Submit your Article

Aston Villa took an early lead but fell to a 2-1 defeat by Go Ahead Eagles on Thursday as Emiliano Buendia missed the chance to equalise from the penalty spot, bringing to an end the English side's perfect start to their Europa League campaign, Reuters reported.

Olympique Lyonnais are on maximum points after their 2-0 win over Basel. Braga also made it three wins from three by beating Red Star Belgrade 2-0 while Rangers' new manager Danny Rohl began life at the Scottish club with a 3-0 loss at SK Brann.

Go Ahead conceded in the fourth minute when their goalkeeper Jari De Busser punched away Jadon Sancho's cross, but the ball fell kindly for Evann Guessand to poke home and score his first goal for Villa, according to Reuters.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments surged by a whopping 113.68 percent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

According to the Department of Industry (DoI), Nepal received FDI commitments worth Rs 35.13bn for 311 projects during the review period.

In comparison, such commitments had stood at Rs 16.44bn for 204 projects in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.

The DoI’s monthly report shows that it received FDI commitments worth Rs 2.04bn for 75 projects in the third month (mid-September to mid-October) of the current fiscal year alone.

The department also approved share purchase and share subscription approvals worth Rs 2.02bn for 18 projects, along with technology transfer approvals for 16 projects during the first quarter.

Nepal had received FDI commitments worth Rs 24.1bn for 127 projects in the first month (mid-July to mid-August) and Rs 8.98bn for 109 projects in the second month (mid-August to mid-September).

The 311 new FDI projects approved in the first quarter have pledged to create 1,660 jobs.

Of these, 300 are small-scale industries, seven are large industries, and four are medium-scale industries.

The ICT sector remained the most popular among foreign investors, with 162 projects receiving FDI commitments. Tourism followed with 103 projects, while Services (19), Manufacturing (15), Agro and Forestry-based (11), and Energy (1) accounted for the rest. No FDI commitments were recorded in the Mineral and Infrastructure sectors.

In terms of committed amounts, however, Tourism led with FDI pledges worth Rs 1.46bn, followed by Manufacturing (Rs 211m), Services (Rs 181m), ICT (Rs 153.73m), and Agro and Forestry-based (Rs 40m).

Nepal’s total FDI commitments for fiscal year 2024/25 stood at Rs 64.96bn for 840 projects, which had pledged to create 19,536 new jobs.

However, there remains a significant gap between commitments and actual inflows. According to the Nepal Rastra Bank, only 37.89 percent of total FDI commitments—amounting to Rs 395.92bn—have been realized so far.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday all trade talks with Canada were terminated following what he called a fraudulent advertisement from Canada in which former and late U.S. President Ronald Reagan spoke negatively about tariffs, Reuters reported.

"Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

King Charles and Pope Leo made history in the Sistine Chapel by praying side by side - a first for the leaders of the Church of England and Catholic Church, BBC reported.

Under the scrutinising eyes of Michelangelo's Last Judgment, when Pope Leo said "let us pray", it meant everyone, including the King, closing a gap that stretched back to the Reformation in the 16th Century.

With music and prayers about nature that would bridge any theological divide, the service offered the King and Queen some calm amid scrutiny over Prince Andrew during their Vatican visit, according to BBC.

EU leaders agreed to help support Ukraine's "financial needs" for the next two years on Thursday night - but stopped short of releasing billions of euros in frozen Russian cash to help fund the country's defence, BBC reported.

A decision to use €140bn (£122bn) in Russian assets held in a Belgian clearing house was pushed back until December after concerns were raised by Belgium. 

The controversial move would be on top of sanctions the block has imposed on Russia - the latest on Thursday targeting the Kremlin's oil revenues.

The Brussels meeting came ahead of a London summit on Friday, where Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will urge European leaders to boost long-range missile supplies to Kyiv, according to BBC.

US President Donald Trump will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea on 30 October on the sidelines of a summit in Asia, the White House has confirmed, BBC reported.

The meeting between Xi and Trump has been in the works for weeks but was called into question as tensions between the world's two largest economies continued to rise. 

It will be the first face-to-face meeting for both leaders since Trump's return to office. 

Trump has threatened to impose an extra 100% tariff on Chinese goods from November if China does not roll back its tightened restrictions on its rare earth exports, according to BBC.

President Ram Chandra Paudel received the Tihar 'tika' from his sisters Sharada Pandit and Chanda Ojha at the auspicious hour of 11: 39 am at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, Shital Niwas, on the occasion of Bhaitika festival today.

On the occasion, the President's sisters put the ceremonial 'tika' on the forehead of the President and presented to him gifts. 

​​Similarly, the President put 'tika' on the forehead of his sisters and offered them with money, as per the time-honoured tradition.

The ceremonial 'tika' comprises of blob of seven colours marked on a vertical thick line of white paste of rice flour on the forehead.

The Nepal Calendar Determination Committee had fixed 11: 39 am today as the most auspicious time for the Bhaitika rituals.

However, the Committee has stated that the rituals can be conducted throughout the day today.

There is a custom of the sisters putting 'tika' on the foreheads of their brothers and vice-versa on Bhai Tika, the last and main day of the five-day-long Yamapanchak or the Tihar festival, the second biggest festival of Nepal.

Mosquitoes have been found in Iceland for the first time after the country experienced record-breaking heat this spring, BBC reported.

Insect enthusiast Bjorn Hjaltason encountered the mosquitoes over several nights last week while using wine-soaked ropes to observe moths, local media reported.

Mr Hjaltason found two female mosquitoes and one male which were later confirmed to be Culiseta annulata, one of few species that can successfully survive winter.

Iceland was one of only two mosquito-free havens in the world prior to the discovery, partly due to its cold climate. The only other recorded mosquito-free zone is Antarctica, according to BBC.