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President Donald Trump will go to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates from May 13 to 15 to secure large Gulf investments amidst a slowing US economy. The trip begins in Riyadh, where Trump will meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and attend a summit of Gulf leaders, Reuters reported.

A US-Saudi investment forum on May 13 will feature CEOs from top firms including BlackRock, Alphabet, and Citigroup. Trump aims to attract sovereign wealth funds to support US jobs and manufacturing, reinforcing his “America First” agenda.

The visit follows the first US GDP decline in three years, driven by new tariffs and global trade disruptions, as stated by Reuters.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy will meet with counterparts from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, and the EU on Monday to discuss continued support for Ukraine and enhanced regional defence cooperation, according to Reuters.

The discussions take place before Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets with EU leaders on May 19 to discuss improving trade relations after Brexit and securing a new defense agreement.

Lammy is expected to announce new sanctions targeting those aiding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The move follows a joint visit to Kyiv by leaders of Britain, France, Germany, and Poland to support Ukraine’s call for a 30-day ceasefire, backed by US President Donald Trump, Reuters reported.

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has subsequently suggested holding direct peace negotiations with Ukraine.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said that the conflict between India and Pakistan stopped after they called for calm and restraint from both sides and prayed for peace. 

He said so while addressing a program organized in Lumbini on the occasion of 2569^th Buddha Jayanti on Monday.

Though a war situation had emerged between India and Pakistan just a few days ago, the Prime Minister said that it did not escalate into a full-scale war.

Saying that India and Pakistan have reached a cease-fire agreement, Prime Minister Oli thanked both the countries for exercising restraint.

“Though India and Pakistan exchanged strikes for days, it did not escalate into war. I would like to thank both countries for restraint. We had prayed that this situation would not turn into a war,” PM Oli said.

The new leadership at the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has launched a renewed effort to collect long standing disputed dues related to dedicated and trunk power lines. On Friday, the Authority issued a public notice calling on customers with outstanding dues to file appeals by June.

The NEA stated it aims to resolve the disputes—which have remained unresolved for nearly a decade—by addressing misunderstandings from a new perspective. The decision to move forward was made at a Board of Directors meeting on May 4. According to the NEA, total disputed dues now amount to Rs 23.44bn.

To facilitate dispute resolution, the NEA has amended Sub-regulation 2 of Regulation 55 under its 2021 Electricity Distribution Regulations. Under the revised provision, five percent of the billed amount can be submitted either in cash or via a Class A bank guarantee valid for one year.

The dispute began in 2016 after NEA introduced new tariffs for dedicated and trunk lines. In 2018, approximately nine months after load-shedding ended, NEA sent backdated bills covering two years and seven months. Industrialists contested the charges, arguing they had received trunk line facilities without formal notice and were billed as though load-shedding continued. Most only paid regular bills, rejecting the additional charges.

NEA regulations stipulate that customers seeking 20 hours of uninterrupted electricity via trunk lines during extended load-shedding must apply in advance, with service granted only after NEA Board approval. Customers are also required to provide Time-of-Day (TOD) meter data, which the NEA must verify.

To address the dispute, NEA formed a task force which submitted its findings. In 2019, the parliamentary Accounts Committee also intervened. A subcommittee recommended that the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) probe NEA officials for failing to enforce tariff regulations, leading to revenue losses. The subcommittee also urged NEA to implement provisions requiring payment within 35 days of billing or disconnection after 60 days of non-payment.

Multiple committees have since examined the issue. In 2024, a commission led by former Justice Girish Chandra Lal submitted a report directing the government to recover Rs 6.11bn in dues from Feb 2016 to May 2018. NEA’s notice mentions plans to collect this amount as well.

Former NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising had also attempted to collect these arrears per the commission’s recommendations, but government intervention stalled the effort.

Weekly three flights are to be operated from Resunga airport in Gulmi in view of the increasing number of passengers.

Suman Thapa, the Resunga Airport Station Head, said that even though weekly flights have been operated, the service will be provided three times a week, on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, considering the increasing number of passengers in recent times.

Nepal Airlines Corporation has been unable to operate services regularly due to a shortage of aircraft. The national flag-carrier has been operating flights from its Twin Otter aircraft. Regular flights have resumed after the maintenance of Nepal Airlines' aircraft.

The air fare from Resunga to Kathmandu is Rs 7,080 and Rs 7,280 vice-versa.

Manoj Karki, a local, said the news of operation of three flights a week has brought excitement among the Gulmi folks. The Corporation's 18-seat capacity aircraft is scheduled to fly from Kathmandu to Resunga at 6:10 am and from Resunga to Kathmandu at 7:15 am.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli vowed to check the felling of Saal trees in the name of scientific forest management. Addressing the second National Forest Promotion seminar organised by the Ministry of Forest and Environment here on Saturday, PM Oli acknowledged the importance of Saal trees for causing rainfall. Saal trees should not be used for commercial purposes until these trees are mature, he reminded. 

The PM reaffirmed the incumbent government’s commitment towards forest conservation and capitalising on the forest resources for the greater good of the earth. He opined that we should now focus on production rather than expanding forest coverage. 

Moreover, the Head of the Government called for adopting a policy that emphasises the prudent usage of forest products for commercial purposes, as well as strengthening forests and converting shrubs into dense forest. Oli suggested officers at the agriculture and forest offices could work in unison to promote the commercial farming of fruits. He underscored mutual cooperation and collaboration for forest conservation and ensuring economic gains from the cultivation of fruits and herbal plants.

Encouraging farmers for animal husbandry would promote forests’ regeneration and would contribute to an increase in wildlife’s population, he said, adding that it further contributes to the conservation of both the forest and the agricultural ecosystem. PM Oli expressed concern over misinterpretation of his statement, ‘Now, there is no need to increase tiger population’, dubbing him as speaking against conservation.
However, Oli took pride in Nepal’s achievement in tiger conservation efforts and expanding forest coverage, which stands at 46 per cent at present. “We have protected tigers by more than double the international pledge we had made. The environmental conservation effort is in the interest of humans. If mankind itself is unsafe, the environment can’t be conserved,” he remarked. Noting that there were some countries that did not ratify the Paris Agreement, the PM saw the importance of global efforts in protecting the Earth and ecology.  

On a different note, he mentioned that Nepal is going to organise the ‘Sagarmatha Sambad’ for the first time at the level of the international diplomatic forum to coordinate global efforts for climate action. The event is slated to take place May 16-18 in Kathmandu.

The Karnali provincial government is set to invest in two major drinking water projects aimed at addressing water shortages in the region. These projects, previously initiated in collaboration with the local and federal governments, will now receive a total investment of Rs 940m from the provincial government.

An agreement has been signed between the Federal Ministry of Drinking Water and the Provincial Ministry of Water Resources and Energy to co-invest in these projects. According to the agreement, the provincial government will allocate Rs 804.1m to the much-discussed Bheri Pumping Drinking Water Project in Birendranagar, and Rs 137.3m to another drinking water project in Sharda Municipality, Salyan. Altogether, the provincial government has committed Rs 941.4m over the next four fiscal years for both initiatives.

Both Birendranagar, the provincial capital, and Sharda Municipality, the district headquarters of Salyan, are currently facing an acute drinking water crisis. These projects aim to address that challenge. Chief Minister Yamalal Kandel confirmed that the government plans to complete and operationalize both projects within four years, ensuring a long-term solution to the growing water shortage. He emphasized the government’s comitment to timely implementation.

The agreement, signed on Tuesday, falls under the ‘Drinking Water Sectoral Governance and Infrastructure Support Project’ and outlines a cost-sharing partnership. The drinking water crisis in Birendranagar has worsened with rapid population growth. To tackle the issue, water from the Bheri River will be pumped into the valley. Initially, the federal government and Birendranagar Municipality managed the funding for this project. Now, the provincial government is joining the budget management effort.

The Bheri Pumping Project is estimated to cost Rs 6bn. In September, a contract worth Rs 3.58bn was signed with the Chinese company Xinjiang Times International Economy and Technical Cooperation for the first phase. The federal government will cover 80 percent of the cost, while the provincial government and Birendranagar Municipality will contribute the remaining 20 percent.

Meanwhile, in Salyan, a large-scale drinking water project is being implemented in Sharda Municipality to address similar shortages. The total cost of this project is projected at Rs 1bn. The provincial government will invest Rs 137.3m over four years, while Sharda Municipality has committed Rs 130m. According to Mayor Prakash Bhandari, the federal government will provide the remaining budget.

In the first phase of the Bheri project, two water intakes will be constructed approximately seven meters deep by diverting river flow. A water treatment plant will be built around 400 meters from the intake point. Additionally, a seven-kilometer pipeline will be laid to transport water to a main reserve tank at Amritdanda in Birendranagar-11. This tank will connect to a primary transmission line extending into Birendranagar.

The second phase will extend the transmission line along both sides of the Ratna Highway and the Surkhet-Jumla Road. Water from the Bheri River will be pumped to a treatment tank located at an elevation of 400 meters and then transported to the Amritdanda reserve tank via a seven-kilometer pipeline. A 550-millimeter-capacity pipe will be installed at Amritdanda to connect to the main tank. Three reserve tanks, each with a storage capacity of three million liters, will also be built at the site.

Portraits of 11 Gurkha soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan were flown over to Nepal from the UK and handed over to their families at an event in Pokhara on Sunday.

The portraits of the 11 Gurkhas and four British Officers who died during the conflict in Afghanistan were unveiled at the Gurkha Memorial Museum in Pokhara before being handed over.

The portraits till date were on display at the Gurkha Museum in Winchester, UK from where they were transported to Nepal by the Veterans Can… team.

Kevin Wills, an artist and army veteran, painted portraits of each of the 457 British Army officers and soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan and the Brigade of Gurkhas lost 15 members during the Afghanistan conflict, reads a statement issued by Headquarters British Gurkhas Nepal.

Rob Fenn, British Ambassador to Nepal; Colonel Dan Rex MVO, Commander British Gurkhas Nepal, army veterans, serving personnel and well-wishers were present at the event to show their solidarity.