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China is gearing up for big military exercises in the seas around Taiwan following top US politician Nancy Pelosi's trip to the island, BBC reported.

The drills are due to begin at 12:00 local time (04:00 GMT) and in several areas are due to take place within 12 miles of the island.

Taiwan faced "deliberately heightened military threats", President Tsai said.

Ms Pelosi made a brief but controversial visit to Taiwan, which China regards as a breakaway province.

The drills - China's biggest ever around Taiwan - are Beijing's main response to the visit, although it has also blocked some trade with the island.

The exercises will take place in busy waterways and will include long-range live ammunition shooting, Beijing says. 

Taiwan said it scrambled jets to warn off Chinese warplanes on Wednesday.

Its military had also fired flares to drive away unidentified aircraft, probably drones, which were flying over the Kinmen islands, located close to the mainland, 

Taiwan's defence ministry also said it had suffered cyber attacks, following similar attacks on other government websites earlier in the week, according to BBC.

Taiwan has asked ships to find alternative routes to avoid the drills and is negotiating with neighbouring Japan and the Philippines to find alternative aviation routes. 

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the military drills were irresponsible and warned they could spiral out of control.

The US hoped Beijing would avoid "escalation that could lead to a mistake or miscalculation" in the air or on the seas, he said in an interview with National Public Radio on Wednesday.

Japan has also expressed concern to China over the areas covered by the military drills, which it says overlaps with its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Tokyo expects issues surrounding Taiwan to be "resolved peacefully through dialogue", chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Wednesday.

The boundaries of Japan's EEZ have been contentious among its neighbours, and includes some islets also claimed by Beijing, BBC reported.

In response, Chinese government spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the waters in this area had not been delimited and Beijing did not accept the "so-called" Japan EEZ.

The ruling coalition leaders have agreed to hold the federal and provincial elections in November.

A meeting of the leaders held at the Prime Minister's official residence in Baluwatar on Wednesday agreed to hold the elections on November 20.

Rastriya Janamorcha Party Vice-Chairman Durga Paudel, who attended the meeting, said that the leaders have agreed to hold the elections on November 20.

She said that the next meeting of the Council of Ministers will announce the date for the elections.

Nepal reported 915 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 3, 091 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 590 returned positive. Likewise, 2, 911 people underwent antigen tests, of which 325 were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of the virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 301 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 5, 433 active cases in the country.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 6. 72 points to close at 2,186.76 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 0. 63 points to close at 420. 50 points.

A total of 9,542,626 units of the shares of 218 companies were traded for Rs 4. 02 billion.

Meanwhile, Samling Power Company Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 9. 99 percent. Likewise, Standard Chartered Bank Limited was the top loser with its price dropped by 3. 92 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 12 trillion.

A Nepali Airlines plane preparing to fly to Mumbai of India from Nepal has been stopped.

The aircraft was stopped after police received information that there was a suspicious person on board and could pose a threat to security.

A team of Crime Investigation Bureau (CIB) is carrying out checks by taking the plane under control.

Meanwhile, police have arrested a suspicious person from the aircraft.

China has dispatched a military ship to Sri Lanka’s port city of Hambantota in the midst of the rapidly changing political situation in the island nation, voanews.com reported.

The move has raised questions about whether China is trying to establish a strong military presence on Sri Lanka’s Indian Ocean coast.

China’s People’s Liberation Army describes the vessel, Yuan Wang 5, as a survey ship, meant to conduct research in the Indian Ocean. But analysts are asking whether the ship, due to arrive in Hambantota on Aug. 11 and packed with sophisticated electronics for space and satellite tracking, is meant to serve a strategic purpose.

“China’s goal is to put the Hambantota port to dual use, commercial and military. It is trying to build the capability to move and maneuver ships at the port with a military purpose,” Dayan Jayatilleka, a former Sri Lankan diplomat, told VOA.

China has some say about using the port because the Sri Lankan government handed it over to Chinese companies on a 99-year lease in 2017. Colombo was forced to give up control of the port after it failed to repay Chinese loans used to build it.

Sri Lanka’s recently ousted president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is believed to have given his consent to berthing the vessel at the Sri Lankan port. The new government that replaced him after a massive protest movement is unlikely to revoke the decision and stop the vessel from using the port.

“Sri Lanka needs financial assistance, and it would not want to displease China by revoking the permission,” Jehan Perera, executive director of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, told VOA.

“China’s purpose is to make sure its military ships have easy access to the Sri Lankan port. As long as this goal is met, it has no need to actually build a military base,” said K.P. Fabian, a former deputy high commissioner of India to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is seeking a bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). IMF rules stipulate that a loan-seeking country should reschedule the payment timetable of past debt in order to qualify.

China has refused Sri Lanka’s request to reschedule project loans amounting to nearly $10 billion that have fallen due. Without China’s cooperation, Colombo would be unable to obtain IMF financing and sink deeper into a financial mire.

“[The] Sri Lankan government is hopeful Beijing will come around and accept the request. It also wants a currency swap arrangement to buy Chinese goods,” Perera said.

Sri Lanka is almost without foreign exchange reserves and facing higher world oil prices, which has resulted in a serious energy shortage. The country is also facing a food crisis with millions of people without jobs.

It is possible that China might try to use its influence as a lender to pressure Sri Lanka to allow the creation of Chinese military facilities, which could be used to target China’s rival, India.

“For India, it is a matter that is causing serious concern. China has been trying to create military challenges for India, and this is one such effort,” said Fabian.

A move to establish a Chinese military presence in Sri Lanka will cause concern not only in India but also in other parts of the world because Indian Ocean sea routes connect Asia and Europe.

India has confirmed its first death caused by monkeypox in the southern state of Kerala, BBC reported.

A 22-year-old man, who had recently travelled to the state from the United Arab Emirates, died on Saturday.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George said the man had initially tested positive for the virus abroad. Samples tested after his death also detected the virus, she said on Monday. 

This is the fourth monkeypox death reported globally, outside of Africa.

Monday also saw health authorities in Ghana confirm the West African nation's first death from the virus in the current outbreak.

The infected person was a military officer who died three days after reporting to a hospital in the north-east of the country. He had a fever and a skin rash, but no further details were available.

Thirteen people who are believed to have come into contact with the man who died are in isolation and are currently being monitored. 

Ghana has so far recorded more than 30 cases of the virus in seven regions of the country.

The illness is caused by the monkeypox virus, a member of the same family of viruses as smallpox, although it is much less severe and experts say chances of infection are low.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency last month, according to BBC.

Following the man's death in Kerala, the Indian state's government formed a high-level committee to look into his medical reports, Ms George said. 

The young man had developed fever and had swollen lymph nodes when he was admitted to a private hospital on 27 July, Ms George told the news website The NewsMinute on Sunday.

He, however, had no rashes on his body and the doctors saw no reason to suspect that he had monkeypox, she said.

The man had tested positive for the virus in the UAE on 19 July, days before he left for Kerala, but his family informed health officials only on 30 July, the minister said on Monday. 

His condition, however, quickly deteriorated in the hospital and he was on ventilator support before he died, she added.

His samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology which confirmed monkeypox on Monday, she said.

Authorities will now investigate why the man had delayed seeking medical help.

Twenty close contacts of the man have been categorised as "high risk" and isolated, the minister told reporters. These include his friends, family and nine people he recently played football with, BBC reported.

Passengers who were on the flight with him from UAE to Kerala have also been contacted. There is, however, no cause for concern yet since they were not in close contact with him, Ms George said.

India has reported four cases of monkeypox so far - three in Kerala and one in the capital, Delhi.

The first patient, who tested positive on 14 July, was treated in Kerala's capital, Thiruvananthapuram (formerly Trivandrum). He has since recovered and been discharged, Ms George said on Saturday.

Outgoing Ambassador of Finland to Nepal Pertti Anttinen paid a farewell call on President Bidya Devi Bhandari in Sheetal Niwas on Wednesday.

During the meeting, the duo discussed issues of mutual interest and bilateral relations between the two countries, spokesperson at the Office of the President Sagar Acharya said.