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Goodfellas actor Ray Liotta has died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic at the age of 67, BBC reported.

The US star had been on location filming the movie Dangerous Waters, his publicist Jennifer Allen said.

He was best known for playing mobster Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's 1990 gangster film Goodfellas and also appeared in Field of Dreams.

Liotta got his big break playing ex-convict Ray Sinclair in 1986 black comedy Something Wild, according to BBC.

He got a Golden Globe nomination for that role and went on to star in the 1988 film Dominick and Eugene, about the strained relationship between twins with very different characters.

India and Japan have agreed to work together on assisting crisis-hit Sri Lanka, the Japanese government said, following a recent meeting between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, The Hindu reported.

Mr. Modi and Mr. Kishida met on May 24 on the sidelines of the Quad summit and held bilateral talks on “close cooperation” to promote efforts to realise a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’, in addition to collaboration in spheres including defence, clean energy, and investment.

Following the meeting, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the leaders “discussed the situation in Sri Lanka and confirmed that they will cooperate with each other in light of the current economic crisis and deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country.” Further, they “shared the view to work together to develop Indo-Pacific Economic Framework into an inclusive framework that will bring substantive benefits to the region,” according to a statement.

Ministry of External Affairs made no specific mention of Sri Lanka. “The two leaders exchanged views on recent global and regional developments. They noted the convergences in their respective approaches to the Indo-Pacific and reaffirmed their commitment towards a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region,” read its May 24 statement, according to The Hindu.

For over half a century, Japan has been one of Sri Lanka’s top donors and development partners, although its grants and investments have received much less attention compared to those from China or India.   

Japan’s announcement of collaborating with India to help Sri Lanka, assumes significance, coming shortly after Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s proposal that Quad members— United States, India, Japan, and Australia — take the lead in setting up a foreign aid consortium to assist Sri Lanka, that is reeling under the worst economic crisis since Independence.  India has extended about $ 3.5 billion assistance since January this year, by way of loan deferments and credit lines for essential imports. 

Japan’s initiative also comes despite Colombo scrapping two major infrastructure projects with Japanese involvement. In September 2020, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa ordered the termination of a $ 1.5-billion Japanese-funded light rail project, on that basis that it was not a “cost-effective solution”. In early 2021, Sri Lanka ejected Japan and India out of a trilateral project to jointly develop a container terminal at the strategically located Colombo Port, causing considerable diplomatic tensions. India’s Adani Group was subsequently roped in to develop another terminal at the same port, The Hindu reported.

Meanwhile, addressing the ‘International conference on the future of Asia’ organised by Nikkei virtually, Mr. Gotabaya said Sri Lanka “urgently requires” assistance of friends in the international community “to ensure that our immediate needs in terms of the importation of essential medicines, food supplies, and fuel are met.”

Japan “remains one of Sri Lanka’s key development partners”, the Sri Lankan President said, expressing hope that ongoing negotiations on “bridging funds” from Japan would soon conclude. “We are also in urgent need of bridging financing to restore confidence in our external sector and stabilise our economy until the debt restructuring process is completed and an IMF programme commences,” he said, while thanking India, Sri Lanka’s “close friend and neighbour”. 

Colombo earlier sought India’s help in securing bridge financing to cope with the downturn, until an International Monetary Fund package materialises. The government is in talks with IMF on debt restructuring after opting for a preemptive default on its foreign debt of about $ 50 billion, according to The Hindu.

Researchers studying human remains from Pompeii have extracted genetic secrets from the bones of a man and a woman who were buried when the Roman city was engulfed in volcanic ash, BBC reported. 

This first "Pompeian human genome" is an almost complete set of "genetic instructions" from the victims, encoded in DNA extracted from their bones. 

Ancient DNA was preserved in bodies that were encased in time-hardened ash. 

The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The two people were first discovered in 1933, in what Pompeii archaeologists have called Casa del Fabbro, or The Craftsman's House.

They were slumped in the corner of the dining room, almost as though they were having lunch when the eruption occurred - on 24 August 79AD. One recent study suggested that the huge cloud of ash from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius could have become lethal for the city's residents in less than 20 minutes, according to BBC.

The two victims the researchers studied, according to anthropologist Dr Serena Viva from the University of Salento, were not attempting to escape. 

"From the position [of their bodies] it seems they were not running away," Dr Viva told BBC Radio 4's Inside Science. "The answer to why they weren't fleeing could lie in their health conditions." 

Clues have now been revealed in this new study of their bones.

"It was all about the preservation of the skeletons," explained Prof Gabriele Scorrano, from the Lundbeck GeoGenetics centre in Copenhagen, who led the study. "It's the first thing we looked at, and it looked promising, so we decided to give [DNA extraction] a shot."

Both the remarkable preservation and the latest laboratory technology allowed the scientists to extract a great deal of information from a "really small amount of bone powder", as Prof Scorrano explained. 

"New sequencing machines can [read] several whole genomes at the same time," he said. 

The genetic study revealed that the man's skeleton contained DNA from tuberculosis-causing bacteria, suggesting he might have had the disease prior to his death. And a fragment of bone at the base of his skull contained enough intact DNA to work out his entire genetic code, BBC reported.

This showed that he shared "genetic markers" - or recognisable reference points in his genetic code - with other individuals who lived in Italy during the Roman Imperial age. But he also had a group of genes commonly found in those from the island of Sardinia, which suggested there might have been high levels of genetic diversity across the Italian Peninsula at the time. 

Prof Scorrano said there would be much more to learn in biological studies of Pompeii - including from ancient environmental DNA, which could reveal more about biodiversity at the time. 

"Pompeii is like a Roman island, " he added. "We have a picture of one day in 79AD."

Dr Viva added that every human body in Pompeii was "a treasure". 

"These people are silent witnesses to one of the most well-known historical events in the world," she said. "To work with them is very emotional and a great privilege for me."

Chief of Army Staff (CoA) Prabhu Ram Sharma is set to travel to the United States of America.

During the visit, he is expected to hold high-level talks with US officials on expanding defense cooperation. In recent years, the US is keen to enhance the defense collaboration with Nepal.

Similarly, senior US military officials are also visiting Nepal. 

The Indo-Pacific Strategy Report, unveiled by the US Department of Defense on 1 June 2019, clearly talks about enhancing defense partner­ship with South Asian countries, including Nepal. “Within South Asia, we are working to operationalize our Major Defense Partnership with India, while pursuing emerging part­nerships with Sri Lanka, the Mal­dives, Bangladesh, and Nepal,” the document says.

“The United States seeks to expand our defense relationship with Nepal, focused on HA/DR [humanitarian assistance/disaster relief], peace­keeping operations, defense profes­sionalization, ground force capacity, and counter-terrorism. Our growing defense partnership can be seen in the establishment of the US Army Pacific-led Land Forces Talks in June 2018, our senior-most military dia­logue with Nepal,” the document further says.

Coming to the present day, for 2019-2020, the US has increased Nepal’s training and equipment budget by nearly $65 million. It has supported disaster response in var­ious provinces as well. In 2019, the US provided a big chunk of military assistance to Nepal including sky trucks, light cargo, and passenger aircraft. 

An independent candidate Balen Shah has been elected as the mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. He will head the Kathmandu metropolis for next five years.

He defeated his nearest rival Srijana Singh of Nepali Congress by 23, 426 votes to become the new mayor of Kathmandu metropolis.

An engineer by profession, Shah garnered 62, 767 votes while Singh secured 38, 341 votes. 

Similarly, CPN-UML candidate Keshav Sthapit received 38, 117 votes.

Shah (32) is also one of the popular rappers of Nepal. 

Likewise, Sunita Dangol of CPN-UML has been elected as the deputy mayor of the metropolis with 68, 612 votes.

Her closest contender Rameshwar Shrestha of CPN (Unified Socialist) got 23, 806 votes.

The Unity for Sustainability programme launched by Annapurna Media Network, the parent company of Annapurna daily newspaper, and Sadhguru's Save the Soil campaign signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday.

Arun Kumar Singh from Conscious Planet – save soil and CEO of Annapurna Media Network Sanat Neupane signed the memorandum of understanding amidst a program at the head office of Annapurna Media Network  in Tinkune, Kathmandu.

During the program, CEO Neupane floated his opinion about the soil.

"It is the responsibility of all to conserve the soil. Especially the soil of Nepal is very important as various types of soil are found in this country," he said, adding," To save the soil is to save the country. That is why, the Annapurna Media Network is always ready to express its commitment and solidarity in this kind of campaign."

Similarly, Coordinator of the Conscious Planet-Save Soil said that a large number of people from across the world have been participating in the journey to save the soil started by Sadhguru.

He further said that the people from Nepal should also take part in the campaign.

Venezuelan Juan Vicente Perez Mora, declared the oldest person in the world by Guinness World Records last week, will hit 113 years old on Friday, Reuters reported.

Perez Mora, who enjoys good health and a cup of strong aguardiente liquor every day, has 41 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, and 12 great-great-grandchildren, Guinness said in a press release.

Apart from slightly elevated blood pressure and hearing problems due to his age, Perez Mora is in very good health and does not take medication, said Enrique Guzman, a physician from a clinic in San Jose de Bolivar, in Venezuela’s Tachira state, according to Reuters.

“He seems totally fine to me,” Guzman said.

Perez Mora became the world’s oldest person after Saturnino de la Fuente Garcia, who was born on February 11, 1909 in Spain, died in January aged 112 years and 341 days old.

Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka is preparing to visit China at the invitation of his Chinese counterparty Wang Yi.

According to diplomatic sources, preparations are underway for Wang’s China visit. During his Nepal visit in March, Wang extended an invitation to Khadka to visit China.