GAZA STRIP, March 22: The United States has circulated for the first time a draft UN resolution calling for an "immediate" ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, as warnings grow of famine in besieged Gaza.

TEHRAN, Feb 1: Iran on Wednesday warned the United States not to threaten it, after Washington said it decided on a response to an attack that killed three American troops in Jordan.

KATHMANDU, Dec 22: It has been revealed that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who embarked on a two-week visit to the United States and China with a large delegation, incurred an expenditure of approximately Rs 50 million.

UNITED NATIONS : The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza in a strong demonstration of global support for ending the Israel-Hamas war. The vote also showed the growing isolation of the United States and Israel.

The United States vetoed a United Nations resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza, where Israeli troops rounded up Palestinian men in the northern part of the territory for interrogation, seeking Hamas militants.

DUBAI, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The United States will announce a $3 billion contribution to the Green Climate Fund, sources familiar with matter said on Saturday.

WASHINGTON, Nov 3: The United States announced sanctions Thursday on individuals and companies it accused of abetting Russia's war against Ukraine, targeting entities in Turkey, China and the United Arab Emirates in a bid to disrupt Moscow's supply chains.

BEIJING, Aug 29: The United States and China will set up a new working group for discussing trade tensions, Washington said Monday, as the world's largest economy seeks to cool tensions with its strategic competitor.

WASHINGTON, July 8: Hiring in the United States slowed in June, the Labor Department said Friday, with fewer new jobs created than many had expected, a signal that the economy is showing signs of cooling.

Japan and the United States have maintained very close relations since World War II. In reality, the US-Japan relationship, based on economic growth, security interests, and regional stability, has essentially become an effective means of expanding US hegemony.

April 8: The United States said Friday it supported ally Israel's right to self-defense after deadly attacks as well as rocket fire from Lebanon that triggered Israeli strikes. "The targeting of innocent civilians of any nationality is unconscionable.

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas, April 1  - A violent storm packing high winds and heavy rains ripped through Southern and Midwestern sections of the United States as it headed east on Saturday, leaving at least 22 dead and scores injured, according to officials and media reports.

BEIJING, March 25: The United States should demonstrate its sincerity to abide by international rules and respect the international rule of law, and only by doing so will it win the trust of the international community, and gain the support of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) members before it returns to UNESCO, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

KATHMANDU, Dec 26: The United States has congratulated newly-appointed Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his coalition on their victory in Nepal's federal elections.

Nov 12: The United States government has stopped taking applications for student debt relief, after a federal judge blocked President Joe Biden's loan forgiveness plan, according to a notice on a government website.

SEOUL, South Korea, Jan 31: North Korea confirmed Monday it test-launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam, the North’s most significant weapon launch in years, as Washington plans to respond to demonstrate it’s committed to its allies’ security in the region.

SEOUL, South Korea, Jan 30: North Korea on Sunday fired what appeared to be the most powerful missile it has tested since President Joe Biden took office, as it revives its old playbook in brinkmanship to wrest concessions from Washington and neighbors amid a prolonged stalemate in diplomacy.

SEOUL, Jan 27: Nuclear-armed North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday, drawing condemnation from the United States for what would be the sixth round of missile tests this month.

DENVER, Oct 28: The United States has issued its first passport with an “X” gender designation, marking a milestone in the recognition of the rights of people who do not identify as male or female, and expects to be able to offer the option more broadly next year, the State Department said Wednesday.

August 31: The United States completed the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan on Monday, ending 20 years of war that culminated in the militant Taliban's return to power.

SEOUL, April 18: The United States and China, the world’s two biggest carbon polluters, agreed to cooperate to curb climate change with urgency, just days before President Joe Biden hosts a virtual summit of world leaders to discuss the issue.

BOULDER, Colo. March 23: A shooting at a crowded Colorado supermarket that killed 10 people, including the first police officer to arrive, sent terrorized shoppers and workers scrambling for safety and stunned a state that has grieved several mass killings. A lone suspect was in custody, authorities said.

KATHMANDU, March 11: The Biden administration is pursuing emerging partnerships with South Asian countries including Nepal and India to ensure the Indio-Pacific region free and open, a senior defense official of the United States has said.

BEIJING/TAIPEI, Sept 18: China began combat drills near the Taiwan Strait on Friday, the same day a senior U.S. official began high-level meetings in Taipei, as tensions rose and Beijing denounced tightening ties between Chinese-claimed Taiwan and the United States.

WASHINGTON, Sept 9: The United States military on Wednesday announced that it would be reducing its presence in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000 troops this month, formalizing a move that had been long expected.

NEW YORK, July 3: The United States reported more than 55,000 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the largest daily increase any country has ever reported, according to a Reuters tally.

WASHINGTON, May 19: U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to permanently halt funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) if it did not commit to improvements within 30 days, and to reconsider the membership of the United States in the body.

NEW YORK, March 26: The U.S. coronavirus death toll surged past 1,000 on Thursday and the number of Americans seeking jobless benefits smashed records, sombre evidence of the pandemic’s human and economic devastation.

WASHINGTON, March 15:  As the two remaining Democratic presidential candidates return to the debate stage, their party, the stakes, and the world look much different than in their last meeting less than three weeks ago.

LOS ANGELES, March: The coronavirus outbreak radiated across the United States on Thursday, surfacing in at least four new states and San Francisco as Congress quickly approved more than $8 billion to fight the outbreak.

How not to leave Afghanistan

March 5, 2020 08:45 am

NEW YORK – After nearly two decades, 2,400 soldiers killed, another 20,000 wounded, and as much as $2 trillion spent, the United States is understandably eager to withdraw from Afghanistan. President Donald Trump wants to be able to claim in advance of the November 2020 election that he fulfilled his campaign promise to end the country’s longest war, and his Democratic challengers share his desire to extricate the US from the conflict.

KIRKLAND, Wash. March 3: Six people in the Seattle area have died of illness caused by the new coronavirus, health officials said on Monday, as authorities across the United States scrambled to prepare for more infections with an emphasis on increasing testing capacity.

SEOUL/BEIJING, Feb 25: South Korea aims to test more than 200,000 members of a church at the center of a surge in coronavirus cases while the United States pledged $2.5 billion to fight the disease, as it spreads rapidly beyond China’s borders to Europe and the Middle East.

KATHMANDU, Feb 15: Nepal has hosted its first ever figure skating and ice hockey friendly match with well-renowned players from Canada, India, Russia, and the United States.

Mature batting hands Oman second win

February 7, 2020 10:31 am

KATHMANDU, Feb 7: An unbeaten partnership of 63 runs between Mohammad Nadeem and Suraj Kumar helped Oman register second win in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 as it beat the United States by six wickets at TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Thursday.

KATHMANDU, Feb 5: Nepal national cricket team is set to host the United States and Oman in a historic home leg of One-day International (ODI) tri-series under ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 2019-22 from February 5 to 12, to begin its bid to reach the World Cup Qualifiers which will further propel Nepal in contention for an elusive spot in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.

Reason to worry

January 28, 2020 09:33 am

Tensions between the US and Iran continues even after several days of killing of top Iranian General Qassim Suleimani by the US at Baghdad airport in Iraq on January 3. Suleimani was the most powerful commander of the Revolutionary Guards in Iran. In retaliation, Iran launched a spate of missile attacks targeting US troops in Iraq. Initially, the US claimed that there was no casualty as such on its army base from the Iranian attacks, but now it is confirmed that 11 of US soldiers were injured.

America’s Middle-East Obsession

January 28, 2020 09:30 am

NEW DELHI – “Great nations do not fight endless wars,” US President Donald Trump declared in his 2019 State of the Union speech. He had a point: military entanglements in the Middle East have contributed to the relative decline of American power and facilitated China’s muscular rise. And yet, less than a year after that speech, Trump ordered the assassination of Iran’s most powerful military commander, General Qassem Suleimani, bringing the United States to the precipice of yet another war. Such is the power of America’s addiction to interfering in the chronically volatile Middle East.

The War on Talent

January 27, 2020 09:42 am

WASHINGTON, DC – In the 1950s, during a very tight postwar labor market, American business executives voted Human Resources (HR) the most glamorous area in business. As Wharton School professor Peter Cappelli recounts, “90% of positions (and virtually all those in the top ranks) were filled from within—and 96% of large companies dedicated an entire department to planning for workforce needs.” When companies need talent, he argues, the prestige of HR goes up; when labor markets go slack, HR returns to benefits administration.

Costs of conflict

January 23, 2020 08:19 am

The United States told the United Nations that the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani was in self-defence and vowed to take additional action “as necessary” in the Middle East to protect US personnel and interests. On other side, Iran retaliated by firing 20 ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq where United States troops were stationed. It is believed that driving out the presence of United States from the region was the major objective of Iran and Soleimani’s personal mission. So the bigger picture is Iran lost its best military strategist and the assassination ensured the elimination of a man who America saw as potential challenger of its primacy in region.

Post-Suleimani View from Iran

January 8, 2020 08:09 am

STANFORD – The assassination by the United States of Qassem Suleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, was certainly a major escalation in the two countries’ long-running conflict. But it need not beget World War III (as some pundits are already predicting). Moreover, while the US may have achieved a short-term tactical advantage by killing Suleimani, the Iranian regime could yet benefit from recent developments.

SYDNEY, Jan 6: Tensions in the Middle East after the killing of a top Iranian general by the United States pushed an index of Asian shares off an 18-month high on Monday as investors pushed safe-haven gold near a seven-year high, and oil jumped to four-month peaks.

HONG KONG – In recent years, fears of a new cold war between the United States and China have been proliferating. But the tensions between the two powers would be better described as a “cool war,” characterized not by old-fashioned spheres of interest, proxy wars, and the threat of “mutually assured destruction,” but by an unprecedented combination of wide-ranging competition and deep interconnection.

Post-American Middle East

January 2, 2020 08:44 am

NEW YORK – It was August 5, 1990, just days after Saddam Hussein’s Iraq had invaded and conquered all of Kuwait, and US President George H.W. Bush could not have been clearer as he spoke from the South Lawn at the White House: “This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait.” Over the next six months, Bush proved to be a man of his word, as the United States sent a half-million soldiers to the Middle East and led an international coalition that liberated Kuwait.

SEOUL, DEC 30: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called at a ruling party meeting for “positive and offensive measures” to ensure security ahead of a year-end deadline he has set for denuclearization talks with the United States, state media KCNA said on Monday.

US hands over two Skytrucks to Nepal Army

December 19, 2019 07:30 am

KATHMANDU, Dec 19: The United States on Wednesday handed over two M28 Skytrucks to the Nepal Army (NA), representing the first part of one of the largest security grants to Nepal in history.

Russia and Middle East

December 4, 2019 11:29 am

TEL AVIV – The collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago meant that its once-formidable presence in the Middle East collapsed as well. Today, however, as the United States has withdrawn from the region, Russia has rushed to recapture the Soviet Union’s position there, through a combination of military force, arms deals, strategic partnerships, and the deployment of soft power. But its success is being significantly overestimated.

All is not well with global economy

December 3, 2019 10:39 am

​NEW YORK – This past May and August, escalations in the trade and technology conflict between the United States and China rattled stock markets and pushed bond yields to historic lows. But that was then: since then, financial markets have once again become giddy. US and other equities are trending toward new highs, and there is even talk of a potential “melt-up” in equity values.

WASHINGTON, Nov 25: U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper fired the Navy’s top civilian on Sunday over his handling of the case of a Navy SEAL who was convicted of battlefield misconduct in Iraq and later won the support of President Donald Trump.

SHANGHAI, Nov 21: The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation to back protesters in Hong Kong and send a warning to China about human rights, sending two bills to the White House where President Donald Trump is expected to sign them into law.