Register within 7 days or face ban: Nepal warns Meta
Kathmandu, April 25: The Nepal government on Friday warned Meta Platforms Inc, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, that it either register under the Nepalese law within seven days or face a nationwide ban.
Speaking at a programme organised by the National Information Commission, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung said that despite repeated requests, Meta has failed to comply with Nepal’s legal requirement to register its operations in the country.
Noting that the time given under the third notice has also expired a few days ago, Gurung warned Meta that if it fails to register within seven days, it will be banned.
“Meta’s Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram are in operation in Nepal. Every hour, thousands of rupees may be flowing from Nepal to Meta’s office (abroad). Meta should be registered in Nepal.
“I cannot extend the deadline any further — Meta must register within seven days, or it will be banned,” the minister warned.
The government has argued that tech giants operating in Nepal should be legally accountable under local laws, including taxation, consumer protection, and data governance provisions. According to local media reports, Ruzan Sarwar, Meta’s Public Policy Manager for the Asia-Pacific region, and a liaison officer have reportedly arrived in Nepal. (PTI)
Princess Anne joins ceremony marking 110th anniversary of WWI battle
Canakkale, April 25: Britain’s Princess Anne, New Zealand’s prime minister and Australia’s governor-general gathered near the World War I battlefields on Turkiye’s Gallipoli Peninsula for a dawn ceremony on Friday to remember the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who lost their lives in a tragic campaign 110 years ago.
The gathering took place near a beach where the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, or Anzacs, first landed at Gallipoli at dawn on April 25, 1915.
As the sun began to rise, the ceremony in northwest Turkiye kicked off with a mournful Maori lament, setting the tone for a solemn observance that included prayers and the laying of wreaths.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon spoke of the human cost of war and the importance of preventing conflict in the future.
“Anzac troops came ashore here shoulder-to-shoulder with their brothers from half a world away. Some anticipated adventure far from home. But as the sun rose and the shadows drained from the gullies, it was not adventure that greeted them, but horror,” Luxon said.
“It would be a disservice to those whose valor we remember, if we forget the real lesson of this campaign: that we should do all we can – all we can – to prevent anything like it happening again,” he added. (AP)
Three get over century in prison after plot to kill ringleader
London, April 25: Three men who plotted to kill a former cage fighter, who years before had been convicted of being one of the ringleaders in the UK’s biggest-ever heist, were sentenced Friday to a collective term of over a century in prison.
The sentencing of the three men at London’s Central Criminal Court, which is better known as the Old Bailey, brings to an end a six-year case that had the hallmarks of a movie crime caper.
It involved the metal detector-assisted retrieval of an iPad from the River Thames in the capital, as well as the theft of Ming-era porcelain from a museum in Geneva and even an attempted sale of the treasure in Hong Kong.
Daniel Kelly, 46, and brothers Louis Ahearne, 36, and Stewart Ahearne, 46, were found guilty by a jury last month for conspiracy to murder Paul Allen, then 41, in 2019.
Allen, who was left for dead, was paralysed from the chest down after being shot at his large home in Woodford Green, northeast London.
Judge Sarah Whitehouse sentenced Kelly to 36 years in prison with an extended license period of five years. Louis Ahearne was sentenced to 36 years in prison while Stewart Ahearne was sentenced to 30 years. They will all serve a minimum of two-thirds of their sentences before being eligible for parole. (AP)
California becomes world’s fourth largest economy
Sacramento, April 25: California’s economy has overtaken Japan to become the world’s fourth-largest economy, behind only the United States, China, and Germany in global economic rankings.
California Governor Gavin Newsom made the announcement, citing the latest data from the International Monetary Fund and the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. The Golden State’s nominal GDP reached $4.1 trillion in 2024, surpassing Japan’s $4.02 trillion, said Newsom’s office amid tensions between California and federal trade policies. (IANS)