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Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and leader of the Nepali Delegation to the Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), has said LLDCs face a complex web of challenges for trade potentials.

Lack of direct access to the seas, high transit costs, poor infrastructure, long and uncertain transit routes, limited market access, over-reliance on a narrow range of primary commodities, vulnerability to global shocks, climate change-induced disasters are among those challenges that resulted in underdeveloped and vulnerable economies of these countries. 

The Prime Minister said this while chairing the High-Level Thematic Roundtable 2: Seizing the Transformative Potential of Trade, Trade Facilitation, and Regional Integration for Landlocked Developing Countries held today under the Conference in Awaza of Turkmenistan.  

"In this interconnected and interdependent world- trade is a powerful engine of economic growth. It can significantly contribute to the socio-economic development of LLDCs, like others. But, despite their huge trade potential, LLDCs account for just over one percent of global trade in goods.  And this imbalance stems not from a lack of ambition or effort, but from structural barriers," he said in his opening remarks. 

In this context, the Awaza Programme of Action for LLDCs has come with concrete measures for turning landlocked countries into land-linked ones by building infrastructures, investing in smart trade corridors, developing transport and logistics industries, digitalizing trade and customs processes, promoting trade of ICT products and services, deepening regional integration and fostering meaningful partnerships, he apprised the meeting. 

He advised that with sincere implementation of these measures, LLDCs can harness their trade potentials for inclusive and sustainable development. "For this, we need to strengthen cooperation and partnership at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels." 

He stressed that “we must deliver on the promise to double the share of LLDCs in global trade, expand their service exports, and foster more diversified and resilient economies. "We need to implement this Program of Action to bring prosperity to more than 570 million people living in LLDCs." 

He further stressed that "trade and transit rights of the LLDCs are a moral responsibility of all" and they need greater solidarity, enhanced financial and technological support, as well as fair and equitable trade opportunities.

Echoing the urgent need for collective push for fairer trade terms and transit regimes is urgent, he stressed that "LLDCs must not be left behind in the global trading system."

He reminded the gathering that the Sevilla Commitment, adopted in June this year, also acknowledges the LLDC Programme of action and expresses a strong commitment to its full and effective implementation. 

He added that, in this context, the roundtable serves as an important reminder for urgent actions, calling for renewed commitment and global solidarity.

Rescue crews raced on Wednesday to clear debris and flooded roads as southern China braced for more extreme rainfall and spreading infection after some of the worst downpours this century, brought by a peak in East Asian monsoon rains, Reuters reported.

Forecasters warned of more thunderstorms after the century's second-heaviest August rains pounded Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, forcing its Baiyun airport, one of the world's busiest, to cancel 363 flights and delay 311.

The day before, the skies above Hong Kong and the high-tech cities of China's Pearl River Delta turned livid and dumped the heaviest August rainfall since 1884 on the Asian financial hub, according to Reuters.

More than 100 people are missing and at least one has died after a cloudburst triggered devastating flash floods in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, BBC reported.

Rescue operations are under way in Uttarkashi district after a massive wave of water surged down the mountains into Dharali village on Tuesday, submerging roads and buildings in its path.

Some army teams have been stationed in Dharali since Tuesday, but other disaster response forces and district officials have been unable to reach the area due to damaged roads and heavy rainfall.

Heavy rains have been lashing the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand over the past few weeks, according to BBC.

Three Pakistani Army personnel, including a major, were killed and three others seriously injured in a roadside bomb blast in Balochistan's Nushki district on Tuesday night, The Tribune reported.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the attack. According to the report, the incident occurred around 8:00 pm (local time) when a bulletproof military vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Gargina area of Nushki.

The soldiers killed in the attack have been identified as Major Rizwan, Naib Subedar Ameen, and Lance Naik Younis. Three other personnel sustained serious injuries in the explosion, according to The Tribune.

The meeting of the Karnali Province Council of Ministers held this morning has decided to recommend ending the sixth session of the second term of the Provincial Assembly from midnight.

The Cabinet meeting also decided to depute Provincial Secretary Dholak Raj Dhakal, based at the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers, as Secretary to the Ministry of Social Development, shared the provincial government spokesperson Binod Kumar Shah. 

Similarly, following the Supreme Court's order, a decision was taken to recommend to the federal government to designate Luhadah-4 as the administrative center of Junichande Rural Municipality of Jajarkot district, 

The meeting has also approved the 'Journalism Award Distribution Procedure, 2082'. 

Spokesperson Shah shared that the meeting decided to form a Karnali Province Monitoring Committee under the coordination of the Secretary of the Governance Reforms Division under the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers to monitor the implementation of the provision of an Information Officer in the provincial government offices.

The Department of Health and Human Services will cancel contracts and pull funding for some vaccines that are being developed to fight respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and the flu, Associated Press reported.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a statement Tuesday that 22 projects, totaling $500 million, to develop vaccines using mRNA technology will be halted.

Kennedy’s decision to terminate the projects is the latest in a string of decisions that have put the longtime vaccine critic’s doubts about shots into full effect at the nation’s health department. Kennedy has pulled back recommendations around the COVID-19 shots, fired the panel that makes vaccine recommendations, and refused to offer a vigorous endorsement of vaccinations as a measles outbreak worsened, according to Associated Press.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to bow to a sanctions ultimatum expiring this Friday from U.S. President Donald Trump, and retains the goal of capturing four regions of Ukraine in their entirety, sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters.

Trump has threatened to hit Russia with new sanctions and impose 100% tariffs on countries that buy its oil - of which the biggest are China and India - unless Putin agrees to a ceasefire in Russia's war in Ukraine.

Putin's determination to keep going is prompted by his belief that Russia is winning and by scepticism that yet more U.S. sanctions will have much of an impact after successive waves of economic penalties during 3-1/2 years of war, according to three sources familiar with discussions in the Kremlin, Reuters reported.

It’s only rock ‘n’ roll, but it’s messy.

A guitar once played by two members of the Rolling Stones is at the center of a dispute between the band’s former guitarist Mick Taylor and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The 1959 Gibson Les Paul was donated to the Met as part of what the New York museum calls “a landmark gift of more than 500 of the finest guitars from the golden age of American guitar making.” The donor is Dirk Ziff, a billionaire investor and guitar collector, Associated Press reported.

When the Met announced the gift in May, Taylor thought he recognized the guitar, with its distinctive “starburst” finish, as an instrument he last saw in 1971, when the Stones were recording the album “Exile on Main St.” at Keith Richards’ rented villa in the south of France.

In the haze of drugs and rock ‘n’ roll that pervaded the sessions, a number of instruments went missing, believed stolen, according to Associated Press.