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A man once married to singer Britney Spears - for 55 hours - has been charged with felony stalking after showing up unannounced during her wedding to Sam Asghari, BBC reported.

Jason Alexander, 40, pleaded not guilty to the charge, as well as to trespassing, battery and vandalism.

He was arrested last week after allegedly gate-crashing and streaming a video from inside Spears' home.

Mr Alexander was briefly married to the pop star, a childhood friend, in 2004. 

But the union was annulled after less than three days.

Spears, 40, and her longtime partner Asghari, 28, tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in California last week.

But preparations were disrupted when Mr Alexander was arrested after allegedly gatecrashing. He streamed a video apparently from inside the singer's home, before being tackled by security.

Shortly beforehand he had posted an Instagram Live story in which he said he was there to "crash" the wedding, according to BBC.

His video showed him walking through Spears' home looking for her, and then going into a marquee where the finishing touches were being put to a large display of roses. He claimed Spears had invited him, saying: "She's my first wife, my only wife."

Mr Alexander was arrested by officers from the Ventura County Sheriff's Office and taken to a local jail.

"He was able to find his way onto the property and was confronted by security," a police spokesman said.

"An altercation occurred with the security officers and that's where the battery occurred... and during the altercation an item was broken, so that's where the vandalism comes into play. And by being on private property, the trespass comes into play."

On Monday, a judge set bail at $100,000 (£82,290) and issued a restraining order requiring Mr Alexander to stay at least 100 yards (91 metres) from Spears for three years.

He attended the hearing virtually.

Spears' wedding ceremony, which went ahead despite the disturbance, was attended by stars including Madonna, Paris Hilton, Selena Gomez, Drew Barrymore, Ansel Elgort and will.i.am.

In November, the singer was released from a controversial 13-year legal guardianship, under which her father Jamie controlled many aspects of her life, BBC reported.

Her father, mother and sister were reportedly not at the wedding after relations broke down over the arrangement, and Spears' legal battle to end it.

Spears met her new husband, a personal trainer, in 2016 on the set of her music video for the song Slumber Party. She was previously married to dancer Kevin Federline from 2004 to 2007, according to BBC.

The UK government has published plans to get rid of parts of the post-Brexit deal it agreed with the EU in 2019, BBC reported.

It wants to change the Northern Ireland Protocol to make it easier for some goods to flow from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

But the EU opposes the move, saying that going back on the deal breaches international law.

The government said there is "no other way" of safeguarding essential interests of the UK. 

It argues the term "necessity" is used in international law to justify situations where "the only way a state can safeguard an essential interest" is by disapplying - or breaking - another international obligation.

It adds that action taken must not "seriously impair" essential interests of other states. 

The alterations are set out in the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, to be debated and voted on by Parliament, according to BBC.

The government is promising to remove "unnecessary" paperwork on goods checks and that businesses in Northern Ireland will get the same tax breaks as those elsewhere in the UK.

The bill will also ensure that any trade disputes are resolved by "independent arbitration" and not by the European Court of Justice, it adds.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said it was "a reasonable, practical solution to the problems facing Northern Ireland" and that the UK could "only make progress through negotiations if the EU are willing to change the protocol itself", adding: "At the moment they aren't."

"We are very clear that we're acting in line with the law," she said, BBC reported.

The government said it would prefer a "negotiated solution" with the EU that avoids the need for the bill to become law.

Nepal reported 15 new Covid-19 cases on Monday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 2, 086 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which nine returned positive. Likewise, 1, 125 people underwent antigen tests, of which six were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 13  infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 102 active cases in the country.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index plunged by 15. 82 points to close at 2,032.34 points on Monday. 

Similarly, the sensitive index fell 2. 27 points to reach 389.98 points.

A total of 2,920,705 units of shares of 230 companies were traded for Rs 998 billion.

Likewise, all sub-indices saw red in today’s market with Life insurance on the top of the table. 

At the end of the day, total market civilization stands at Rs 2. 98 trillion.

Ministers from Australia, Japan, and Singapore who are co-conveners of WTO e-commerce negotiations have launched the E-commerce Capacity Building Framework to strengthen digital inclusion and to help developed and least developed countries harness the opportunities of digital trade.

In a statement issued on 13 June during the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, they underlined the importance of developing global rules on e-commerce. They said electronic commerce is of critical importance to the modern global economy and is driving the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Framework will bring together a wide range of technical assistance and capacity-building efforts to support countries participating in the E-Commerce JSI and harnessing the opportunity of digital trade through providing training and assistance to help to develop and least developed countries, the statement reads.

China’s defense minister accused the United States on Sunday of trying to “hijack” the support of countries in the Asia-Pacific region to turn them against Beijing, saying Washington is seeking to advance its own interests “under the guise of multilateralism”, Associated Press reported.

Defense Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe lashed out at U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, rejecting his “smearing accusation” the day before at the Shangri-La Dialogue that China was causing instability with its claim to the self-governing island of Taiwan and its increased military activity in the area.

Austin had stressed the need for multilateral partnerships with nations in the Indo-Pacific, which Wei suggested was an attempt to back China into a corner.

“No country should impose its will on others or bully others under the guise of multilateralism,” he said. “ The strategy is an attempt to build an exclusive small group in the name of a free and open Indo-Pacific to hijack countries in our region and target one specific country — it is a strategy to create conflict and confrontation to contain and encircle others.”

China has been rapidly modernizing its military and seeking to expand its influence and ambitions in the region, recently signing a security agreement with the Solomon Islands that many fear could lead to a Chinese naval base in the Pacific, and breaking ground this past week on a naval port expansion project in Cambodia that could give Beijing a foothold in the Gulf of Thailand, according to the Associated Press.

Last year US officials accused China of testing a hypersonic missile, a weapon harder for missile defense systems to counter, but China insisted it had been a “routine test of a spacecraft.”

Answering a question about the test on Sunday, Wei came the closest so far to acknowledging it was, indeed, a hypersonic missile, saying, “As for hypersonic weapons, many countries are developing weapons and I think there’s no surprise that China is doing so.”

“China will develop its military,” he added. “I think it’s natural.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month said China represented the “most serious long-term challenge to the international order” for the United States, with its claims to Taiwan and efforts to dominate the strategic South China Sea, Associated Press reported.

The US and its allies have responded with so-called freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, sometimes encountering a pushback from China’s military.

Wei accused the US of “meddling in the affairs of our region” with the patrols, and “flexing the muscles by sending warships and warplanes on a rampage in the South China Sea.”

China has squared off with the Philippines and Vietnam, among others, over maritime claims and Wei said it was up to the countries in the region to find their own solutions.

“China calls for turning the South China Sea into a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation,” he said. “This is the shared wish and responsibility of countries in the region.”

Taiwan and China split during a civil war in 1949, but China claims the island as its own territory, and has not ruled out the use of military force to take it, while maintaining it is a domestic political issue, according to the Associated Press.

CPN-UML lawmaker Yogesh Bhattarai expressed his serious objection to the role of an unauthorized person in the budget formulation process.

Speaking at the meeting of the House of Representatives on Monday, he expressed his dissatisfaction for using an unauthorized person by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma in the formulation of the budget for the next fiscal year.

He demanded the resignation of Minister Sharma.

"The Finance Minister has come into controversy. Hence, he should resign immediately," the former Tourism Minister said.

He demanded the resignation of the Finance Minister in the Parliament after the news came in the media that he had taken a former non-gazetted officer to the Ministry and changed the tax rate on May 28, the day before the budget was presented in the Parliament.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 300 per tola in the domestic market on Monday.

With the price drop, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 98, 900 per tola today.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association, the yellow metal was traded at Rs 99, 200 per tola on Sunday.

Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 98, 400 per tola today.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1, 265 per tola.