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Washington: China’s top diplomat is meeting high-level US officials, possibly including President Joe Biden, on a highly watched visit to Washington that could help stabilize the US-China ties by facilitating a summit between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, met Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday afternoon, shortly after he landed for the three-day visit and quickly raised hopes that the relationship can be steadied.

Before going into their closed-door meeting, Wang said China would seek consensus and cooperation to “push the relationship as soon as possible back to the track of healthy, stable and sustainable development.”

Before the meeting, US officials said they would press Wang on the importance of China stepping up its role on the world stage if it wants to be considered a responsible major international player. The US has been disappointed with China over its support for Russia in the war against Ukraine and its relative silence on the Israel-Hamas war.

“China should use whatever ability it has as an influential power to urge calm” in the Middle East, said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. “We know China has relationships with a number of countries in the region, and we would urge them to use those relationships, the lines of communication they have, to urge calm and stability.”

US officials believe the Chinese have considerable leverage with Iran, which is a major backer of Hamas.

In a readout after the meeting, the State Department said the two men addressed “areas of difference” and “areas of cooperation,” while Blinken “reiterated that the United States will continue to stand up for our interests and values and those of our allies and partners.”

China’s Foreign Ministry said, “The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on China-US relations and issues of common concern in a constructive atmosphere.”

Wang is scheduled to meet again Friday with Blinken as well as national security adviser Jake Sullivan. They are expected to urge China to play a constructive role in both the Israel-Hamas and Russia-Ukraine wars.

It’s not yet clear if Wang will meet with Biden. The diplomatic practice of reciprocity suggests it is likely, since Blinken met with Xi when he visited China in June.

Neither side has confirmed whether Biden and Xi will meet next month on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders gathering in San Francisco. But Wang’s trip indicates the likelihood is extremely high, said Scott Kennedy, senior adviser and trustee chair in Chinese business and economics at the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“His visit is most likely about nailing down the agenda and negotiating potential deliverables,” Kennedy said.

The Chinese president last came to the US in 2017, when former President Donald Trump hosted him at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Biden, who took office in 2021, has yet to host Xi on US soil. The two men last met in Bali, Indonesia, in Nov 2022, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 meeting of leading rich and developing nations.

The US-China relationship began to sour in 2018 when the Trump administration slapped hefty tariffs on $50bn worth of Chinese goods. It deteriorated further over a range of issues, including rights abuses, the South China Sea, Taiwan, technology and the Covid-19 pandemic.

AP

Tel Aviv: Israel has determined that a missile which hit the Egyptian Red Sea town of Taba overnight was fired from Yemen, an Israeli military spokesperson said on Friday morning.

The missile originated in ‘the Red Sea area’, said Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

“In the last few hours, an aerial threat was detected in the Red Sea area. Fighter jets were scrambled to the threat area and the issue is under investigation,” Hagari said.

Egyptian media reports said six people were injured when the missile hit a medical facility in Taba, a resort town adjacent to the Israeli city of Eilat.

A US warship in the Red Sea shot down three missiles fired from Yemen that were heading north, towards Israel on Oct 19.

Saudi Arabia is reported to have shot down another missile fired from Yemen.

The launches are attributed to Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed threatened on Sunday that “Israeli ships in the Red Sea will be targeted” if Israeli air strikes on Gaza continue.

At least 233 hostages have been confirmed as kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip by Hamas on Oct 7, Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Friday.

Hagari stressed that this number is not final and the military is continuing to investigate new information. 

ANI/TPS

Kathmandu: Minister for Foreign Affairs NP Saud is scheduled to hold high-level talks during his official visit to the United States of America. He will depart from Kathmandu on Sunday, Oct 29.

In a press statement issued on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that during the visit, Saud will have a bilateral meeting with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in Washington, DC on Oct 30. 

The Foreign Minister will also hold meetings with Samantha Power, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Alice P Albright, Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and other high-level officials of the US Government.

He will also meet with Congressman Mike Carey, the Nepal Caucus Co-chair in the US Congress.

The Foreign Minister’s other engagements include a talk program at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), interactions with the Nepali-American business community, meetings with the IT advisory network, and interactions with representatives of the Non-Resident Nepali Association and Nepali-American professionals, said the ministry.

The Nepali delegation includes Ambassador of Nepal to the United States of America, Sridhar Khatri, and senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Nepal in Washington, DC, as well as the presidents of FNCCI and the American Chamber of Commerce in Nepal.

Saud will return to Kathmandu on Nov 5.

Mugu: Four persons of a single family have been found dead at Mandu village of Chhayanath Rara Municipality-6 in Mugu district. They are suspected to have been murdered. However, factors like who murdered them for what reasons have been unknown.

The victims have been identified as Sridevi Bohara, 28, a local resident; her 11-year-old son Manoj; her nine-year-old daughter Apsara; and her eight-month-old son Rahar, as confirmed by Deputy Superintendent of Police Birendra Thapa. Upon receiving this distressing news, a police team promptly arrived at the scene, which is located southeast of Gamgadhi, the district headquarters. The bodies of the deceased have been transported to the district hospital for a postmortem examination.

It has been reported that Sridevi's spouse is currently abroad for employment-related reasons. DSP Thapa has stated that further investigations into the case are currently in progress.

Preliminary police inquiries suggest that on Oct 24, Sridevi, along with her children, had visited her maternal home in the nearby Kotilla village to receive Dashain tika. They returned to their home the following evening. It is believed that they may have been murdered on the same night, according to the police.

On Oct 26, when the neighbors noticed that the main door of Sridevi’s house was locked, they assumed that the family had gone to their farmland to collect vegetables. However, on Oct 27, concerned about their whereabouts, the neighbors contacted Sridevi’s maternal relatives. They were informed that Sridevi had left her maternal home on Oct 25. In response, the neighbors decided to enter her house at around 10 am today, only to discover the lifeless bodies of the four family members.

Kathmandu: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is scheduled to arrive in Kathmandu on Oct 29 during his four-day visit to Nepal. Secretary-General Guterres is visiting Nepal at the invitation of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Prime Minister Dahal extended this invitation while attending the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September and the United Nations Food Summit in Rome, Italy in July.

Prime Minister Dahal’s press advisor, Govinda Acharya, informed that the UN Secretary-General’s initial visit, set for Oct 13-15, was postponed due to the Hamas militants’ attack on Israel and is now rescheduled for Oct 29. During his visit, discussions will focus on concluding Nepal’s ongoing peace process and establishing sustainable peace in the country. Climate change, sustainable development, and the agenda for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) will also be in the spotlight.

Guterres had previously visited Nepal in 2007 in his capacity as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Guterres, who has been serving as the United Nations Secretary-General for a second term since 2017, succeeded Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, issuing a press statement on Friday, said the Secretary-General will be accompanied by Jean Pierre Lacroix, Under Secretary General for Peace Operations, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations to Nepal and other officials from the UN Headquarters in New York and the United Nations country team in Nepal.

During his visit, the Secretary-General is scheduled to pay courtesy calls on President Ramchandra Paudel and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. He will also meet with the leaders of major political parties, including Nepali Congress President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML Chairperson and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

Secretary-General Guterres is scheduled to address a joint session of the federal parliament at 4:00 pm on Oct 31 (Tuesday). 

During his four-day visit, he is scheduled to visit Patan Durbar Square, Pokhara, Annapurna Base Camp, and Lumbini among other places.

Kathmandu: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN-UML Chair KP Sharma Oli held a meeting today. During the meeting held at the Singha Durbar-based Prime Minister's Office, the two exchanged views about the upcoming visits to Nepal by the UN Secretary-General and the Emir of Qatar, according to the Prime Minister's Secretariat.  

Likewise, matters over the Bill relating to transitional justice were also discussed in the meeting.

Bhaktapur: The Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), Bhaktapur has appealed to the public to donate blood in order to address a nationwide shortage of blood supplies. 

At present, blood banks across the country including in Bhaktapur are facing the shortage of blood when there is a significant demand for blood supplies amidst the soaring cases of dengue fever. The blood collection has remained halted during the Dashain festival, exacerbating the shortage. 

Despite this, the NRCS in Bhaktapur is making efforts to address the demand of blood for emergency purposes. Still relatives of patients visiting the district in search of blood are not compelled to return empty-handed. 

The scarcity of blood has surfaced nationwide including in the districts in the Valley and neighboring Kavrepalanchowk, it is said.  

NRCS Bhaktapur's outgoing president Manoj Kumar Thapa said the NRCS-operated blood bank supplies 30-35 pints of blood each day, but the demand is up to 150 pints. 

"A pint of blood could save a life," he said, urging the public to donate blood. 

Janaki: Deputy Superintendent of Police Sundar Tiwari was injured after being attacked with a knife by a man who took his own 20-day-old son hostage at Dipnagar of Kohalpur-2 in Banke district. Kushal Thapa held his own son hostage in his house and threatened his family members to kill the newborn. 

Following this, the family members in fear reported the incident to the police and asked for a rescue. In the process of the rescue, Tiwari, also head of the area police office, Banke, was injured when Thapa attacked him with a knife. Tiwari has sustained cuts in his right elbow, said spokesperson for the district police office, Narayan Dangi. 

The incident took place at around 11 pm on Thursday night. Right after being informed, a team from the area police office reached the incident site and started the rescue. In the process, Tiwari tried to make Thapa understand about the situation from outside the locked room, but in vain. Later, the police team broke open the room and rescued the newborn.