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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) increased by 10. 34 points to reach 2027.80 points in the pre-open session on Sunday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 2. 11 points.

As many as 11, 365 shares of 28 companies were traded at Rs 5. 45 million.

In the pre-open session, the value of 16 companies increased while seven companies decreased and the value of remaining five companies remained stable.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 500 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 94, 500 per tola today.

Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 94, 000 per tola.

The yellow metal was traded at Rs 94, 000 per tola on Friday.

Similarly, the price of silver is being traded at Rs 1,165 per tola today.

Swiss Timepieces, a luxury watch store in Durbarmarg and the authorized seller of Grand Seiko in Nepal, organized an event to showcase fine luxury watches for the purists at Begnas Hall in Radisson Hotel.

The event was dedicated to celebrate the exquisite collection of Grand Seiko.

During the program, the organizer showcased timepieces from four well known collections—Evolution 9, Heritage, Elegance and Sport—for the first time in Nepal at an exclusive event.

The event brought forth luxury watch enthusiasts and connoisseurs who got the opportunity to experience the brilliance of Grand Seiko’s timepieces.

The program featured a small presentation by the representatives of Grand Seiko from India.

A surprise lucky draw was also hosted, where the winners received special merchandise from Grand Seiko.

Three teenage girls were found hanging in a tree in Kachankawal Rural Municipality of Jhapa district on Sunday.

DSP Basanta Pathak of the District Police Office, Jhapa said that the three girls committed suicide by hanging themselves in a tree at Sunkoshi Tea Farm in Ballegaun of Pathamari, Kachankawal Rural Municipality-5.

Those who committed suicide have been identified as Karina (16), daughter of Pancham Ganesh, Anjali (17), daughter of Puwali Ganesh and Kalpana (16), daughter of Birbal Ganesh of Kachankawal-5.

According to locals, all of them had gone missing from the house since Saturday afternoon.

Locals informed police after they found the trio found hanging in a tree at around 7 am today.

All of them used to work at the tea garden.

Police said that they are looking into the case.

At least 22 people were killed in flash floods caused by heavy rains in Iran's southern province of Fars, a provincial official said on Saturday, Reuters reported.

There was at least one person missing, said Khalil Abdollahi, head of the province's crisis management department, quoted by the semi-official news agency Tasnim.

He said 55 people had been rescued in the flood which submerged 15 cars.

The governor of Fars province declared Sunday a day of mourning, state media said, according to Reuters.

A wildfire near Yosemite National Park in California is spreading quickly, threatening thousands of homes, BBC reported.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) described it as being "zero per cent under control" on Saturday morning. 

"Explosive fire behaviour is challenging firefighters", Cal Fire reported on Saturday.

Central and North Eastern regions of the US are also sweltering under extreme heat. 

Temperatures of 38C (100.4 F) are forecast in Washington DC and Dallas, with New York only slightly cooler.

Dubbed the Oak Fire, the blaze in California started on Friday afternoon local time and quickly exploded in size. Thousands of people have been told to evacuate, according to BBC.

Climate change increases the risk of the hot, dry weather that is likely to fuel wildfires. 

The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions, BBC reported.

The monkeypox outbreak has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization, BBC reported.

The classification is the highest alert that the WHO can issue and follows a worldwide upsurge in cases.

It came at the end of the second meeting of the WHO's emergency committee on the virus.

More than 16,000 cases have now been reported from 75 countries, said WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

There had been five deaths so far as a result of the outbreak, he added.

There are only two other such health emergencies at present - the coronavirus pandemic and the continuing effort to eradicate polio.

Dr Tedros said the emergency committee had been unable to reach a consensus on whether the monkeypox outbreak should be classified as a global health emergency.

However, he said the outbreak had spread around the world rapidly and he had decided that it was indeed of international concern.

Too little was understood about the new modes of transmission which had allowed it to spread, said Dr Tedros, according to BBC.

"The WHO's assessment is that the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the European region, where we assess the risk as high," he added.

There was also a clear risk of further international spread, although the risk of interference with international traffic remained low for the moment, he said.

Dr Tedros said the declaration would help speed up the development of vaccines and the implementation of measures to limit the spread of the virus. 

The WHO is also issuing recommendations which it hopes will spur countries to take action to stop transmission of the virus and protect those most at risk.

"This is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups," Dr Tedros said, BBC reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of "barbarism" after a missile attack on the port of Odesa, BBC reported.

A landmark deal to resume Ukraine's grain exports - signed hours before the strike - now hangs in the balance.

Moscow has not commented on the attack and Kyiv has said preparations are still underway to resume the grain exports despite the apparent breach.

But on Saturday President Zelensky said it illustrates how Moscow cannot be trusted to stick to the deal.

He vowed to do everything possible to acquire air defence systems able to shoot down such missiles in the future.

Ukraine is a major grain exporter, but because of the war, about 20m tonnes of grain is trapped in its ports, unable to leave because of Russian forces. This has lead to food shortages and price rises across Africa, which usually relies on Ukraine and Russia for wheat.

Under Friday's deal, Russia agreed not to target ports while grain shipments were in transit. 

But just hours after the agreement was signed, two Kalibr missiles hit Odesa port, according to the Ukrainian military's southern command centre. Another two missiles were shot down by air defence systems, it added.

The strike caused no significant damage to the port, the command centre said.

The attack has been widely condemned. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Russia of worsening a global food crisis, and said the attack cast "serious doubt" on the credibility of Russia's commitment to the pact, according to BBC.

"Russia must stop its aggression and fully implement the grain deal to which it has agreed," he said on Saturday.

The Kremlin has so far made no public comment on the attack, however the Turkish government, which brokered the deal, said Russian officials had denied responsibility. 

"In our contact with Russia, the Russians told us that they had absolutely nothing to do with this attack and that they were examining the issue very closely and in detail," said Defence Minister Hulusai Akar.

In another development, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Ukraine could not win against Russia. 

Speaking at an international conference of conservatives, he said the war could only be ended by peace talks between Washington and Moscow.

"A new strategy is needed, which should focus on peace negotiations instead of trying to win the war," said Mr Orban, whose views on the conflict are often at odds with those of other EU leaders.

On Friday, officials from Kyiv and Moscow signed a deal to allow millions of tonnes of grain trapped in Ukraine to be exported. 

The agreement was hailed as a "beacon of hope" by the UN after months of fighting. 

The deal - which took two months to reach - is set to last for 120 days, with a co-ordination and monitoring centre to be established in Istanbul, staffed by UN, Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian officials. It can be renewed if both parties agree, BBC reported.