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Nepal reported 78 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 1, 384 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 60 returned positive. Likewise, 2, 131 people underwent antigen tests, of which 18 were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 23 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 508 active cases in the country.

The political report presented by CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal at the Central Committee meeting has been endorsed unanimously on Thursday.

A Central Committee meeting held this afternoon endorsed a brief political report presented by Dahal.

The report incorporated various issues like recently concluded local level elections, upcoming parliamentary and provincial elections, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and State Partnership Program (SPP) among others.

Dahal had presented the report on Sunday.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 1, 400 in the domestic market on Thursday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 94,600 per tola today.

Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 94, 100 per tola.

The yellow metal was traded at Rs 96, 000 and tejabi gold at Rs 95, 500 on Thursday.

Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 10 and is being traded at Rs 1,185 per tola today.

Tension ran high at the Trishakti Higher Secondary School voting center in Budhiganga Municipality-9 of Bajura on Thursday.

Police fired into the air after a dispute arose between cadres of the CPN-UML and the ruling coalition.

Chief District Officer Prakash Chandra Adhikari said that police opened fire to take the situation under control.

"Police opened fire to take the situation under control. The situation is normal now. The voting has been resumed," he said.

The voting was halted for some following the dispute between the cadres of the UML and ruling alliance.

The election, which was deferred on May 14, has resumed from 7 am today.

Ranga Bahadur Khati of the Nepali Congress and Ram Bahadur Baniya of the UML have filed candidacy for the post of mayor.

A group of 60 women from various walks of life will trek to Shey Phoksundo Lake in Dolpa with an objective to draw attention of the concerned authorities to the impact of climate change on the lives of women and tourism.

Women leaders of various sectors including people's representatives of all the seven provinces will take part in the trek.

During a program organized on Wednesday, the Sathsathai foundation said it is organizing the trek to Phosundo Lake in October this year with an aim to encourage women from all around the world to stand together for climate change.

Earlier in March, the foundation had organised a trek to Kala patthar on the occasion of Women's Day. As many as 40 women from different walks of life took part in the trek.

Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Jeevan Ram Shrestha also took part in the program.

He said that the government of Nepal would also give priority to this program where women from various sectors would participate.

Saying that trekking and mountaineering are the main basis of tourism in Nepal, special guest and Supreme Court Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla said that the government and the people should take initiatives to promote them.

On the occasion, Foundation Chairperson Prajeeta Karki said that the main objective of the program is to highlight adverse effects of climate change on the mountain region and tourism.

Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said Wednesday that he had a telephone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to request credit support to import fuel for the island nation that is facing its worst economic crisis in memory, Associated Press reported.

“Had a very productive telecon with the Russia President Vladimir Putin. While thanking him for all the support extended by his govt to overcome the challenges of the past, I requested an offer of credit support to import fuel to #lka in defeating the current econ challenges,” Rajapaksa said in a tweet.

Western nations largely have cut off energy imports from Russia in line with sanctions over its war on Ukraine. Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said earlier that the government would look for other sources first but it has not been successful. 

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, global oil prices have skyrocketed, prompting a number of countries to seek out Russian crude, which is being offered at steep discounts.

Sri Lanka’s economic crisis has led to a dire fuel shortage forcing the government to shut schools and ask employees other than those in essential services to work from home to cut down on consuming the limited stocks. The government said earlier that no entity is willing to supply oil to Sri Lanka even for cash because its petroleum corporation owes a heavy debt.

Sri Lanka’s foreign currency crunch led to its suspending repayment of foreign debt in April pending outcome of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package. However, Wickremesinghe told Parliament on Tuesday that discussions with the IMF have been complex and difficult because Sri Lanka is now a bankrupt nation, according to Associated Press. 

Unlike in the past, when Sri Lanka entered negotiations as a developing country, this time it has to produce a debt sustainability report to the IMF for approval before any agreement could be reached.

Sri Lanka’s foreign debt stands at $ 51 billion, of which it must repay $28 billion by the end of 2027. It means a payment of an average of $5 billion for the next five years.

Sri Lankans for the past months have been forced to stand in long lines to buy the limited stocks of fuel, cooking gas and foods. The crisi has led to monthslong street protests and scuffles with police at gas stations, Associated Press reported.

Boris Johnson is defying calls to resign, as he attempts to face down a growing mutiny among his cabinet, BBC reported.

Home Secretary Priti Patel, a former close ally, has joined a group of rebel ministers who are urging the PM to stand down.

But he has defied the growing calls for him to quit, saying it would not be "responsible" for him to go.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has been fired from his cabinet, after he urged the PM to resign.

Mr Johnson earlier told senior MPs it would not be right for him to "walk away" amid economic pressures and the war in Ukraine.

Under repeated questioning by the Commons Liaison Committee, he ruled out calling a snap general election, saying the earliest date he can see for one is 2024.

A Downing Street source rejected speculation the PM would announce his resignation in Downing Street later.

"There is no lectern outside No 10 tonight. The PM fights on," the source told BBC News.

The ministers urging him to quit also include Chief Whip Chris Heaton-Harris, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, and Welsh Secretary Simon Hart, according to BBC.

Mr Gove told him to go earlier, and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has told the chief whip the PM should resign.

Mr Johnson rang Mr Gove on Wednesday evening to tell him he was sacked.

A No 10 source said: "You can't have a snake who is not with you on any of the big arguments who then gleefully tells the press the leader has to go."

Mr Hart later resigned from his post, saying he wanted to help Mr Johnson "turn the ship around" but "we have passed the point where this is possible".

BBC political editor Chris Mason said the rebel group was joined in Downing Street by another set of ministers arguing he should stay.

The BBC has also been told Mr Johnson has been stressing that "millions" voted for him, and questioning whether any of his would-be successors would be able to "replicate his electoral success at the next election".

Meanwhile, Tory party bosses on the executive of the backbench 1922 committee have postponed a decision on whether to change the rules governing a vote of confidence.

However, elections to replace the committee have been pulled forward and will now take place next week.

Mr Johnson survived such a vote last month, and under the rules as they currently stand he would be immune from another challenge for a year.

The crisis engulfing Mr Johnson's premiership began on Tuesday, following the dramatic resignations of Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid, BBC reported.

They quit within minutes of each other following a row over Mr Johnson's decision to appoint Chris Pincher deputy chief whip earlier this year.

Their departures have triggered a wave of further resignations, with one in five MPs in government roles quitting their posts. 

A senior ally of the prime minister told the BBC: "It's now a question of how he exits," adding the situation was "not sustainable".

A man accused of opening fire on a Fourth of July parade near Chicago contemplated a second attack after the deadly shooting, authorities say, BBC reported.

According to police, the 21-year-old suspect drove for more than two hours to Wisconsin after the shooting, which left seven dead and dozens wounded. 

He saw another Independence Day celebration there and allegedly considered attacking it, police said.

During a court hearing, prosecutors also said he confessed to the shooting. 

At Wednesday's court appearance, a judge ruled that the suspect, Robert Crimo, would be held without bail and assigned a public lawyer.

At a news conference following the hearing, police said investigators had determined that Mr Crimo attempted to dump his phone in Madison, Wisconsin after the Monday morning attack in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park.

Police said the gunman told them he had disguised himself as a woman so he could escape Highland Park alongside fleeing residents.

In the brief hearing, Assistant State Attorney Ben Dillon said surveillance video showed the suspect leaving the area and dumping a rifle. He then took his mother's car and drove about 150 miles (240 km) north-west to Madison.

Madison's police chief said in a news conference that the FBI called around 17:00 local time (22:00 GMT) on Monday to request that the force mobilise its SWAT team due to the suspect being in their area, according to BBC.

But before the tactical team was ready, the police learned that the suspect had been caught.

According to Mr Dillon, the gunman then confessed after being caught, telling police he "looked down his sights, aimed, then opened fire at people across the street".

If convicted, the seven murder counts the suspected gunman currently faces would carry a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. Dozens more charges are expected before the investigation ends.

Prosecutors said on Wednesday that 83 spent shell casings, as well as rifle magazines, were recovered from the scene of the shooting. 

The new information comes as questions are being raised over how the suspect was able to buy guns. 

He passed background checks meant to prevent potentially dangerous individuals from buying weapons, even though he had previously made threats that were reported to authorities, BBC reported.

Three other firearms were also found at his home. Police said the suspect had two prior contacts with law enforcement but was still able to purchase five guns in the past year. 

In April 2019, police were called to the suspect's home one week after he reportedly attempted to take his own life. And in September 2019, police were called by a family member who said he had made violent threats to "kill everyone". 

Police responded and seized 16 knives, a dagger and a sword from his home. He was not arrested and no further action was taken. 

In a separate and more recent incident, Mr Crimo reportedly behaved suspiciously during an April visit to a local synagogue during Passover. A volunteer security co-ordinator told The Forward, a Jewish news organisation, that he believed the suspect was "sizing up" the facility, although he left without incident. 

Illinois state police said that the suspect's father sponsored his application for a firearms licence in December 201 when he was just 19. His uncle denied this in a statement to the Chicago Sun. 

Illinois is one of 19 US states with so-called red flag laws, designed to keep guns out of the hands of people who may pose a danger to themselves or others. Some commentators have pointed to the Highland Park shooting as evidence that similar regulations are ineffective.

Allison Anderman, an attorney at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said that "implementation seems to have been an issue" in his case.

The Illinois law came into effect in January 2019, just months before police first encountered the gunman. 

Ms Anderman added that red flag laws do not require individuals to be taken into custody. Instead, they simply prevent them from having guns until they "get their crisis under control". 

"It's very possible that law enforcement officers did not know about it or did not know how to properly use it," she said. "A single instance where a law was not properly implemented does not call into question the effectiveness of these laws".

Experts believe that data suggests that red flag laws are at least somewhat effective. In Florida, for example, data shows that judges have acted more than 8,000 times under that state's version of the law to restrict gun access.

"These are people who were either troubled or emotionally dysregulated. or expressing homicidal threats, that had guns taken away," said Dexter Voisin, a social sciences professor and gun violence expert at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.

"It's not that the laws don't work. It's that folks actually have to work with the system".