Ronaldo salvages 1-1 draw for Man United against Chelsea
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.”
Biden proposes $33bn to help Ukraine in war
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.
Explosions rock Kyiv again as Russians rain fire on Ukraine
Russia pounded targets from practically one end of Ukraine to the other Thursday, including Kyiv, bombarding the city while the head of the United Nations was visiting in the boldest attack on the capital since Moscow’s forces retreated weeks ago, Associated Press reported.
Nearly a dozen people were wounded in the attack on Kyiv, including one who lost a leg and others who were trapped in the rubble when two buildings were hit, rescue officials said.
The bombardment came barely an hour after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a news conference with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who said Ukraine has become “an epicenter of unbearable heartache and pain.” A spokesperson said Guterres and his team were safe.
Meanwhile, explosions were reported across the country, in Polonne in the west, Chernihiv near the border with Belarus, and Fastiv, a large railway hub southwest of the capital. The mayor of Odesa, in southern Ukraine, said rockets were intercepted by air defenses.
Ukrainian authorities also reported intense Russian fire in the Donbas — the eastern industrial heartland that the Kremlin says is its main objective — and near Kharkiv, a northeastern city outside the Donbas that is seen as key to the offensive, according to the Associated Press.
In the ruined southern port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian fighters holed up in the steel plantthat represents the last pocket of resistance said concentrated bombing overnight killed and wounded more people. And authorities warned that a lack of safe drinking water inside the city could lead to outbreaks of deadly diseases such as cholera and dysentery.
In Zaporizhzhia, a crucial way station for tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing Mariupol, an 11-year-old boy was among at least three people wounded in a rocket attack that authorities said was the first to hit a residential area in the southern city since the war began. Shards of glass cut the boy’s leg to the bone.
Vadym Vodostoyev, the boy’s father, said: “It just takes one second and you’re left with nothing.”
The fresh attacks came as Guterres surveyed the destruction in small towns outside the capital that saw some of the worst horrors of the first onslaught of the war. He condemned the atrocities committed in towns like Bucha, where evidence of mass killings of civilians was found after Russia withdrew in early April in the face of unexpectedly stiff resistance.
“Wherever there is a war, the highest price is paid by civilians,” the UN chief lamented.
Separately, Ukraine’s prosecutor accused 10 Russian soldiers of being “involved in the torture of peaceful people” in Bucha. Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova did not say her office had filed criminal charges, and she appealed to the public for help in gathering evidence. Russia denies it targets civilians.
During his nightly video address, Zelenskyy renewed his pledge to hold Russian soldiers accountable for crimes they commit and said about the 10 identified earlier Thursday: “Some of them may not, after all, live until a trial and fair punishment. But only for one reason: This Russian brigade has been transferred to the Kharkiv region. There they’ll receive retribution from our military.”
In the attack on Kyiv, explosions shook the city and flames poured out of windows in at least two buildings — including a residential one — in the capital, which has been relatively unscathed in recent weeks. Ukrainian emergency services said 10 people were wounded in the attack, which sent plumes of smoke billowing over the city, Associated Press reported.
The explosions in northwestern Kyiv’s Shevchenkivsky district came as residents have been increasingly returning to the city. Cafes and other businesses have reopened, and a growing numbers of people have been out and about, enjoying the spring weather.
It was not immediately clear how far away the attack was from Guterres.
Getting a full picture of the unfolding battle in the east has been difficult because airstrikes and artillery barrages have made it extremely dangerous for reporters to move around. Several journalists have been killed in the war, now in its third month.
Also, both Ukraine and the Moscow-backed rebels fighting in the east have introduced tight restrictions on reporting from the combat zone.
Western officials say the Kremlin’s apparent goal is to take the Donbas by encircling and crushing Ukrainian forces from the north, south and east.
But so far, Russia’s troops and their allied separatist forces appear to have made only minor gains, taking several small towns as they try to advance in relatively small groups against staunch Ukrainian resistance, according to the Associated Press.
AMN declares war on tobacco
To create awareness and sensitize the public on the harmful effects of tobacco, the Annapurna Media Network (AMN) on April 27 launched the ‘No Tobacco Campaign for Healthy Nepal’ in collaboration with Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI) and other relevant stakeholders. The three-month campaign will also pitch for an increase in tobacco tax in the upcoming fiscal 2022/23.
A panel discussion on ‘Tobacco, an ongoing crisis and taxation as a prominent mitigation’ was held on the occasion of the campaign launch, where speakers emphasized the important role of the media in promoting a healthy lifestyle.
They also recommended various ways, including taxation, to reduce the sale and consumption of tobacco products. As part of the campaign, AMN will host and cover all news and activities of the campaign in coordination with Simrik Foundation.
According to the World Health Organization, tobacco is one of the biggest global public health threats. Every day, tobacco products kill more than eight million people around the world. More than seven million of these deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 1.2m are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. A study by NDRI shows that there were 37,529 tobacco-related deaths in Nepal in 2021. There were four deaths every hour.
Mind Matters | Feeling burned out
Query
“I’m a 22-year-old female student who is also working right now. Lately, I have been struggling to juggle my studies and job. As a result, I haven’t been doing well in either. I have lost the motivation I once had. Any new assignment at work or college gives me crippling anxiety. This is not me being lazy, or a procrastinator. A lot of time I find myself staring at the blank computer screen, unable to do anything. I am nervous all the time. If I continue to go on this way, I might lose my job or fail my exams. Every day my anxiety gets worse. What should I do?” — KP
Answer by Dristy Moktan, Counselor at Happy Minds
It is a good thing that you are aware that something is happening to you and that you are not your normal self.
It seems that you’re overwhelmed and unable to manage your time properly. It's natural to feel this way during a transition period when you have so much on your plate. You may have to balance school, work, and your personal life. And if you've just started working, it's okay to make mistakes as you're still learning. It's also okay to take your time figuring things out and finding that appropriate balance of what works and what doesn't.
You should try to prioritize your tasks and schedule your time properly. Let's try to create a routine that fits your college and work schedules.
When you are feeling overwhelmed and anxious, try breathing exercises to calm yourself down. You can also try grounding exercises, which could help you to be in the present moment. Take a deep breath and ask yourself to recognize five things you see, four things you can touch, and so on. It could help you relax and think clearly. You could also try journaling or simply writing your thoughts down.
And don’t forget to take a break once in a while. No one can keep on working continuously. Go out for a walk, and do something you enjoy like singing or painting. Taking a break for yourself is not wasting your time. You need it.
Also, try communicating your feelings to the person who is close to you at your college or work. By sharing your feelings you will realize that there is a safe space for you—there is someone who listens to you, and understands how you feel.
If you’ve been feeling this way for a long time and haven’t been able to get through it on your own, it is advised to seek help from a counselor or a psychologist.
Nepal records 15 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday
Nepal reported 15new Covid-19 cases on Thursday.
According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 4, 822 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 15 returned positive. Likewise, 993 people underwent antigen tests, of which no one were tested positive.
The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 18 infected people recovered from the disease.
As of today, there are 249 active cases in the country.
Nepse plunges by 20 points on Thursday
The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 20 points to close at 2, 356. 17 points on Thursday.
Similarly, the sensitive dropped by 4. 32 points to close at 450. 24 points.
A total of 4, 574, 520 units of the shares of 226 companies were traded for Rs 1. 49 billion.
At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 35 trillion.
Indian heat wave disrupts industrial activity as power demand soars
India's northwestern Rajasthan state scheduled four hours of power cuts for factories, making it at least the third state to disrupt industrial activity to manage surging power demand amid an intense heat wave, Reuters reported.
Extreme heat continued to scorch large swathes of south Asia this week, offering no reprieve after the hottest March on record in India, and triggering comments from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on India getting too hot too early.
India's western Gujarat state and Andhra Pradesh restricted industrial activity this month as air conditioning demand peaked and economic activity picked up following an end to coronavirus-related restrictions.
The desert state of Rajasthan also imposed four-hour power cuts for rural regions, exposing thousands of families in the desert state to extreme temperatures, with peak summer heat still to come before cooling monsoon rains arrive in June, according to Reuters.
Maximum power demand in India surged to a record high on Tuesday, and is seen rising by as much as a tenth next month. The India Meteorological Department has warned of worse heatwave conditions in the coming days.
The unprecendented heat puts millions of blue-collar workers, including construction and farm labourers and those working on factory shop floors, at great risk. Sunstrokes have claimed thousands of Indian lives in the past.
Industrial disruption and widespread power cuts are also bad news for corporate India, as economic activity has just started to pick up after months of stagnation amid coronavirus lockdowns.
A rapid rise in power demand has also left India scrambling for coal, the dominant fuel used in electricity generation. Coal inventories are at the lowest pre-summer levels in at least nine years and electricity demand is seen rising at the fastest pace in nearly four decades, Reuters reported.
A train shortage is exacerbating the crisis, with India's power secretary telling a court-ordained meeting this week that train availability was 6% lower than required.