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Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Nepal, Dr Thomas Prinz called on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. 

During the meeting, he handed over a letter from Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Prime Minister Deuba suggesting to continue Germany’s support to Nepal’s development efforts in the following core

areas:

1. Sustainable Economic Development

2. Climate and Energy

3. Health and Social Protection

Issuing a statement on Sunday, the German Embassy in Nepal said that it is pleased to inform that the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of the Federal Republic of Germany has decided to continue with the bilateral development cooperation with Nepal beyond 2023.

The German Ambassador Dr Thomas Prinz said: “I am extremely happy that the German Government has decided to continue bilateral development cooperation with Nepal. It gives us the chance to jointly tackle important challenges like climate change.”

Nepal and Germany have had long-standing bilateral cooperation for over 60 years.

German Development Cooperation has been supporting Nepal’s efforts in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Immediate support was also provided for Covid-19 response. 

Since September 2021, Germany supports Nepal’s shift to a green, resilient, and inclusive development (GRID) pathway as signed on the Kathmandu Declaration on GRID, endorsed by the Government of Nepal and 17 Development Partners.

An unassuming patch of red dirt in remote Australia has made history as the site of Nasa's first rocket launch from a commercial spaceport outside the US, BBC reported.

The sub-orbital rocket blasted off from the tiny site early on Monday local time.

It will enable astrophysics studies that can only be undertaken in the Southern Hemisphere, Nasa says.

The launch was also the first in Australia in more than 25 years.

The rocket is Nasa's first of three to blast off from the newly constructed Arnhem Space Centre on the edge of the Northern Territory.

Scientists hope it will help them study the impact of a star's light on the habitability of nearby planets.

Onlookers who travelled to the remote site glimpsed the rocket for only about 10 seconds before it entered the Earth's atmosphere.

"It was in the blink of an eye, but to me, it was like it was in slow motion because the whole area just lit up," Yirrkala School co-principal Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, according to BBC.

"It went up, and then the sound, it was just like a rumbling boom, like nothing I've ever heard. And I just shook with amazement."

The sounding rocket's tenure in space was similarly short - the 13m-long projectile fell back to Earth after a planned 15 minutes.

But experts believe the data gathered in that time will help illuminate the secrets of star constellations 430 million light years away.

"Without getting too deep into the science, it was effectively a large X-ray camera looking at various astrological phenomenon and trying to capture parts of boulders in the Milky Way and particularly the star cluster of Alpha Centauri," Arnhem Space Centre chief executive Michael Jones told the local network Nine.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles hailed the launch as an "extremely proud" moment for Australia, adding it was conducted with the blessing of the region's Aboriginal traditional owners.

"Here on Yolngu land, young Territorians can look up at the sky and know what can be done," Ms Fyles said.

"When we see the oldest living culture combining with the science of space, as we have here, it's something we can all reflect on and be very proud."

Australia has stepped up its space efforts in recent times, unveiling a defence agency focused on countering Russia and China's ambitions in space.

The Arnhem Space Centre is the first and only commercially owned and run equatorial launch site in the world, BBC reported.

"We have achieved a remarkable feat and made a huge mark in the history of Australia's journey in space," Mr Jones said in a statement.

"[It] confirms that we and Australia can provide access to space and this is just the beginning for us."

The next launch is expected to take place on 4 July.

Nasa has pledged to collect all material and debris and return them to the US, according to BBC.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to urge delivery of more heavy weapons when he addresses the G7 group of wealthy nations later, BBC reported.

It follows a barrage of Russian missile strikes on Kyiv and other areas over the weekend, which killed at least one.

In eastern Ukraine, Russia has taken full control of Severodonetsk and is targeting nearby Lysychansk.

On Sunday Mr Zelensky said delaying arms deliveries was "an invitation to Russia to strike again and again".

Speaking via his daily video address he also called for air defence systems and new sanctions on Russia.

"Partners need to move faster if they are really partners, not observers," he said.

The war in Ukraine is top of the G7 agenda and nations are expected to promise further military support for Kyiv and more sanctions on Moscow, according to BBC.

Western leaders are attempting to present a united front, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz saying Russian missile strikes showed it was "right to stand together and support Ukrainians". Earlier US President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin was counting on Nato and the G7 to "splinter... but we haven't and we're not going to".

However, BBC diplomatic correspondent James Landale, who is at the summit, says Western unity over the war has faltered in recent weeks, with some leaders discussing long-term relationships with Russia and others stressing strong, lasting support for Ukraine.

The G7 summit in Bavaria will be followed by a Nato meeting in Spain later in the week at which Mr Zelensky is also expected to speak, BBC reported.

At least four people have been killed and scores more were injured after a stand collapsed during a bullfight in central Colombia, BBC reported.

Footage has emerged showing the three-storey wooden stand filled with spectators falling at a stadium in El Espinal, Tolima department.

The traditional "corraleja" event involved members of the public entering the ring to engage the bulls.

President-elect Gustavo Petro urged local officials to ban such events.

"I ask mayors not to allow more events involving the death of people or animals," he said.

It was not the first time such an accident had happened, he added.

The dead included two women, a man and a child, Tolima Governor Jose Ricardo Orozco said, and at least 30 people were seriously injured. There are fears that the death toll will rise further.

A bull also escaped from the stadium and caused panic in the municipality, according to BBC.

Local councillor Iván Ferney Rojas said the town's hospital and ambulance services were unable to cope with the number of injured, El Tiempo newspaper reports.

"We need support from ambulances and neighbouring hospitals, many people are still unattended," Mr Rojas is quoted as saying.

Sunday's event was part of celebrations of the popular San Pedro festival.

However Mr Orozco said his regional authority would move to ban the corralejas, saying they were dangerous and cruel to animals, BBC reported.

Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following leaders to serve as key leaders in his administration: 

• Anjali Chaturvedi, Nominee for General Counsel, US
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Patrice H. Kunesh, Nominee for Commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans, US Department of Health and Human Services
• Kristina A. Kvien, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Armenia
• Robert William Forden, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Cambodia
• Lucy Tamlyn, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Randy W. Berry, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Namibia
• Pamela M. Tremont, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Zimbabwe
• Manuel P. Micaller, Jr., Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Tajikistan
• Kimberly McClain, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Rolfe Michael Schiffer, Nominee for Assistant Administrator for Asia, United States Agency for International Development
• Moshe Marvit, Nominee for Member of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
• Robert E. Primus, Nominee for Member of the Surface Transportation Board
• Thomas E. Harvey, Nominee for Member of the Veterans Affairs Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission

Russia shattered weeks of relative calm in the Ukrainian capital with long-range missiles fired toward Kyiv early Sunday, an apparent Kremlin show-of-force as Western leaders meet in Europe to strengthen their military and economic support of Ukraine, Associated Press reported.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the missiles hit at least two residential buildings, and killed one person and injured six others, including a 7-year-old girl and her mother. Associated Press journalists saw emergency workers battling flames and rescuing civilians from the buildings.

The strikes also damaged a nearby kindergarten, where a crater pocked the courtyard. US President Joe Biden called the attacks “barbarism” after he arrived in Germany for a Group of Seven summit. 

Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said the first air-launched weapons to successfully target the capital since June 5 were Kh-101 cruise missiles fired from warplanes over the Caspian Sea, more than 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) away.

Kyiv’s mayor told journalists he thought the airstrikes were “maybe a symbolic attack” ahead of a NATO summit in Madrid that starts Tuesday. A former commander of US forces in Europe said the strikes also were a signal to the leaders of G-7 nations meeting Sunday in Germany, according to Associated Press.

“Russia is saying, ‘We can do this all day long. You guys are powerless to stop us,’” retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the former commanding general of US Army forces in Europe, said. “The Russians are humiliating the leaders of the West.”

The G-7 leaders were set to announce the latest in a long series of international economic steps to pressure and isolate Russia over its war in Ukraine: new bans on imports of Russian gold. Standing with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the three-day meeting’s host, Biden said of the missile strikes on Kyiv: “It’s more of their barbarism.” 

A Ukrainian parliament member, Oleksiy Goncharenko, wrote on the Telegram messaging app that preliminary information indicated that Russia launched 14 missiles toward the capital region and Kyiv itself, suggesting that some were intercepted. 

In a phone interview, retired U.S. general Hodges told The Associated Press that Russia has a limited stock of precision missiles and “if they are using them, it’s going to be for a special purpose,” 

Russia has denied targeting civilians during the 4-month-old war, and Hodges said it was hard to know if the missiles launched Sunday were intended to strike the apartments buildings.

Russian forces tried to seize control of Kyiv early in the war. After Ukrainian troops repelled them, the Kremlin largely shifted its focus to southern and eastern Ukraine.

Russian rocket strikes in the city of Cherkasy, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Kyiv, killed one person and injured five, regional governor Ihor Taburets said Sunday, Associated Press reported. 

In the east, Russian troops fought to consolidate their gains by battling to swallow up the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in Luhansk province. Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai said Sunday that Russia was conducting intense airstrikes on the city of Lysychansk, destroying its television tower and seriously damaging a road bridge.

“There’s very much destruction. Lysychansk is almost unrecognizable,” he wrote on Facebook.

For weeks, Lysychansk and the nearby city of Sievierodonetsk have been subject to a bloody and destructive offensive by Russian forces and their separatist allies aimed at capturing all of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. 

They have made steady and slow progress, with Haidai confirming Saturday that Sievierodonetsk, including a chemical plant where hundreds of Ukrainian troops and civilians were holed up, had fallen. 

Commenting on the battle for Sievierodonetsk, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said late Saturday that Russian and Moscow-backed separatist forces now control not only the city but the villages surrounding it. He said the Russian military had thwarted Ukrainian forces’ attempt to turn the Azot chemical plant into a “stubborn center of resistance.” 

Capturing Lysychansk would give Russian and separatist forces control of every major settlement in Luhansk. At last report, they controlled about half of Donetsk, the second province in the Donbas, according to Associated Press.

On Saturday, Russia launched dozens of missiles on several areas across the country far from the heart of the eastern battles. Some of the missiles were fired from Russian long-range Tu-22 bombers deployed from Belarus for the first time, Ukraine’s air command said.

The Supreme Court on Sunday issued an order directing the government not to remove Balkrishna Basnet from the post of Chairman of Press Council Nepal, giving continuity to the short-term order issued four months ago.

A joint bench of Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Hari Phuyal directed the government not to proceed with the process of clarification asked with an objective to remove Chairman Basnet.

Saying that the government tried to remove Basnet without legal basis, advocates Ananta Raj Luintel, Bikash Bhattarai, Bishal Kumar Upadhyay and Prathiva Uprety during the hearing held today demanded an interim order to thwart the government's preparations.

Earlier on March 3, a single bench of Justice Tej Bahadur KC issued a short-term order not to remove Basnet.

Basnet had moved the apex court arguing that the Council of Ministers asked for clarification with an intention to remove him.

Basnet, who is also the advocate, was appointed by the erstwhile KP Sharma Oli-led government for four years.