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The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump shelved in recent weeks an interagency working group it had set up to formulate strategies for pressuring Russia into speeding up peace talks with Ukraine, according to three U.S. officials, Reuters reported.

The effort, which was established earlier in the spring, lost steam in May as it became increasingly clear to participants that Trump was not interested in adopting a more confrontational stance toward Moscow, said the officials.

Despite pledging during his campaign to end the war in Ukraine on the first day of his presidency, Trump in recent months has grown increasingly frustrated that his push has yielded no breakthroughs. He has begun saying that the United States may abandon its efforts to broker peace altogether.

In light of that threat, the working group's task seemed increasingly irrelevant, added those officials, who requested anonymity to describe sensitive internal discussions, according to Reuters.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have both posted to social media hinting that the United States is considering involvement in the conflict between Israel and Iran, with Trump even raising the possibility of violence against Iran’s leadership, Aljazeera reported.

The first of Tuesday’s posts came from Vance, who wrote a lengthy missive defending Trump’s handling of the conflict and blaming Iran for continuing its nuclear enrichment programme.

“The president has made clear that Iran cannot have uranium enrichment. And he said repeatedly that this would happen one of two ways- the easy way or the ‘other’ way,” Vance wrote.

The vice president proceeded to explain what the “other way” might look like, according to Aljazeera.

“The president has shown remarkable restraint in keeping our military’s focus on protecting our troops and protecting our citizens,” Vance said. “He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the president.”

The monsoon winds have an influence in some places of Koshi, Madhes, Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces and some eastern areas of Lumbini Province. 

Likewise, there is a partial influence of westerly and local winds in the western parts of the country.  

The Meteorological Forecasting Division has reported that there is also a partial influence of the low-pressure area formed around West Bengal of India. 

The weather this afternoon is expected to remain generally cloudy across the country. 

There is a possibility of light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning in many places of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, and Lumbini Provinces, as well as some places in other provinces. 

Heavy to extremely heavy rainfall is likely to take place in one or two areas of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, and Lumbini Provinces. 

Light rain and snowfall are also likely in some parts of the high hills and mountainous regions of the country. 

According to the Division, the weather will remain generally to fully cloudy across the country tonight. 

There is a possibility of light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning in many places of Koshi, Madhesh, Bagmati, Gandaki, and Lumbini Provinces, as well as some places in other provinces. 

Heavy rainfall is predicted in some places of Koshi, Madhesh, Gandaki, and Lumbini Provinces.

In some parts of the high hills and mountainous regions of Koshi, Bagmati, and Gandaki Provinces, as well as one or two places in the high hills and mountainous regions of other provinces, light rain and snow are likely to occur. 

Nepal defeated host Scotland by two wickets in the match held in Glasgow, Scotland on Tuesday under the T20 Tri-Nation Series. 

Nepal achieved the moderate target of 98 runs posted by Scotland in 19.5 overs with eight wickets down. 

To steer Nepal to victory, opener Kushal Bhurtel contributed 30 runs. Likewise, Dipendra Singh Airee gathered 14 runs, Basir Ahamad 13 and Kiran Thagunna 10 while other batters could not score in double digits. 

Put to bat first in the third match of the Series, Scotland were restricted to a meagre 97 runs at the loss of all wickets. 

Nepal's leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane took four wickets for 18 runs including a maiden in his full quota of four overs. Karan KC and Dipendra Singh Airee took two wickets each while Lalit Rajbansi took one wicket.

For the home team, only three batsmen could score in double digits, the highest being 46 runs by Michael Leask, Brandon McMullen scored 10 runs while captain Matthew Cross scored 15 runs before he was bowled out to Lamichhane..

With the performance in the match, Karan KC has registered 100 wickets in T20 International Cricket. He is the second after Lamichhane to make the record. 

Lamichhane was declared the 'player of the match' .today. 

Japan’s exports fell for the first time in eight months in May, data showed on Wednesday (Jun 18), indicating that sweeping US tariffs were threatening the country’s fragile economic recovery, Reuters reported.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and US President Donald Trump have yet to reach a trade deal.

Tokyo is scrambling to find ways to get Washington to exempt its automakers from 25 per cent automobile industry-specific tariffs, which are dealing a heavy blow to the country’s manufacturing sector. It also faces a 24 per cent ‘reciprocal’ tariff rate starting in Jul 9 unless it can negotiate a deal with Washington.

Total exports by value dropped 1.7 per cent year on year in May, data showed, smaller than a median market forecast for a 3.8 per cent decrease and following a 2 per cent rise in April.

Exports to the United States plunged 11.1 per cent last month from a year earlier, while those to China were down 8.8 per cent, the data showed, according to Reuters.

The tariff threat had driven companies in Japan and other major Asian exporters to ramp up shipments earlier this year, inflating levels of US-bound exports during that period.

More than 600 people of 17 nationalities have fled into Azerbaijan from Iran in the five days since the start of the air war between Israel and Iran, an Azerbaijani source with knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Armenian news agency Armenpress reported separately that India has evacuated 110 of its nationals from Iran via Armenia.

The flight from Iran has been prompted by surprise attacks that Israel began last Friday, to which Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks. U.S. President Donald Trump warned residents of Tehran on Monday to evacuate immediately.

From Tehran to the crossing into Azerbaijan is a road journey of about eight hours, while reaching the Armenian border takes over 10 hours.

Azerbaijani foreign ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizadeh said more than 1,200 citizens from 51 countries had requested permission to cross from Iran into Azerbaijan, according to Reuters.

U.S. forces have pulled out of two more bases in northeastern Syria, visiting Reuters reporters found, accelerating a troop drawdown that the commander of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces said was allowing a resurgence of Islamic State, Reuters reported.

Reuters reporters who visited the two bases in the past week found them mostly deserted, both guarded by small contingents of the Syrian Democratic Forces - the Kurdish-led military group that Washington has backed in the fight against Islamic State for a decade.

Cameras used on bases occupied by the U.S.-led military coalition had been taken down, and razor wire on the outer perimeters had begun to sag.

A Kurdish politician who lives on one base said there were no longer U.S. troops there. SDF guards at the second base said troops had left recently but declined to say when. The Pentagon declined to comment, according to Reuters.

It is the first confirmation on the ground by reporters that the U.S. has withdrawn from Al-Wazir and Tel Baydar bases in Hasaka province. It brings to at least four the number of bases in Syria U.S. troops have left since President Donald Trump took office.

Israeli tanks fired into a crowd trying to get aid from trucks in Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least 59 people, according to medics, in one of the bloodiest incidents yet in mounting violence as desperate residents struggle for food, Reuters reported.

Video shared on social media showed around a dozen mangled bodies lying in a street in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military, at war with Hamas-led Palestinian militants in Gaza since October 2023, acknowledged firing in the area and said it was looking into the incident.

Witnesses interviewed by Reuters said Israeli tanks had launched at least two shells at a crowd of thousands who had gathered on the main eastern road through Khan Younis in the hope of obtaining food from aid trucks that use the route, according to Reuters.

"All of a sudden, they let us move forward and made everyone gather, and then shells started falling, tank shells," said Alaa, an eyewitness, interviewed by Reuters at Nasser Hospital, where wounded victims lay sprawled on the floor and in corridors due to the lack of space.