US negotiators postpone 25 August Delhi visit, trade talks with India stall ahead of sixth round

A long-planned visit by a US team to New Delhi for trade negotiations has likely been cancelled, according to an official. The delegation, led by Assistant US Trade Representative Brendan Lynch, was due to arrive on 25 August for the sixth round of discussions on a proposed bilateral trade agreement. “No new date is decided yet,” said the official, The Economic Times reported.

Five rounds of talks have been completed so far. The sixth was expected to be crucial, coming just as additional US tariffs were set to come into force.

The negotiations were scheduled from August 25-29. "This visit is likely to be rescheduled," the official, who did not wish to be named, said, according to Economic Times.

Nagdhunga-Naubise tunnel nears completion: PM Oli

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said that the construction of the Nagdhunga-Naubise tunnel has neared completion. 

The PM took to social media today to share information about this with the public. 

He said that the project reports 93 percent physical progress, hoping that it would come into operation soon, causing a great convenience to the public movement. 

Earlier, the Council of Ministers on August 11 determined the charges for vehicles to pass through the 2.688 kilometers long infrastructure once it comes into operation. 

The charge is Rs 65 for a car and van while coming to Kathmandu and Rs 60 as an exit fees, it is Rs 115 and Rs 80, respectively, for minibus and truck, Rs 260 and Rs 200 for bus and truck, respectively, and Rs 600 and Rs 200 respectively for heavy vehicles.  

 

 

Gold price drops by Rs 700 per tola on Sunday

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 700 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 195, 500 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 196, 200 per tola on Friday.

Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 5 and is being traded at Rs 2, 315 per tola.

Bolivia heads to the polls as its right-wing opposition eyes first victory in decades

Bolivians headed to the polls on Sunday to vote in presidential and congressional elections that could spell the end of the Andean nation’s long-dominant leftist party and see a right-wing government elected for the first time in over two decades, Associated Press reported.

The election on Sunday is one of the most consequential for Bolivia in recent times — and one of the most unpredictable.

Even at this late stage, a remarkable 30% or so of voters remain undecided. Polls show the two leading right-wing candidates, multimillionaire business owner Samuel Doria Medina and former President Jorge Fernando “Tuto” Quiroga, locked in a virtual dead heat, according to Associated Press.

Israel prepares to move Palestinians to southern Gaza as Israelis urge mass protest over war

Israel announced Saturday that it is preparing to move Palestinians from combat zones to southern Gaza as plans move ahead for a military offensive in some of the territory’s most populated areas, Associated Press reported.

The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, COGAT, said the supply of tents to the territory would resume on Sunday. The military said it had no comment on when the mass movement of Palestinians would begin, but Defense Minister Israel Katz said on social media that “we are now in the stage of discussions to finalize the plan to defeat Hamas in Gaza.”

Meanwhile, anxious families of Israeli hostages called for a “nationwide day of stoppage” in Israel on Sunday to express growing frustration over 22 months of war, according to Associated Press.

4 dead as cloudburst hits Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua, rescue ops on

At least four people were killed and many others were injured due to flooding caused by a cloudburst in a remote village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district, officials said on Sunday, NDTV reported.

The cloudburst struck a village in Janglote during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who is a member of Parliament from Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur, said a railway track, the National Highway-44 and a police station were also damaged in the cloudburst, according to NDTV.

Couple electrocuted in Saptari

A man and his wife were electrocuted at Pipara in Kanchanrup Municipality-5 of Saptari on Sunday. 

The deceased have been identified as Badri Sardar (50) and his wife Bimala Devi (45), said Madhav Prasad Kafle, Deputy Superintendent of Police of the Area Police Office, Kanchanpur.

Mahendra Sardar of Pipara, Kanchanrup-5, had installed a live electric wire to protect the paddy crop from elephants. The Sardar couple died after falling on the same exposed wire. 

They were going to their farmland about 150 meters east of their house, when the incident took place early this morning, according to the police.

 

Indian Foreign Secretary Misri arrives in Kathmandu

Foreign Secretary of India Vikram Misri arrived in Kathmandu on a two-day official visit to Nepal on Sunday.

Secretary Misri, who is here at the cordial invitation of Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai, will hold discussions with his Nepali counterpart on various aspects of the Nepal-India partnership, with a focus on connectivity, development cooperation and other matters of mutual interest, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Indian Foreign Secretary is also scheduled to call on high-level dignitaries of Nepal. 

He is scheduled to leave Kathmandu tomorrow.