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Former Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has stressed the need of amending the Constitution for political stability.

Addressing a press conference organized by Press Centre Nepal, Rupandehi in Bhairahawa today, Chair Dahal, who arrived in Rupandehi as part of the party's awareness campaign, expressed concern that the CPN-UML and the Nepali Congress had brought the issue of Constitution amendment during the formation of the government but failed to proceed ahead with it.

"The Constitution amendment is necessary for stability and it should be reviewed and amended within 10 years," he said, adding that the Constitution amendment is not to restrict the rights of the people but to enhance their rights.

Stating that his party has no interest in toppling down the government, he said the awareness campaign has been launched to establish the rights of the people and to understand the sufferings and even to defeat all kinds of efforts launched against the republican system in the name of restoration of monarchy or any others.

Japan recorded a trade deficit in its March-April fiscal year but racked up a surplus with the US, the Finance Ministry reported Thursday.

Japan’s global trade deficit totaled 5.2 tn yen (USD 37 bn) for the fiscal year through March, for the fourth straight year of deficits, according to the provisional statistics. The surplus with the US ballooned to 9 tn yen (USD 63 bn), Firstpost reported.

Exports to the United States are a contentious issue for US President Trump, and Japanese negotiators are in Washington to press their case against increased US tariffs.

Japan is a long-standing US ally and major investor in the US, employing hundreds of thousands of Americans.

Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and top diplomat Marco Rubio will hold talks with European counterparts in Paris later on Thursday to discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

The talks are the most significant transatlantic dialogue on the war since February and involve UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and French President Emmanuel Macron, according to BBC.

The US Secretary of State will attend conversations with Lammy, his French and German counterparts, and European national security advisers.The top priority is finding a way to end the war in Ukraine and understanding the consequences of Witkoff's discussions with Moscow.

European leaders are also urging the US to be more aggressive towards Russia, urging for a ceasefire without conditions, BBC reported.

These meetings are seen as significant for their message of renewed diplomatic cooperation between the US and its European allies.

Officials from the Trump administration could face criminal contempt charges for ignoring the orders of the judges to stop the deportation of alleged members of a Venezuelan gang, the judge said on Wednesday.

In a written ruling, US District Judge James Boasberg said there is "probable cause" to punish the officers. He accused them of demonstrating a "willful disregard" for his March 15 order that banned the deportations to El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act., according to BBC.

Lawyers and family members of the deported migrants has pleaded that they are not gang members and were never given a chance to challenge the US government’s claims.

The Justice Department is appealing the decision to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Boasberg stated that the administration can still avoid contempt by executing his order—specifically, by giving the migrants the opportunity to contest their deportation in court.

He gave the administration until April 23 to explain its next steps or name the officials responsible for ignoring the order, who could then face prosecution, BBC reported.