Last September, youth protests toppled Nepal’s government, bringing in an interim administration and paving the way for a political reset. Today, voters across the country will cast their ballots to select an entirely new parliament, as old-guard politicians face off against new political challengers looking to appeal to young voters. 

275 parliamentary seats are up for grabs, though only 165 of those will be directly elected by voters (the remaining 110 will be selected through a proportional representation process). The election process is expected to be a bit messier than the clean political transition that protestors were hoping for – no party is expected to emerge from election day with a clear majority, meaning politicians will need to set up a coalition government in order to secure power.

Despite that reality, young voters are mainly focused on a race for a single parliamentary seat. There, Balendra Shah, the 35-year-old former mayor of Kathmandu (and also a rapper) is facing off against K.P. Sharma Oli, the prime minister of Nepal who was ousted in the face of last year’s protests. While Shah seems to have strong support from young voters, a win in his race doesn’t mean that his Rastriya Swatantra Party will secure a major stake in the government – though it probably will feel good.

As the bombs continue to fall in the Middle East, U.S. forces are getting involved in another conflict – this one a bit closer to home. Yesterday, Ecuadorean, European, and U.S. forces carried out joint operations targeting the Los Lobos gang’ drug-trafficking networks. According to the U.S. embassy in Quito, Europol, and Ecuador’s government, the drug raids led to the arrests of 16 suspects, including one “high-value target.”

The joint operations were the culmination of a months-long investigation into the Los Lobos network, which literally spanned continents. Europol said that its agents seized 3.7 tons of cocaine in the Netherlands, just over 3 more tons in Belgium, and more than half a ton in Ecuador. They also reclaimed $810,000 in cash. The operations highlight Ecuador’s role as a global nexus for the drug trade. Daniel Noboa, the president of Ecuador, estimates that roughly 70% of the world’s cocaine flows through his country’s ports, largely because the South American nation is sandwiched between Colombia and Peru, two of the biggest cocaine-producing countries in the world. Looking forward, the U.S. and Ecuador are planning to collaborate closely to combat the drug trade, including information sharing and joint operations at Ecuador’s airports and seaports.

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Yesterday, Senate Republicans voted down a measure that would have put a stop to the U.S.’s war with Iran. The measure, known as a war powers resolution, would require the White House to seek congressional approval before carrying on with its campaign in the Middle East. Predictably, though, the measure was blocked in a 47-53 vote; Democrats (besides Senator John Fetterman) voted in favor of reining in the military, while Republicans (besides Senator Rand Paul) backed up President Trump’s war.

The vote was mostly symbolic – despite the fact that the Constitution grants Congress alone the power to declare war, the executive branch has slowly gathered up war powers over the decades, and Trump would have legally been able to carry out the war with Iran with or without Congressional approval. Instead, Democratic lawmakers are pushing these war powers resolutions to hold Republicans accountable for supporting the war, which might affect their election prospects sometime down the line. “At this juncture, providing unequivocal support to our service members is critically important, as is ongoing consultation by the administration with Congress,” said Republican Senator Susan Collins before casting her vote in favor of the war.

Congressional investigators say they’ve found “substantial reason to believe” that Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales was involved in a sexual relationship with a subordinate during his time in office. The investigators’ findings have come out at a crucial time for Gonzalez, who is heading into a 12-week Republican primary runoff that he needs to win in order to keep the seat he’s held for three terms.

Gonzalez is already facing calls to step down from his post from Republicans across the spectrum, but has denied any wrongdoing in the case. The former staffer involved in the investigation is Regina Santos-Aviles, who died by suicide after lighting herself on fire in 2025. 

The report on Gonzalez’ misconduct was published by the Office of Congressional Conduct, which doesn’t have disciplinary powers of its own. Instead, the information has been handed off to the House Ethics Committee, which will conduct its own investigation before making a recommendation on disciplinary action (if it concludes Gonzalez broke any House rules). The rest of the House will then vote on that recommendation, which will require a two-thirds majority to pass.

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According to a pair of palaeobiologists, the planet is entering a new era. Which sounds exciting, until you read their article. In it, they argue that the entire planet is headed towards a period of dramatically reduced biodiversity, which they dub “the Homogenocene.”

The idea is, as humanity builds cities, roads, and reservoirs, the species best adapted to living alongside humans – think rats, cockroaches, pigeons, etc. – have access to more habitats that they’re adapted for. Meanwhile, the expansion of human civilization also leads to habitat destruction and occurs alongside global warming, both of which lead to the extinction of up to 150 species per day.

So the spread of humanity has created two pressures on species across the globe, cutting away at species that have carved out their niches in nature while replacing them with human-adapted generalists. But, the authors write, we can reverse the planet’s plummeting biodiversity by returning land to nature and slowing climate change. Will we do that? Probably not, but it’s nice to know there’s an option.

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