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Chinese and Taiwanese warships played high-seas "cat and mouse" on Sunday ahead of the scheduled end of four days of unprecedented Chinese military exercises launched in reaction to a visit to Taiwan by the US house speaker, Reuters reported.

Nancy Pelosi's visit last week to the self-ruled island infuriated China, which responded with test launches of ballistic missiles over the island's capital for the first time and the cutting of communication links with the United States.

Some 10 warships each from China and Taiwan sailed at close quarters in the Taiwan Strait, with some Chinese vessels crossing the median line, an unofficial buffer separating the two sides, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

The island's defence ministry said in a release multiple Chinese military ships, aircraft, and drones were simulating attacks on the island and its navy. It said it had sent aircraft and ships to react "appropriately".

As Chinese forces "pressed" the line, as they did on Saturday, the Taiwan side stayed close to monitor and, where possible, deny the Chinese the ability to cross, the person said.

"The two sides are showing restraint, the person said, describing the manoeuvres as high seas "cat and mouse".

"One side tries to cross, and the other stands in the way and forces them to a more disadvantaged position and eventually return to the other side."

Taiwan said its shore-based anti-ship missiles and its Patriot surface -to-air-missiles were on stand-by.

The Chinese exercises, centred on six locations around the island that China claims as its own, began on Thursday and are scheduled to last until midday on Sunday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported last week, according to Reuters.

China's military said on Saturday the sea and air joint exercises, north, southwest and east of Taiwan, had a focus on land-strike and sea-assault capabilities.

The United States called the exercises an escalation.

"These activities are a significant escalation in China's efforts to change the status quo. They are provocative, irresponsible and raise the risk of miscalculation," a White House spokesperson said.

"They are also at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, which is what the world expects."

Nepal reported 553 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 2, 040 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 451 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 749 people underwent antigen tests, of which 102 were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of the virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 433 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 5, 659 active cases in the country.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 10. 27 points to close at 2,123.82 points on Sunday.

Similarly, the sensitive index plunged by 3. 10 points to close at 409. 55 points.

A total of 6,106,521 unit shares of 219 companies were traded for Rs 2. 67 billion.

In today’s market, all sub-indices saw green except for Life Insurance.  

Meanwhile, Manakama Smart Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Naya Sarathi Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top loser as its price fell by 3. 48 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 03 trillion.

A person died in a truck accident in Gulmi on Sunday.

The deceased has been identified as truck driver Rana Bahadur Dhange (35) of Gulmidurbar-3.

The District Police Office, Gulmi said that Dhange died on the spot.

The truck (Lu 1 Kha 1866) was heading towards Deurali of Tamghas from Simichaur of Resunga Municipality-10 when the incident occurred this morning.

Police said that the truck fell some 150 meters down the road.

Chelsea opened the Premier League season with victory over Everton as Jorginho's penalty decided a scrappy contest at Goodison Park, BBC reported.

Thomas Tuchel introduced summer signings Kalidou Koulibaly and Raheem Sterling from the start but it was one of Chelsea's established stars who settled affairs when Jorginho rolled a composed penalty past Jordan Pickford in first-half stoppage time following Abdoulaye Doucoure's foul on Ben Chilwell.

Everton, without a recognised striker following the sale of Richarlison and injury to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, battled gamely but were woefully short of quality and threat in attack.

Manager Frank Lampard's cause was not helped by a serious early injury to defender Ben Godfrey, who was taken off on a stretcher following a challenge on Kai Havertz and was later confirmed to have fractured his leg, with Yerry Mina another casualty in the second half, according to BBC.

Chelsea survived in relative comfort and were able to give a debut to new signing Marc Cucurella, the defender signed from Brighton in a deal that could eventually by worth £62m, as they made it a winning start.

Twelve people have been killed after a bus carrying Polish pilgrims veered off a road in Croatia on Saturday and ended up in a ditch, BBC reported.

All 32 surviving passengers are said to be injured, 19 of them seriously.

The trip, organised by the Brotherhood of St Joseph Catholic group, included three priests and six nuns. They were travelling to Medjugorje, a Catholic shrine in Bosnia.

The passengers were all Polish adults, said the Polish Foreign Ministry.

The bus left from the Polish city of Czestochowa on Friday night following a prayer service. The passengers were from various regions of Poland, the foreign ministry said.

The accident happened at around 05:40 local time (04:50 GMT) when the bus they were travelling in veered off the A4 road between Jarek Bisaski and Podvorec, north-east of Zagreb.

Poland's justice minister and prosecutor general have ordered the Warsaw Prosecutors Office to launch an investigation into the cause of the tragedy, and two Polish ministers are heading to Croatia in the wake of the incident, according to BBC.

It was initially reported that 11 people had been killed, but one more person died later in hospital. 

"Some of the injured passengers are fighting for their lives," Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, adding in a post on Twitter that emergency services were doing all they could to help. 

Pilgrimages to the small town of Medjugorje are very popular in Poland following reports that local children saw a vision of the Virgin Mary there in the 1980s, BBC reported.

The UN's nuclear watchdog has called for an immediate end to any military action near Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, warning of a "very real risk of a nuclear disaster".

IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said he was "extremely concerned" by reports of shelling at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, BBC reported.

It comes as Ukraine said parts of the facility were "seriously damaged" by Russian military strikes.

Russia seized the plant in March.

It has kept its Ukrainian employees, but Kyiv accuses Russian forces of firing rockets at civilian areas from the site, employing "terror tactics".

Friday's strikes underline "the very real risk of a nuclear disaster that could threaten public health and the environment in Ukraine and beyond", Mr Grossi said in a statement.

"Any military firepower directed at or from the facility would amount to playing with fire, with potentially catastrophic consequences," he added.

Ukrainian staff must be able to carry out their important duties "without threats or pressure", he said, adding that the IAEA should be allowed to provide technical support.

"For the sake of protecting people in Ukraine and elsewhere from a potential nuclear accident, we must all set aside our differences and act, now. The IAEA is ready," said Mr Grossi, days after stating the plant was "completely out of control".

The operator of the Zaporizhzhia plant said the Russian missile strikes had forced the closure of one "power unit", adding that there was a risk of radioactive leaks.

The strikes "caused a serious risk for the safe operation of the plant", operator Enerhoatom wrote on Telegram, according to BBC.

Moscow said Ukraine carried out the attack.

The BBC was unable to verify the reported damage at the nuclear plant.

However, the EU has hit out at Moscow over the latest shelling with the bloc's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, saying it "condemns Russia's military activities" around the plant.

"This is a serious and irresponsible breach of nuclear safety rules and another example of Russia's disregard for international norms," he said, and called for the IAEA to be granted access to the plant. 

Russian forces hold the plant and surrounding areas, close to Ukrainian-held territory. It consists of six pressurised water reactors and stores radioactive waste.

Civilians in nearby Nikopol, which lies across the river and is still under Ukrainian control, told the BBC that the Russians were firing rockets from the area around the plant and moving military hardware into the compound.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that "any bombing of this site is a shameless crime, an act of terror".

The plant is in the city of Enerhodar, in the south-east of Ukraine along the left bank of the River Dnieper (Dnipro in Ukrainian), BBC reported.

The UK defence ministry says Russia is using the area to launch attacks - taking advantage of the "protected status" of the nuclear power plant to reduce the risk of overnight attacks from Ukrainian forces.

The United States has accused Beijing of "provocative" and "irresponsible" actions after Taiwan said China rehearsed an attack on the island, BBC reported.

The White House said Beijing was attempting to "change the status quo" over Taiwan.

The heightened tensions follow a trip to Taiwan by a US delegation led by senior Democrat Nancy Pelosi.

China views the visit as a challenge to its claims of sovereignty over Taiwan, which sees itself as distinct.

Taiwan's defence ministry said Chinese ships and planes carried out missions in the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, with some crossing the median line - an unofficial buffer separating the two sides. Taiwanese fighter jets were scrambled to warn them away.

The Taiwan military said the exercises were a simulated attack on the island.

Beijing hasn't commented on the latest exercises, but is expected to continue military drills in the air and seas around Taiwan until Sunday.

Washington has accused China of escalating tensions.

"These activities are a significant escalation in China's efforts to change the status quo. They are provocative, irresponsible and raise the risk of miscalculation," a White House spokesperson said. 

"They are also at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, which is what the world expects."

China said Ms Pelosi's visit "seriously threatened" peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, according to BBC.

China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be under Beijing's control. However, Taiwan is a self-ruled island that sees itself as distinct from the mainland.

But any hint of recognition of this by world leaders enrages China. It announced on Friday that sanctions have been placed on Ms Pelosi and her family over the visit.

Beijing also announced it was halting co-operation with the US in several key areasincluding climate change, military talks and efforts to combat international crime.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused China of taking "irresponsible steps" by blocking key communication channels with Washington.

Ms Pelosi - a long-time China critic and the highest-ranking US politician to travel to the island in 25 years - arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday, despite Beijing's warnings, BBC reported.

During her visit, Ms Pelosi said that "the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy".