WESTERN ASSISTANCE FOR ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS ANNOUNCED UPDATE Kathmandu, 17 June: Ambassadors of the EU, Germany, Switzerland and the UK, as well as the chargés d´affaires of Denmark and Norway, the country director of GIZ and the USAID acting deputy mission director have announced f8inancial support for the 19 November constituent assembly elections .They pledged support Monday to Finance Minister Shanker Prasad Koirala, an announcement said. Finland m Denmark and Norway will disburse additional amount along with European Union. Nnnn FOREIGN MINSITER, AMBASSADORS MEET COLLECTIVELY Kathmandu, 17 June: Foreign Minister Madhav Prasad Ghimire today {Monday} discussed about the Nepal Peace Fund with ambassadors and represp11entatives of various countries based in Nepal, RSS reports.. Founded in 2007, the Fund has been receiving financial contribution from Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, European Union and Britain. The fund is focused basically on the peace process and post-conflict rehabilitation and reconstruction. Nnnn PLAN TO CONTAIN WILD ELEPHANTS IN JHAPA Kathmandu, 17 June: District Forest Office, Jhapa is about to begin a 'Human-Elephant Conflict Management' programme aimed at controlling elephant menace in the district’s north-east VDC, Bahundangi, RSS reports from Bhadrapur.. The International Development Agency (IDA) and the World Bank have provided Rs. 8.84 million through the Government of Nepal for the implementation of the programme. The amount will be spent for fencing around 18 kilometer area from Tiring to Mechinagar Municipality with solar wires to prevent wild tuskers from entering the village from Pharas jungle in West Bengal, DFO Chief Bishnu Prasad Bhandari said. Herds of wild tuskers from India enter the village with the beginning of rainy season. Although, elephant mayhem is the regular problem of the village, it becomes rampant in the rainy season, said a victim Bhim Chamlagain. Many people fall prey to frequent attacks from wild elephants in the district. The number of people being killed by wild elephants in the current fiscal year has reached 12 in the district. Nnnn RUSSIAN NO TO SYRIA NO-FLY ZONES Kathmandu, 17 June: Russia, a veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council, will not permit no-fly zones to be imposed over Syria, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Monday, Reuters reports from Moscow.. "I think we fundamentally will not allow this scenario," Lukashevich told a news briefing, adding that calls for a no-fly zone showed disrespect for international law. Lukashevich spoke before planned talks between President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of a G8 summit in Northern Ireland which were expected to focus on the conflict in Syria that has killed at least 93,000 people. Russia and the United States are trying to bring representatives of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his foes to the negotiating table, but Moscow has criticized U.S. plans to arm rebel forces and to consider imposing a no-fly zone. "All these maneuvers about no-fly zones and humanitarian corridors are a direct consequence of a lack of respect for international law," Lukashevich said. He said Russia did not want a scenario in Syria that resembled the events in Libya after the imposition of a no-fly zone which enabled NATO aircraft to help rebels overthrow Muammar Gaddafi. nnnn