.
The United States, which has a major naval base in the country, has expressed concern about the case of Nabeel Rajab, a leading figure in pro-democracy protests that swept Bahrain in 2011.
Meningitis kills 4 in Nigeria
Xinhua, Abuja
Nigerian health authorities said Wednesday that four people have died following an outbreak of cerebrospinal meningitis in central Nigeria and warned the disease could spread due to the hot weather.
Laboratory tests have confirmed 31 additional cases of meningitis, an acute inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, in some areas of the central state of Niger.
