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A meeting of the ruling alliance held to narrow down differences on the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)’ Nepal compact ended without making any concrete decision on Friday.

According to a Baluwatar source, the ruling parties have decided to meet again on Sunday by doing internal homeworks.

Also read: Ruling coalition meet to forge consensus on MCC ends inconclusively

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Nepal, leader Jhalanath Khanal and Janata Samajbadi Party leader Ashok Rai among other leaders were present in the meeting.

Also read: PM Deuba seeks help of UML Chairman Oli to endorse MCC

Shelling in Ukraine on Thursday renewed Western fears of an imminent Russian invasion as U.S. President Joe Biden said Moscow is preparing a pretext to justify a possible attack and the Kremlin expelled an American diplomat, Reuters reported.

Early morning exchanges of fire between Kyiv's forces and pro-Russian separatists - who have been at war for years and where a ceasefire is periodically violated - caused alarm as Western countries have said an incursion could come at any time.

One of the deepest crises in post-Cold War relations is playing out in Europe as Russia wants security guarantees, including Kyiv never joining Nato, and the US and allies offer arms control and confidence-building measures.

While Russia accuses the West of hysteria, saying some of its troops have returned to bases and that it has no plans to invade, many Western countries are adamant that the military build-up is continuing ahead of a possible assault.

"We have reason to believe they are engaged in a false flag operation to have an excuse to go in," Biden told reporters at the White House. "Every indication we have is they're prepared to go into Ukraine and attack Ukraine."

He ordered Secretary of State Antony Blinken to change his travel plans at the last minute to speak at a United Nations Security Council meeting, where he outlined possible Russian scenarios.

"It could be a fabricated so-called terrorist bombing inside Russia, the invented discovery of a mass grave, a staged drone strike against civilians, or a fake - even a real - attack using chemical weapons," Blinken said. "Russia may describe this event as ethnic cleansing, or a genocide." Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said Blinken's comments were regrettable and dangerous. 

Diplomatic efforts will continue on Friday when Biden hosts a call with the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Britain, the European Union and NATO. Blinken will meet counterparts at the Munich Security Conference.

He will also discuss the crisis late next week with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, "provided there is no further Russian invasion of Ukraine", the State Department said. 

But in a blow to U.S-Russian relations, Russia expelled U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Bart Gorman. The move was announced on Thursday but a senior State Department official said he left last week.

Moscow cited the U.S. expulsion of a senior official in Washington, who it said was forced to leave before a replacement could be found as part of a U.S. "visa war".

Washington said it would respond to the "unprovoked" move. Russian diplomats who have stayed longer than three years must leave the United States, while Moscow is giving US diplomats less time, a State Department spokesperson said. 

In Ukraine, Russian-backed rebels and Kyiv's forces traded accusations that each had fired across the ceasefire line in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow accuses Kyiv of "exterminating" civilians. 

Ukrainian government forces denied accusations of having targeted separatist positions in the breakaway region of Donbass, which borders Russia. 

Details could not be established independently, but reports from both sides suggested an incident more serious than the routine ceasefire violations that are often reported in the area.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was "seriously concerned" about the reports. Russia has long said Kyiv wants an excuse to seize rebel territory by force, which Ukraine denies.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the pro-Russian forces had shelled a kindergarten, in what he called a "big provocation". 

Video footage released by Ukrainian police showed a hole through a brick wall in a room scattered with debris and children's toys.

"Some provocations were planned for today, we expected them and thought that a war had begun," Dmytro, a resident of the village of Stanytsia Luhanska, told Reuters.

The separatists, for their part, accused government forces of opening fire on their territory four times in the past 24 hours.

Neither account could be verified. 

A Reuters photographer in the town of Kadiivka, in Ukraine's rebel-held Luhansk region, heard the sound of some artillery fire from the direction of the line of contact, but was not able to determine details.

Estimates also vary as to how many Russia soldiers have massed near Ukraine. Nearby Nato member Estonia cited around 170,000 troops on Wednesday. 

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said that Russia had added 7,000 troops to its presence at the Ukrainian border over the past 24 hours. 

"We see them fly in more combat and support aircraft. We see them sharpen their readiness in the Black Sea," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at Nato headquarters in Brussels. 

Russia's defence ministry released video it said showed more units leaving the area near the border.

Maxar Technologies, a private US company that has been tracking the build-up, said satellite images showed that, while Russia has pulled back some military equipment from near Ukraine, other hardware has arrived.

As talks continue, Russia says its security demands are still being ignored.

"In the absence of the readiness of the American side to agree on firm, legally binding guarantees of our security from the United States and its allies, Russia will be forced to respond, including through the implementation of military-technical measures," it said in a letter.

Fears of a new war in Europe resurged Thursday as U.S. President Joe Biden warned that Russia could invade Ukraine within days, and violence spiked in a long-running standoff in eastern Ukraine that some worried could provide the spark for wider conflict, Associated Press reported.

World dignitaries raced for solutions, but suspicions between East and West only seemed to grow, as NATO allies rejected Russian assertions it was pulling back troops from exercises that had fueled fears of an attack. Russia is believed to have built up some 150,000 military forces around Ukraine’s borders.

Concerns escalated in the West over what exactly Russia is doing with those troops, which included an estimated 60% of Russia’s overall ground forces. The Kremlin insists it has no plans to invade, but it has long considered Ukraine part of its sphere of influence and NATO’s eastward expansion an existential threat.

The U.S. government issued some of its starkest, most detailed warnings yet about what could happen next.

Speaking at the U.N. Security Council, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed some conclusions of U.S. intelligence in a strategy that the U.S. and Britain have hoped will expose and pre-empt any invasion planning. The U.S. has declined to reveal much of the evidence underlying its claims.

He told the diplomats that a sudden, seemingly violent event staged by Russia to justify invasion would kick it off. Blinken mentioned a “so-called terrorist bombing” inside Russia, a staged drone strike, “a fake, even a real attack … using chemical weapons.”

The assault would open with cyberattacks, along with missiles and bombs across Ukraine, he said. Painting the U.S. picture further, Blinken described the entry of Russian troops, advancing on Kyiv, a city of nearly 3 million, and other key targets.

U.S. intelligence indicated Russia also would target “specific groups” of Ukrainians, Blinken said, again without giving details.

In an implicit nod to Secretary of State Colin Powell’s appearance before the Security Council in 2003, when he cited unsubstantiated and false U.S. intelligence to justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Blinken added: “Let me be clear. I am here today not to start a war, but to prevent one.”

Biden’s own comments on the Russian threat were unusually dire.

Speaking at the White House, he said Washington saw no signs of a promised Russian withdrawal, and said the invasion threat remains “very high” because Russia has moved more troops toward the border with Ukraine instead of pulling them back.

“Every indication we have is they’re prepared to go into Ukraine, attack Ukraine,” Biden told reporters. He said the U.S. has “reason to believe” that Russia is “engaged in a false flag operation to have an excuse to go in,” but did not provide details.

The White House said Biden planned to speak by phone Friday with trans-Atlantic leaders about Russia’s military buildup and continued efforts at deterrence and diplomacy.

U.S. and European officials were on high alert for any Russian attempts to create a pretext for invasion, according to a Western official familiar with intelligence findings. Ukrainian government officials shared intelligence with allies that suggested the Russians might try to shell the Luhansk area in the disputed Donbas region on Friday morning as part of an effort to create a false reason to take military action, according to the official who was not authorized to comment publicly.

Renewed fear of an invasion put global financial markets on edge. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 600 points, or 1.7%. More than 85% of the stocks in the benchmark S&P 500 were in the red.

Even without an attack, the sustained Russian pressure on Ukraine has further hobbled its shaky economy and left an entire nation under constant strain. Eastern Ukraine already has been the site of fighting since 2014 that has killed 14,000, and tensions soared again Thursday.

Separatist authorities in the Luhansk region reported an increase in Ukrainian government shelling along the tense line of contact. Separatist official Rodion Miroshnik said rebel forces returned fire.

Ukraine disputed the claim, saying separatists had shelled its forces but they didn’t fire back. The Ukrainian military command said shells hit a kindergarten in Stanytsia Luhanska, wounding two teachers, and cut power to half the town.

The head of the monitoring mission for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Yasar Halit Cevik, said it reported 500 explosions along the contact line from Wednesday evening to Thursday. Cevik told the Security Council the tensions then appeared to ease, with about 30 blasts reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted that the kindergarten shelling “by pro-Russian forces is a big provocation.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov countered with the same: ”We have repeatedly warned that the excessive concentration of Ukrainian armed forces in the immediate vicinity of the line of demarcation, coupled with possible provocations, could pose a terrible danger.”

A 2015 deal brokered by France and Germany helped end the worst of the fighting, but regular skirmishes have continued and a political settlement has stalled.

Western powers scrambled to avert, or prepare for, eventual invasion.

NATO’s defense ministers discussed ways to bolster defenses in Eastern Europe, while EU leaders huddled over how to punish Russia if it invades. Blinken and Vice President Kamala Harris are among political, military and diplomatic leaders heading to the annual security conference in Munich that will see urgent consultations on the crisis.

China, a key Russian geopolitical ally, accused Washington of “playing up and sensationalizing the crisis and escalating tensions.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the U.S. should “take seriously and address Russia’s legitimate and reasonable concerns on security assurance.”

At NATO headquarters in Brussels, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin questioned the Russian troop pullout claims.

“We’ve seen some of those troops inch closer to that border. We see them fly in more combat and support aircraft,” he said. “We see them sharpen their readiness in the Black Sea. We even see them stocking up their blood supplies. You don’t do these sort of things for no reason, and you certainly don’t do them if you’re getting ready to pack up and go home.”

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the West has seen “an increase of troops over the last 48 hours, up to 7,000.” That squared with what a U.S. administration official said a day earlier.

Maxar Technologies, a commercial satellite imagery company monitoring the Russian buildup, reported continued heightened military activity near Ukraine. It noted a new pontoon bridge and a new field hospital in Belarus.

Russia says the pullout, announced earlier this week, will take time. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj.-Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Russian tank and infantry units holding drills in the Kursk and Bryansk regions neighboring Ukraine were returning to their bases in the Nizhny Novgorod region. He said some already were back after a 700-kilometer (435-mile) journey.

Troops on maneuvers in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, have moved back to Russia’s North Caucasus, he said, and Russian troops in Belarus will return to their garrisons after war games end Sunday. Konashenkov didn’t mention how many were deployed and didn’t say how many returned. 

Russia held out a new offer of diplomacy Thursday, handing the U.S. a response to offers to engage in talks on limiting missile deployments in Europe, restrictions on military drills and other confidence-building measures.

The response, released by the Foreign Ministry, deplored the West’s refusal to meet the main Russian security and demands and reaffirmed that Moscow could take unspecified “military-technical measures” if the U.S. and its allies continue to stonewall its concerns.

At the same time, it said Russia was ready to discuss limits on missile deployments, restrictions on patrol flights by strategic bombers and other confidence-building steps.

Meanwhile, Russia ordered the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Bart Gorman, to leave the country, in what the State Department called an “unprovoked” move. Russia said it was in response to the expulsion of a Russian diplomat. It appeared more linked to an ongoing U.S.-Russia battle over diplomatic staffing in Washington and Moscow than to Ukraine.

A man died after a school bus hit him in Urlabari Municipality-1, Morang on Thursday evening.

The deceased has been identified as Bhata Bahadur Shrestha (56) of Miklajung Rural Municipality-3.

Police said that the bus (Ba 1 Ka 5609) was heading towards north from south when the incident occurred along the Urlabari-Madhumalla road section.

Critically injured in the incident, Shrestha breathed his last during the course of treatment at the B and C hospital in Birtamod, Jhapa, traffic police Inspector Chandra Bahadur Khadka.

Police said that they have impounded the bus and arrested its driver Hariraj Bhattarai (60) for investigation.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba held a meeting with the main opposition CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli at the latter's residence in Balkot, Bhaktapur on Thursday.

During the meeting, PM Deuba sought help of Oli to endorse the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a Balkot source said.

PM Deuba appealed for the parliamentary ratification of the MCC.

"Prachanda and Madhav Nepal did not agree to ratify the MCC. You have taken the MCC ahead earlier also. The United States has also given the government of Nepal a deadline February 28 to endorse the MCC. We need your help to ratify the MCC," the Prime Minister said.

The duo also discussed the negative role played by Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota.

A meeting of the ruling coalition held to forge consensus on the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) ended inconclusively on Thursday after the CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist) refused to budge from their stance.

The meeting held for almost three hours failed to forge a common ground on the MCC.

Minister for Communications and Information Technology and government spokesperson Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that the meeting was focused on tabling the MCC in the Parliament.

All the parties floated their views on the MCC in the meeting.

The meeting will be held again at 10 am tomorrow to make a decision on the compact.

According to a source, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was in favour of tabling the MCC in tomorrow's Parliament meeting at any cost.

"There is no alternative to tabling the MCC in the Parliament," Karki said as PM Deuba saying.

In response, CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Nepal said that the MCC cannot be tabled in the existing form.

They said that it would be better to table the compact in the Parliament after the local level elections.

Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa, leader Krishna Sitaula, spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat, Law Minister Dilendra Prasad Badu, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, leader Narayankaji Shrestha, CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Nepal, leader Jhalanath Khanal, Janata Samajbadi Party Federal Council Chairman Baburam Bhattarai, and Rajendra Shrestha were present in the meeting.

Meanwhile, Janamorcha was not invited in the meeting.

The government has decided to add three more Additional Inspector Generals in the Nepal Police.

A Cabinet meeting held on Thursday made the decision to this effect, a minister said.

Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand had proposed to increase the number of Additional Inspector Generals in the Nepal Police.

With the addition, the number of Additional Inspector Generals in Nepal Police reached eight.

Similarly, the government has decided to appoint Ramesh Hamal as the Chairman of the Nepal Securities Board.

Nepal logged 570 new Covid-19 cases and six deaths on Thursday. 

With this, the country's active caseload mounted to 1,112,537. Similarly, the death toll has climbed to 11,905. 

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 7, 028 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 364 returned positive. Likewise, 2,761 people underwent antigen tests, of which 206 tested positive.

The Ministry said that 1,993 infected people recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours.

As of today, there are 16,616 active cases in the country. 

The Ministry said that 17,580 people are staying in home isolation while 671 are in institutionalized isolation.

Meanwhile, the Kathmandu Valley reported 199 new cases today.

According to the Ministry, 162 cases are reported in Kathmandu, 25 in Lalitpur and 12 in Bhaktapur.