Hundreds flee into Azerbaijan and Armenia from Iran
More than 600 people of 17 nationalities have fled into Azerbaijan from Iran in the five days since the start of the air war between Israel and Iran, an Azerbaijani source with knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
Armenian news agency Armenpress reported separately that India has evacuated 110 of its nationals from Iran via Armenia.
The flight from Iran has been prompted by surprise attacks that Israel began last Friday, to which Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks. U.S. President Donald Trump warned residents of Tehran on Monday to evacuate immediately.
From Tehran to the crossing into Azerbaijan is a road journey of about eight hours, while reaching the Armenian border takes over 10 hours.
Azerbaijani foreign ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizadeh said more than 1,200 citizens from 51 countries had requested permission to cross from Iran into Azerbaijan, according to Reuters.
US pulls out of two more bases in Syria, worrying Kurdish forces
U.S. forces have pulled out of two more bases in northeastern Syria, visiting Reuters reporters found, accelerating a troop drawdown that the commander of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces said was allowing a resurgence of Islamic State, Reuters reported.
Reuters reporters who visited the two bases in the past week found them mostly deserted, both guarded by small contingents of the Syrian Democratic Forces - the Kurdish-led military group that Washington has backed in the fight against Islamic State for a decade.
Cameras used on bases occupied by the U.S.-led military coalition had been taken down, and razor wire on the outer perimeters had begun to sag.
A Kurdish politician who lives on one base said there were no longer U.S. troops there. SDF guards at the second base said troops had left recently but declined to say when. The Pentagon declined to comment, according to Reuters.
It is the first confirmation on the ground by reporters that the U.S. has withdrawn from Al-Wazir and Tel Baydar bases in Hasaka province. It brings to at least four the number of bases in Syria U.S. troops have left since President Donald Trump took office.
Israeli tanks kill 59 people in Gaza crowd trying to get food aid, medics say
Israeli tanks fired into a crowd trying to get aid from trucks in Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least 59 people, according to medics, in one of the bloodiest incidents yet in mounting violence as desperate residents struggle for food, Reuters reported.
Video shared on social media showed around a dozen mangled bodies lying in a street in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military, at war with Hamas-led Palestinian militants in Gaza since October 2023, acknowledged firing in the area and said it was looking into the incident.
Witnesses interviewed by Reuters said Israeli tanks had launched at least two shells at a crowd of thousands who had gathered on the main eastern road through Khan Younis in the hope of obtaining food from aid trucks that use the route, according to Reuters.
"All of a sudden, they let us move forward and made everyone gather, and then shells started falling, tank shells," said Alaa, an eyewitness, interviewed by Reuters at Nasser Hospital, where wounded victims lay sprawled on the floor and in corridors due to the lack of space.
Macron fears regime change chaos as Trump ups threats on Iran
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday underlined his differences with U.S. President Donald Trump over Iran, appearing to oppose tougher military action against Tehran that could lead to regime change and plunge Iran and the region into chaos.
Macron on Monday had suggested to reporters that Trump was leaving the G7 as part of efforts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
He was firmly rebuffed Tuesday morning when Trump on X said Macron was mistaken and said his departure had nothing to do with securing a ceasefire.
Since Tuesday morning, Trump has upped the bellicose rhetoric demanding Iran's "unconditional surrender" and warning that U.S. patience was wearing thin as the Israel-Iran air war raged for a fifth day.
Israel has said it launched its operation to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, something Tehran has repeatedly denied.
Israel-Iran air war enters sixth day, Trump calls for Iran's 'unconditional surrender'
Iran and Israel launched new missile strikes at each other on Wednesday as the air war between the two longtime enemies entered a sixth day despite a call from U.S. President Donald Trump for Iran's unconditional surrender, Reuters reported.
The Israeli military said two barrages of Iranian missiles were launched toward Israel in the first two hours of Wednesday morning. Explosions were heard over Tel Aviv.
Israel told residents in the area of Tehran to evacuate so its air force could strike Iranian military installations. Iranian news websites said explosions were heard in Tehran and the city of Karaj west of the capital.
Trump warned on social media on Tuesday that U.S. patience was wearing thin. While he said there was no intention to kill Iran's leader "for now," his comments suggested a more aggressive stance toward Iran as he weighs whether to deepen U.S. involvement, according to Reuters.
Australia lifts blood, plasma donation ban for gay men
Rules that effectively banned all sexually active gay and bisexual men from donating blood and plasma are being lifted in Australia, BBC reported.
The rules, originally introduced to decrease the risk of blood donations from groups with a higher chance of HIV exposure, will begin being revoked from next month, following similar moves in the UK and US.
However, under the changes, Australia will become the first country in the world to remove all sexual activity-based restrictions on plasma donation, the national blood donation service Lifeblood says.
The new rules have been approved by the country's health products regulator, and are estimated to expand the donation pool by 625,000 people, according to BBC.
Capital spending still at 41 percent as fiscal year nears close
The government is falling short on capital spending yet again, highlighting long-standing inefficiencies in implementing its development budget. With one month in the current fiscal year 2024/25 remaining, the government has been able to utilize only 41.01 percent of its capital budget of Rs 352.35bn. According to the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO), the government has been able to spend only Rs 144.49bn of its capital budget till June 15.
The new fiscal year begins on July 17. This means the government has about a month to spend nearly 59 percent of its capital budget. The low capital spending continues a worrying trend of funds allocated for infrastructure and development works remaining underutilized. In the previous fiscal year 2023/24, the government utilized 63.47 percent of its capital budget, amounting to Rs 191.73bn out of Rs 302bn. In 2022/23, 61.44 percent of the capital budget of Rs 380.38bn, or Rs 233.69bn, was spent. Likewise, the 2021/22 saw a low capital budget utilization at 57.23 percent. These figures pale in comparison to pre-covid years when capital spending remained at 76.93 percent in 2018/19 and 80.77 percent in 2017/18.
The consistently poor capital expenditure performance can be attributed to several deep-rooted issues. Many development projects are included in the budget without final designs, feasibility studies or necessary environmental approvals. These result in delayed implementation. Moreover, the slow procurement process due to bureaucratic hurdles also affect project timelines. It often takes months just to award contracts. Contractor inefficiencies, largely due to the tendency of holding multiple projects at a time, and a lack of monitoring further compound the issue.
Another worrying trend in Nepal’s development landscape is the last-minute spending rush toward the end of the fiscal year. State agencies, which under pressure to meet spending targets, disburse large sums in the final weeks. Experts say last minute spending compromises the quality of work and fails to deliver desired outcomes.
Revenue mobilization at 71.84 percent
The government has achieved 71.84 percent progress in revenue mobilization over the first 11 months of the current fiscal year. According to the FCGO, the government has mobilized Rs 1,019.67bn in revenue in the review period which is 71.84 percent of Rs 1,419.30 that the government is targeting to raise in the current fiscal year. Of the total revenue, Rs 921.40bn is from tax revenue and the remaining from non-tax revenue
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.
