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Ram Ayodhya Yadav, a member in the Second Constituent Assembly (2013), passed away on Wednesday at the age of 72.

He had been suffering from kidney-related complications and breathed his last at Healthcare Hospital in Birgunj, according to his son, Dr Jitendra Yadav.

Yadav was elected to the 2013 Constituent Assembly from Bara-1, representing the Nepali Congress (NC).

He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.

Meanwhile, Nepali Congress President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba expressed profound sorrow over the demise of Yadav.

In a statement issued today, Deuba extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family, stating that the party would always remember Yadav’s contributions to strengthening the party organization.

He said that with Yadav's demise, the party has lost an experienced and leading political figure.

The Quad grouping of the United States, India, Japan and Australia called on Tuesday for the perpetrators of an Islamist militant attack that killed 26 in India-administered Kashmir to be brought to justice without delay, Reuters reported.

The April 22 attack sparked heavy fighting between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan in the latest escalation of a decades-old rivalry as India blamed it on Pakistan, which denied responsibility while calling for a neutral investigation.

The U.S. State Department issued, opens new tab a joint statement by the foreign ministers of the grouping, who met in Washington, but stopped short of naming Pakistan or blaming Islamabad.

"The Quad unequivocally condemns all acts of terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism," the ministers said in the statement, according to Reuters.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Elon Musk's companies receive from the federal government, in an escalation of the war of words between the president and the world's richest man, one-time allies who have since fallen out, Reuters reported.

The feud reignited on Monday when Musk, who spent hundreds of millions on Trump's re-election, renewed his criticism of Trump's tax-cut and spending bill, which would eliminate subsidies for electric vehicle purchases that have benefited Tesla, the leading U.S. EV maker. That bill passed the Senate by a narrow margin midday Tuesday.

"He's upset that he's losing his EV mandate and … he's very upset about things but he can lose a lot more than that," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.

Though Musk has often said government subsidies should be eliminated, Tesla has historically benefited from billions of dollars in tax credits and other policy benefits because of its business in clean transportation and renewable energy. The Trump administration has control over many of those programs, some of which are targeted in the tax bill, including a $7,500 consumer tax credit that has made buying or leasing EVs more attractive for consumers, according to Reuters.

The Iranian military loaded naval mines onto vessels in the Persian Gulf last month, a move that intensified concerns in Washington that Tehran was gearing up to blockade the Strait of Hormuz following Israel's strikes on sites across Iran, according to two U.S. officials, Reuters reported.

The previously unreported preparations, which were detected by U.S. intelligence, occurred some time after Israel launched its initial missile attack against Iran on June 13, said the officials, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters.

The loading of the mines - which have not been deployed in the strait - suggests that Tehran may have been serious about closing one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, a move that would have escalated an already-spiraling conflict and severely hobbled global commerce.

About one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments pass through the Strait of Hormuz and a blockage would likely have spiked world energy prices, according to Reuters.