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Russia unleashed a string of attacks Monday against rail and fuel installations deep inside Ukraine, far from the front lines of Moscow’s new eastern offensive, in a bid to thwart Ukrainian efforts to marshal supplies for the fight, Associated Press reported.

The US, meanwhile, moved to rush more weaponry to Ukraine and said the assistance from the Western allies is making a difference in the 2-month-old war.

“Russia is failing. Ukraine is succeeding,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared, a day after he and the US secretary of defense made a bold visit to Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Blinken said Washington approved a $165 million sale of ammunition — non-US ammo, mainly if not entirely for Ukraine’s Soviet-era weapons — and will also provide more than $300 million in financing to buy more supplies.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin took his comments further, saying that while the US wants to see Ukraine remain a sovereign, democratic country, it also wants “to see Russia weakened to the point where it can’t do things like invade Ukraine.”

Austin’s comments about weakening Russia appear to represent a broader US strategic goal. Previously, the US position had been that the goal of American military aid was to help Ukraine win and to defend Ukraine’s NATO neighbors against Russian threats, according to the Associated Press.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said weapons supplied by Western countries “will be a legitimate target” for Russian forces. He also warned that the risk of a nuclear conflict “should not be underestimated.”

Speaking in an interview on Russian television, Lavrov said the arming of Ukraine is an attempt to drag on the fighting “until the last soldier” to inflict the most suffering on Russia.

Regarding the possibility of a nuclear confrontation, Lavrov said: “I would not want to see these risks artificially inflated now, when the risks are rather significant.”

“The danger is serious,” he said. “It is real. It should not be underestimated.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the US and its allies of trying to “split Russian society and to destroy Russia from within.”

In other developments, fires were reported at two oil facilities in western Russia, not far from the Ukrainian border. Their cause was not immediately known, Associated Press reported.

When Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, its apparent goal was the lightning capture of Kyiv, the capital. But the Ukrainians, with the help of Western weapons, thwarted the push and forced Putin’s troops to retreat.

Moscow now says its goal is to take the Donbas, the mostly Russian-speaking industrial region in eastern Ukraine. While both sides say the campaign in the east is underway, Russia has yet to mount an all-out ground offensive and has not achieved any major breakthroughs.

On Monday, Russia focused its firepower elsewhere, with missiles and warplanes striking far behind the front lines, according to the Associated Press.

Elon Musk reached an agreement to buy Twitter for roughly $44 billion on Monday, promising a more lenient touch to policing content on the social media platform where he — the world’s richest person — promotes his interests, attacks critics and opines on a wide range of issues to more than 83 million followers,Associated Press reported.

The outspoken Tesla CEO has said he wanted to own and privatize Twitter because he thinks it’s not living up to its potential as a platform for free speech.

Musk said in a joint statement with Twitter that he wants to make the service “better than ever” with new features while getting rid of automated “spam″ accounts and making its algorithms open to the public to increase trust.

“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” the 50-year-old Musk said, adding hearts, stars and rocket emojis in a tweet that highlighted the statement.

The more hands-off approach to content moderation that Musk envisions has many users concerned that the platform will become more of a haven for disinformation, hate speech and bullying, something it has worked hard in recent years to mitigate. Wall Street analysts said if he goes too far, it could also alienate advertisers.

The deal was cemented roughly two weeks after the billionaire first revealed a 9% stake in the platform. Musk said last week that he had lined up $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter, putting pressure on the company’s board to negotiate a deal, according to the Associated Press.

Twitter said the transaction was unanimously approved by its board of directors and is expected to close in 2022, pending regulatory sign-off and the approval of shareholders. 

Shares of Twitter Inc. rose more than 5% Monday to $51.70 per share. On April 14, Musk announced an offer to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share. While the stock is up sharply since Musk made his offer, it is well below the high of $77 per share it reached in February 2021.

Musk has described himself as a “free-speech absolutist” but is also known for blocking or disparaging other Twitter users who question or disagree with him.

In recent weeks, he has proposed relaxing Twitter content restrictions — such as the rules that suspended former President Donald Trump’s account — while ridding the platform of fake “spambot” accounts and shifting away advertising as its primary revenue model. Musk believes he can increase revenue through subscriptions that give paying customers a better experience — possibly even an ad-free version of Twitter.

Asked during a recent TED interview if there are any limits to his notion of “free speech,” Musk said Twitter would abide by national laws that restrict speech around the world. Beyond that, he said, he’d be “very reluctant” to delete posts or permanently banning users who violate the company’s rules, Associated Press reported.

It won’t be perfect, Musk added, “but I think we want it to really have the perception and reality that speech is as free as reasonably possible.” 

After the deal was announced, the NAACP released a statement urging Musk not to allow Trump, the 45th president, back onto the platform. 

“Do not allow 45 to return to the platform,” the civil rights organization said in a statement. “Do not allow Twitter to become a petri dish for hate speech or falsehoods that subvert our democracy.” 

As both candidate and president, Trump made Twitter a powerful megaphone for speaking directly to the public, often using incendiary and divisive language on hot-button issues. He was permanently banned from the service in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol, according to the Associated Press.

Nepal reported 21 new Covid-19 cases on Monday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 4, 775 swab samples were tested today, of which 21 returned positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 17 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 271?active cases in the country.

Renu Dahal has filed her candidacy for the post of mayor in Bharatpur Metropolitan City of Chitwan on Monday.

She registered her nomination at the Chief Election Officer's Office this afternoon.

Similarly, Chitrasen Adhikari registered his candidacy for the post of deputy mayor from the Nepali Congress.

Dahal was the former mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan City.

She got the ticket from the CPN (Maoist Centre) as per the agreement reached among the ruling parties.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 34. 95 points to close at 2, 386. 01 points on Monday.

Similarly, the sensitive dropped by 6. 19 points to close at 454. 69 points.

A total of 5, 047, 769 units of the shares of 239 companies were traded for Rs 2. 04 billion.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 39 trillion.

Nepali Congress has finalized candidates in all the municipalities of Kathmandu and Bhaktapur Metropolitan Cities.

The Bagmati Province Parliamentary Committee, Kathmandu picked Upendra Karki as the mayoral candidate of Kageshwori Manohara Municipality. 

Similarly, Deepak Risal and Shanti Nepal have been chosen as the candidates for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor respectively of Gokarneshwor Municipality.

The party had decided to pick Ghanshyam Giri and Yamunadevi Shrestha as the mayoral and deputy candidates of Chandragiri Municipality.

Krishna Hari Maharjan and Srijana Burlakoti have been picked as the candidates for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor respectively of Tarkeshwor Minicipality.

Mohan Basnet and Basanti Tamang have been picked as the mayoral and deputy mayoral  candidates of Dakshinkali Municipality.

Similarly, Mohan Bahadur Basnet and Kalyani Khadgi have been chosen as the candidates for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor of Nagarjun Municipality and Binod Chalise has been picked as the mayoral candidate of Budhanilkantha.

Likewise, Om Karki and Samita Shrestha have been nominated as the candidates for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor of Shankarapur Municipality, Chief Secretary of Bagmati Province Office Raju Nepal said.

Meanwhile, Surendra Shrestha has been chosen as the mayoral candidate of Madhyapur Thimi, Bhaktapur and Nisan Dangol as the mayoral candidate of Surya Binayak Municipality.

Jeevan Chhetri has been picked as the mayoral candidate of Changunarayan Municipality and Ram Kasula as the mayoral candidate of Bhaktapur Municipality.

The Nepali Congress has decided to filed Chiribabu Maharjan as its mayoral candidate in Lalitpur Metropolitan City.

Maharjan is the incumbent mayor of Lalitpur.

Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba this morning has decided to field Maharjan as the party's mayoral candidate in Lalitpur Metropolitan City.

Property worth around Rs 75 million was destroyed in a fire that broke at a hardware store in Kameratar, Bhaktapur on Monday.

According to the Metropolitan Police Range, Bhaktapur, the fire broke out at the hardware store of Rajan Prajapati this morning.

Police said that the fire engulfed pipes and other hardware materials.

The reason behind the fire is yet to be established, police said.