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The ruling coalition has decided to immediately scrap the alliances forged with other parties.

A meeting chaired by Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba on Friday also decided to immediately withdraw the candidacies registered from the ruling coalition against the agreement.

“The alliance has decided to immediately withdraw the nominations filed from the ruling coalition against the agreement in the mayoral and deputy mayoral posts of six metropolitan cities and 11 sub-metropolitan cities,” read a statement issued after the meeting.

The meeting has also decided that the concerned parties will immediately take action against the rebel candidates if they refused to withdraw from electoral race.

Nepal is putting a 21st-century spin on a tourism sector dominated by activities unchanged for generations as it looks to boost a vital part of an economy decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic and soaring import bills, Reuters reported.

As part of broader plans to lure more tourists to the home of eight of the world’s 14 highest peaks, authorities are promoting bungee jumping, paragliding and sky diving on top of traditional trekking and climbing, said Taranath Adhikari, director general at the Department of Tourism, Reuters reported.

“We are adding new tourism infrastructure and investment in hotels is (also) rising,” he told Reuters in the capital Kathmandu.

The country has additionally called on its envoys to promote tourism, promised to ease visa rules and urged China to allow more people to visit despite COVID curbs.

Nepal suspended climbing and trekking in early 2020 because of the pandemic, and Adhikari called the rate at which visitor numbers were rising again “inspiring”.

In the first quarter of 2022, foreign arrivals more than doubled year on year to almost 79,000, and he said he expected the recovery to continue in coming months.

But numbers remain less than half of pre-pandemic levels, leaving the economy more vulnerable to shocks at a time when prices for imports including crude, edible oils and coal have soared, according to Reuters.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s government imposed a complete ban on imports of some luxury goods including cars until mid-July amid dwindling foreign exchange reserves and mounting debt.

Regardless of that, hoteliers are ready to cater for the hoped-for tourism resurgence.

Binayak Shah of the Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) said the country could now accommodate up to 2.5 million visitors, more than double the record 1.2 million of 2019.

While tourism is Nepal’s most famous industry, it is however far from its biggest source of income, accounting for around 5% of foreign exchange reserves compared with around 60% from remittances sent home by Nepali working abroad, Reuters reported.

They also dropped during the pandemic as many expatriates were forced to return home, leaving many of its 29 million citizens facing hardship.

In mountain areas that depend largely on tourism, nearly 80% lost their income during the pandemic and the trekking ban, and about 3,500 tourism-reliant enterprises in the Thames area of Kathmandu alone closed, according to industry estimates.

Despite tourists trickling back, niggling worries persist.

More visitors come from neighbouring India and China than anywhere else, and both countries are taking measures to prevent another wave of COVID cases.

Nepal, with a $36 billion economy, has recorded fewer than 50 COVID-19 cases and zero deaths in more than a month. So far 66.8% of its population have been fully vaccinated, according to Reuters.

“I am fully vaccinated … Nepal is a safe place,” Swiss tourist Katharine Loosli, 65, told Reuters in Thames’s normally teeming streets.

She has been coming to Nepal regularly since 1998, and was preparing to trek to Pun hill, near the world’s 10th tallest peak Mount Annapurna.

The Ukraine conflict also deterred tourists from there and Russia, while air fares and other costs are rising.

Despite the headwinds, some restaurant and hotel owners are looking forward to better times, Reuters reported.

Agni Dhakal, 47, who has run a souvenir shop in Thamel for 30 years, said most people in the business felt the worst was behind them. “It looks like that the black era for Nepal tourism is over.”

The Nepali Congress has warned of taking stringent action against the leaders and cadres who have filed their independent candidacies against the official candidates of the party in the local level elections slated for May 13.

Issuing a statement on Friday, party Chief Secretary Krishna Prasad Paudel directed the rebel candidates to the withdraw from the local elections race and support the official candidates of the party.  

He warned of removing candidates, proposers and supporters from the general membership if nominations are not withdrawn within the given timeframe.

The party has given time till 5 pm today, the deadline set by the Election Commission, to withdraw rebel candidacies.

The party issued such a statement after the leaders and cadres filed independent candidacies against the official candidates in various municipalities and rural municipalities.

Meanwhile, the ruling coalition is holding a meeting at Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s official residence in Baluwatar to discuss the rebel candidacies.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Khadka and Deputy Vice President of Millennium Challenge Corporation Jonathan Brooks held a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday.

During the meeting, the duo discussed the implementation of MCC projects in Nepal, including their economic benefits, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The Parliament of Nepal ratified the Millennium Challenge Corporation compact with interpretative declaration on February 27 after years of delay.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Nepal has seen incredible changes in its governance, economic development, and international engagements.

In a tweet to mark the 75 years of diplomatic relations between Nepal and the US on Friday, Blinken said that the US looks forward to many more decades of friendship.

"Today we mark 75 years of US-Nepal diplomatic relations. Nepal has seen incredible changes in its governance, economic development, and international engagements," Blinken said in the tweet, adding "We are proud of our accomplishments as partners, and look forward to many more decades of friendship."

Nepal and the US established diplomatic ties on April 25, 1947.

Delhi Capitals defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets in the Indian Premier League on Thursday, The Indian Express reported.

Sent into bat, Kolkata Knight Riders were restricted to 146 for nine. DC chased down the target with six balls to spare. Opener David Warner blasted 42 off 26 balls for DC.

With the exception of skipper Shreyas Iyer (42), the KKR top-order struggled to get going against the Capitals’ bowlers at the Wankhede Stadium.

Batting at number six, Nitish Rana top-scored with 57 off 34 balls and hit three fours and four sixes, even as the others failed to leave KKR reeling at 35/4 at one stage, according to the Associated Press.

Wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was the most impressive bowler with figures of 4/14 from three overs, while Mustafizur Rahman took three wickets in a brilliant final over.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s fifth goal in three games salvaged a point for Manchester United in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea on Thursday that further damaged his team’s chances of a top-four finish in the Premier League, Associated Press reported.

Ronaldo ran onto a ball over the Chelsea defense from Nemanja Matic and delivered a clinical finish in the 62nd minute, two minutes after Marcos Alonso gave the visitors the lead.

Reece James later curled a shot against the post for Chelsea, which dominated the first half but found United goalkeeper David de Gea in fine form.

With only three games left to play in the league, United stayed in sixth place — five points behind fourth-place Arsenal and having played two matches more than its rival for Champions League qualification.

Tottenham is between the two teams, in the fifth spot, with three more points than United and two games in hand.

Chelsea consolidated third place and is six points above Arsenal.

Ronaldo came into the game having scored a hat trick against Norwich and another goal against Arsenal in his previous two games, according to the Associated Press.

On 17 goals, Ronaldo is tied with Son Heung-min in second place in the Premier League scoring chart behind Mohamed Salah.

“Not only the goal Cristiano scored but his whole performance, his attitude at age of 37, this is not normal to do that,” interim United manager Ralf Rangnick said. “If he plays like he did today he can still be a big help to this team.”

The buildup was dominated by reports that Rangnick was considering taking over as Austria’s national team coach as well as more protests against the Glazer family’s ownership.

Some protesters entered Old Trafford in the 17th minute, having missed a minute for each of the Glazers’ 17 years in charge.

“Glazers out” read a banner above the tunnel before kickoff at Old Trafford, where a mixture of De Gea’s saves and poor-decision making meant Chelsea failed to turn their 11 shots into a deserved halftime lead, Associated Press reported.

Thomas Tuchel’s team finally broke the deadlock when Alonso volleyed home following Kai Havertz’s flick-on but Chelsea was unable to build on that.

United defender Victor Lindelof saw a stoppage-time header denied and the highlight of the closing stages was the introduction of 17-year-old talent Alejandro Garnacho for his United debut.

“One team deserved to win and that was us,” Tuchel said. “We didn’t take it. It was a very, very good performance but we were not decisive enough. We lacked a bit of determination in the box to win the game, according to the Associated Press.

“It sometimes happens. It’s on us to learn from it. You need to be clinical to get the reward. We have to live with a point but it’s not a fair result.”

President Biden is asking Congress for $33bn (£27bn) in military, economic and humanitarian assistance to support Ukraine - although he insisted that the US was not "attacking Russia", BBC reported.

Mr Biden said it was "critical" for US lawmakers to approve the deal, which he said would help Ukraine defend itself.

The proposal includes more than $20bn in military aid, $8.5bn in economic aid and $3bn in humanitarian aid.

"It's not cheap," Mr Biden said on Thursday. 

"But caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen."

Although the US has already announced help for Ukraine, the proposals are a significant ramping up of aid.

President Biden said US military support to Ukraine has so far amounted to 10 anti-tank weapons for every tank that Russia has deployed to Ukraine. 

But despite his strong rhetoric, he said the US was not attacking Russia. "We are helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression," he insisted, according to BBC.

On Thursday, a spokesperson for Russia's Foreign Ministry said Western military support for Ukraine threatens "the security of the continent".

President Biden is asking Congress to authorise an enormous sum of money for Ukraine - more than twice as much as the US has already spent on providing military equipment and humanitarian aid. 

The US president wants to show he is undeterred by vague threats about the possible use of nuclear weapons, and a warning from Vladimir Putin that there could be retaliatory strikes against countries that intervene in Ukraine.

He shrugged off those comments - saying they show the desperation Russia is feeling about their abject failure to do what they set out to do.

Explaining to Americans why this money is needed - at a time when many are suffering from rising living costs - he said it was not cheap, but doing nothing was more costly, BBC reported.

An additional plan to allow US authorities to not just freeze but liquidate the assets of Russian oligarchs is bold - and it has raised concerns among civil liberties groups in America. But it is likely to gain bipartisan support in Congress.

Yet it will not begin to cover cost of the additional sums of money the White House wants to spend supporting Ukraine's war efforts, according to BBC.