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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. 

Nepal reported 21 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 2, 025 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 14 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 603 people underwent antigen tests, of which seven were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 13 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 129 active cases in the country.

The Supreme Court has overturned its own previous decision to cut the life sentence of former DIG of Armed Police Force Ranjan Koirala.

A full bench of acting Chief Justice Deepak Kumar Karki and Justices duo Tanka Bahadur Moktan and Kumar Chudal on Thursday decided to give continuity to the decision of district and high courts to send him to life in prison and confiscate his property.

Earlier, suspended Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana and Justice Tej Bahadur KC had issued a verdict to commute Koirala's sentence from life imprisonment to eight and a half years for murdering his wife Dhakal.

Koirala was released after serving eight and a half years prison terms on July 22, 2020.

The Kathmandu District Court handed down a life term to Koirala in January 2012 and the decision was upheld by the Patan High Court.

Koirala killed his wife Gita in February 2012. 

Nepal firmly adheres to the one-China principle, and will never allow any forces to use its territory for anti-China separatist activities, the Nepali side said during a virtual meeting with Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao at the 14th round of China-Nepal diplomatic consultation held on Wednesday, Global Times reported.

China and Nepal are good neighbors and friends that help, respect and trust each other. In 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari visited each other and upgraded bilateral relations to a strategic partnership for mutual development and prosperity. 

As close neighbors and dear friends, China and Nepal should promote their traditional friendship and stand firm in supporting each other, Wu said. He said that the two sides should deepen cooperation on epidemic prevention, build the Belt & Road Initiative with high quality, and maintain close communication in various fields. 

For his part, Foreign Secretary of Nepal Bharat Raj Paudyal said that Nepal attaches great importance to its ties with China, and expressed satisfaction and confidence for bilateral development. 

Nepal firmly adheres to the one-China principle, Paudyal noted, and will never allow any forces to use its territory for anti-China separatist activities. Nepal will actively participate in the Belt & Road Initiative, strengthen communications on multiple levels and coordinate with China on regional and international affairs, according to Global Times.

The two sides also exchanged ideas on the cooperation and plans in the fields of future trade and investment, interconnection, law enforcement and security and humanistic exchanges.

In March, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid a visit to Kathmandu, the highest-level visit by a Chinese delegation since Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba assumed office in July 2021. The visit also came after Nepal's ratification of a $500 million grant from the US through the MCC agreement.  

During his visit, Wang said China believes the affairs of Nepal should be decided by its people, and China opposes any attempt to undermine Nepal's sovereignty and independence, interfere in its internal affairs and engage in geopolitical games in the country.

In February, BBC reported that "a Nepalese government report leaked to the BBC accuses China of encroaching into Nepal along the two countries' shared border" in the district of Humla, in the far west of Nepal, Global Times reported.

However, the Global Times found that the claims had been raised since 2020, and have been repeatedly refuted by the Nepali Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Observers said the BBC's report raised suspicions that its motives match "Tibetan independence" secession forces, and was part of a smear campaign against China amid applause for the Beijing Winter Olympics in February, Global Times reported.