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Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD plans to roll out its first car assembled in Pakistan by July or August 2026 to capture growing demand for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the region, a company executive said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

BYD, the world's top EV maker, has been expanding rapidly outside its home market, where it is in a strong price war. The Pakistan plant addresses rising demand from emerging markets and allows the company to take advantage of incentives offered by the Pakistani government.

The plant has been under construction since April near Karachi in a partnership between BYD and Mega Motor Company, a subsidiary of Pakistani utility Hub Power, Danish Khaliq, vice president of sales and strategy at BYD Pakistan, told Reuters.

It would initially have the capacity to produce 25,000 units a year on a double shift, he said. He did not elaborate on when the plant would achieve full capacity or say when mass production would begin there, according to Reuters.

The ruling coalition partner Nepali Congress (NC) has urged the government to urgently address the pressing problems faced by farmers across the Madhes Province such as shortage of drinking water and irrigation facilities and unavailability of fertilizers and seeds.

The call for urgent action was made in the meeting of NC office bearers and former office-bearers presided over by party President Sher Bahadur Deuba at his residence in Budhanilakantha today.

Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Ramnath Adhikari briefed about the current status of the country's agriculture sector.

NC's Joint General-Secretary Jeevan Pariyar informed that the meeting emphasized collaborative efforts among all three-tiers of governments to resolve the drinking water problem and irrigation issues prevailing in  Madhes Province and to ensure timely supply of fertilizers and seeds.

He clarified that on the contrary to the public speculation, the meeting did not dwell on the issue relating to reshuffle of ministers in the federal government.

During the meeting, ministers currently serving in the government representing the NC also presented updates on the progress made by their respective ministries.

Likewise, General Secretary Bishwa Prakash Sharma informed about the upcoming by-elections in Rupandehi district and the voter-related concerns.

Thailand has rejected mediation efforts from third countries to end the ongoing conflict with Cambodia, insisting that Phnom Penh cease attacks and resolve the situation only through bilateral talks, its foreign ministry said on Friday, Reuters reported.

Simmering border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have flared into open hostilities at multiple locations along the frontline, with exchanges of artillery for a second straight day.

At least 16 people, most of them Thai civilians, have died so far in the heaviest fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours in over a decade.

The United States, China and Malaysia, which is the current chair of the ASEAN regional bloc, have offered to facilitate dialogue but Bangkok is seeking a bilateral solution to the conflict, Thai foreign ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura told Reuters.

Donald Trump flies into Scotland later to visit two golf resorts which he owns in the country where his mother was born, BBC reported.

He will travel to Turnberry in South Ayrshire, a world-class venue he bought in 2014, and to Menie in Aberdeenshire to open a new 18-hole course. 

The White House says Trump will also meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to discuss trade while he is in the UK.

The trip is exceptional as US presidents rarely promote their personal interests so publicly while in office, according to BBC.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 500 per tola in the domestic market on Friday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 194, 700 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 195, 200 per tola on Thursday.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 2, 340 per tola today.

The Morimla border checkpoint between Nepal and China will be opened for trade and business in Upper Dolpa from August 10. 

Pemma Wangchen Gurung, Vice Chair of Shey-Phoksundo Rural Municipality, informed that a decision has been made to open the border area from August 10-29 following discussions with officials from Dongba Province under China’s Shigatse County. 

The Morimla border has been opened once a year for the three municipalities in Upper Dolpa. This year, 2,200 people received border entry passes to conduct trade across the border, informed Damodar Gyawali, the Assistant Chief District Officer. 

According to the municipality's request, Armed Police and Nepal Police will be deployed up to the border during the period. 

Last year, the border was open for 15 days. Residents of Upper Dolpa have been purchasing daily consumables, clothing, and various machinery materials through the Morimla border. 

Due to the remote geography of Upper Dolpa, the transportation costs for Nepali goods are high, so locals have been buying Chinese goods here at cheaper prices.

How is this agrarian country faring in the midst of another paddy plantation season? The once fertile fields of the Madhes have the answer. 

Even in the midst of the monsoon, most of the paddy fields are lying barren in the province known as the grain basket of the country, thanks to a prolonged drought and a lack of irrigation facilities. 

This is not a new phenomenon, by the way. Drought conditions have been prevailing in Madhesh for (at least) about three years, leading to a serious scarcity of drinking water, leave alone water for irrigation. 

A couple of factors are behind this crisis situation. Erratic weather patterns resulting from climate change have played a huge part and so has the degradation of the Chure hills, thanks to an unchecked exploitation of the hills for construction materials like sand, boulders, and deforestation. Aware of the central role of the Chure as a source of water for the fertile fields of Madhesh as well as its burgeoning population, the government has a program dedicated to its conservation, but the efficacy of the program leaves much to be desired. 

The vital role of Madhes in feeding the whole country can be better understood by the fact that the province has 8,02,988 hectares of cultivated land, accounting for about 21.33 percent of total cultivated land (39,24,009 hectares) in the country. The province has 26.4 percent of the paddy fields and 26.56 percent (67,156 hectares) of the horticultural lands (2,52,818 hectares).  

How to revive the grain basket of the country? This is a crucial question before central, provincial and local governments. 

Farmers throughout the country, including in the Madhesh, have been relying on rains for cultivation since ancient times. Any government worth its name should be able to provide irrigation facilities to the farmers, in this day and age, if it is indeed serious about averting a famine. In an era of global warming and climate change, we would do well to opt more and more for less water-intensive crops. 

Also, the drought afflicting Nepal’s southern plains and beyond have laid bare a misplaced priority of the government. For decades, the government’s focus has been on transboundary water cooperation rather than on meeting domestic requirements of water for drinking, irrigation, navigation and green energy generation. 

The government should learn lessons from the parched fields and act accordingly. 

EU-China relations have reached an "inflection point", European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at a one-day summit in Beijing, BBC reported.

"As our co-operation has deepened, so have imbalances," von der Leyen said, referring to the European Union's huge trade deficit with China. She also warned China's ties with Russia were now the "determining factor" in its relations with the EU. 

Xi urged EU leaders to "properly manage differences", saying "the current challenges facing Europe do not come from China".

Earlier in the year there were suggestions a Trump presidency could help the EU and China find common cause but instead ties have grown more fraught, according to BBC.