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Three children drowned in flood water at Gaur Municipality-3, Rautahat.

The deceased have been identified as Astha Kumari Baitha (13), Ragani Yadav (15) and Mausami Baitha of Rajdevi Municipality-8.

The incident occurred when seven children were heading towards Gaur to fetch fodder for cattle.

Locals rescued four of the drowned children while they retrieved the bodies of three children from the water.

A joint team of the Nepali Police and Armed Police Force recovered the bodies while carrying out a search operation.

All the bodies have been kept at the provincial hospital, police said.

Seventy-five companies across various sectors are awaiting the approval of the Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) to go public. These companies are awaiting the stock market regulator’s nod to float 375.4m units of ordinary shares to raise Rs 54.15bn from the market.

Hydropower sector companies account for nearly half of the pending applications. According to data provided by the Sebon, 37 hydropower companies have applied to raise around Rs 18.26bn from the market by floating 178.5m units of ordinary shares.

IPO proposals of hydropower companies have stalled at the Sebon for a long time amid conflicting instructions and regulatory concerns. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives had earlier directed Sebon to reject IPO applications from companies with a net worth below Rs 90 per share. The Finance Committee later advised the stock market regulator not to consider net worth as the sole basis for approval. Concerns over project viability further delayed the process. The Sebon leadership was also accused of mobilizing middlemen to collect kickbacks from hydropower promoters for IPO approval.   

In terms of the amount to be raised, however, the Manufacturing & Processing sector leads the chart. Companies under this category plan are awaiting the regulator's nod to float 126.9m units of ordinary shares worth approximately Rs 27.04bn.

Similarly, three companies from the Hotels & Tourism sector are preparing to raise Rs 1.42bn through 14.2m units of shares. Meanwhile, four investment companies have applied to float 18.6m shares worth Rs 3.14bn to the general public.

Three microinsurance companies—Protective Microinsurance, Star Microinsurance and Liberty Micro Life Insurance—have also sought Sebon’s nod to issue 6.75m units of shares to raise Rs 675m.

Out of seven microinsurance companies licensed by the Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA) , four three have already issued their ordinary shares to the general public.

Additionally, 10 companies from other sectors have submitted proposals to issue 27.6m shares worth Rs 3.43bn. Once approved, the upcoming listings are expected to inject fresh momentum into the market market, particularly in energy and manufacturing sectors that continue to draw strong investor interest.

Morocco will host Africa’s four-team World Cup playoffs next month which offer the possibility of an additional place at next year’s finals in North America, the Confederation of African Football has confirmed, Reuters reported.

All winners of the nine African qualifying groups advance to the finals in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. next June, but there is also a route for a potential extra place for one of the four best runners-up.

They will play a mini tournament in Morocco in November to determine a single team that will go on to compete in an inter-continental playoff in March for a place in the 48-team field at the 2026 World Cup, according to Reuters.

Memphis Depay extended his Netherlands scoring record as they cruised to an easy 4-0 win over Finland in their World Cup qualifier on Sunday to move a step closer to booking a berth at next year’s finals, Reuters reported.

The victory kept them comfortably in the lead in Group G with 16 points from six games, six more than Poland, who play later on Sunday at Lithuania.

Donyell Malen got the scoring going at the Johan Cruyff Arena with an eighth-minute strike, followed by a header from Virgil van Dijk nine minutes later, according to Reuters.

Scotland's Che Adams and Scott McTominay scored in each half to beat Belarus 2-1 on Sunday, provisionally rising to the top of Group D in the World Cup qualifiers with 10 points from four matches, Reuters reported.

Denmark, who have seven points from three matches, play third-placed Greece later in the day in a bid to reclaim top spot. The group winners qualify for the 2026 World Cup, while the runners-up progress to playoffs.

Bottom side Belarus pressed the hosts early, earning three corners in the first 10 minutes with a Pavel Zabelin header going just over the crossbar, according to Reuters.

Denmark beat Greece 3-1 at home on Sunday to keep their unbeaten World Cup qualification campaign on track and end the visitors' hopes of reaching next year's tournament, with the battle for Group C supremacy set to go down to the wire, Reuters reported.

With two matches still to play, Denmark top the standings with 10 points, ahead of Scotland on goal difference. The two sides meet in their final fixture next month with the group winners earning automatic qualification for the tournament finals and the runners-up going into the playoffs.

Both the Danes and Scotland are guaranteed at least a playoff spot but Greece, who sit third with three points, have no hope of progressing, according to Reuters.

The office of Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina has said an attempt to seize power illegally and by force is under way in the country, BBC reported.

Hours later, an army unit known as CAPSAT claimed that it had taken over the leadership of the military command, and was now in control of all the armed forces - land, air, and naval.

This is the same unit that played a crucial role in the 2009 Malagasy political crisis, which helped Rajoelina rise to power.

Madagascar was first hit by youth-led protests on 25 September against water and power cuts, but they have escalated to reflect wider dissatisfaction with Rajoelina's government over high unemployment, corruption, and the cost-of-living crisis, according to BBC.

Donald Trump's latest threat to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods is "a typical example of US double standards", China's government has said, BBC reported.

A commerce ministry spokesperson also said China could introduce its own unspecified "countermeasures" if the US president carries out his threat, adding it was "not afraid" of a possible trade war.

On Friday, Trump hit back at Beijing's move to tighten its rules for rare earths exports, accusing it of "becoming very hostile" and trying to hold the world "captive". He also threatened to pull out of a meeting with China's President Xi Jinping later this month, according to BBC.

But on Sunday, Trump wrote: "Don't worry about China, it will all be fine!"