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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".

The heads of UK and US security services have made an unprecedented joint appearance to warn of the threat from China, BBC reported.

FBI director Christopher Wray said China was the "biggest long-term threat to our economic and national security" and had interfered in politics, including recent elections. 

MI5 head Ken McCallum said his service had more than doubled its work against Chinese activity in the last three years and would be doubling it again. 

MI5 is now running seven times as many investigations related to activities of the Chinese Communist Party compared to 2018, he added. 

The FBI's Wray warned that if China was to forcibly take Taiwan it would "represent one of the most horrific business disruptions the world has ever seen".

The first ever joint public appearance by the two directors came at MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London. 

McCallum also said the challenge posed by the Chinese Communist Party was "game-changing", while Wray called it "immense" and "breath-taking".

Wray warned the audience - which included chief executives of businesses and senior figures from universities - that the Chinese government was "set on stealing your technology" using a range of tools, according to BBC.

He said it posed "an even more serious threat to western businesses than even many sophisticated businesspeople realised". He cited cases in which people linked to Chinese companies out in rural America had been digging up genetically modified seeds which would have cost them billions of dollars and nearly a decade to develop themselves. 

He also said China deployed cyber espionage to "cheat and steal on a massive scale", with a hacking programme larger than that of every other major country combined.

The MI5 head said intelligence about cyber threats had been shared with 37 countries and that in May a sophisticated threat against aerospace had been disrupted. 

McCallum also pointed to a series of examples linked to China. These included a British aviation expert who had received an approach online and had been offered an attractive employment opportunity. He travelled to China twice to be "wined and dined" before being asked for technical information on military aircraft by a company which was actually a front for Chinese intelligence officers. 

"That's where we stepped in," said McCallum. He also said one engineering firm had been approached by a Chinese company which led to its technology being taken before the deal was then called off, forcing the company, Smith's Harlow, to go into administration in 2020.

And he pointed to the interference alert issued by Parliament in January about the activities of Christine Lee. He said these types of operations aimed to amplify pro-Chinese communist party voices and silence those that questioned its authority. "It needs to be challenged," the MI5 head said. 

In the US, the FBI director said the Chinese government had directly interfered in a congressional election in New York this spring because they did not want a candidate who was a critic and former protester at Tiananmen Square to be elected, BBC reported.

They had done so, he said, by hiring a private investigator to dig up derogatory information. When they could not find anything, he said there had been an effort to manufacture a controversy using a sex worker before even suggesting staging a car accident.

Wray said China was drawing "all sorts of lessons" from the conflict in Ukraine. This included trying to insulate themselves from any future sanctions of the type that have hit Russia. If China did invade Taiwan, the economic disruption would be much greater than that seen this year, he said, with western investments in China becoming "hostages" and supply chains disrupted. 

"I don't have any reason to think their interest in Taiwan has abated in any fashion," the FBI director told journalists after the speech.

The MI5 head said new legislation would help to deal with the threat but the UK also needed to become a "harder target" by ensuring that all parts of society were more aware of the risks. He said that reform of the visa system had seen over 50 students linked to the Chinese military leaving the UK, according to BBC.

"China has for far too long counted on being everybody's second-highest priority," Wray said, adding: "They are not flying under the radar anymore."

Perhaps having once led a guerrilla army to overthrow the state, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma found it much easier to bat away charges of working for vested interests while drafting the national budget. He was accused of bringing in a pair of unauthorized personnel into the Ministry of Finance the night before budget-presentation. The pair, as first reported in Annapurna Post, proceeded to dictate certain tax and excise rates to top ministry officials. The rates they set later appeared in the national budget. Sharma denies the charges. The best way to establish his innocence would have been to make public the ministry’s CCTV footage of the night. But when requested to produce the footage, the ministry put out an astonishing statement that the 13-day-old record had been deleted: legally, government bodies are required to keep such records for at least three months. The malafide intent of Sharma and his cronies in the ministry was thus established.     

Such a grave breach of law called for Sharma’s immediate sacking and the start of a judicial inquiry. The public image of the Sher Bahadur Deuba government was deteriorating the longer the tainted finance minister stayed in office. More than that, if there was to be no consequences for such open misuse of power, people’s belief in rule of law would have been shattered. 

A lot was at stake. If the taxes people paid with their hard-earned money were being so brazenly misused, tomorrow they would have all the right in the world to stop paying. Again, Sharma’s wrongdoing had strained the delicate trust between the government and the electorate. Thankfully, he has now stepped down and a parliamentary probe against him has been started. What we want is an impartial investigation and if he is found guilty, legal measures befitting the crime. At the same time, the tax and excise rates that appeared in the national budget at the insistence of vested interests must be changed in the interest of the people. This wonderful opportunity to set a strong precedent for Nepal’s present and future rulers must not be lost.

The Indian rupee hit a record low against the US dollar on Tuesday as concerns of a wider current account deficit came to the forefront after the country’s trade deficit hit an all-time high in June, Reuters reported.

Data late on Monday showed India’s June trade deficit widened to a record high of $25.63 billion, following a rise in crude oil and coal imports, from $9.61 billion a year earlier.

Analysts and economists are expecting the country’s current account deficit to widen to around 3.2% of the GDP in fiscal year 2023 compared with 1.2% in 2022.

The partially convertible rupee closed trading at 79.37/38 per dollar, after hitting a life low of 79.3750. It had touched the previous record low of 79.12 last week and had closed trading at 78.95 on Monday.

“We expect India’s widening current account deficit to remain an ongoing drag for INR, with limited offsets from India’s FDI and overseas investment inflows, exacerbated by ongoing FPI outflows,” Sonal Varma, economist at Nomura, said.

“Therefore, we expect USD/INR to reach 82 by Q3 2022 and 81 by Q4 2022. One risk to our view is the RBI’s USD selling intervention, which could slow the pace of INR depreciation.”

The domestic share market turned negative towards the end of trade to close down 0.2%, adding to the pressure on the rupee, according to Reuters.

Foreign portfolio outflows from equities in the month of June stood at $6.6 billion, the highest since March 2020, taking the total outflows so far in 2022 to over $30 billion.

Traders said the central bank sold dollars sporadically and helped stem a steeper fall in the local unit, but expectations of aggressive rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and the resultant wider interest rate differential is expected to keep the weakening bias in the rupee.

Goldman Sachs in a recent note said given the changes in the brokerage’s balance of payments forecast, they have revised their 3, 6 and 12 month forecasts on the USD/INR to 80, 81 and 81 compared with 79, 79 and 78 previously, Reuters reported.