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Nepali Congress general secretary duo Gagan Thapa and Bishwo Prakash Sharma held a meeting with party President and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur at the latter’s residence in Baluwatar on Monday.

During the meeting, the duo raised nine issues of the party’s internal, national politics and contemporary issues.

The general secretary duo drew the attention of the Prime Minister towards holding policy convention, Central Working Committee meeting, giving full shape to the departments within June 23 and full shape to the Working Committee of the Nepal Students Union and Tarun Dal at the earliest among others.

In response, Prime Minister Deuba said that he will take the decision after holding discussions with other party leaders.

They also suggested the Prime Minister call the opposition parties for a discussion and develop a common opinion on the State Partnership Program. They have demanded that the government close the chapter of the SPP forever by completing all the due process.

The two general secretaries also drew the attention of the government to the rise in the prices of petroleum products.

Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota issued a ruling directing the government to respond to the price hike in petroleum products.

The Speaker issued the ruling after the main opposition CPN-UML demanded answers from the government on the rise in fuel prices in the Parliament on Monday.

“My attention has been drawn towards the rise in petroleum products. I want to draw the attention of the government as well. I instruct the government to present the facts on the issue before the Parliament,” he said.

The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the state-owned monopoly, hiked the prices of petroleum products on Sunday.

The NOC has decided to increase Rs 21 per liter each in petrol and Rs 27 per liter in diesel and kerosene.

As per the new revised rate, the petrol will now cost Rs 199 per litre and diesel and kerosene will cost Rs 192 per litre.

The NOC, however, has not increased the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).

Representatives from 24 prominent Canadian universities and colleges will be highlighting education opportunities in Canada during the first EduCanada Mission to Kathmandu.

The participating universities and colleges will highlight the courses they offer, scholarships, information on student experience, accessibility, affordability, and career paths to potential students from Nepal during the event that will start from June 27 to 29, read a statement issued by the Government of Canada High Commission of Canada.

The EduCanada Mission provides an opportunity for Nepali students, education consultants, school/college principals and other key influencers to interact with representatives of Canadian educational institutions and Government of Canada officials.

The Mission also offers a platform to gain knowledge about studying and living in Canada, student visas, the Canadian business environment, and future prospects upon graduation, the statement read.

Program highlights include: the EduCanada ‘Study in Canada’ Seminar on June 28, that will be open for students, parents, education consultants and school counsellors from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at The Hotel Soaltee in Kathmandu.

Additionally, there will be seminars during the delegation’s visits to schools and colleges in Kathmandu, education roundtables with consultants, as well as meetings with government officials and academic institutions.

Sharing his thoughts about the education Mission to Nepal, Cameron MacKay, Ambassador for Canada to Nepal, said: “We are very pleased to present the first EduCanada Mission to Nepal. Canada’s globally recognized educational institutions encompass a culture of experiential learning, strong entrepreneurship, and cutting-edge research, development and innovation," adding, " I encourage students from Nepal to take full advantage of this visit and understand the benefits of studying in Canada and the opportunities that it can open up for them.”

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the state-owned monopoly, hiked the prices of petroleum products.

The NOC has decided to increase Rs 21 per liter each in petrol and Rs 27 per liter in diesel and kerosene.

As per the new revised rate, the petrol will now cost Rs 199 per litre and diesel and kerosene will cost Rs 192 per litre.

The NOC, however, has not increased the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).

Sri Lanka’s military have opened fire to quell rioting at a fuel station, officials say, as unprecedented queues for petrol and diesel were seen across the bankrupt country, The Guardian reported.

Troops fired in Visuvamadu, 365km (228 miles) north of Colombo on Saturday night as their guard point was pelted with stones, army spokesperson Nilantha Premaratne said.

“A group of 20 to 30 people pelted stones and damaged an army truck,” he said.

Police said four civilians and three soldiers were wounded when the army opened fire for the first time to contain unrest linked to the worsening economic crisis.

As the pump ran out of petrol, motorists began to protest and the situation escalated into a clash with troops, police said.

Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since independence, with the country unable to find dollars to import essentials, including food, fuel and medicines.

The nation’s population of 22 million has been enduring acute shortages and long queues for scarce supplies while president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has for months resisted calls to step down over mismanagement.

Sri Lanka has deployed armed police and troops to guard fuel stations, according to Guardian.

A motorist was shot dead by police in April at the central town of Rambukkana when a clash erupted over the distribution of rationed petrol and diesel.

Police said clashes involving motorists erupted at three locations over the weekend. At least six constables were wounded in one clash while seven motorists were arrested.

The government declared a two-week shutdown of state institutions and schools in a bid to reduce commuting and conserve depleting fuel stocks in the impoverished nation.

The country is also facing record high inflation and lengthy power blackouts, all of which have contributed to months of protests.

Four out of five people in Sri Lanka have started skipping meals as they cannot afford to eat, the United Nations has said, warning of a looming “dire humanitarian crisis” with millions in need of aid.

The World Food Program began distributing food vouchers to about 2,000 pregnant women in Colombo’s “underserved” areas as part of “life-saving assistance” on Thursday, The Guardian reported.

The program is trying to raise $60m for a food relief effort between June and December.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its $51bn foreign debt in April and is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout.

President Joe Biden's administration is reviewing the removal of some tariffs on China and a possible pause on federal gas tax as the United States struggles to tackle soaring gasoline prices and inflation, two top officials said on Sunday, Reuters reported.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said some tariffs on China inherited from the administration of former President Donald Trump served "no strategic purpose" and added that Biden was considering removing them as a way to bring down inflation.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the president was also evaluating a pause on federal gas tax to bring down prices, telling CNN that such a move was "not off the table".

The comments come as the Biden administration struggles to tackle record high gasoline prices and inflation, now at its highest in 40 years.

Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester said inflation will take two years to fall to the central bank's 2% target, "moving down" gradually.

Yellen, speaking to ABC News, said the administration was reviewing its China tariff policy but did not cite specifics and declined to say when there may be a decision, according to Reuters.

"We all recognize that China engages in a range of unfair trade practices that is important to address but the tariffs we inherited, some serve no strategic purpose and raise cost to consumers," she said.

Biden has said he is considering removing some of the tariffs imposed on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods by his predecessor in 2018 and 2019 amid a bitter trade war between the world's two largest economies, Reuters reported.

French President Emmanuel Macron lost control of the National Assembly in legislative elections on Sunday, a major setback that could throw the country into political paralysis unless he is able to negotiate alliances with other parties, Reuters reported.

Macron's centrist Ensemble coalition, which wants to raise the retirement age and further deepen EU integration, was on course to end up with the most seats in Sunday's election.

But they will be well short of the absolute majority needed to control parliament, near-final results showed.

A broad left-wing alliance was set to be the biggest opposition group, while the far-right scored record-high wins and the conservatives were likely to become kingmakers.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called the outcome a "democratic shock" and added that if other blocs did not cooperate, "this would block our capacity to reform and protect the French."

A hung parliament will require a degree of power-sharing and compromises among parties not experienced in France in recent decades.

There is no set script in France for how things will now unfold. The last time a newly elected president failed to get an outright majority in parliamentary elections was in 1988, according to Reuters.

"The result is a risk for our country in view of the challenges we have to face," Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said, while adding that from Monday on, Macron's camp will work to seek alliances.

Macron could eventually call a snap election if legislative gridlock ensues.

"The rout of the presidential party is complete and there is no clear majority in sight," hard-left veteran Jean-Luc Melenchon told cheering supporters.

Leftwing Liberation called the result "a slap" for Macron, and economic daily Les Echos "an earthquake."

The West must prepare to continue supporting Ukraine in a war lasting for years, Nato's chief has warned, BBC reported.

Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the costs of war were high, but the price of letting Moscow achieve its military goals was even greater.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also warned of a longer-term conflict.

And in a stark warning, the newly appointed head of the British Army said the UK and allies needed to be capable of winning a ground war with Russia.

Gen Sir Patrick Sanders, who started the job last week, said in an internal message seen by the BBC: "Russia's invasion of Ukraine underlines our core purpose - to protect the UK and to be ready to fight and win wars on land - and reinforces the requirement to deter Russian aggression with the threat of force."

Mr Stoltenberg and Mr Johnson said sending more weapons would make a victory for Ukraine more likely.

"We must prepare for the fact that it could take years. We must not let up in supporting Ukraine," the Nato chief said in an interview with German newspaper Bild.

"Even if the costs are high, not only for military support, also because of rising energy and food prices."

The Western military alliance chief said that supplying Ukraine with more modern weapons would increase its chances of being able to liberate the country's eastern Donbas region, much of which is currently under Russian control, according to BBC.

For the last few months Russian and Ukrainian forces have battled for control of territory in the country's east - with Moscow making slow advances in recent weeks.

Writing in the Sunday Times, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson accused Russia's Vladimir Putin of resorting to a "campaign of attrition" and "trying to grind down Ukraine by sheer brutality."

"I'm afraid we need to steel ourselves for a long war," he wrote. "Time is the vital factor. Everything will depend on whether Ukraine can strengthen its ability to defend its soil faster than Russia can renew its capacity to attack."

The prime minister, who visited Ukraine's capital on Friday, said supplies of weapons, equipment, ammunition, and training to Kyiv needed to outpace Moscow's efforts to rearm itself.

Ukrainian officials have spoken bluntly in recent days about the need to boost the supply of heavy weapons to the country if Russian forces there are to be defeated.

On Wednesday the country's defence minister, Oleksiy Resnikov, met some 50 countries in the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Brussels to ask for more arms and ammunition, according to BBC.

The country's Western allies have so far offered it major weapons supplies but Ukraine says it has only received a fraction of what it needs to defend itself and is asking for heavier arms. 

Russian officials often criticise Nato military support for Ukraine and in an interview last week with the BBC the country's Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, cited the prospect of Ukraine joining the Western alliance as a reason for the invasion in the first place.

"We declared a special military operation because we had absolutely no other way of explaining to the West that dragging Ukraine into Nato was a criminal act," Mr Lavrov told the BBC.

Ukraine is not a member of Nato and although it has expressed a wish to join there is no timeframe for this, according to BBC.