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A chopper of Fishtail Air deployed to search the missing Tara Air's Twin Otter aircraft returned to Jomsom owing to bad weather.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said that the aircraft was seen diverted to Mount Dhaulagiri from Lete and it went out of contact since then.

“A helicopter of Fishtail Air had gone to the area to search for the missing aircraft. But it returned to Jomsom due to adverse weather,” an official at the Civil Aviation Authority said.

The plane had taken off from for Jomsom from Pokhara at 9: 55 am today.

Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand has directed the concerned authorities to expedite the search operation.

There were 22 persons including three crew members on board the aircraft.

Meanwhile, a Nepal Army helicopter has just left for Lete, Mustang to search for the aircraft.

A Tara Air aircraft which had taken off for Mustang from Pokhara has gone out of contact.

The plane with call sign 9N-AET had taken off for Jomson from Pokhara at 9: 55 am.

An official at the Civil Aviation Authority, Pokhara said there were two German nationals, four Indians and 13 Nepali nationals in the aircraft.

There were 22 persons on board including three crew members.

Two persons died in a motorbike accident at Bhaunee in Belbari Municipality-10 of Morang district on Saturday.

The deceased have been identified as bike rider Rajesh Dhimal (25) and pillion rider Anil Chaudhary (24) of Sundarharaicha Municipality 11, Morang.

Police said that the incident occurred when the two-wheeler (Ko 10 Pa 3599) heading towards west from east hit either a parked truck or a tractor last night.

Police said that they have impounded both the vehicles and arrested their drivers for investigation.

Critically injured in the incident, the duo were taken to the Birat Nursing Home and Biratnagar Hospital in Biratnagar.

Chaudhary breathed his last during the course of treatment at around 9: 30 pm yesterday while Dhimal died at around 6 am on Sunday.

Police said that they are looking into the case.

A man was found dead in a field at Maheshwor in Katahari Rural Municipality-1 of Morang district.

According to the DSP Deepak Shrestha of the District Police Office, Morang, the deceased has been identified as Tulasi Shrestha (50) of Katahari-2.

He said that the body may have been dumped in the field near the roadside after the murder.

DSP Shrestha said that the body was found with a deep cut on the forehead.

Police said that he had been staying with his brother Chitra Kumar after he got divorced with his wife.

Chitra Kumar has a chicken farm Katahari-1. Tulasi was found leaving the house on Saturday night.

Police suspected that he had left the house to go to his brother’s farm. But, when locals started searching for him, he was found dead in the field.

Later, locals informed the police after they found the body.

A team led by DSP Rajan Karki has started the investigation.

A trained dog has also been mobilised for the investigation.

DSP Shrestha said that preparations are underway to send the body to the Koshi Hospital in Biratnagar for postmortem.

Sri Lanka has taken delivery of a consignment of Russian oil to restart operations at the country’s only refinery, the energy minister said, Aljazeera reported.

The delivery of Russian crude oil – which could soon be subject to a European embargo – had been waiting offshore for over a month as Sri Lanka was unable to raise the millions to pay for it, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera told reporters on Saturday.

Sri Lanka will pay $72.6m to buy the 90,000-tonne shipment of Russian oil, the minister said.

“I have reached out to multiple countries, including Russia, for support to import crude and other petroleum products,” Wijesekera said.

The 90,000-tonne consignment was ordered through Dubai-based Coral Energy, the minister said, adding that the shipment would facilitate restarting the country’s sole refinery, which has been closed since March 25, according to Aljazeera.

“The next shipment will also be ordered from the same company. Another consignment will be needed within the next two weeks to keep the refinery running continuously,” he added.

Colombo is in talks with Moscow to arrange direct supplies of crude, coal, diesel and petrol despite US-led sanctions on Russian banks and a global diplomatic outcry over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I have made an official request to the Russian ambassador for direct supplies of Russian oil,” Wijesekera told reporters.

“Crude alone will not fulfil our requirement, we need other refined [petroleum] products as well.”

Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since independence, with shortages of fuel and other essentials making life extremely difficult for the island nation’s 22 million people, Aljazeera reported.

The country’s efforts to secure fuel supplies came as European Union leaders were in talks to negotiate a fresh round of sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine conflict, including an oil embargo. Russian oil is already subject to a US embargo.

Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) refinery was shuttered in March following a foreign exchange crunch, which left the government in Colombo unable to finance imports, including crude.

The Sapugaskanda refinery on the outskirts of the capital Colombo will resume work in about two days to produce about 1,000 tonnes of diesel daily to meet the country’s acute fuel shortage, according to Aljazeera.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris has made an impassioned plea for a ban on assault weapons in the wake of two deadly mass shootings in the US, BBC reported.

Ms Harris was attending the funeral of Ruth Whitfield, 86, killed in a supermarket in Buffalo on 14 May.

That shooting came just 10 days before an attack on a Texas primary school left 19 children and two teachers dead.

Ms Harris, listing these and other attacks, said it was time to say "enough is enough" to gun violence.

"Everybody's got to stand up and agree that this should not be happening in our country and that we should have the courage to do something about it," she told the congregants at the funeral.

She added that the solution was clear - and included things like background checks and an assault weapons ban, according to BBC.

"Do you know what an assault weapon is?" she asked, continuing: "It was designed for a specific purpose: to kill a lot of human beings quickly. An assault weapon is a weapon of war, with no place, no place in a civil society."

The 18-year-old gunman in Tuesday's shooting in Uvalde had two AR-15-style semi-automatic rifles, at least one of which he is reported to have bought soon after his birthday.

After he was shot dead, police found as many as 1,657 rounds of ammunition and 60 magazines in his possession.

The Buffalo, New York, shooter, also 18, had previously come into contact with authorities, but no red flags came up when he legally bought his own AR-15-style weapon.

"Why should anyone be able to buy a weapon that can kill other human beings without at least knowing, 'Hey, has that person committed a violent crime before? Are they a threat against themselves or others? That's just reasonable," Ms Harris said on Saturday.

However, attempts to bring in universal background checks and bans on assault weapons have hit roadblocks. The issue is divisive in the US, with almost all Democrats backing stronger controls, compared to just 24% of Republicans, BBC reported.

The powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) gun lobby uses its substantial budget to influence members of Congress on gun policy.

On Friday, former Republican President Donald Trump called not for tighter gun controls, but for better protected schools.

Speaking at an NRA's meeting, he said that decent Americans should be allowed firearms to defend themselves against "evil".

The same day, it emerged police did not enter the classroom in Uvalde, Texas, because of the active shooter inside.

Instead - as children called the emergency services begging for help - they waited 40 minutes, a decision police have now admitted was "wrong".

US President Joe Biden is expected to make his own call for tighter gun controls during a visit to Uvalde on Sunday. On Saturday he urged Americans to "make their voices heard" against gun violence, according to BBC.

Liverpool's bid to claim the Champions League trophy for the seventh time ended in bitter disappointment as Vinicius Jr's second-half winner gave Real Madrid victory in Paris, BBC reported.

Jurgen Klopp's side ran into a one-man wall of defiance as Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois produced one of the great individual performances to thwart Liverpool time and again. 

Mohamed Salah, seeking revenge for his early departure through injury in the 2018 final against Real, was denied six times by Courtois who was simply unbeatable.

The victory also sees Carlo Ancelotti make history by becoming the first coach to win a fourth Champions League title.

Real were always a threat and the decisive moment came after 59 minutes when Vinicius stole in unmarked at the far post to score. 

This was also a final marred by chaotic scenes outside Stade de France with thousands of Liverpool fans, some targeted with pepper spray by French police, unable to get into the stadium, forcing the kick-off to be delayed by more than 30 minutes, according to BBC.

Liverpool's magnificent season brought them the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup - both won on penalties against Chelsea - but ended in a double disappointment in the final week of a stellar campaign.

The Champions League might have eased the agony of just missing out on the Premier League to Manchester City by one point, only for Liverpool to find themselves on the wrong end of a goalkeeping masterclass from Courtois. 

The Belgian was simply perfect as he was a constant thorn in Salah's side, turned Sadio Mane's shot on to the post brilliantly and commanded his penalty area with faultless handling. 

Salah held his head in disbelief on many occasions as Courtois manned the barricade for Real, leaving the Egyptian to nurse the pain of another Champions League final defeat by the Spanish giants.

Liverpool were not quite at their best and eventually paid the price for not taking chances as Real pounced in trademark fashion to win this tournament for a record-extending 14th time, BBC reported.

Klopp's side could not have given any more as they pushed to the final whistle but looked jaded towards the end - no surprise given the demands made of them this season. 

Liverpool will still take huge credit by maintaining a push for an historic quadruple until the final week of the season but the conclusion will sting. 

The occasion left even more of a sour taste given the events outside Stade de France. Liverpool are demanding a full investigation into how thousands of their fans could not get into the stadium, with dangerous numbers packed into small areas as kick-off approached, according to BBC.

Russia's ambassador in Britain has told the BBC he does not believe his country will use tactical nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine, BBC reported.

Andrei Kelin said that according to Russian military rules, such weapons are not used in conflicts like this one. 

Russia has very strict provision for their use, he said, mainly when the state's existence is threatened.

"It has nothing to do with the current operation," he told Sunday Morning.

When Vladimir Putin put his nuclear forces on high alert in late February, soon after the invasion, it was widely perceived as a warning.

Mr Putin blamed the development on aggression by the West and Nato. But the UK's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace branded it an attempt to distract people from "what's going wrong in Ukraine", saying Russia was behind schedule on its invasion after just a few days, and trying to "remind the world" it had a deterrent, according to BBC.

Tactical nuclear weapons are those which can be used at relatively short distances, as opposed to "strategic" nuclear weapons which can be launched over much longer distances and raise the spectre of all-out nuclear war.

But the term still includes many types of weapon, including smaller bombs and missiles used on a battlefield. Russia is thought to have about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons

In a sometimes terse exchange with the BBC's Clive Myrie, the ambassador also denied Russian forces were shelling civilians and said allegations of war crimes in the town of Bucha were a "fabrication". 

Asked the question, "Why is Russia conducting this war in this way, committing war crimes?" Mr Kelin replied: "The mayor of Bucha in his initial statement has confirmed that Russian troops has left, everything is clean and calm, the town in a normal state. 

"Nothing is happening, no bodies are on the street. But next, after it has been done - but anyway..." 

Myrie then pressed him: "So this is all made up, Sir? This is all a fabrication? All this evidence is a fabrication?"

"In our view it is a fabrication. It is used just to interrupt negotiations," the ambassador replied, BBC reported.

Russia has made such allegations before, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier claiming that footage of bodies in Bucha was "staged" after the Russians withdrew.

This was contradicted by numerous eyewitness accounts from residents, who told the BBC that Russian troops had summarily executed their loved ones. 

"He was just a peaceful man, a family man, a welder, who struggled with a spine fracture and was disabled all his life," one man said of his murdered son-in-law.