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A long-awaited evacuation of civilians from a besieged steel plant in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol was under way Sunday, as US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed that she visited Ukraine’s president to show unflinching American support for the country’s defense against Russia’s invasion, Associated Press reported.

Video posted online by Ukrainian forces showed elderly women and mothers with small children bundled in winter clothing being helped as they climbed a steep pile of debris from the sprawling Azovstal steel plant’s rubble, and then eventually boarded a bus. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more than 100 civilians, primarily women and children, were expected to arrive in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday.

“Today, for the first time in all the days of the war, this vitally needed (humanitarian) corridor has started working,” he said in a pre-recorded address published on his Telegram messaging app channel.

The Mariupol City Council said on Telegram that the evacuation of civilians from other parts of the city would begin Monday morning. People fleeing Russian-occupied areas in the past have described their vehicles being fired on, and Ukrainian officials have repeatedly accused Russian forces of shelling evacuation routes on which the two sides had agreed.

Later Sunday, one of the plant’s defenders said Russian forces resumed shelling the plant as soon as the evacuation of a group of civilians was completed, according to the Associated Press.

Denys Shlega, the commander of the 12th Operational Brigade of Ukraine’s National Guard, said in a televised interview Sunday night that several hundred civilians remain trapped alongside nearly 500 wounded soldiers and “numerous” dead bodies.

“Several dozen small children are still in the bunkers underneath the plant,” Shlega said. “We need one or two more rounds of evacuation.”

Sviastoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Azov Regiment, which is helping defend the steel plant, told The Associated Press in an interview from Mariupol on Sunday that it has been difficult even to reach some of the wounded inside the plant.

“There’s rubble. We have no special equipment. It`s hard for soldiers to pick up slabs weighing tons only with their arms,” he said. “We hear voices of people who are still alive” inside shattered buildings.

As many as 100,000 people may still be in blockaded Mariupol, including up to 1,000 civilians hunkered down with an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters beneath the Soviet-era steel plant — the only part of the city not occupied by the Russians. 

Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov, is a key target because of its strategic location near the Crimea Peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014, Associated Press reported.

UN humanitarian spokesman Saviano Abreu said civilians who have been stranded for nearly two months at the plant would receive immediate humanitarian support, including psychological services, once they arrive in Zaporizhzhia, about 140 miles (230 kilometers) northwest of Mariupol.

Mariupol has seen some of the worst suffering. A maternity hospital was hit with a lethal Russian airstrike in the opening weeks of the war, and about 300 people were reported killed in the bombing of a theater where civilians were taking shelter.

A Doctors Without Borders team was at a reception center for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia, in preparation for the U.N. convoy’s arrival. Stress, exhaustion and low food supplies have likely weakened civilians trapped underground at the plant. 

Ukrainian regiment Deputy Commander Sviatoslav Palamar, meanwhile, called for the evacuation of wounded Ukrainian fighters as well as civilians. “We don’t know why they are not taken away, and their evacuation to the territory controlled by Ukraine is not being discussed,” he said in a video posted Saturday on the regiment’s Telegram channel, according to the Associated Press.

Nepal reported 20 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 2, 508 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 12 returned positive. Likewise, 714 people underwent antigen tests, of which two were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 21 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 221 active cases in the country.

The government on Sunday appointed Dhiraj Pratap Singh as the Inspector General (IG) of Nepal Police.

A Cabinet meeting held this afternoon decided to promote Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Singh to the post of Inspector General.

He is 16 months junior than Bishwo Raj Pokharel and Sahakul Thapa, who were promoted to the post of AIG in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

Singh was appointed to the post of AIG on March 31.

An elderly man died in a tiger attack in eastern Chitwan on Sunday.

The deceased has been identified as Narayan Dahal (65) of Khaireni Municipality-13.

According to the District Police Office, Chitwan the tiger attacked Dahal and mauled him to death when he had gone to a nearby community forest to collect green fodder for the cattle at around 8 am today.

The body was recovered at around 10 am.

Sri Lanka has sharply increased prices of commonly used medication, the second such rise in six weeks, as it struggles to deal with an economic crisis, BBC reported.

Antibiotics, certain painkillers and medication for heart conditions are among those hit by a 40% mark-up.

Sri Lankans have had to take short courses of medicines or look overseas for supplies. 

The government says it has no other option than to increase the cost of pharmaceutical products.

It follows measures to help slow the depletion of foreign exchange reserves amid a crippling financial crisis. 

Among the measures were restrictions or bans on the import of some essential goods, including foods and medicines, according to BBC.

"This is not something that government is doing willingly," Nalaka Godahewa, Sri Lanka's minister for mass media told the BBC. 

He said the devaluation of the rupee and the fact that most medicine is imported by the private sector meant the government had no choice, otherwise there would be a serious shortage. 

Health professionals are worried that the scarcity of medicine is forcing people to buy less than the prescribed limit.

"The situation is bad. Sometimes antibiotics are prescribed for five days. Now my customers are saying give me the antibiotics only for two or three days. How will it work?" Ruchira Hewawasam, who runs a pharmacy in Colombo, said.

Some fear that even for those willing and able to pay higher prices, some medication is in short supply, BBC reported.

Velupillai Wigneswaran who lives in the central Ratnapura district, has been trying to find prescription tablets for his sister, who suffers from a serious neurological disorder, for the past year. 

"We tried several pharmacies but the medicines are not available. Doctors have advised us not to take different medicine. We are trying to get the tablets from India through our friends," he said.

Without the medicine, Mr Wigneswaran said his sister was suffering and he was not sure what will happen to her health. 

"The crisis we are facing in the pharmaceutical sector is unprecedented. The sharp increase in medicine prices will take its toll," Azam Jaward, Vice President of Sri Lanka Chamber of Pharmaceutical Industry told the BBC.

Antibiotics for paediatrics, life-saving anti-biotics, steroids are among the medicines are difficult to obtain.

This comes against the backdrop of explosive public anger at the rising prices of other essential items such as cooking gas, milk powder and fuel, according to BBC.

Thousands of people have been protesting against the worsening shortage and calling for the government to resign.

India has offered to supply medicines as part of a loan programme. But that process has been slowed down due to bureaucratic hurdles.

The government has approached international agencies like the World Bank to help buy essential items like medicines. 

"They have already told us something like $600 million will be coming forth and when that comes we should be able to bring some of these prices down," Mr Godahewa said.

Beijing residents must prove they are Covid negative to enter public spaces in a major tightening of restrictions in the Chinese capital, BBC reported. 

It is not clear how long the new measures will last, but the announcement comes as the city begins a five-day public holiday. 

Proof of a negative Covid test will also be required to board public transport from 5 May. 

China is battling a resurgence in Covid cases.

In contrast to many other countries, China is pursuing a zero-Covid strategy with the aim of eradicating the virus from the country completely.

But the measures, such as strict lockdowns, have led to rare shows of public anger against the authorities, according to BBC.

Beijing's new rules come days after the city launched mass testing for its millions of residents following a spike in cases. 

All dining in restaurants will also be halted between 1 and 4 May, with people being asked to cook at home.

The city has reported 295 new cases since 22 April. 

Of these, 123 cases were found in the Chaoyang, Beijing's most populous district, which is now set for three rounds of mass testing. 

The streets of Beijing were quiet at the start of the five-day Labour Day break. One female resident, a finance worker, started to cry as she told Reuters how she felt. 

"You look at a city that used to be crowded and now is empty. And you can't help but wonder how these people manage to survive," she said. 

Earlier this month residents rushed to stock up essential supplies and long queues were seen outside supermarkets and shops, despite government assurances there is sufficient food, BBC reported.

There are fears the city could face a similar situation to Shanghai, which has seen 25 million people shut in their homes for weeks and left some struggling to find food and other basics. 

Since the outbreak began in early March, more than 500,000 people in Shanghai have tested positive for the virus.

But the city reached a milestone on Saturday, recording no new daily Covid cases outside of quarantine areas, according to BBC.

A person died in a motorbike accident in Dhanusha.

The deceased has been identified as bike rider Sanjeeb Shrestha of Kishannagar, Bardibas Municipality-7, Mahottari.

Critically injured in the incident, he breathed his last during the course of treatment at the Province Hospital in Janakpurdham.

According Inspector Bechan Yadav of the Area Police Office, Mahendranagar, Shrestha was heading towards Janakpur from Dhalkebar when the incident took place.

He said that the tragedy after Shrestha lost control of the bike (Province 2-02-002 Pa 3053).

Vinay Mohan Kwatra has taken charge as the new foreign secretary of India on Sunday.

The Ministry of External Affairs of India appointed Kwatra as the foreign secretary when he was the Indian Ambassador to Nepal.

He succeeded Harish Vardhan Shringla who retired from the service on Saturday.

"Shri Vinay Kwatra assumed charge as Foreign Secretary today morning. #TeamMEA wishes Foreign Secretary Kwatra a productive and successful tenure ahead," MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted on Sunday.

Before his diplomatic posting to Nepal in 2020, he served as the Ambassador of India to France from August 2017 to February 2020.