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Ukraine has signed a memorandum of intent with the United States regarding a minerals deal, marking a step toward an economic partnership agreement.

According to the BBC, Yulia Svyrydenko, the minister of economics, stated that the agreement might possibly establish an investment fund for the country's reconstruction. Officials in the United States hope to reach a formal deal by the end of next week. Earlier talks were derailed by a public disagreement between Trump and Zelensky during a February White House meeting.

Svyrydenko shared pictures of the signing on X to announce it.The agreement aims to secure US access to Ukraine's critical minerals and oil resources while offering the prospect of a US security guarantee in the event of a ceasefire with Russia, BBC reported.

Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman met with senior Iranian officials in Tehran ahead of the second round of nuclear talks between the US and Iran. The visit comes as regional tensions rise and there are mounting concerns about potential conflict if diplomacy fails, Al Jazeera reported.

Prince Khalid conveyed a letter from King Salman to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and addressed bilateral relations and mutual interests. He later verified the meeting on social media.

Riyadh has expressed support for the US-Iran talks, highlighting the need of diplomatic measures to resolve regional and international conflicts, according to Al Jazeera.

Hamas has formally rejected Israel's latest ceasefire offer, saying it is prepared to immediately negotiate a deal that would see the release of all remaining hostages in return for an end to the war and the release of Palestinian prisoners, BBC reported.

Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas' senior negotiator, stated in a video statement that "we will not accept partial deals that serve Israeli PM Netanyahu's political agenda." 59 hostages remain in captivity, with 24 believed to be alive.

Israel's newest offer included a 45-day cease-fire in exchange for the release of ten hostages. Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right Israeli Finance Minister, said it was time to "open the gates of hell" on Hamas, according to BBC.

The country’s first tunnel project, the Nagdhunga-Sisnekhola Tunnel, has faced yet another delay despite being extended for the third time. Construction was stalled for nearly a month due to local obstruction, and officials say the project can only be completed on time if the contractor significantly accelerates the pace of work. Tunnel construction resumed recently, despite ongoing protests. 

Work had been halted on 17 March 2025, due to local resistance and was resumed 26 days later under police protection, according to Senior Divisional Engineer Sanjay Panthi. “Construction resumed in the presence of the Armed Police Force and District Police, but locals are still shouting slogans and staging demonstrations,” Panthi said. Given the month-long halt, it is now uncertain whether the project can be completed by the latest deadline of 23 Oct 2025. Panthi said that the delay might push the timeline back by another month, and the contractor may request an extension accordingly.

Originally, the project was scheduled to be completed by 26 April 2023. It was first delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and local obstructions, pushing the deadline to 27 April 2024. A second extension brought it to the current Oct 2025 target. Panthi noted that local residents have made multiple demands, including compensation for houses above the tunnel, free drinking water until the project’s completion, post-project employment, and fair land compensation. “We have already addressed the compensation issue and other legitimate demands, but new demands keep emerging. That’s why we had to resume work with police assistance,” he said.

The tunnel project was launched to ease traffic congestion on the heavily jammed Naubise-Kathmandu section of the Tribhuvan Highway. It includes a 2,688-meter main tunnel stretching from Sisnekhola in Nagdhunga Bhanjyang to Chandragiri Municipality-3 in Kathmandu district, along with 565 meters of western access road and 2,307 meters to the east. The foundation stone was laid by then-Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on 21 Oct 2019, following an agreement signed on 23 Sept 2019, between the Roads Department and Japan’s Hazama-Ando JV.

The Rs 22bn project is being executed by Hazama-Ando JV and is funded through a Rs 16.8bn loan from Japan’s JICA. The rescue tunnel has already been completed. As part of the project, a 2.3 km paved road will be built from Tribhuvan Highway in Thankot to Basnet Chap, and another 565 meters from Sisnekhola in Dhunibesi toward Dhading. The main tunnel, stretching from Dahachowk to Sisnekhola, will be 2.688 kilometers long, 9.5 meters wide, and 18 meters high. Once operational, it will reduce the travel time between Thankot and Sisnekhola to just three minutes, saving at least 30 minutes of the usual journey and shortening the route by eight kilometers. It will make it possible to reach Naubise from Thankot in just 10 minutes.

Engineer Panthi stated that the project is now 88 percent complete, six years after construction began. Following flood damage to the Naubise road last September, traffic had to be rerouted through the partially completed tunnel.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has made it clear that inhuman and heinous crimes committed during the conflict cannot be forgiven while taking the transitional justice to the final conclusion.

Inaugurating the Sixth National Convention of the National Ex-Army and Police Organization of Nepal (NEAPON) today, PM Oli, who is also the Chairman of CPN-UML, said that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission of Investigation on Disappeared Persons would carry out works to provide justice to the conflict victims.

Stating that there would be no further delay in the formation of these commissions, he made it clear that any kind of murder, violence, activities that disturb religious harmony and anarchy would not be acceptable as the country has already adopted the democratic system after defeating authoritarianism.

"We are now in a federal democratic republican system. You can go to the people and contest in the election. After winning the election, when the UML started unprecedented works for development and prosperity by forming a government of its own, we were displaced at the instigation of the reactionaries. We are now in a coalition government," he said on the occasion.

Prime Minister Oli further said: "We have a history of nation building and unity. We will hand over a prosperous and an undivided Nepal to the new generation. We will not allow the country's borders to shrink and the national pride to be harmed. We will move forward by keeping our civilized and cultured society intact.”

Reiterating that national unity with social harmony was necessary in a diverse country, PM Oli stressed the need to further strengthen the trust reposed by the ex-servicemen and police organizations in the country and the party as the UML was leading the campaign to foster national unity and social harmony.

He also called upon the UML to organize a youth conference on the occasion of Democracy Day on April 24 to celebrate people's rights and development.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 28.97 points to close at 2,725.20 points on Thursday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 6.65 points to close at 458. 47 points.

A total of 23,773,731-unit shares of 311 companies were traded for Rs 10. 79 billion.

Meanwhile, Nepal Micro Insurance Company Limited (NMIC) was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Likewise, 10% NIC Asia Debenture 2085/86 (NICAD85/86) was the top loser as its price fell by 4.79 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 52 trillion.

The short road intended to connect Karnali Province and Lumbini Province has been abandoned due to the absence of a bridge over the Bheri River, which links Surkhet in Karnali to Bhurigaun in Bardiya, Lumbini. Although the project to build the bridge began 12 years ago, no significant progress has been made, and the few pillars that were constructed now lie abandoned.

The bridge, which was supposed to connect Bhurigaun in Bardiya to Telpani in Surkhet, has not been completed or upgraded. As a result, local residents are forced to travel long distances for their daily commute. The total length of the planned road is 52 kilometers, which, if completed on time, would have been the shortest route connecting Surkhet to the Tarai. In the absence of the bridge, travelers must detour through Kohalpur to reach Bardiya.

Local producers are also facing difficulties transporting their goods to market due to the incomplete road. The project, which began in the fiscal year 2014/15, has stalled due to continued government neglect and lack of budget allocation. Although tracks have been opened from Bardiya to the Surkhet border and vice versa, the section in between remains incomplete.

The plan to build this 52-kilometer road was initiated in 2013. However, in recent years, the government has stopped allocating funds for the project. Notably, 12 kilometers of the proposed road falls within Bardiya National Park, posing additional regulatory challenges.

Locals believe that if the road were completed, it would significantly contribute to the industrial development of Surkhet, Lumbini, and other districts in Karnali. The route is considered the shortest link between the entire Karnali region and the Lumbini plains. Despite repeated petitions by local political parties to the government and visiting heads of state, the demand for the road’s construction has gone unheard.

Technical issues in the bridge’s design and an unresolved court case involving the contractor have further delayed the project. On 13 July 2012, a contract was signed with Pappu/Mall JV to complete the bridge within 43 months, by 13 Jan 2016. At the time, the estimated cost of the project was Rs 142.989m. Although two bridge pillars were placed in the Bheri River, construction was halted after a design flaw caused a bend in the middle pillar.

The contractor filed a legal case over the design issue, which remains unresolved. According to the Road Division Office in Surkhet, which oversees the project, the dispute has prevented further work on the bridge. Engineer Barkh Bahadur Kathayat from the office stated that the contract was terminated on 13 July 2022, after prolonged inactivity by the contractor. “The new contract process has not started because the case is still unresolved,” he said. “Only once the issue is settled can we proceed with a new contract for the bridge.”

The government has implemented an Act related to the production and sale of iodized salt after 26 years of its enactment. The Act was formulated in 2000.

The Act came into implementation after a meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 15 passed a proposal presented by Minister for Health and Population Pradip Paudel to this effect.

With the implementation of the Act, the legal way has been opened to work on solving the health problems found in children due to the excess intake of iodine which was pointed out to by a research conducted by the Ministry of Health before this.

It was stated that the Act would come into effect after a notification on the issuance of the Act is published in the government Gazette. The notification on the issuance of the Act was published in the Gazette on January 15, 1999.

However, the Act could not come into implementation so far, as the successive governments since 1999 failed to publish in the Gazette a notification on the implementation of the Act. As a result, regulations and guidelines could not be formulated for the implementation and regulation of the Act.

Now, with the implementation of the Act after two and a half decades, the legal process has been opened for the Ministry to proceed ahead with the work in this regard.

A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Tuesday decided to publish the notification with effect from July 17.

Chief of the Nutrition Section under the Department of Health Services at the Ministry of Health, Lila Bikram Thapa, said that the research carried out a decade ago by the Ministry of Health had shown serious health problems due to the excessive intake of iodine in children as it was based on the past standards regarding iodine content in salt.

In a micronutrient assessment survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Population in 2016, iodine content in the urine samples collected from children aged six to nine years was found to be 314 micrograms per liter whereas the accepted iodine content was 300 micrograms per liter.

Doctors say that due to this, high blood pressure, thyroid and other problems are seen.

"Now with the publication of the latest Gazette notification related to implementation of the Act, it will be easier for the Ministry of Health, Agriculture and related bodies to enact the related regulation and revise the standards or carry out other necessary works," said Dr Prakash Budhathoki, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Health and Population.