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curtain-shop-in-kathmandu · 9 months

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Unveiling Elegance: Your Ultimate Curtain Shop in Kathmandu

Welcome to New Pathivara Furnishing Center, where luxury and functionality meet to adorn your spaces with exquisite curtains in Kathmandu. As the premier curtain store in Nepal, we take immense pride in offering top-notch quality curtains tailored to elevate your interiors.

Quality Curtains for Every Window

Finding the perfect curtain for your windows can transform a room, creating ambiance, privacy, and style. At New Pathivara Furnishing Center , we understand the significance of this choice, which is why our collection is meticulously selected to preferences.

Our Range of Offerings:

Variety in Style: From sheer elegance to blackout efficiency, we house a wide spectrum of curtain styles that cater to your needs and aesthetic preferences.

Quality Materials: Our curtains are crafted using premium fabrics, ensuring durability, easy maintenance, and long-lasting beauty.

Customization: Tailor your curtains to fit your unique window sizes, allowing for a perfect, bespoke finish to complement your space flawlessly.

Why Choose Us?

1. Uncompromising Quality

We prioritize quality above all else. Our commitment to excellence ensures that each curtain leaving our store meets the highest standards, promising durability and style.

2. Expert Guidance

Our knowledgeable staff is here to guide you through our extensive collection, helping you make an informed decision that aligns perfectly with your vision.

3. Best Curtain Store in Kathmandu

We take pride in being recognized as the best curtain store in Kathmandu, a testament to our dedication to customer satisfaction and quality products.

Visit Us Today!

Transform your living or workspaces with our exquisite collection of curtains. Discover the perfect blend of functionality and elegance at New Pathivara Furnishing Center, your trusted curtain shop in Kathmandu.

Ready to adorn your windows with the finest curtains Nepal has to offer? Visit us at Boudha, Pipalbot, Near Investment Bank, Kathmandu or explore our collection Physical Store, and let us help you add a touch of sophistication to your spaces.

Contact For More Details: +977 9851019407 Mobile, +977 01 4916445 Office Phone

Thank you for choosing New Pathivara Furnishing Center, where your satisfaction is our priority.

Connect with us on LinkedIn, Instagram, About Me, Quora, Pinterest, Gravatar, X Twitter, and Medium, for the latest updates and trends in the world of curtains!

#curtain-store-in-kathmandu #curtain shop #curtains #curtain nepal #best curtain shop #quality curtains #best price #kathmandu #nepal #curtain window #window

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qocsuing · 2 years

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Shadow Slaves: Art Exhibit Brings Slavery to Light

What does slavery look like? Somehow it’s both notorious and faceless. Sometimes it peeks out from bars or restaurants. Often it’s hidden in homes, brothels, and farms, then buried further in international supply chains. Child slaves—forced to haul heavy bricks at kilns in India and stones weighing as much as they do at rock quarries To get more news about Shadow Slave, you can visit innread.com official website. Sometimes it peeks out from bars or restaurants. Often it’s hidden in homes, brothels, and farms, then buried further in international supply chains.

Child slaves—forced to haul heavy bricks at kilns in India and stones weighing as much as they do at rock quarries in Nepal, forced to mine gold and diamonds, and minerals that run our cell phone batteries, while covered in toxic dust—suffer in silence, sight unseen.Slaves in Brazil, making the black oily charcoal used to run smelters that make steel for our cars, are all but invisible. Slaves may pick the tomatoes or catch the tuna that fill grocery stores around the world. By the time slavery arrives as fruit in our produce sections, shrimp at our fish counters, and coffee in our cups, slaves have been completely disappeared. But no matter how obscured or forgotten, slavery is global—it travels, and it exists as suffering.

Artist Sandra Relyea has found a powerful, thoughtful way to bring slavery out of the shadows. Her latest exhibit comprises large works of clever silhouettes that play on the use of light and shadows themselves. Her shadow-shaped figures are meant to represent real people enslaved in the world today. The images, she explains, are “distorted and elongated the way a shadow cast by the real person would be.” Many pieces in the collection are based on photographs and films from Free the Slaves.

Relyea’s point is to show slavery exists everywhere in the world, including the United States, but, she says, “it is largely unseen and lies in the world of shadow: the world of exploitation, crime, and dehumanization.” Her images are evocative in their simplicity and staggering in their force. Each work can take up an entire wall, up to eight feet wide and 12 feet high. The pieces loom yet remain calmly distant: slavery as both stark and shrouded. They are aggressive in their magnitude, and sense of action and movement—they demand you look. Yet they are also quiet and cool, restrained, reticent. The contrast of darkness and light—people defined by outlines yet disguised and indistinguishable—speaks of bondage and liberation both.

A striking, significant piece shows child slaves in Ghana fishing in a rickety boat, tossed on thick, vast waves. Relyea found it difficult at first to depict a shadow falling on water, but the final version is haunting in how much it seems to waver and pitch. “The ripples in the water signify the fact that these children are in peril,” she says. “They do not know how to swim.”In a piece with special significance to Relyea, two Nepalese children with stones strapped to their backs appear as little more than two tiny, fragile blocks, yet they are clearly holding hands. “The holding hands,” she says, “suggests to me the potential that lies in all children, which is denied them when they are not free.”

For more than two decades, Relyea was as a forensic child abuse examiner and often testified as an expert medical witness. As a physician’s assistant in Redding, Calif., where she has lived for more than 25 years, she has helped deliver health services, often from a mobile van, to local homeless, uninsured, and underserved people, many of them children. A long-time advocate for society’s exploited, underprivileged, and disenfranchised, Relyea draws motivation from the act of eliminating injustice.

Several years ago Relyea took an art class at a local college “just for fun”—she ended up discovering the perfect link between her professional advocacy work, which she describes as “cerebral and mostly left-brained,” and the strong font of personal creativity she needed to let flow.

One day she created a work of shadows with a window screen. “It occurred to me issues such as homelessness could be depicted with shadow forms,” Relyea says. She later realized the subject of modern slavery also lent itself perfectly to shadow works. She discovered the work of Free the Slaves when she began researching modern slavery in general, and how it could inform her art.Relyea named her latest shadow collection Demeter’s Children. In the Greek myth, Demeter’s daughter is kidnapped and held in bondage in the underworld, trapping the globe in desolate winter. Relyea intends her slaves-as-shadows portraits to increase public awareness and understanding of human trafficking and slavery.

The human shadow is a guiding philosophical concept, developed by Carl Jung, for Relyea. Jung’s theory goes that individuals have traits and tendencies that cause discomfort, vulnerability, and are therefore relegated to the subconscious where they can be denied or ignored. “We tend to project these shadow characteristics onto others, and [judge them] as wrong, undesirable,” Relyea explains. “This can lead to dislike, condemnation, blame, and even persecution.”

The artist believes slavery is, in a way, the disastrous manifestation of the shadows—the dark side—of humanity’s collective unconscious. Her work explores how slavery can arise from the repression of our own shadow selves, and be borne out in, and portrayed as, the brute oppression of others. The spectral figures in Demeter’s Children emerge to connect slavery to the world, to what we look at, and to ourselves. Even in shadows, Relyea’s work gives us slaves we can see.

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fatafat-sewa · 2 years

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Budget Friendly Mobiles in Nepal:Fatafatsewa

There are many great smartphones available in Nepal, and the best one for you will depend on your specific needs and budget. Some popular phone brands in Nepal include Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, and OnePlus. These brands offer a wide range of smartphones at different price points, so you should be able to find a phone that suits your needs. It would be best to look for specific reviews or comparison of the phone you are interested in before making a purchase.

When it comes to choosing the best smartphone in Nepal, there are many factors to consider. The most important thing is to determine your specific needs and budget. If you're looking for a high-end phone with the latest features and specifications, then brands like Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, and OnePlus are a good choice, these companies offer a wide range of flagship models.

Samsung, for instance, has a variety of models such as the Samsung Galaxy S21, Samsung Galaxy Note 20, and Samsung Galaxy A52. These models come with high-end features such as a high-resolution display, a powerful processor, a large battery, and a good camera. Samsung is a well-known brand and is known for its quality and customer service.

Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi have also released their latest models in the market as well. These brands have had a great impact in Nepal and they offer a good option for consumers who are looking for a budget-friendly phone with decent specs and performance. Oppo A53, Vivo Y51 and Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 are examples of budget friendly phone with good specs.

OnePlus on the other hand is a more premium brand and has a reputation for offering flagship-level specs at a more affordable price than other high-end phones. The OnePlus 9R, OnePlus Nord and OnePlus 9 Pro are some of the examples of the models they offer in Nepal.

Ultimately, the best phone for you will depend on your personal preferences and needs. It's important to do your own research, read reviews, and compare the different models and features before making a decision.

There are several budget-friendly mobile phones available in Nepal. Some popular options include:

Xiaomi Redmi 9: This smartphone has a 6.53-inch display, MediaTek Helio G35 processor, up to 4GB of RAM, and a 13-megapixel main camera.

Samsung Galaxy M01: This smartphone has a 5.7-inch display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 processor, up to 3GB of RAM, and a 13-megapixel main camera.

Oppo A12: This smartphone has a 6.22-inch display, MediaTek Helio P35 processor, up to 3GB of RAM, and a 13-megapixel main camera.

Realme C11: This smartphone has a 6.5-inch display, MediaTek Helio G35 processor, up to 2GB of RAM, and a 13-megapixel main camera

These are just a few examples, and the availability and prices of these phones may vary depending on your location and the time of your purchase. I would suggest checking with local mobile phone retailers or online marketplaces to find the latest and best budget-friendly mobile phones available in Nepal.

Commonly Asked Questions (CAQ)

What are the best budget-friendly mobile phones on the market?

The best budget-friendly mobile phones on the market depend on the specific needs and preferences of the customer, as well as the current market. Some popular options include the Xiaomi Redmi Note series and Motorola Moto G series smartphones.

2. What should I look for when buying a budget-friendly mobile phone?

When buying a budget-friendly mobile phone, customers should consider factors such as processor, camera quality, battery life, screen size and resolution, storage, and overall durability.

3. Can budget-friendly mobile phones run the latest apps and games?

Many budget-friendly mobile phones are capable of running the latest apps and games, although performance may vary depending on the specific device.

4. What is the battery life like on budget-friendly mobile phones?

Battery life on budget-friendly mobile phones can vary depending on usage, but many budget-friendly mobile phones have a battery life of over a day with moderate usage.

5. How does the camera quality compare on budget-friendly mobile phones?

The camera quality on budget-friendly mobile phones can vary depending on the specific device, but many budget-friendly mobile phones offer decent cameras that are suitable for everyday use.

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katiparcha · 2 years

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#samsung #samsung mobile

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gossipify · 2 years

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The Chinese YouTuber is murdered by his rival during the live

Chinese influencer Gan Soujiong, owner of the YouTube channel “Fatty Goes To Africa” specializing in international food, was stabbed to death during his latest live broadcast in a market in Kathmandu, Nepal. A video released by the British newspaper Daily Mail on Thursday (12/15), shows the 29-year-old influencer talking into his mobile phone camera, as he walks through the market, until he is…

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zaintechweb · 2 years

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Xiaomi Mobile Phone Price in Nepal 2022

Mobile Phone Price in Nepal

Xiaomi Mobile Price in Nepal 2022

Find Latest Xiaomi Mobile Phone Price in Nepal. We regularly update Xiaomi mobile prices available in Nepal.

Chinese company Xiaomi has strengthened its position in the smartphone market by releasing a variety of devices with strong price-to-spec ratios. The business has recently broadened its scope to become a true technological hub.

The firm has been concentrating on bringing devices and other accessories like Mi TV, Mi fitness bands, Mi Air Purifier, and so on in addition to its regular manufacture of smartphones. Xiaomi is present at every price point in the market, from the entry-level to the high-end premium segments. Redmi and POCO are two distinct sub-brands of Xiaomi. One of the most well-liked series among users is the Redmi line. Visit Fatafat sewa to know the Xiaomi mobile price in Nepal.

#mobile phone

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mountainrocktrek-blog · 1 year

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Risk behind Everest Base Camp Trek with solution

Embarking on the Everest Base Camp Trek in 2024 or 2025? Knowing the risks involved is important to ensure a safe and unforgettable journey. Avalanches, altitude sickness, and extreme weather are just a few challenges you might face. But fear not, as We've got you covered with our latest blog post, offering valuable insights about the risks and solutions to tackle these risks head-on.

For more details https://mountainrocktreks.com/blog/risk-behind-everest-base-camp-trek-with-solution Address- Z Street - Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal Phone- +977 1 4701233 Mobile, WhatsApp & Viber- +977 9849023179 (Dipak Pande) Email- [email protected] Website- www.mountainrocktreks.com

Thamel #Moonlighthotel #ramadaencore #hotelmoonlightthamel #paknajol #zstreet #mountainrocktreks #MRT2023 #Mountainrocktreks #EBCAdventure #TrekkingToEBC #HimalayanHike #EverestBaseCamp #NepalTrek #AltitudeChallenge #MountainMagic #EBCJourney #HighAltitudeTrek #EBC2024

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vivoflying · 3 years

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Vivo Flying Camera phone

Vivo Flying Camera Phone Price in India, USA, Pakistan, BD, UAE, UK, KSA, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Full Specs are available in this content! How are you, viewers, we come here to say welcome to you in our another interesting article. The Chinese smartphone maker Vivo declare to bring a new smartphone in this content. whose name is “Vivo Flying Camera Phone”. Its latest and powerful technology will make you really appreciate to this phone when you use the smartphone in Flying Drone Camera or anything you want. Every feature will appear on its strongest version.

#Vivo Flying Camera phone #Vivo Flying Camera phone Price #Vivo Flying Camera phone Release Date

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shreeganesh-ply · 3 years

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Best Plywood Manufacturers in Nepal

Ganesh Plywood Industries brings an exceptional range of Best Plywood Manufacturers in Nepal and decorative veneer plywood. We are manufacturing the plywood with natural and recon veneers are sourced from various parts of the world. Our Plywood Natural veneer plywood is available in wide and beautiful natural designs, this range is also believed to be most suitable for professionals. We Provide Quality & Excellent Plywood in Commercial & Residential with the latest designs and best quality at a very reasonable price.

You can contact us to buy best quality and new designs plywood and laminated for your house.

Phone:- 9801934393

Email:- [email protected]

Address:- Krishna Nagar, Municipalty Ward no. 8, Bahadurganj, Kapilwastu, Nepal

Website:- https://www.ganeshply.com/

#Best Plywood Manufacturers in Nepal

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marinaaniseed · 5 years

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Adventure

Song: Adventure from the album Be Your Own Pet by Be Your Own Pet.

Summary: You get fucky with Bucky.

Pairing: Female reader x Stucky

Length: 1,571 words

A/N: I drank absinthe and wrote filth. Technically I’ve gone over my arbitrary word limit. I could probably edit it to bring it down, but fuck it, I don’t have time. Part 7 of Death on the stairs. Injury, weight gain, Stucky, voyeurism, poly relationship, bisexuals everywhere, smut. See here for what this is all about.

***

It’s been weeks since you last saw Steve or Bucky, the whole place has been almost deserted. Your recovery is going well, and you’re allowed to bear weight on your busted ankle, clomping about in a clunky moon boot.

With everyone gone, you’ve been struggling to sleep, worry and nightmares ensuring you never wake up refreshed. Tonight is no different, plagued by recurring dreams of Bucky falling to death. Apparently, the story of his fall from the train has burrowed into your subconscious.

Sometimes Steve falls, sometimes another member of the team.

Mostly though, it’s Bucky. Bucky, peppered with flashbacks to your fall from the balcony.

You check the time on your phone after the latest nightmare.

01:19.

Great.

You decide to hobble to the communal area for some juice. Nobody’s about, so you don’t bother with your dressing gown.

When you finally reach the living area, you’re surprised to find the TV on. It’s silent, the images unfamiliar. You don’t remember leaving it on and you’re about to ask FRIDAY for help when a voice pipes up from the settee.

“Hello, Hopalong.”

It’s Bucky’s voice, and you’ve never been more relieved to hear it. If you could, you’d run over and hug him.

“I didn’t know you were back,” you say, continuing to the kitchenette to grab the juice you came for.

“It’s been less than an hour,” he tells you. “I didn’t want to wake you… sorry for just sitting here like this, I just needed to decompress for a bit.”

“That’s alright,” you answer.

He looks battered. His tac gear is strewn across the floor and he’s sat in just his boxers. You’re both relieved he’s back and worried about how bruised he is.

“How did it go?” you ask tentatively, pouring two glasses of juice.

“Clint and I ran around half of Asia,” he notes. “In the heart of Nepal we ran into trouble, but we’re ok. Clint’s broken, but when is he not?”

You don’t press any further and down your juice before clunking over to Bucky with the other glass.

“Thanks,” he murmurs as you set the glass down on the table next to him, but his gaze definitely isn’t on your face.

“Something caught your eye, Sargeant?” you tease and he blushes scarlet.

“N-no.”

“I don’t think that’s true, is it?” you press as you step your good leg between his and kneel the other next to his thigh, effectively straddling his left leg. You shove your breasts towards his face and his struggle to maintain eye contact is valiant.

He’s seen you in this chemise before, it’s the one from that night. But this is different.

Since your break, you’ve been unable to train and a little weight has crept on. Where once it was a good fit, you're now in danger of spilling out of the top of the garment.

“You can touch as well as look,” you say to Bucky as you sit down on his thigh. You take his hands and press them to your chest as you begin rocking back and forth on his powerful thigh, slowly at first until you’re full-on riding it.

Bucky kneads your breasts, before circling your nipples with his fingertips.

“Pinch them,” you order.

“Maybe not with the vibranium, I don’t wanna hurt you,” he mumbles, trying not to get swept away too quickly in this moment.

You nod and he tweaks your left nipple between his thumb and forefinger.

“That’s it,” you encourage Bucky between sighs, holding onto the back of the settee to keep yourself steady as the pace you’re setting on his leg intensifies.

“Heard you’ve been teaching Steve some things.”

“Jealous?”

“A little,” he admits.

“It’s my turn to get some action, you can wait.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he says with a chuckle.

“Put your mouth to good use, Buck. Suck on my other nipple.”

He knows better than to talk back, just cups your other breast with his metal as he brings it to his mouth. His mouth is hot and wet, you can’t wait to feel it on other parts of your body.

“Use your teeth.”

He raises his eyebrows in surprise but complies. The friction of his teeth against your nipple, separated by the thin satin of your chemise is delicious. Added to the friction of you moving against his thigh, you can feel yourself getting close.

“Fuck Bucky, you feel so fucking good.” He’d feel a lot better inside you, but you don’t want to get ahead of yourself.

“Are you close?” he asks, pulling off your breast just enough to speak.

You can only nod fervently. If you open your mouth now, you’re just going to squeak at him.

“Cum on my cock?”

It’s phrased somewhere between a question and a command. When you nod again, he picks you up by your hips as though you weigh nothing and deposits you back down on his cock, straddling his lap properly.

“Mmm,” you moan appreciatively as you continue your previous rhythm.

“It’s not a gun, I’m just very pleased to see you,” Bucky smirks as he rubs his cool vibranium thumb over the nipple he sucked to soothe it, latching onto the other one. Any other time, you’d roll your eyes at him for that line, but somehow in this situation, he makes it sound sexy.

“Ah fuck,” you howl, elongating the curse as you cum on Bucky’s cock. Your wet warmth seeps through the cotton of his boxers and his cock throbs with anticipation.

Sliding off him to the side, he initially thinks you’re stopping for a breather, until you bury your head in his crotch, licking his cock and your own wetness.

It’s filthy, fantastic. Bucky can’t believe it.

“I know I said about going slow-”

“Yes,” you cut him off, looking it up at him, his cock resting against your cheek.

“Yes?”

“Yes. Get inside me. Now.”

You sit up enough for Bucky to scramble out of his sodden underwear before he pulls you back into his lap.

“We don’t have a-”

“We don’t need,” you explain, “I use contraception.”

Bucky knows as well as you do that agents are screened regularly, so there’s next to no chance that either of you has anything.

“I’m going to go slowly,” he tells you, a little afraid that he’ll be too big for you. Steve can take it, Steve heals quickly.

You, not so much.

He gets himself in position and lets you ease yourself down slowly, taking the time to adjust. His hands rest under your arse, helping to support you until you’ve eased down all the way.

“Fuck me,” you gasp when he’s finally all the way.

“Yeah, that was kinda the idea, doll,” he explains with a laugh. “You wanna move or should I?”

“I’ll go.”

This wasn’t how you expected your first time with Bucky to go, but neither of you had the patience to wait any longer, so riding him on the settee it was.

Moving up and down, you start slow but soon find a steady rhythm. Bucky’s metal hand holds your hip to steady you, while he brings his other hand down between you so he can play with your clit.

“Jesus fucking Christ Bucky, just like that, just fucking like that, that’s so fucking good,” you enthuse.

“You kiss your mother with that mouth?”

“Fuck off, no. I kiss you with it,” you comment, leaning forward to crash into his mouth. One hand holds onto the back of the settee, while the other tangles in his hair. Your tongues tangle and you gasp in little breaths when you get a chance before diving right back in.

The door closes with a gentle thud and you freeze, burying your face in Bucky’s shoulder where the vibranium meets flesh, too embarrassed to even look to see who’s walked in on you and Bucky like this.

“Relax doll,” he whispers in your ear. “It’s just Steve. I’d recognise the sound of his footsteps anywhere.”

Tentatively you look up and Steve’s leaning against the wall, looking right back at you, one hand running over the prominent hard-on straining against the fabric of his jeans.

“Filthy fucker, isn’t he?” Bucky murmurs like he somehow knows what Steve’s doing. “Ready to put on a show for our Captain?”

You nod and Bucky pulls the straps of your chemise down, letting you wriggle your arms out, before he pulls it down at the front, freeing your breasts.

“Hold on tight, I’m not gonna go slow now,” he growls, and you grip the settee with one hand again, letting the other thread back into Bucky’s hair.

He thrusts up into you with unexpected force, setting an unrelenting pace. If he wasn’t forcing your hips down onto him, you’d fall off him like a bucking bronco. Bucky’s got a faceful of your bouncing breasts, occasionally burying his face between them. You accidentally tug at his hair and loosen your grip.

“Do it again,” Bucky orders. “I like it.”

He hammers into you again and again until you’re howling his name between staccato curses. You’re sweaty, spent mess, having cum several times, by the time Bucky finally blows his load.

Slumping forward against him, you try to catch your breath, and look at Steve over Bucky’s shoulder. He’s licking his lips, still rubbing himself as he saunters over to you both.

“Mind if I cut in, Buck?”

#366songshots #Winter Soldier #james buchanan barnes #james barnes #Female reader #stevebucky #steve rogers #stucky #captain america #captain america fanfic #Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky fanfic #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes smut

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fatafat-sewa · 2 years

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iPhones in Nepal

iPhone price in Nepal

Apple Inc. created and sells the iPhone range of cell phones. Apple's iOS mobile operating system is used by these gadgets. On January 9, 2007, the first-generation iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, who was then the CEO of Apple. Since then, Apple has provided yearly updates to iOS and new iPhone models. We will be talking about the latest iPhone price in Nepal.

iPhone store near me

Depending on your usage demands, you have a variety of mobile phone brands to choose from in Nepal. To get an iPhone in Nepal that meets your requirements, pick from a list of the major online iPhone platforms provided by Fatafat Sewa. More details regarding it are available on our website. Customers in the Kathmandu valley have the option of paying cash upon delivery. Also one can buy iPhones and other mobiles with an EMI service. We send goods all around Nepal.

A well-known online retailer in Lalitpur with in-depth experience in smartphone delivery in Nepal is Fatafat Sewa. In Nepal, we provide a wide range of services. As the top iPhone distributors in Nepal, we make a lot of effort to provide the best delivery we can.

The greatest online platform for mobiles from reputable manufacturers like Samsung, Apple, Vivo, Oppo, Oneplus, Realme, and Xiaomi is fatafatsewa.com.

#ecommerce #iphone #mobile brands #mobile price in nepal #smartphones #apple computer inc.

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newstfionline · 4 years

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Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Millions of hungry Americans turn to food banks for 1st time (AP) Hunger is a harsh reality in the richest country in the world. Even during times of prosperity, schools hand out millions of hot meals a day to children, and desperate elderly Americans are sometimes forced to choose between medicine and food. Now, in the pandemic of 2020, with illness, job loss and business closures, millions more Americans are worried about empty refrigerators and barren cupboards. Food banks are doling out meals at a rapid pace and an Associated Press data analysis found a sharp rise in the amount of food distributed compared with last year. Meanwhile, some folks are skipping meals so their children can eat and others are depending on cheap food that lacks nutrition. Those fighting hunger say they’ve never seen anything like this in America, even during the Great Recession of 2007-2009. The first place many Americans are finding relief is a neighborhood food pantry, most connected to vast networks of nonprofits. Tons of food move each day from grocery store discards and government handouts to warehouse distribution centers, and then to the neighborhood charity. An AP analysis of Feeding America data from 181 food banks in its network found the organization has distributed nearly 57 percent more food in the third quarter of the year, compared with the same period in 2019.

Covid Nomads (WSJ) Alan Frei lives the life of a backpacker. That is, all 62 of his belongings fit into a single backpack, which he carries with him as he travels and lives in different cities around the world—a total of 53 countries over the past three years. The 38-year-old Swiss entrepreneur in October got rid of his apartment near Zurich and all his furniture. Items he kept include his watch, a toothbrush, seven pairs of underwear, and sunglasses. Mr. Frei is an extreme version of a digital nomad, a person with no fixed address, who lives and works while traveling the globe. Today, their ranks are small, but they could become more common in the years ahead. “There will definitely be more digital nomads,” says Nicholas Bloom, professor of economics at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Before the pandemic, only about 2% of Americans worked from home full-time, Mr. Bloom says, but he expects that will rise to about 8% to 10% of workers. If just 10% of them travel and work remotely, that will still be enormous, he says. Scott Cohen, a professor at the University of Surrey’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, expects more countries will cater visa and tourism programs to digital nomads, as they seek an alternative to the standard business travel market. Chekitan S. Dev, a professor at Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business, School of Hotel Administration, says the trend was first driven by millennials; now older millennials are taking their families with them when they move around. By normalizing remote work and school, the pandemic has supercharged a trend. In the future, digital nomads may be middle-aged, rent or own homes for less time, want to go to more exotic destinations and move more quickly between destinations.

California Water Futures Begin Trading Amid Fear of Scarcity (Bloomberg) Water joined gold, oil and other commodities traded on Wall Street, highlighting worries that the life-sustaining natural resource may become scarce across more of the world. Farmers, hedge funds and municipalities alike are now able to hedge against—or bet on—future water availability in California, the biggest U.S. agriculture market and world’s fifth-largest economy. The contracts, a first of their kind in the U.S., were announced in September as heat and wildfires ravaged the U.S. West Coast and as California was emerging from an eight-year drought. They are meant to serve both as a hedge for big water consumers, such as almond farmers and electric utilities, against water prices fluctuations as well a scarcity gauge for investors worldwide. “Climate change, droughts, population growth, and pollution are likely to make water scarcity issues and pricing a hot topic for years to come,” said RBC Capital Markets managing director and analyst Deane Dray.

‘It’s a free-for-all’: how hi-tech spyware ends up in the hands of Mexico’s cartels (The Guardian) Corrupt Mexican officials have helped drug cartels in the country obtain state-of-the-art spyware which can be used to hack mobile phones, according to a senior DEA official. As many as 25 private companies—including the Israeli company NSO Group and the Italian firm Hacking Team—have sold surveillance software to Mexican federal and state police forces, but there is little or no regulation of the sector—and no way to control where the spyware ends up, said the officials. “It’s a free-for-all,” the official told the Cartel Project, an initiative coordinated by Forbidden Stories, a global network of investigative journalists whose mission is to continue the work of reporters who are threatened, censored or killed. “The police who have the technology would just sell it to the cartels.” [And then the cartels would use it against their enemies or those investigating them.] The nexus between state and criminal forces has fuelled a wave of targeted violence which have made Mexico the most dangerous country for journalists in the world, outside a war zone. At least 119 media workers have been killed in Mexico since 2000, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the inevitable fear for reporters is that surveillance could lead to more tangible dangers.

Pope makes surprise early morning prayer visit in rainy Rome (AP) Pope Francis on Tuesday made a surprise early morning visit to the Spanish Steps in Rome to pray for people worldwide struggling in the pandemic. With rain falling and dawn breaking, Francis popped up in the square at the foot of the Spanish Steps at 7 a.m. (0600 GMT), two hours after the end of Italy’s overnight curfew. Before heading back to Vatican City, where he resides in a hotel, Francis stopped to pray some more and celebrate Mass in St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome. Early in the pandemic, Francis made a similar pop-up visit to a little-frequented church in the heart of downtown Rome to pray, startling the few Romans who were in the area during exceptionally tight lockdown measures. In separate, written comments, Francis stressed the need for all to have employment when the world emerges from the pandemic. “How can we speak of human dignity without working to ensure that everyone is able to earn a decent living?” the pope wrote. He urged people to “find ways to express our firm conviction that no person, no person at all, no family should be without work.” As he has previously during the pandemic, the pope praised what he called the “ordinary people” who have kept the world functioning as it reels under the strain of the global pandemic. He cited those providing essential services—health care workers and shopkeepers, cleaners and caregivers and “so very many others.”

The Kremlin Is Offering Russians Free Vaccines, but Will They Take Them? (NYT) Aleksei Zakharov, a Moscow economics professor, got the Russian coronavirus vaccine injected into his upper arm over the weekend. Getting the shot was an easy decision, he said—not because the Russian government said it was safe, but because scores of Russians have shared their experience with it on social media. “I trust the grass roots collection of information far more, of course, than what the state says, at least before the testing results are available and published in a medical journal,” Mr. Zakharov, 44, said in a telephone interview Monday, already clear of a mild fever—a side-effect of the vaccine. Russia made its coronavirus vaccine available for free in recent days to teachers, medical workers and social-service employees younger than 61 in Moscow. But even more than in the West, a lack of trust is hobbling Russia’s rollout of a vaccine: the country’s scientists may well have made great strides in battling the pandemic, but many Russians are not ready to believe it. That distrust looms large as Russia races to roll out the vaccine while facing the fiercest onslaught of the pandemic yet, with some 500 deaths per day.

Mt Everest grows by nearly a metre to new height (BBC) The world’s highest mountain Mount Everest is 0.86m higher than had been previously officially calculated, Nepal and China have jointly announced. Until now the countries differed over whether to add the snow cap on top. The new height is 8,848.86m (29,032 ft). Everest stands on the border between China and Nepal and mountaineers climb it from both sides. Officials at Nepal’s foreign ministry and department of survey said surveyors from both countries had co-ordinated to agree on the new height.

China condemns new US Hong Kong sanctions, Taiwan arms sale (AP) China on Tuesday lashed out at the U.S. over new sanctions against Chinese officials and the sale of more military equipment to Taiwan. The U.S. actions are part of what critics see as an effort by the Trump administration to put in place high-pressure tactics toward Beijing that could make it more difficult for President-elect Joe Biden to steady relations. The Cabinet’s office for Hong Kong affairs expressed “strong outrage and condemnation” over the sanctions leveled against 14 members of the standing committee of China’s legislature, which passed a sweeping Hong Kong National Security Law earlier this year. Foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, meanwhile, demanded the U.S. cancel its latest arms sale to Taiwan and said China would make a “proper and necessary response.” President Donald Trump’s administration has incensed Beijing with 11 separate arms sales and closer military and political ties with the self-governing island democracy that Beijing claims as its own territory, to be annexed by force if necessary. China has stepped up military flights near the island and pledged to punish U.S. companies involved in the arms deals in response.

Libya’s east-based forces seize Turkish-owned vessel (AP) Forces of a Libyan commander who rules the eastern half of the country and who was behind a year-long military attempt to capture the capital, Tripoli, have seized a Turkish vessel heading to the western town of Misrata. The development by Khalifa Hifter’s forces could escalate tensions in the conflict-stricken Libya, since Turkey is the main foreign backer of Hifter’s rivals, the U.N.-backed administration in Tripoli, in western Libya. Hifter’s forces stopped the Jamaica-flagged cargo vessel, Mabrouka, on Monday off the eastern port town of Derna, said Ahmed al-Mosmari, the spokesman for Hifter’s forces. Al-Mosmari said the vessel entered a “no sail” zone and did not respond to calls from the naval forces. It’s the second Turkish-owned vessel seized by Hifter’s forces this year, according to Ambrey Intelligence, a British private maritime intelligence firm. In 2020, Hifter’s forces have seized at least six ships.

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