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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that preparations are being made for Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's US visit.

Speaking at a press conference organized on Sunday, Ministry's spokesperson Sewa Lamsal said that the visit and was expected and preparations are going on for the same.

"The Prime Minister's visit to the United States is being discussed. Preparations are being made. We will provide more information after the date is announced," she said.

Prime Minister Deuba is visiting at the official invitation of the United States.

Foreign Minister to leave for China

During the press conference, spokesperson Lamsal said that preparations are also being made for Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka's China visit.

"Preparations are bring made for the Foreign Minister's China visit. This is a regular visit. Agendas are yet to be fixed. As China is out important neighbour, exchange is visits is in our program," she said, adding, "China's Foreign Minister visited Nepal a few months ago. In that way, our Foreign Minister's will also have an appropriate time. We will inform about it later."

Prior to the visit, Foreign Minister Khadka held a virtual meeting with the International Laison Department Chief of the Chinese Communist Party on Thursday.

During the meeting, the duo discussed issues of bilateral ties, upcoming visit and border among others, Lamsal said.

Government intensifies efforts to address demands of ex-Gurkhas

Spokesperson Lamsal said that the government is committed to address the genuine demands of the ex-Gurkhas.

Saying that the Nepali ambassador to the UK and a talks team of the UK held a preliminary meeting, she said that the Nepali Embassy is in regular consultation with the Defense Ministry of the UK.

9 ambassadors appointed, 11 in process

Lamsal said that out of 20 ambassadors recommended by the Cabinet on April 7, nine have been appointed.

She said that the remaining 11 ambassadors will be appointed soon.

During the conference, she said Nepal has established diplomatic relations with 177 countries.

Meanwhile, Lamsal said that the government has distributed 416, 200 electronic passports so far.

According to the Ministry, the government has collected Rs 3.17 billion in revenue till mid-June.

Trade talks with Bhutan

Lamsal Sid that bilateral talks were held with Bhutan on trade.

She also said that the government has been continuously raising the issue of Bhutanese refugees with Bhutan.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has completed the preparation of drafts of various six bills related to education including the Federal Education Bill.

The long-awaited Education Bill has landed in the Ministry of Finance for advices after its draft amendment, it has been said.

Other bills of which drafts have been prepared include the umbrella bill related to higher education, technical education bill, integrated health sciences academy bill and the bill related to national qualification framework.

Collection of suggestions and feedback for the bills is underway and they are expected to be tabled in the federal parliament soon, said the Ministry’s spokesperson Dipak Sharma.

Meanwhile, the Education and Health Committee under the House of Representatives earlier directed presentation of the Federal Education Bill in the parliament soon.

As you know, since March of this year, certain countries have imposed sanctions against the Russian Federation, including bans on the supply of certain types of goods to the Russian Federation, Delovoy Kazakhstan reports.

When detecting the supply of such goods through other countries (circumvention of sanctions), secondary sanctions may be applied against such countries.

Considering the close trade and economic relations with the Russian Federation, as one of our main trading partners, it is unacceptable not to take into account the risks that have arisen.

In order to promptly respond and prevent damage to the economy of Kazakhstan, the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan constantly monitors the import and export of goods included in the sanctions lists.

When exporting these goods from the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Russian Federation, a mechanism has been implemented for the certification of an electronic invoice by the state revenue authorities, which allows determining the country of origin of the goods.

This control mechanism is also applied within the framework of the Protocol on Certain Issues of Import and Circulation of Goods in the Customs Territory of the Eurasian Economic Union (Burabai Protocol) in order to prevent the export of goods from the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, for which the rates of customs duties are lower than those established in the EAEU UCT, or the so-called «withdrawal goods».

Thus, the trade turnover with the Russian Federation in January-May did not show significant deviations relative to the same period last year.

At the same time, there is an increase in exports for certain commodity items, such as natural uranium, solid-rolled steel wheels and diesel fuel, i.e. for Kazakhstan-made goods that are traditional for export, including to Russia.

Thus, despite the growth of exports to the Russian Federation of certain groups of goods, the facts of re-export through the Republic of Kazakhstan of goods included in the sanctions list are not observed.

Authorities in Israel say they have shot down three Hezbollah drones heading towards one of its gas rigs in a disputed area of the Mediterranean, BBC reported.

Military officials say the drones were launched from Lebanon and were shot down by a combination of fighter jets and ship-mounted missiles. 

Hezbollah confirmed it had launched the drones in a short statement.

Tensions have mounted between Israel and Lebanon over ownership of the Karish gas field.

US energy envoy Amos Hochstein is mediating between the two countries to settle the longstanding dispute. Israel says the field lies within its UN-recognised exclusive economic zone, but Lebanon has also laid claim to parts of it, according to BBC.

Hezbollah said it had targeted the rig as part of a reconnaissance flight. 

"The mission was accomplished and the message was received," the statement said.

Last week, the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, threatened to use force to prevent Israel from operating the rig.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said the Islamist group was "preventing the state of Lebanon from reaching an agreement regarding maritime borders, which are critical to the economy and prosperity of the Lebanese nation".

Hezbollah's reported attack comes amid political instability in Israel. On Thursday lawmakers voted to dissolve parliament and call the fifth election in four years, BBC reported.

The vote, which comes after the collapse of former Prime Minster Naftali Bennett's multi-party coalition, offers Benjamin Netanyahu, the right-wing opposition leader, a chance to return to power.