Diplomatic efforts surrounding the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz have intensified, with Iran and Oman engaged in negotiations aimed at establishing arrangements for the safe movement of commercial vessels through the key maritime corridor. The talks have raised cautious hopes that a diplomatic solution could help restore more predictable shipping conditions, although significant political and security disagreements remain unresolved. Oman has emerged as a key mediator in the discussions, seeking to bridge positions between Iran and the United States as tensions surrounding the waterway continue to affect regional stability and international trade. Iran has indicated that progress toward an agreement...

If you walked through the narrow lanes of Ward 3 in Dewanganj a week ago, you would have heard the familiar sounds of a Terai summer: the hum of irrigation pumps, children shouting over games of cricket, and the rhythmic clatter of tea shop saucers. Today, those lanes carry an eerie, heavy silence—broken only by the low rumble of Nepal Army armored vehicles rolling over crushed gravel. In Kaptanganj, doors are bolted tight. Curtain edges twitch as strangers walk past, but nobody comes out to talk. On the night of July 26, 2026, a petty argument over a flag and...

Some people live quietly within the boundaries of what seems possible. Others test those boundaries until they break. Nirmal “Nimsdai” Purja belonged entirely to the second group. From his days as a Gurkha commando to making history on the world’s highest mountains, Nimsdai lived with an intensity that reshaped how we view human endurance. When the news broke of his death at age 43 on Pakistan’s Broad Peak, it felt almost unreal to those who followed his journey. A man who had faced the world's most dangerous peaks—often seemingly immune to their perils—was ultimately taken by the very mountains he...

Record-breaking mountaineer dies in Pakistan avalanche, leaving behind an extraordinary legacy in the world of high-altitude climbing KATHMANDU — Nepal’s renowned mountaineer Nirmal “Nims Dai” Purja, whose extraordinary achievements transformed the modern world of high-altitude mountaineering, has died following an avalanche on Pakistan’s Broad Peak, according to reports confirmed on August 1. The tragedy occurred in Pakistan’s formidable Karakoram range as an international climbing expedition was caught in an avalanche on Broad Peak, one of the world’s highest mountains. The disaster claimed the lives of multiple climbers, including Purja and members of his expedition team. Difficult weather and dangerous terrain...