Author: Starvision News Desk

Kathmandu, July 7 (IANS) Chairman of Nepal’s CPN-UML, K.P. Oli on Friday said that during his recent visit to India, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” discreetly met former RAW chief Samant Goel.”Prachanda went to the residence of Goel and met him but he was silent over the meeting,” Oli, also a former Nepal Prime Minister, said.Prachanda was on an official visit to India from May 31 to June 3.He had met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among others, but there was no news about his meeting with Goel.In October 2020, Oli met Goel in Kathmandu in a bid to…

Beijing, July 7 (IANS) North China’s Hebei province on Friday renewed a red alert for high temperatures, the highest in the country’s alert system, after two people died due to an ongoing heat wave.The provincial weather station renewed the red alert at 11 a.m., forecasting peak temperatures ranging from 37 to 39 degrees Celsius in areas including the cities of Baoding and Langfang on Friday, reports Xinhua news agency. The highest temperatures may reach 40 to 43 degrees Celsius in some areas, according to the station.Mai Wenming, a senior engineer at the provincial meteorological bureau, said the peak temperatures at…

Wellington, July 7 (IANS) New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins made his first foreign policy speech on Friday since he took office six months ago, describing his nation as “the best little country in the world”.The speech took place hours before Hipkins scheduled departure for Europe later in the day to witness the signing of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU), which will unlock New Zealand’s access to the world’s third-biggest market, reports Xinhua news agency.In his Europe visit, Hipkins has also been invited to attend the NATO summit in Lithuania.In his speech, the Prime Minister…

Islamabad, July 7 (IANS) Eight children were killed in a landslide in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, rescue officials said on Friday.A group of children were playing cricket in a ground located at the foot of a dune in Shangla district and got buried under it due to the landslide that occurred on Thursday, the state-run Rescue 1122 said in a statement.After an hours-long operation till late Thursday night, Rescue 1122, local volunteers and rescue teams from Pakistan Army recovered eight bodies and an injured child from the rubble, reports Xinhua news agency.Locals have confirmed that there is no more missing…

Manila, July 7 (IANS) The Philippines’ unemployment rate in May dropped to 4.3 per cent from 4.5 per cent in April, with 2.17 million labour force out of job, authorities said on Friday.The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the May unemployment rate was the second lowest since April 2005, following the 4.2 per cent unemployment rate in November 2022, Xinhua news agency reported.National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government will continue to push for and implement “game-changing reforms” to improve the Southeast Asian country’s business investment climate, especially for foreign investors, and help sustain current…

Kiev, July 7 (IANS) The Ukrainian military on Friday claimed that troops were making advances against Russian positions around the eastern city of Bakhmut amid fierce fighting.The battle for the city in the Donetsk region has been the longest and bloodiest since the war began in February 2022.It has little strategic value, but is important symbolically both for Kiev and Moscow.The capture of Bakhmut would bring Russia slightly closer to its goal of controlling the whole of Donetsk, one of four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine annexed by Russia last September following referendums widely condemned outside Russia as a…

Brasilia, July 7 (IANS) The Brazilian government has claimed that deforestation in the Amazon rainforest has decreased by a third, ot 33.6 per cent, in the first six months since President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s assumed office compared with the same period last year.The announcement was based on new satellite data presented by Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research (Inpe) on Thursday, reports the BBC.According to the Inpe, the rainforest shrank by 2,649 sq km from January to June this year, down from 3,988 sq km in those six months last year under former President Jair Bolsonaro.The Institute singled…

Milan, July 7 (IANS) Six people were killed and 81 others injured in a fire at a retirement home in Milan on Friday, media reports said. A fire alarm was raised at the Casa dei Coniugi home for the elderly in the early hours of Friday, reports the BBC.According to Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala, the blaze was put out quickly but rescuers had to bring everyone out “almost one by one by the arm”.”Six deaths is a very heavy toll,” he told reporters, adding that all evidence pointed to the fire erupting in a room where two women had been…

Nicosia, July 7 (IANS) The inflation rate in Cyprus dropped to 1.9 per cent in June, the lowest level in the last 25 months, the country’s statistical service (Cystat) said.The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation, dropped by 0.34 units in June to 114.38 units, slightly lower than 114.72 points in May 2023, Xinhua news agency quoted Cystat as saying.In the January-June period, the CPI increased by 4.6 per cent compared to the same period last year, reports Xinhua news agency.However, some economists expected the inflation to grow again in July as the government has re-established the earlier 19…

Washington, July 7 (IANS) The US is continuing to experience extreme weather conditions as severe thunderstorms, critical fires and excessive heat waves sweep across the countryAccording to the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS), strong thunderstorms are expected across the western High Plains with damaging wind gusts, large hail and a few tornadoes, reports Xinhua news agency.This threat will extend into the Central and South Plains, coinciding with the potential of excessive rainfall, it added.Heat continues to build across the Pacific Northwest this week with temperatures approaching or exceeding triple digits at times away from the coastline.On Thursday, heat advisories and…