KATHMANDU: A bus in Nepal skidded off a mountain road and plunged into an icy river, police said Monday, killing at least 19 people, including a British tourist.

The bus, en route from the tourist city of Pokhara to the capital city Kathmandu, fell more than 200 metres (655 feet) into the Trishuli River in Dhading district in the early hours of Monday morning.

“Out of 44, in total 19 people died, and 25 are undergoing treatment,” senior local police officer Prakash Dahal told AFP, confirming one British citizen was among the dead.

One Chinese person and a New Zealander were injured, he said, without giving further details.

Mohan Prasad Neupane, information officer at the district administration office, said the rescue operation had been completed by dawn.

“The injured are undergoing treatment,” Neupane said.

In July 2024, two buses with more than 50 people on board were swept off the highway into the same river after a landslide.

Deadly crashes are relatively common in the Himalayan republic because of poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.

China is making a “full assessment” of the US Supreme Court’s tariff ruling and has urged Washington to lift “unilateral tariff measures” on its trading partners, warning that fighting between the two countries is “harmful”.

The comments from China’s Commerce Ministry on Monday came days after the highest US court dealt President Donald Trump a stinging defeat by striking down many of the tariffs he has used in a global trade war, including some against rival China.

Within hours of the ruling, Trump said he would impose a new 10% duty on US imports from all countries starting on Tuesday, only then to lift it to 15% in a move that seemed to surprise some of his own officials.

“US unilateral tariffs … violate international trade rules and US domestic law, and are not in the interests of any party,” the Chinese ministry said.

“Cooperation between China and the United States is beneficial to both sides, but fighting is harmful,” it added.

Trade and tariffs are expected to dominate the agenda for both China and the US ahead of a highly anticipated visit by Trump to China in late March and early April — when he will meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

Trump’s planned new levies are grounded in a separate but untested law, known as Section 122, that allows tariffs up to 15% but requires congressional approval to extend them after 150 days. No president has previously invoked Section 122, and its use could lead to further legal challenges.

“China will continue to pay close attention to this and firmly safeguard its interests,” the Commerce Ministry said.

Gao Lingyun, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was cited by state-run Global Times as saying the US tariff decisions are “highly arbitrary” and were being wielded as a “political weapon.”

“Tariff policy should be based on rigorous assessment, not political preference,” he was quoted as saying.

The US court’s ruling invalidated a number of tariffs that the Trump administration had imposed on Asian export powerhouses from China and South Korea to Japan and Taiwan, the world’s largest chipmaker and a key player in tech supply chains.

Uncertainty looms amid new global tariffs

South Korea said it would continue to consult with the US to maintain a “balance of interests” between the two countries, while its industry minister said there was concern among officals across industries, including cars, batteries and chips.

“The public and private sector need to work together to secure Korean companies’ export competitiveness and diversify their markets,” Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said on Monday.

India said it had delayed plans to send a trade delegation to Washington this week to finalise an interim trade deal, chiefly because of fresh tariff uncertainty out of the US, according to a source in its trade ministry.

US tariffs on Indian goods were set to be cut to 18%, while India agreed to buy US items worth $500 billion over five years, ranging from energy supplies to aircraft and parts, precious metals and technology products.

In Europe, meanwhile, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned of business risks, saying companies want predictability, not legal battles. She said any new tariff plans must be clearly defined to avoid further challenges and ensure they comply with the US Constitution.

“To sort of shake it up again is going to bring about disruptions,” Lagarde said on CBS‘ “Face the Nation”.

NEW YORK: Children across parts of the US Northeast will stay home on Monday as a powerful winter storm forced school closures and pushed offices and transit systems onto emergency schedules, with officials across the region warning of heavy snow, strong winds and dangerous travel conditions.

The storm has already snarled travel along the East Coast from Washington to New England, with airlines cancelling thousands of flights and officials urging people to stay off the roads. Winter weather in the Northeast may also slow the processing, transport and delivery of mail and packages, the US Postal Service said.

New York City, the nation’s largest school district, ordered all public school buildings closed for a traditional snow day, with no remote instruction and all after-school programs cancelled.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani declared a state of emergency and ordered non-essential vehicles off city roads from Sunday night to noon Monday, saying ploughs and emergency crews needed the streets clear as snowfall intensified. The city is under its first blizzard warning since 2017.

City offices will close for in-person services, and non-essential municipal employees may work remotely. “I’m urging every New Yorker to please stay home,” Mamdani said.

Regional emergencies

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she had activated 100 National Guard members to assist in Long Island, New York City and the Lower Hudson Valley – areas expected to bear the brunt of the heavy snow and coastal winds. 

The storm also forced closure of the UN headquarters complex in Manhattan on Monday.

Parts of the Northeast could see up to two feet of snow and wind gusts could reach 70 mph, raising the risk of falling trees and power outages, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

In an update on Sunday, the agency said despite its ongoing funding lapse, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster‑response work continues uninterrupted, including staff travel, emergency operations, and critical assistance for people affected by active disasters, with life safety and property protection remaining top priorities.

Last week, Reuters reported that President Donald Trump’s administration had ordered FEMA to suspend the deployment of hundreds of aid workers to disaster-affected areas around the country while the DHS is shut down.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey declared an emergency and told state workers to stay home. Connecticut barred commercial vehicles from limited-access highways Sunday evening, exempting only emergency and essential deliveries.

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill declared a statewide emergency effective noon Sunday and urged residents to take the storm seriously. “People need to take this very seriously,” she told CNN.

Travel disruptions

Air travel was among the earliest casualties. Flight-tracking site FlightAware showed more than 5,000 flights already cancelled for Monday. 

Aviation analytics firm Cirium said more than 25,000 flights were scheduled to depart from the United States on Monday, with cancellations also rising for Tuesday, especially at major Northeast airports.

NJ TRANSIT suspended bus, light rail and Access Link service Sunday evening and halted statewide rail service by Sunday night, with operations resuming only when conditions allow.

In New England, the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority said it would suspend all service — including its RIde paratransit program — from Sunday night through Monday and would announce plans to resume service only when conditions improve.