Russian overnight attack on Kyiv kills 14 and injures 44, officials say

Waves of Russian drones and missiles struck districts across the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Tuesday, killing 14 people and injuring 44, according to the interior ministry, Reuters reported.

The Russian attack struck 27 locations around the capital, damaging residential buildings, educational institutions, and critical infrastructure facilities, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

"Today, the enemy spared neither drones nor missiles," he said about what he called one of the largest attacks on the city since Russia launched the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Reuters witnesses said drones swarmed over the capital and they heard what appeared to be missiles overhead. An air raid alert remained in effect more than seven hours after it had been proclaimed.

Other parts of the country also came under attack, including a region outside the capital where one person was injured and the southern region of Odesa, where 13 people were injured, according to local authorities, according to Reuters.

G7 expresses support for Israel, calls Iran source of instability

The Group of Seven nations expressed support for Israel in a statement issued late on Monday and labeled its rival Iran as a source of instability in the Middle East, with the G7 leaders urging broader de-escalation of hostilities in the region, Reuters reported.

The air war between Iran and Israel - which began on Friday when Israel attacked Iran with air strikes - has raised alarms in a region that had already been on edge since the start of Israel’s military assault on Gaza in October 2023.

“We affirm that Israel has a right to defend itself. We reiterate our support for the security of Israel,” G7 leaders said in the statement.

“Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror,” the statement added and said the G7 was “clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”

Israel attacked Iran on Friday in what it called a preemptive strike to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. Since then the two Middle Eastern rivals have exchanged blows, with Iranian officials reporting over 220 deaths, mostly civilians, while Israel said 24 civilians killed, according to Reuters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trump leaves G7 summit early due to Middle East situation

U.S. President Donald Trump left the Group of Seven summit in Canada a day early due to the situation in the Middle East, the White House said on Monday, Reuters reported.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump had made an offer for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

Trump had earlier urged everyone to immediately evacuate Tehran, and reiterated that Iran should have signed a nuclear deal with the United States.

"Much was accomplished, but because of what’s going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X, according to Reuters.

The G7 has struggled to find unity over conflicts in Ukraine and between Israel and Iran as Trump overtly expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and has imposed tariffs on many of the allies present.

Gold price drops by Rs 2, 000 per tola on Tuesday

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 2, 000 per tola in the domestic market on Tuesday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 195, 000 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 197, 000 per tola on Monday.

Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by 5 and is being traded at Rs 2, 160 per tola today.

 

Oil prices rise and US futures fall as Israel urges residents of Iran’s capital to evacuate

Oil prices resumed their upward climb and U.S. futures were lower early Tuesday after Israel’s military issued an evacuation warning to 330,000 people in Iran’s capital Tehran, Associated Press reported.

Asian shares were mixed. 

The evacuation warning was for a part of Tehran, a city of 9.5 million, that houses the country’s state TV and police headquarters and three large hospitals, including one owned by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was returning from the G7 summit in Canada a day early due to the intensifying conflict.

The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.3%, according to Associated Press.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index climbing 0.6% to 38,547.56 as the Japanese central bank opted to keep its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5%.

US and UK announce a trade deal, but steel imports unresolved

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an agreement on Monday formally lowering some tariffs on imports from Britain as the countries continue working toward a formal trade deal, Reuters reported.

The deal, announced by Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Canada, reaffirmed quotas and tariff rates on British automobiles and eliminated tariffs on the U.K. aerospace sector, but the issue of steel and aluminum remains unresolved.

Other critical industries, such as pharmaceuticals, were not mentioned.

Trump said the relationship with Britain was "fantastic," as he waved, and then briefly dropped, a document that he said he had just signed.

"We signed it and it's done," he said, incorrectly calling it a trade agreement with the European Union, before making clear the deal was with Britain, according to Reuters.

Iranian state broadcaster hit as Iran urges Trump to make Israel halt war

An Israeli strike hit Iran's state broadcaster on Monday while the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog indicated extensive damage to Iran's biggest uranium enrichment plant and Iran called on the U.S. to force a ceasefire in the aerial war, Reuters reported.

Late on Monday, Israel said it hit Iran's broadcasting authority, and footage showed a newsreader hurrying from her seat as a blast struck. Israel's military said the building also served as a communications centre used by Iran’s armed forces.

The conflict entered its fifth day on Tuesday, with air raid sirens sounding in Tel Aviv shortly after midnight as Iran launched additional missiles toward Israel.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told four European counterparts that Iran was serious about diplomacy but its current focus was on confronting aggression, Iranian state media reported. Israel has said its goal is to eliminate Tehran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon, according to Reuters.

US bolsters Trump's Middle East military options by moving refueling aircraft, officials say

The U.S. military has moved a large number of refueling aircraft to Europe to provide options to President Donald Trump as Middle East tensions erupt into conflict between Iran and Israel, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity, Reuters reported.

The officials also said the U.S. aircraft carrier Nimitz was heading to the Middle East, in what one of them said was a pre-planned deployment. The Nimitz can hold 5,000 personnel and more than 60 aircraft, including fighter jets.

Taken together, the deployments, which were first reported by Reuters, suggest the United States is greatly strengthening its air power for potentially sustained operations as Iran and Israel trade blows in unprecedented open warfare.

Israel began bombing Iran on Friday, saying Tehran was on the verge of building a nuclear bomb. Since then, Iran and Israel have launched large salvos against each other, killing and wounding civilians and raising concerns about a broader regional conflict, according to Reuters.