NEPAL GOES TO THE POLLS FOR HISTORIC VOTE

CHAUTARA, Nepal: Millions of Nepalis headed to the polls on Sunday for a historic election billed as a turning point for the impoverished Himalayan nation, hoping to end the ruinous instability that has plagued the country since the end of a bloody civil war a decade ago. The two-phase elections for national and provincial parliaments are the first under a new post-war constitution born out of a peace deal that ended the 10-year Maoist insurgency in 2006 and set the country on a path from monarchy to democracy. It took nine years after the end of the conflict for the new charter to be agreed as a series of brittle coalition governments bickered over the country’s future as a federal democratic state.

BELARUS NUCLEAR POWER PLANT STIRS FEARS IN LITHUANIA

OSTROVETS, Belarus: Thirty years after the Chernobyl disaster spewed radioactive clouds into the sky and sent shockwaves across Europe, Belarus is building a nuclear reactor on the doorstep of the European Union despite fears in neighbouring Lithuania. Construction of the facility, located in the northwestern Belarusian town of Ostrovets only around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Lithuanian border, is entering its final stages. Its two reactors, each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, will be operational from 2019 and 2020 respectively. The project, approved by strongman Alexander Lukashenko’s government in 2008 and spearheaded by the Russian state energy corporation Rosatom, is being nearly completely financed by Moscow with a $10-billion loan.

JAPAN COSMETICS MAKER SORRY OVER ‘ NO CHINESE’ SIGN

TOKYO: A major Japanese cosmetics maker has apologized after one of its retail shops posted a sign barring Chinese customers. The apology from Pola came after Chinese social media users shared a photo of the red-lettered poster saying “No entry by Chinese people.” The message was hand written in Japanese, although it would be readily understandable to Chinese readers. It was not clear where the incident took place, although it did not appear to be in a major tourist hub. “We are sincerely sorry and regret that an inappropriate poster ... has caused unpleasant feelings and nuisance to many people,” Pola said in a statement issued Saturday in both Japanese and Chinese.