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Canadian retailer Alimentation Couche-Tard on Thursday pulled its $47 billion bid to buy Seven & i Holdings, citing a lack of constructive engagement by the Japanese retailer, Reuters reported.

The surprise move ends what could have been the largest foreign takeover of a Japanese company as Circle K operator Couche-Tard sought to create a global convenience store giant by acquiring the company behind 7-Eleven.

"There has been no sincere or constructive engagement from 7&i that would facilitate the advancement of any proposal, contrary to comments made publicly by 7&i representatives," Couche-Tard said in a letter to its board of directors.

"Rather, you have engaged in a calculated campaign of obfuscation and delay, to the great detriment of 7&i and its shareholders," the letter said, according to Reuters.

Now the country has witnessed the influence of monsoon winds with the impact of a low pressure area located nearby Uttarpradesh of India. 

The monsoon's low-pressure line, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, is near the average location. 

There will generally be cloudy weather across the country, with chances of light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunder and lightning in some areas of Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali, and Sudurpashchim Provinces this afternoon. 

According to the Department, there may be heavy rainfall in one or two areas of Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali, and Sudurpashchim Provinces . 

There is a likelihood of light to moderate rainfall and snowfall in some areas of the high hills and mountainous regions of the country. Some areas of the Tarai region in Lumbini and Sudurpashchim Province are likely to have gusty winds. 

In view of a risk of floods, landslides, and debris flow, the department has urged the residents in the areas to adopt precautionary safety measures in urban and Terai regions. 

It has been informed that water levels in large and small rivers and rivulets may rise, potentially affecting daily life, agriculture, health, tourism, and transportation on roads and air traffic near river areas. 

Newly appointed Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Bhagwati Neupane took the oath of office and secrecy before President Ram Chandra Paudel. 

The oath taking ceremony was held on Wednesday at the Office of the President, Shital Niwas. 

The Head-of-the-State had, on the recommendation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, appointed Neupane to the post on Tuesday. 

Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav, Prime Minister Oli, National Assembly (NA) Chair Narayan Prasad Dahal, ministers, chiefs of security bodies, chiefs of the constitutional bodies, Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal and political leaders were present on the occasion. 

Prior to this, Neupane, was the Chief Whip of the CPN-UML in the National Assembly.  

She assumed office upon reaching the Singha Durbar Wednesday itself. 

A public holiday has been declared in Karnali Province on Thursday i.e. the first of the month of Sharawan in the Lunar Calendar. 

The provincial government has decided to grant a public holiday on the occasion of Shawan Sankranti as well as Deuda festival.

Speaker Devraj Ghimire has expressed confidence that the Land Bill pending in the Parliament will be passed soon. 

Addressing a program to distribute land ownership certificates to the landless residents of Arjundhara Municipality in the district today, he said that the land problem that has been surfacing for years will be solved after the enactment of a new law on land by the Parliament. 

Mentioning that hundreds of landless people need to be made owners of land, he recalled that the previous commission had complained of problems in the distribution of certificates due to the high cost of revenue.

He said that after the current government reduced land revenue to five percent, the number of people willing to take loans is increasing. 

Today, 96 homeless residents of Arjundhara Municipality-11 received land ownership certificates.

The Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) Nepal has decided to withdraw its support to the government. 

The decision to withdraw support was taken by a meeting held at the party's parliamentary party office in Singha Durbar today.

The party's support to the current government has no justification as it could not fulfill the expectations of the people and hence a decision was taken to withdraw the support and remain in opposition," said a statement issued after the meeting.

The statement also notes that the government has not been able to ensure good governance, improve the country's economy and advance the pace of economic development, while also failing to effectively implement federalism.

President Donald Trump has finally found a way to like arming Ukraine: ask European allies to donate their weapons, and sell them American replacements, Reuters reported.

Now comes the hard part — agreeing on who will actually give up their prized systems, including the Patriot missile batteries that Kyiv has been desperately seeking.

"We're going to make top-of-the-line weapons, and they'll be sent to NATO," Trump said in the Oval Office on Monday.

Some Patriot missile defense systems should arrive in Ukraine "within days," added Trump, who faces resistance from some high-profile figures in the MAGA movement who oppose U.S. support for Ukraine, according to Reuters.

Britain's annual rate of consumer price inflation unexpectedly rose to its highest in over a year at 3.6% in June, official figures showed on Wednesday, slightly dampening expectations for further cuts in Bank of England interest rates, BBC reported.

June's reading from the Office for National Statistics took the annual CPI rate to its highest since January 2024, against expectations from economists in a Reuters poll for it to remain unchanged at May's reading of 3.4%.

British inflation has risen steadily since touching a three-year low of 1.7% last September, and in May the BoE forecast it would peak at 3.7% in September - almost twice the central bank's 2% target.

Inflation in Britain is the highest of any major advanced economy and is around one percentage point more than in the United States or the euro zone, according to BBC.