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Rules that effectively banned all sexually active gay and bisexual men from donating blood and plasma are being lifted in Australia, BBC reported.

The rules, originally introduced to decrease the risk of blood donations from groups with a higher chance of HIV exposure, will begin being revoked from next month, following similar moves in the UK and US.

However, under the changes, Australia will become the first country in the world to remove all sexual activity-based restrictions on plasma donation, the national blood donation service Lifeblood says.

The new rules have been approved by the country's health products regulator, and are estimated to expand the donation pool by 625,000 people, according to BBC.

The government is falling short on capital spending yet again, highlighting long-standing inefficiencies in implementing its development budget.  With one month in the current fiscal year 2024/25 remaining, the government has been able to utilize only 41.01 percent of its capital budget of Rs 352.35bn. According to the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO), the government has been able to spend only Rs 144.49bn of its capital budget till June 15.

The new fiscal year begins on July 17. This means the government has about a month to spend nearly 59 percent of its capital budget. The low capital spending continues a worrying trend of funds allocated for infrastructure and development works remaining underutilized. In the previous fiscal year 2023/24, the government utilized 63.47 percent of its capital budget, amounting to Rs 191.73bn out of Rs 302bn. In 2022/23, 61.44 percent of the capital budget of Rs 380.38bn, or Rs 233.69bn, was spent. Likewise, the 2021/22 saw a low capital budget utilization at 57.23 percent. These figures pale in comparison to pre-covid years when capital spending remained at 76.93 percent in 2018/19 and 80.77 percent in 2017/18.

The consistently poor capital expenditure performance can be attributed to several deep-rooted issues. Many development projects are included in the budget without final designs, feasibility studies or necessary environmental approvals. These result in delayed implementation. Moreover, the slow procurement process due to bureaucratic hurdles also affect project timelines. It often takes months just to award contracts. Contractor inefficiencies, largely due to the tendency of holding multiple projects at a time, and a lack of monitoring further compound the issue. 

Another worrying trend in Nepal’s development landscape is the last-minute spending rush toward the end of the fiscal year. State agencies, which under pressure to meet spending targets, disburse large sums in the final weeks. Experts say last minute spending compromises the quality of work and fails to deliver desired outcomes. 

Revenue mobilization at 71.84 percent

The government has achieved 71.84 percent progress in revenue mobilization over the first 11 months of the current fiscal year.  According to the FCGO, the government has mobilized Rs 1,019.67bn in revenue in the review period which is 71.84 percent of Rs 1,419.30 that the government is targeting to raise in the current fiscal year. Of the total revenue, Rs 921.40bn is from tax revenue and the remaining from non-tax revenue

Waves of Russian drones and missiles struck districts across the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Tuesday, killing 14 people and injuring 44, according to the interior ministry, Reuters reported.

The Russian attack struck 27 locations around the capital, damaging residential buildings, educational institutions, and critical infrastructure facilities, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

"Today, the enemy spared neither drones nor missiles," he said about what he called one of the largest attacks on the city since Russia launched the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Reuters witnesses said drones swarmed over the capital and they heard what appeared to be missiles overhead. An air raid alert remained in effect more than seven hours after it had been proclaimed.

Other parts of the country also came under attack, including a region outside the capital where one person was injured and the southern region of Odesa, where 13 people were injured, according to local authorities, according to Reuters.

The Group of Seven nations expressed support for Israel in a statement issued late on Monday and labeled its rival Iran as a source of instability in the Middle East, with the G7 leaders urging broader de-escalation of hostilities in the region, Reuters reported.

The air war between Iran and Israel - which began on Friday when Israel attacked Iran with air strikes - has raised alarms in a region that had already been on edge since the start of Israel’s military assault on Gaza in October 2023.

“We affirm that Israel has a right to defend itself. We reiterate our support for the security of Israel,” G7 leaders said in the statement.

“Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror,” the statement added and said the G7 was “clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”

Israel attacked Iran on Friday in what it called a preemptive strike to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. Since then the two Middle Eastern rivals have exchanged blows, with Iranian officials reporting over 220 deaths, mostly civilians, while Israel said 24 civilians killed, according to Reuters.

U.S. President Donald Trump left the Group of Seven summit in Canada a day early due to the situation in the Middle East, the White House said on Monday, Reuters reported.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump had made an offer for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

Trump had earlier urged everyone to immediately evacuate Tehran, and reiterated that Iran should have signed a nuclear deal with the United States.

"Much was accomplished, but because of what’s going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X, according to Reuters.

The G7 has struggled to find unity over conflicts in Ukraine and between Israel and Iran as Trump overtly expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and has imposed tariffs on many of the allies present.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 2, 000 per tola in the domestic market on Tuesday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 195, 000 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 197, 000 per tola on Monday.

Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by 5 and is being traded at Rs 2, 160 per tola today.

Oil prices resumed their upward climb and U.S. futures were lower early Tuesday after Israel’s military issued an evacuation warning to 330,000 people in Iran’s capital Tehran, Associated Press reported.

Asian shares were mixed. 

The evacuation warning was for a part of Tehran, a city of 9.5 million, that houses the country’s state TV and police headquarters and three large hospitals, including one owned by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was returning from the G7 summit in Canada a day early due to the intensifying conflict.

The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.3%, according to Associated Press.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index climbing 0.6% to 38,547.56 as the Japanese central bank opted to keep its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5%.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an agreement on Monday formally lowering some tariffs on imports from Britain as the countries continue working toward a formal trade deal, Reuters reported.

The deal, announced by Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Canada, reaffirmed quotas and tariff rates on British automobiles and eliminated tariffs on the U.K. aerospace sector, but the issue of steel and aluminum remains unresolved.

Other critical industries, such as pharmaceuticals, were not mentioned.

Trump said the relationship with Britain was "fantastic," as he waved, and then briefly dropped, a document that he said he had just signed.

"We signed it and it's done," he said, incorrectly calling it a trade agreement with the European Union, before making clear the deal was with Britain, according to Reuters.