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In Sri Lanka right now, before you've woken up, you're losing. 

Power cuts that run late into the sweltering nights steal hours of sleep as the fans cease; whole families waking up sapped from the months-long trial of shuffling their lives around daily blackouts after the country went bankrupt and essentially ran out of fuel, BBC reported.

There are long days to be lived; work days, errands to be run, daily essentials to be bought at twice the price they had been last month. 

All this, you're starting a little more broken than you were last week.

Once you've had breakfast - eating less than you used to, or perhaps nothing at all - the battle to find transport beckons.

In the cities, fuel queues curl around entire suburbs like gargantuan metal pythons, growing longer and fatter by the day, choking roads and crushing livelihoods. 

Tuk-tuk drivers with their eight-litre tanks are forced to spend days lining up before they can run hires again, for 48 hours perhaps, before they are forced to rejoin the queue, bringing pillows, changes of clothes and water to see them through the ordeal.

For a while, middle- and upper-class folk had brought meal packets and soft drinks for those queuing in their neighbourhoods. 

Lately, the cost of food, of cooking gas, of clothes, transport, and even what electricity the state will allow you to have, has sky-rocketed so egregiously as the rupee's value plummeted, that even largesse from the moneyed has been in short supply, according to BBC.

In working-class neighbourhoods, families have begun to band together around wood fire stoves, to prepare the simplest of meals - rice, and coconut sambol. 

Even dhal, a staple of the diet all over South Asia, has become a luxury. Meat? At three times the price it used to be? Forget it. 

Fresh fish was once abundant and affordable. Now, boats can't go out to sea, because there is no diesel. The fishermen that can go out sell their catch at vastly inflated rates to hotels and restaurants out of reach to most, BBC reported.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for violating George Floyd's civil rights, BBC reported.

Chauvin, 46, pleaded guilty to the separate federal civil rights charges in December.

He is already serving a 22-year state prison sentence for the on-duty murder of Mr Floyd, a 46-year-old black man.

The two sentences will run concurrently and Chauvin will now be moved to a federal prison.

But he will almost certainly spend more time behind bars following the sentencing. His sentence is due to be followed by five years of supervised release.

"George's life matters," Mr Floyd's brother, Philonese, said in court on Thursday as he asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence of 25 years.

Chauvin, who is white, was convicted on murder and manslaughter charges in Minnesota for kneeling on Mr Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes.

The killing - captured on a bystander's phone camera - sparked global outrage and a wave of demonstrations against racial injustice and police use of force, according to BBC.

The federal charges against Chauvin included two counts for depriving Mr Floyd of his rights by kneeling on his neck as he was in handcuffs, and by failing to provide medical care during the May 2020 arrest.

As part of the plea agreement, Chauvin also pleaded guilty to violating the rights of a then-14-year-old boy during another arrest that took place in 2017. 

According to the indictment, Chauvin held the boy by the throat, hit him in the head with a flashlight and held his knee on the boy's neck and upper back while he was handcuffed and not resisting. Like Mr Floyd, the boy was black. 

Prosecutors said that unreleased bodycam footage showed Chauvin kneeling on the boy's back for 17 minutes while he cried out for his mother. 

When Chauvin pleaded guilty, prosecutors asked that he serve his sentence concurrently with his murder sentence. He had been facing life in prison if we were to be convicted at a second criminal trial. 

In court on Thursday, his lawyer requested a sentence of 20 years, saying that he showed respect for the legal process during his trial and is not at risk of repeating his offenses. 

Addressing the court for what is likely to be his final legal hearing for years, Chauvin said that the judge had a difficult decision, given the "politically charged environment," and recognised that the court strives for fairness. 

Addressing Mr Floyd's children, some of whom were present in court, Chauvin said that he wishes them "all the best in their life" and that they have "excellent guidance in becoming good adults". He did not apologise, BBC reported.

"For your actions, you must be held accountable," Judge Paul Magnuson said before handing down the sentence.

He concluded the 35-minute hearing by wishing Chauvin "the very best in his future".

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has collapsed after he was shot at an event in the city of Nara, BBC reported.

According to news broadcaster NHK, Mr Abe was shot from the back and collapsed halfway during his speech, and appeared to be bleeding. His attacker was in custody, it added.

Ex-Tokyo governor Yoichi Masuzoe said in a tweet that Mr Abe was in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest, according to BBC.

Incidents of gun violence are rare in Japan, where handguns are banned.

The term cardiopulmonary arrest is often used in preliminary reports before a death is officially confirmed in Japan, reports say.

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from his Wimbledon semi-final against Nick Kyrgios with an abdominal injury, BBC reported.

The 36-year-old Spanish second seed received treatment during his quarter-final against Taylor Fritz on Wednesday but pushed through the pain to win in five sets.

"I have tried a lot of times in my career to keep going but it is obvious the injury will get worse," he said.

Kyrgios will play Novak Djokovic or Cameron Norrie in Sunday's final.

Nadal confirmed he has a tear in his abdominal muscle which means he would not be able to be competitive over two matches.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion had practised at Wimbledon away from the media earlier on Thursday but then called a news conference.

"Throughout the whole day I have been thinking about the decision to make," Nadal told reporters, according to BBC.

"I think it doesn't make sense to play. I feel very sad to say that."

Nadal had strapping on his abdomen during his fourth-round match but was in visible pain from the injury against Fritz.

He took a medical timeout during the match and ignored calls from his father and sister to quit before somehow rallying to win.

The two-time Wimbledon champion had been on course for a calendar Grand Slam, having won the Australian and French Opens already this year, BBC reported.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation Thursday after droves of top government officials quit over the latest scandal to engulf him, marking an end to three tumultuous years in which he tried to bluster his way through one ethical lapse after another, Associated Press reported.

Months of defiance ended almost with a shrug as Johnson stood outside No. 10 Downing St. and conceded that his party wanted him gone.

“Them’s the breaks,” he said.

The brash, 58-year-old politician who took Britain out of the European Union and steered it through COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine was brought down by one scandal too many — this one involving his appointment of a politician who had been accused of sexual misconduct.

The messiest of prime ministers did not leave cleanly. Johnson stepped down immediately as Conservative Party leader but said he would remain as prime minister until the party chooses his successor. The timetable for that process will be announced next week. The last leadership contest took six weeks.

But many want him to go now, with some Conservative politicians expressing fear he could do mischief even as a caretaker prime minister. 

“It’s very difficult to see how Boris Johnson, given the character that he is, is going to be able to govern for three months in quiet humility and contrition,” said George Freeman, who resigned as science minister on Thursday.

Among the possible candidates to succeed Johnson: former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.

About 50 Cabinet secretaries, ministers and lower-level officials quit the government over the past few days because of the latest scandal, often castigating the prime minister as lacking integrity.

The mass resignations stalled the business of some parliamentary committees because there were no ministers available to speak on the government’s behalf, according to Associated Press.

Johnson clung to power for days, defiantly telling lawmakers on Wednesday that he had a “colossal mandate” from the voters and intended to get on with the business of governing.

But he was forced to concede defeat Thursday morning after one of his closest allies, newly appointed Treasury chief Nadhim Zahawi, publicly told him to resign for the good of the country. 

“In the last few days, I tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we’re delivering so much and when we have such a vast mandate,” Johnson said. “I regret not to have been successful in those arguments, and of course it’s painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself.”

He said it is “clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister.”

Critics said the speech showed Johnson, to the end, refusing to take responsibility for or admit his mistakes.

Many Britons reacted to news of his resignation with relief and surprise, given his habit of digging in.

“It felt like he can just keep on going and keep on ignoring it, so I was bit surprised this morning when saw it on my phone,” Himmat Dalyway, an investment trader in his 20s, said outside an Underground station in London. “Are you still 100% sure that he is going?″

As Johnson gathered his cobbled-together Cabinet for a meeting after his resignation announcement, he promised not to rock the boat in his remaining weeks. He told members the government would not “seek to implement new policies or make major changes of direction.”

It was a humiliating defeat for Johnson, who not only pulled off Brexit but was also credited with rolling out one of the world’s most successful mass vaccination campaigns to combat COVID-19. 

But the perpetually rumpled, shaggy-haired leader known for answering his critics with bombast and bluster was also dogged by allegations he behaved as if the rules did not apply to him, Associated Press reported.

He managed to remain in power despite accusations that he was too close to party donors, that he protected supporters from bullying and corruption allegations, and that he misled Parliament about government office parties that broke COVID-19 lockdown rules.

When allegations of Downing Street parties emerged, Johnson told lawmakers “there was no party” and no rules were broken. But when photos of the prime minister raising a glass in front of a group of people surfaced, critics, some of them inside the Conservative Party, said Johnson had lied to Parliament — traditionally a resigning matter.

The prime minister was fined by police over the parties and survived a no-confidence vote last month in Parliament in which 41% of Conservative lawmakers tried to oust him.

Johnson became prime minister in July 2019, succeeding Theresa May, who resigned after Parliament rejected the Brexit agreement she negotiated with the EU. Johnson pushed his own Brexit deal through in an often messy and turbulent debate.

With his mop of unruly blond hair, he often looked like a schoolboy who had just rolled out of bed and run to class with his pajamas under his clothes.

In his rise to power he showed many of the same habits and abilities that would carry him far but also spell his downfall: He was an ebullient, attention-loving mayor of London; a journalist who was fired for making up a quote and filed exaggerated stories about EU excesses; and a politician with an Eton- and Oxford-honed talent for colorful oratory and the thrust and parry of debate.

He became known for his light regard for the truth and his glib and offensive remarks. He called Papua New Guineans cannibals and likened Muslim women who wear face-covering veils to “letter boxes.”

Recent disclosures that Johnson knew about sexual misconduct allegations against a Conservative lawmaker before he promoted him to a senior position in government proved to be one scandal too many.

The crisis began when Chris Pincher resigned as deputy chief whip amid accusations that he had groped two men at a private club. That triggered a series of reports about past allegations against Pincher.

Johnson offered shifting explanations about what he knew and when he knew it. That just heightened the sense that the prime minister couldn’t be trusted, according to Associated Press.

Key Cabinet members Javid and Sunak, who were responsible, respectively, for fighting COVID-19 and inflation, resigned within minutes of each other Tuesday. That set off the wave of departures by their colleagues.

Now with a leadership election upon them, the Conservatives will have to decide whether they can stomach Johnson as a caretaker leader, a job that normally entails saying little and doing nothing.

“To be honest, I think a lot of the public will want to see him gone straightaway,” said Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London. “You know, they don’t want to see him hanging around like a bad smell in Downing Street.”

If you ever find yourself looking for a place to drink a refreshing cup of tea while wandering the streets of Basantapur with your friends, head to Mama’s Tea Shop and you won’t be disappointed. Located in the heart of Basantapur, this tea shop has been in business for nearly three decades. It’s a favorite hangout spot for countless locals and visitors alike. Sip on hot tea and chit-chat with your friends, or just soak in the surroundings of Basantapur. Sitting on bamboo mats or stools with a steaming brew cupped in your hands is as local as you can get. While you are there, don’t forget to try the doughnuts, a perfect tea companion. 

Their special:

Milk Tea 

Opening hours: 

Morning: 6:00 am to 11:00 am 

Evenning: 2:00 pm to 9:00 pm 

Location: Basantapur, Kathmandu

Drinks for 2: Rs. 50

Online Payment: No

Contact: 9841629989 

I am a 26-year-old student with anger issues. I have no control whatsoever over my anger. Minor inconveniences irritate me and on a bad day, this irritation morphs into a full-blown violent episode: I bang doors and throw stuff. Sometimes, I don’t remember what I did in a fit of rage. I feel extremely guilty after my outburst, but I cannot help myself. How can I prevent something like this from happening in the future when I cannot even remember what I did? My behavior is pushing my friends and well-wishers away. Please help. —An annoyed fellow

Answered by Alisha Humagain, Psychological Counselor, Happy Minds 

Anger is a built-in part of the body’s “fight, flight, or freeze” system, which helps protect us from threats or dangers. Everyone occasionally feels angry, which is common. But if you are unable to control your anger, it can create issues in your relationship with family and peers.

It is important to know that anger and aggression are different things. Anger is an emotion but aggression is related to how a person behaves. Not everyone with anger will show aggression, and not everyone who acts aggressively is angry.

Everyone experiences anger, but there are ways to control it so that it doesn’t spiral out of control. Being aware of the changes in your body, emotions, and behaviors caused by anger can help you decide how you want to react to a situation before you act. Walking away or even pausing for a minute before saying something or reacting can help you get a hold of yourself. 

When you feel like you’re starting to get mad, start counting to 10 slowly. It will help you reduce the intensity of the anger. Releasing tension from your body also helps you calm down. To release tension, drop your shoulders, unclench your jaws, and stretch your body. 

When you are angry it is also common to jump to conclusions. If you find yourself in an argument with someone, take some time to listen and pause before responding. You also have to remember that sometimes when our emotions are running high a situation might seem much worse than it really is. Writing down all your negative thoughts and feelings in a journal can also help you release the anger you might be holding inside. You can also look for other distractions such as listening to music, taking a walk, or even just taking a shower. Diverting your negative thoughts will help you realize that the thing making you angry is not a big deal. 

You can also try using relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation to mitigate anger. If you are unable to control your aggressive tendencies even after trying these strategies, it is best to seek professional help. And remember, addressing the problem is the first step towards healing. 

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a short-term interim order directing the government not to implement the decision to suspend Nepal Airlines Corporation Chairman Yuvaraj Adhikari.

A single bench of Justice Til Prasad Shrestha issued the order today.

The apex court directed the defendants to furnish written clarification within 15 days.

According to the demand of the petitioner, both the parties have been called for discussion on July 12.

The government had decided to suspend Adhikari on June 20. Similarly, Capitan Dipuraj Jwarchan was appointed as the Chairman of the NAC on June 23.