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Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is in New York to attend the 79th United Nations General Assembly, held separate meetings with the leaders of Qatar, Pakistan and Laos on Thursday.

The meeting with the Qatar Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, was held at the office of Qatar's Permanent Mission to the UN. Principal political advisor to PM Oli, Bishnu Prasad Rimal and Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal, among other officials were present in this meeting.

Similarly, PM Oli and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting at the UN Headquarters on Thursday.  PM's advisor Rimal and Nepal's Permanent Representative to the UN, Lok Bahadur Thapa were present in the meeting.

Likewise, Prime Minister Oli and Prime Minister of Laos, Sonexay Siphandone, had a meeting at the UN Headquarters. PM's principal political advisor Rimal, Nepal's permanent representative to the UN, Lok Bahadur Thapa among other officials were present during the meeting.

Nepal Bar Association has objected to what it called “efforts to appoint judges unconstitutionally”.

According to the Bar, the Judicial Council under Chief Justice Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha has decided to convene a meeting for recommending candidates to be appointed as judges barely a week before his retirement, in contravention of Article 141, (1) and (3) of the Constitution of Nepal.

Earlier too, after the Bar staged a sit-in during a Judicial Council meeting, a working group was formed to address the Bar’s concerns, to no avail. Bar President Gopal Krishna Ghimire said they have no other option than staging protests, including sit-ins, if the Judicial Council recommends candidates for judgeship in violation of the Constitution. 

Chairman Ghimire said, "Nepal Bar Association has spoken for a year against the regulations of the Judicial Council, which contradict Articles 141 (1) and (3) of the Constitution. As the Judicial Council did not heed our objections even in the course of a year, we organized a protest, a meeting to warn the council, coinciding with its meeting.”

He added, "If the Judicial Council continues with the ‘unconstitutional appointment process’ by ignoring our objections, we will convene a working committee meeting of the Bar and announce a series of protests. This includes boycotting judges appointed unconstitutionally. We have postponed today's program, but will continue our protests tomorrow.”

The Bar has announced a protest on the Supreme Court premises after 1:00 pm on Sept 26 (Thursday) against the ‘unconstitutional move’ of the Judicial Council.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Arzu Rana Deuba has urged the G20 member countries to increase financial support for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to address the damaging impacts of climate change.

Reflecting on the problems faced by LDCs due to climate change, Minister Rana said, "These countries have suffered from multi-faceted crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and geopolitical tensions. As a result, these countries have been pushed further into extreme poverty in the last two decades."

The Minister for Foreign Affairs was addressing the G20 Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting in New York on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Minister Rana delivered these remarks on behalf of the Group of Least-Developed Countries, of which Nepal is the current chair.

The minister urged the G20 to take a leading role in promoting inclusive growth, accelerating the 2030 Agenda, enhancing global health security, leading climate action, driving digital transformation, bridging digital divides, fostering multilateral cooperation, and addressing the challenges the world is facing.

She also lauded Brazil's initiatives in hosting this meeting as the chair of the G20 with a focus on social inclusion, poverty alleviation and sustainable development while welcoming its proposal to launch a Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty.

Minister Rana urged the establishment of a formal mechanism for LDC representation in G20 meetings and working groups, including regular invitations for the LDC Chair to G20 Summits, which she said provides a vital platform for allowing the perspectives of LDCs to shape G20 deliberations and outcomes.

Additionally, she requested the establishment of a G20-led fund to support climate adaptation and resilience-building in LDCs, with a focus on grant-based financing and capacity building for project development and implementation.

She also called on G20 members to provide duty-free and quota-free market access for all LDC products, which she believed would help LDCs better integrate into global value chains and boost export revenues. She stressed the urgent need for G20 countries to recognize that LDCs have been severely hit by the recent increase in extreme poverty, calling for collective efforts to support these countries.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Chief Advisor to the Interim Government of Bangladesh Muhammad Yunus held a meeting on the sidelines of the 79th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York on Wednesday.

During the meeting, Nepal-Bangladesh relations with a focus on energy and transit cooperation, tourism, cultural exchanges, educational ties and cooperation in regional and multilateral forums were discussed, according to Bishnu Rimal, Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister.