Chinese delegation
A 21-member Chinese delegation comprising senior leaders led by Vice-premierHe Yong arrived in Kathmandu on Saturday. The delegation met the President Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and top leaders of political parties.

This is the highest-level Chinese delegation visiting Nepal since the peace process began. The visit comes at a time of the parliament's failure to elect a new prime minister in two months since the PM resigned, and the release of an audio tape in which a Chinese man offers Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara Rs 500 million to help obtain a majority in the ongoing prime ministerial election.

The Chinese delegation also gave a formal invitation to the President to attend the closing ceremony of the ongoing Shanghai Expo later this year, where he is likely to meet the Chinese President and Premier.

UNMIN term
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has extended the UNMIN's term by four months for the last time, as requested by Nepal government and UCPN (Maoist) on Wednesday. It is the seventh time the UNMIN's term has been extended. The mandate has now been extended till 15 January. Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal signed the four-point agreement which also commits the special committee to implement all provisions in the peace agreement. All pending points in the peace agreement will be completed by 15 December, before the extension expires.

Cross-border crime
Security and local administration officials of the bordering districts of Nepal and India have agreed to help each other in controlling cross-border crimes, including activities of the armed groups in Tarai districts.

At a bilateral meeting held in Nepalganj on Monday, security officials of Nepal and India agreed to share information on cross- border criminal activities and help each other in arresting the most wanted criminals. The Indian officials also assured help in tracking down the members of the Tarai armed groups operating from India.