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The government has announced a public holiday on Sunday on the occasion of Eid-al-Adha (Bakra Eid).

Home Ministry spokesperson Phanindra Mani Pokharel said that the government decided to give public holiday on Bakra Eid at the request of Muslim Commission.

CPN-UML Secretary Yogesh Bhattarai said that his party’s bottomline is that either Finance Minister Janardan resign himself or Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba remove him from the post.

Talking to journalists at the Parliament building in New Baneshwor on Wednesday, he said that Sharma committed the crime against the country by involving two unauthorised persons to tweak taxes a day before the budget was presented. That is why, Minister Sharma cannot remain in the post, he said.

Bhattarai said that Sharma made the government documents disappear and deleted the CCTV footage with ill intention.

He said that they have demanded a parliamentary committee to probe into the incident.

Leader Bhattarai further said that action should also be taken against other people of the Finance Ministry who deleted the CCTV footage.

The Central Committee meeting of the CPN (Maoist Centre) scheduled for today has been postponed till tomorrow.

According to Ganga Dahal, personal secretary of the party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the meeting has been postponed till 11 am tomorrow.

The meeting became uncertain after the ruling and the opposition parties demanded resignation of Finance Minister Janardan Sharma.

Leaders inside the party have been demanding investigation after the Finance Minister took one after another controversial step.

The Nepali Congress leaders have also been demanding the resignation of Finance Minister Sharma who has been embroiled in a series of controversies.

Party Chairman Dahal presented the agenda and political report in the meeting that started from Sunday.

Sharma is accused of inviting two unauthorized persons to change tax rates on the eve of the budget presentation for the next fiscal year 2022-23.

A child died after being struck by lightning in Solukhumbu on Tuesday.

The deceased has been identified as seven-year-old Sujan Tamang, the District Police Office, Solukhumbu said.

Inspector Gyan Bahadur Majhi said that Tamang died on the spot.

His mother Tak Maya Tamang was injured in the incident.

Tibetan refugees living in Nepal celebrated their religious leader Dalai Lama's 87th birthday on Wednesday.

Lama, a religious leader exiled from Tibet, has turned 87 today. He is the 14th Dalai Lama.

The birth anniversary program was coordinated by the Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office in Lazimpat.

The Tibetan Community celebrated the birthday of their religious leader Dalai Lama by organizing a program at Jawalakhel in Lalitpur.

The Tibetan refugees celebrated the birth anniversary of Lama wishing for world peace. They worshipped the portrait of Lama.

During the program, children of the Tibetan Community sang the national anthem of Nepal.

Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy Kathmandu Manuel P. Micaller and diplomats of Japan, France and European Union among others were present on the occasion.

Photo: Shambhu Kattel/ Saroj Baiju

The Tibetan refugees, who had been celebrating the birthday only inside the gumbas because of the Covid-19 pandemic, organized a grand event in the open ground in Jawalakhel this year.

A Tibetan Community leader claimed that the birthday of their religious leader was celebrated not for political motives but as per religious beliefs.

Tibetans living around the world have been celebrating the Dalai Lama's birthday on July 6.

A man accused of opening fire on a Fourth of July parade near Chicago has been charged with seven counts of murder, officials say, BBC reported.

Robert Crimo, 21, would be punished "for the killing spree he has unleashed against our community", Lake County State Attorney Eric Rinehart said.

The attack in Highland Park left seven dead and more than 30 others injured.

Mr Rinehart added that dozens more charges would be filed before the investigation was over.

"These are just the first of many charges that will be filed against Mr Crimo," he said to cheers and applause from the crowd gathered for the news conference on Tuesday. "I want to emphasise that. There will be more charges."

The suspect is accused of firing 70 bullets from a high-powered rifle down onto the crowd and disguising himself as a woman so he could escape alongside fleeing victims.

After an eight-hour manhunt on Monday, police arrested Mr Crimo and he was discovered with a second rifle similar to the one used in the attack.

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, according to BBC.

In April 2019, police were called to his 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 Mr Crimo 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. 

Officials on Tuesday called for an education campaign to raise awareness of the state's red flag laws, which allow a judge to order that a person deemed dangerous have their weapons seized and be barred from buying more guns. 

Mr Crimo is expected to appear in court on Wednesday.

Six of the victims have been named so far. They include:

• Irina McCarthy, 35, and Kevin McCarthy, 37 - The married couple died while protecting their two-year old son, who was uninjured
• Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78 - The Mexican father of eight was visiting family when he was shot in his wheelchair
• Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63, worked at a local synagogue in Highland Park, which has a large Jewish population

Two other victims, Katherine Goldstein, 64; and Stephen Straus, 88, have also been identified.

Sri Lanka is "bankrupt," Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Tuesday, as the country suffers its worst financial crisis in decades, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine and fuel, CNN reported.

Wickremesinghe told lawmakers that negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive the country's "collapsed" economy are "difficult," because the South Asian nation of 22 million has entered the talks as a bankrupt country, rather than a developing one. 

"We are now participating in the negotiations as a bankrupt country. Therefore, we have to face a more difficult and complicated situation than previous negotiations," Wickremesinghe said in parliament.

"Due to the state of bankruptcy our country is in, we have to submit a plan on our debt sustainability to (the IMF) separately," he added. "Only when they are satisfied with that plan can we reach an agreement at the staff level. This is not a straightforward process."

Sri Lanka is in the midst of its worst financial crisis in seven decades, after its foreign exchange reserves plummeted to record lows, with dollars running out to pay for essential imports including food, medicine and fuel.

Schools have been suspended and fuel has been limited to essential services. In several major cities, including the commercial capital, Colombo, hundreds continue to queue for hours to buy fuel, sometimes clashing with police and the military as they wait.

On Sunday Sri Lanka's energy minister, Kanchana Wijesekera, said the country had less than a day's worth of fuel left.

"In terms of fuel and food, our country was going to have to face this crisis at some point in time. Fuel was scarce. Food prices went up," he said, adding international crises like Russia's war in Ukraine have made things worse, according to CNN.

"Due to the recent global crises, this situation has become more acute and we who were in the frying pan fell into the oven," Wijesekera said. 

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said he hoped that a report on debt restructuring and sustainability would be submitted to the IMF by August. Once there is an agreement, a comprehensive loan assistance program would be prepared for a period of four years, Wickremesinghe said.

His speech in parliament was interrupted by opposition lawmakers chanting cries of "Gota go Home" -- a reference to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was in attendance. 

For months, large numbers of Sri Lankans have been calling for Rajapaksa to resign over accusations of economic mismanagement. 

Wickremesinghe said that by the end of this year, inflation will rise to 60%.

"This will be a difficult and bitter journey," Wickremesinghe said. "But we can get relief at the end of this journey. Progress can be made." 

The British government said on Tuesday it is now advising against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka due to the impact of the economic crisis, CNN reported.

Asian stocks slipped and the dollar stood by a two-decade high on the euro on Wednesday as investors' fears deepened that the continent is leading the world into recession, while oil and European equity futures attempted to steady after a slide, Reuters reported.

Brent crude futures bounced 1.4% in morning trade to $104.18 a barrel, nursing its wounds after a 9.5% drop to a 2-1/2 month low on Tuesday with worries that a global growth slowdown is going to sap demand. [O/R]

MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan fell 0.6%. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.88%, on course for its first loss of the week. S&P 500 futures fell 0.2%, though Euro STOXX 50 futures bounced 1.8%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 0.42% while Chinese blue chips fell 0.7%, dragged by worries about new COVID-19 cases in Shanghai risking fresh restrictions.

Overnight Europe's STOXX 600 index dropped 2% and the euro plunged more than 1.5% to $1.0236, its lowest since late 2002 as talk of gas rationing spooked traders. 

"The drumbeat is getting louder and louder about recession risk," said Jason Teh, chief investment officer at Vertium Asset Management in Sydney.

"Right now defence is the name of the game. It's the best strategy right now, because in a recession a lot of things can fall out of bed."

Uncertainty over Europe's gas supply has set prices rocketing. Benchmark Dutch gas prices have doubled since the middle of June and rose 7% overnight to a four-month high, according to Reuters.

Year-ahead baseload power in Germany hit a record high. Investors are nervous about continuity of supply after the Nord Stream pipeline, which carries Russian gas to Germany, shuts for ten days for maintenance from July 11.

In Tokyo, shares of commodities trading firms Mitsui & Co and Mitsubishi Corp dropped more than 5% after former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev threatened oil and gas supply cuts to Japan.

Sterling was also pinned by a two-year low and not helped by the latest political crisis to hit Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government, with the resignation of his finance and health secretaries questioning his longevity as leader. After touching $1.1899 overnight the currency steadied at $1.1964 in Asia.

A change in leader, or speculation about it, could lend support but it is weighed heavily by an economic outlook that a new leader is unlikely to shift. "The UK is in danger of being the slowest-growing major advanced economy next year, with the highest inflation rate and the biggest current account deficit," said Societe Generale strategist Kit Juckes. "That's quite a collection, and it represents a clear threat to the pound."

Elsewhere the dollar also stood tall, holding the risk-sensitive Antipodean currencies near two-year lows and dunking spot gold prices to their lowest this year. The Aussie was last huddled at $0.6810 having slid 1.0% overnight to a two-year trough of $0.6762.

Spot gold was last steady at $1,771 an ounce after its overnight fall. Safe-haven gold is down about 3% this year, less than the steep losses for equities and bonds.

Investors now await the release of US payroll data on Friday for further signs of whether the economy may fall into a recession.

"A strong payrolls figure may temper recession fears briefly, though it will also likely drive up two-year yields and probably won't be regarded as unambiguously positive by the equity investment community," ING's Robert Carnell and Iris Pang wrote in a note this morning, Reuters reported.