The Nepali government has banned plastic bottles at four-star and above hotels, an official said on Wednesday.

"The ban applies to all four-star, five-star, five-star deluxe and deluxe and luxury hotels and resorts," said Narayan Prasad Regmi, director general at the Department of Tourism.

The agency issued a directive on Tuesday instructing high-end hotels and resorts to discontinue serving water in plastic bottles but in glass bottles and metal utensils.

"Considering the potential health hazards and environmental concerns, the directive was issued," news agency reported.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari appointed Supreme Court Justice Yahya Afridi as the next Chief Justice of Pakistan, said a statement from the President's Office on Wednesday.

The Press Wing of the President's Office said that the appointment, which is for a fixed term of three years, will be effective from October 26, 2024.

"The appointment has been made under Articles 175A(3), 177, and 179 of the Constitution," said the statement, adding that the President had also approved the oath-taking of Justice Yahya Afridi as Chief Justice on October 26.

The appointment took place after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sent a recommendation to the President about the appointment following a nomination by a parliamentary committee.

Six people were killed and three others wounded in a collision between a truck and an interprovincial transportation taxi in Tunisia's Kairouan province.

"A fatal accident occurred today on the main road linking the town of Chebika and Kairouan where a truck collided with an interprovincial transportation taxi," Colonel Hamdi Loussif, regional director of civil protection in Kairouan, told the radio.

According to Loussif, the road where the accident happened is considered one of the most dangerous roads in the region due to the large number of potholes, which have led to many fatal traffic accidents, news agency reported quoting the private radio station Mosaique FM.

Turkey National Intelligence Organization has detained three members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), local media reported.

Zeynep Taskiran and Zubeyde Taskiran, allegedly key members of the group's European structure, were detained in Istanbul, while Hatin Sahbaz, the third PKK member, was arrested in northwestern Balikesir province on Tuesday, reports.

It added that the three individuals, who were siblings, were detained in joint operations conducted by the Turkish intelligence and the police without specifying the time frame of the operations.

At least 31 people were killed in an airstrike targeting a mosque in Wad Madani, the capital city of Gezira State in Sudan, a local non-governmental group announced.

On Sunday, "warplanes bombarded after the evening prayer the Sheikh El Jeili mosque and surrounding areas in the Al-Imtidad neighbourhood with explosive barrels," the Wad Madani resistance committee said in a statement.

The committee added that 15 victims had been identified, while dozens of unidentified bodies were still being counted.

So far, there has been no comment from any parties on the incident, news agency reported.

Japan's longtime ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner Komeito may lose their majority in the upcoming House of Representatives election, according to a recent survey conducted by local media.

News conducted the two-day telephone survey through Monday, targeting around 190,000 eligible voters, and used additional gathered information in making projections.

The situation could change in the run-up to the October 27 election, as more than 20 per cent of respondents were still undecided on which candidate to vote for, reported.

The Gaza Strip is facing a surging death toll and a drastic shortage of food and medical supplies amid nearly three weeks of "non-stop bombardments" by Israeli forces, the UN agency for Palestine refugees said.

A distress call "from UNRWA staff in Gaza... Our staff are reporting that they cannot find food, water or medical care," Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said on the social media platform X.

"Bodies are left lying on the roads or under the rubble, while missions to remove bodies or provide humanitarian assistance are being denied," Lazzarini said.

"On behalf of our staff in northern Gaza, I call for an immediate truce, even if only for a few hours, to allow safe humanitarian passage for families who wish to leave the area and reach safer places," he added.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged for a reformed international financial architecture, highlighting the need to extend stronger financial support to Africa to address the continent's development challenges.

In a joint briefing with African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat on the outcome of the AU-UN annual conference Monday at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, Guterres said Africa faces challenges that are deeply rooted in history and aggravated by climate change, conflict and debt burden.

The secretary-general said the current global institutions were built at a time when most of Africa was under colonial rule, and many of those institutions need to be reformed to help Africa meet UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reports news agency.

"The international financial architecture must be corrected to give more voice and power to developing countries in general, of course, African countries in particular," said Guterres, noting that more financial support should be made to help developing countries mobilise resources and meet SDGs.

A speeding sedan car carrying five people rammed into a parked 10-wheeler truck in Rizal province, east of Manila, killing one and injuring three, police said.

Police said the crash happened before 4 a.m. local time, before dawn on Tuesday, along a highway in Antipolo City, resulting in the death of one at the scene.

The injured were all taken to a hospital for treatment, reports news agency.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said on Wednesday the government will collaborate with the National Assembly to promptly enact a law supporting the artificial intelligence (AI) industry.

Han underscored the importance of the proposed AI Act, which aims to establish a legal framework promoting the AI industry while ensuring the safe use of the technology.

"(The government) will closely communicate with the National Assembly to promptly pass the AI Act," Han said during a conference in Seoul. "The government will spare no investment and support to support research and investment, build infrastructure and foster professionals."

The proposed Act on Industry and Framework for Establishing Trustworthy AI, first introduced in 2021, has been pending for a long time due to disagreements between political parties. Once enacted, it would consolidate seven AI-related bills proposed since 2022, reports news agency.