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Billionaire Elon Musk and his social media firm X have reached a tentative settlement with former employees who had sued for $500m (£373m) in severance pay, BBC reported.

The parties reported the deal in a court filing on Wednesday, jointly requesting the US appeals court in San Francisco to postpone an upcoming hearing to allow time to settle the paperwork.

Some workers sued the company over their terminations and severance packages, after some 6,000 staff - more than half its workforce - were sacked as part of a cost-cutting measure after Musk took over the company in 2022.

The BBC has contacted X - formerly called Twitter - and the lawyers representing the employees for comment, according to BBC.

The top US health agency has permanently fired 600 employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to a union representing the workers, BBC reported.

Many of the staff were already on paid administrative leave as a part of mass layoffs proposed by Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr in April, according to the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). 

The move from the US Department of Health and Human Services finalises employee firings across the agency, including the Division of Violence Prevention and the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, the union said.

The layoffs come two weeks after a gunman opened fire at the CDC's headquarters in Atlanta, according to BBC.

Award-winning rapper Lil Nas X has been arrested after an altercation with police in Los Angeles, authorities have confirmed, BBC reported.

Police were called to Ventura Boulevard at 05:30 (12:30 GMT) on Thursday after reports of a man walking down the street in his underwear, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said. 

After officers arrived at the scene, LAPD allege the Old Town Road singer "charged" at them and was placed under arrest on suspicion of battery.

He was then taken to hospital for treatment for a possible overdose, police spokesman Charles Miller said. The BBC has reached out to his representatives for comment, according to BBC.

Chinese ambassador to India Xu Feihong has said that Beijing "firmly opposes" Washington's steep tariffs on Delhi and called for greater co-operation between India and China, BBC reported.

Xu likened the US to a "bully", saying that it had long benefitted from free trade but was now using tariffs as a "bargaining chip" to demand "exorbitant prices" from other nations.

"US has imposed tariffs of up to 50% on India and even threatened for more. China firmly opposes it. Silence only emboldens the bully," Xu said on Thursday.

Earlier this month, Trump imposed a 25% penalty on India in addition to 25% tariffs for buying oil and weapons from Russia. The new rate will come into effect on 27 August, according to BBC.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 400 per tola in the domestic market on Friday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 195, 200 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 194, 800 per tola on Thursday.

Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 20 and is being traded at Rs 2, 310 per tola today.

Ambassador of Nepal to Brazil Nirmal Raj Kafle on Thursday presented his Letters of Credence to Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra, President of Peru, as Non-Resident Ambassador of Nepal to Peru. 

Presenting the credentials at a special ceremony held in Lima, Ambassador Kafle conveyed best wishes from Nepal's President Ram Chandra Paudel and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to President Zegarra for her personal health and happiness as well as for the continued peace and prosperity of the friendly people of Peru, stated Nepali Embassy in Brazil.. 

The President of Peru extended her best wishes to the Ambassador and assured him of full support from her Government in the discharge of his duties as Ambassador. 

Senior officials of the Foreign Ministry and the Office of the President were present at the ceremony.

During his stay in Lima, the Ambassador held a meeting with the Director-General for Asia-Oceania, Fernando Quiros, and the Director-General for Economic Affairs, Jorge Felix Rubio Correa, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on various aspects of bilateral relations and cooperation. The two sides will work toward an arrangement of mutual visa exemption for official travels as well as toward establishing a mechanism for bilateral consultations. 

The Peruvian side expressed its readiness to extend technical assistance to Nepal under South-South Cooperation, in areas such as disaster risk management, water and sanitation, and sustainable cities. 

They discussed ways for capitalizing on potentials for economic partnerships, including through facilitating exchanges of business delegations. 

The two sides will also work together to promote cultural and people-to-people linkages.

Matters relating to multilateral engagements on agendas of common interest were also discussed during the meeting. 

ChatGPT parent OpenAI will open its first India office in New Delhi later this year, deepening its push in its second-largest market by user numbers, Reuters reported.

OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft, has been established as a legal entity in India and has begun hiring a local team, the company said in a statement shared with Reuters on Friday.

India is a critical market for ChatGPT, where it launched its cheapest yet monthly plan at $4.60 just this week, targeting the nearly one billion internet users in the world's most populous nation, according to Reuters.

A Bangkok court has acquitted controversial billionaire and former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was accused of insulting the monarchy, BBC reported.

The lese majeste charge relates to an interview Thaksin gave to a South Korean newspaper ten years ago. He would have faced up to 15 years in jail if convicted.

Thailand's lese majeste law forbids anyone from defaming or threatening the royal family. But critics say lawmakers often use it to target activists and political opponents.

The verdict comes as Thaksin's daughter, suspended PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra, faces a court case that may see her removed from office. The cases have been seen as a big blow to the Shinawatras, who have dominated Thai politics for decades, according to BBC.