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A delegation of the France-Nepal Interparliamentary Friendship Group in the French Senate led by Daniel Salmon called on Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka on Monday. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they exchanged views on a range of matters including development cooperation, trade, and investment, climate change as well as the importance of parliamentary exchanges. On the occasion, Minister Khadka thanked the French side for the support provided during COVID-19. President of France-Nepal Interparliamentary Friendship Group in the French Senate Senator Daniel Salmon and Senator Anne-Catherine Loisier are on an official visit to Nepal at the invitation of the Chairperson of Nepal France Inter-Parliamentary Group, Madhav Kumar Nepal. According to a press statement from the Embassy of France, the visiting French parliamentary delegation will pay courtesy calls on President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Speaker of the House of Representatives Agni Prasad Sapkota, National Assembly Chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina and other top leaders of different political parties. The French delegate is also expected to hold interactions with members of the private sector, experts on climate change, and others, it is said.

The Election Commission has determined a total of 10,888 polling stations across the country for the upcoming elections to the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies set for November 20. It may be noted that there were a total of 10,756 polling stations in the local level elections held on May 13 earlier this year. The Election Commission reviewed the number of polling stations also considering the number of voters, convenience and security sensitivities in accordance with the Polling Station and Voting Centre Fixation Work Procedure, 2020. The EC decided to make polling management effective and ensure easy access of voters to the voting process. In line with the arrangements specified in the Working Procedure, the revision was also based on the recommendations received from the district polling station and voting centre fixation recommendation committee. The recommendations were also premised on several aspects such as voters' density, access to polling station, building, communications, electricity, transport, status of infrastructure, security and geographical situation and consensus among electoral stakeholders. According to EC Spokesperson Shaligram Sharma Poudel, the number of polling stations has reached 10,888.

Liz Truss was named as the UK’s next Prime Minister today, winning an internal leadership contest of the ruling Conservative party at a time when the country faces an industrial unrest and a recession, NDTV reported. She beat her rival, former finance minister Rishi Sunak, by 81,326 votes to 60,399, after a summer-long often bad-tempered and divisive party leadership contest sparked by Boris Johnson’s resignation in July. As she was confirmed successor to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Truss vowed “bold” action to confront the biting economic crisis. “We need to show that we will deliver over the next two years. I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy,” Truss said after the result was announced. “I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people’s energy bills, but also dealing with the long-term issues we have on energy supply.” Liz Truss, 47, will be only the UK’s third female Prime Minister following Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher The announcement triggers the start of a handover from Boris Johnson, who was forced to announce his resignation in July after months of scandal saw support for his administration drain away. He will travel to Scotland to meet Queen Elizabeth on Tuesday to officially tender his resignation. Truss will follow him and be asked to form a government by the monarch, according to NDTV.

The China-Nepal railway project is a way to our prosperity and it can be a project of the century for Nepal, Nepali Ambassador to China Bishnu Pukar Shrestha told the Global Times in an exclusive interview, Global Times reported. The ambassador noted that the rail project has great prospects and opportunity for South Asia to benefit from it. And if India studies it, they will find that this railway project has huge connectivity potential between China and South Asia. He also slammed the accusation by some media outlets that this project will drag Nepal into a "debt trap." He said that he did not see any matter of "debt trap," since no discussions of loans or debts have been part of the China-Nepal Railway project. "Those who have written such things might have been misinformed," he said. Nepal and China negotiate for financial modality for any project based on mutual benefit while paying attention to the socio-economic viability of such projects. Those who talk about a "debt trap" are just going on misinformation and making noise in the media, said the diplomat. On August 10, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with the visiting Nepali Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka in Qingdao, Shandong Province. In the meeting, Wang announced that China will use aid funds for Nepal to support the feasibility study of the China-Nepal cross-border railway, and will send experts to Nepal to conduct the survey work within this year. "The feasibility study means the railway project has started. If it shows the project is feasible, I think the final implementation is visible. We believe that if China is committed, nothing is impossible. Nepalese people think this way as most of the Nepalese people are in favor of China and China's development," the ambassador told the Global Times. The proposal for the China-Nepal railway was made in 2016 and the railway will link Xigaze in Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region and Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. However, some media reports threw cold water on this highly anticipated project, citing so-called debt or security concerns for India. During the interview, the Ambassador said that "Nepal's relations with both India and China are strong and historical. However, they have their own dynamism and dimensions. But I want to make clear that Nepal and China do not work for any projects which will be detrimental to India. I don't think this railway project has any sort of security implications for anyone." He told the Global Times that the railway project is "our necessity, this is our dream, this is the way to our prosperity." According to the Ambassador, the railway is not being planned or built to carry military personnel, as some people assume. "There are always some people against the right things. There are also many people who want to implement the right things. Railway connectivity carries huge potential in trade and tourism, employment generation and uplifting socio-economic conditions." He noted that they have already seen the positive impact brought by the China-Laos Railway which opened just a few months ago. "It has excited us too. That is why people of Nepal are very happy after hearing this announcement. We believe that this could be materialized soon." When asked if Nepal faces pressure from other countries including India to maintain good relations with China, Ambassador Shrestha told the Global Times that "Nepal has its independent foreign policy. The government of Nepal is well aware of what it is doing and what it has to do." "We are like yam in between two giant ancient countries with much larger populations. We have our strategic location, don't we? Some people might have seen it like that, but as I said, Nepal has its own policy, and will conduct affairs according to its policy," he said, according to Global Times. "People used to say that sometimes the government of Nepal is tilted to the south, sometimes it is tilted to the west, sometimes to the north. But the major principle is non-alignment and not sitting under any kind of military umbrella," he added. The diplomat stressed that China and India are both Nepal's neighbors, close friends as well as Nepal's development partners. "Our relations with both have their own history and tradition. Cultural links and people-to-people exchanges are hallmarks of our relations with both neighbors. In our relations with both China and India, we also follow the principle of non-alignment and Charter of the United Nations," he said. People's Review reported on August 11 that Kathmandu-based EU ambassadors wanted to meet Nepali Foreign Minister Khadka to express their displeasure with his trip to China, especially after the visit of US Speaker Nancy Pelosi to China's Taiwan. Nepal also reportedly faced pressure from India in its relations with China. Talking about the external pressure on Nepal's foreign policy, the diplomat told the Global Times, "I must state that Nepal and China are neighbors, connected with the mountains and rivers and peoples since ancient times. The history, culture and tradition do not grow out of pressure, but they grow naturally like water flows in the rivers, and air blows over the mountains across the two countries." "Besides being neighbors, Nepal and China are close friends. It is in no way by force or fiction or pressure, rather it is by choice of the Nepali people and government. Nepal's foreign policy is amity with all, enmity with none."