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Striking harder at Russia’s economy, President Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered a ban on Russian oil importsin retaliation for Vladimir Putin’s onslaught in Ukraine, Associated Press reported.

The major trade action, responding to the pleas of Ukraine’s embattled leader, thrust the U.S. out front as Western nations seek to halt Putin’s invasion.

Americans will feel pain, too — at the gas pump — Biden acknowledged, declaring, “Defending freedom is going to cost.”

The imports have been a glaring omission in the massive sanctions put in place on Russia over the invasion. Energy exports have kept a steady stream of cash flowing to Russia despite otherwise severe restrictions on its financial sector. 

“We will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war,” Biden said, calling the new action a “powerful blow” against Russia’s ability to fund the ongoing offensive.

Biden said the U.S. was acting in close consultation with European allies, who are more dependent on Russian energy supplies and who he acknowledged may not be able to join in immediately. The announcement marked the latest Biden attempt at cutting off Russia from much of the global economy and ensuring that the Ukraine invasion is a strategic loss for Putin, even if he manages to seize territory, according to the Associated Press.

“Ukraine will never be a victory for Putin,” Biden said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a tweet praised Biden’s action: “Thankful for US and @POTUS personal leadership in striking in the heart of Putin’s war machine and banning oil, gas and coal from US market. Encourage other countries and leaders to follow.”

The European Union this week will commit to phasing out its reliance on Russia for energy needs as soon as possible, but filling the void without crippling EU economies will likely take some time. The U.K., which is no longer part of the EU, announced Tuesday that oil and oil products from Russia will be phased out by the end of the year, Associated Press reported.

Unlike the U.S., which is a major oil and gas producer, Europe relies on imports for 90% of its gas and 97% of its oil products. Russia supplies 40% of Europe’s gas and a quarter of its oil. The U.S. does not import Russian natural gas.

The issue of oil sanctions has created a conflict for the president between political interests at home and efforts to impose costs on Russia. Though Russian oil makes up only a small part of U.S. imports, Biden has said he was reluctant to ban it, cutting into supplies here and pushing gasoline prices higher, according to the Associated Press.

Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has instructed leaders and cadres of the party to work towards ensuring a majority for the party in the upcoming elections from the local to the federal level.

At a meeting of the party’s top leaders and central members held at the party office in Sanpea today, he urged the party leaders to set aside minor differences and focus on building an atmosphere to win a majority for the party.

Deuba also urged all not to oppose the current ruling coalition in the election campaign to be organized by the party, said Central Member Nain Singh Mahar, who attended the meeting. 

The Nepali Congress (NC) has decided to launch a nationwide month-long election campaign starting March 13, targeting the upcoming election.

In the meeting, Mahar said he proposed that the election campaign and strategy targeting the upcoming election should be decided through a meeting of the Central Committee. He stressed the need to forge an electoral alliance according to the needs of the local level concerned. RSS

Evacuations of people fleeing embattled Ukrainian cities along safe corridors began Tuesday, while U.N. officials said the exodus of refugees from Russia’s invasion reached 2 million, Associated Press reported.

The Russian onslaught has trapped people inside cities that are running low on food, water and medicine amid the biggest ground war in Europe since World War II.

Previous attempts to lead civilians to safety have crumbled with renewed attacks. But on Tuesday, video posted by Ukrainian officials showed buses with people moving along a snowy road from the eastern city of Sumy and yellow buses with a red cross on them heading toward the southern port of Mariupol.

It was not clear how long the efforts would last.

“The Ukrainian city of Sumy was given a green corridor, the first stage of evacuation began,” the Ukrainian state communications agency tweeted.

While some people fled to other cities in Ukraine, many have chosen to leave the country instead. Safa Msehli, a spokesperson for the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration, tweeted that 2 million have now left, including at least 100,000 people who are not Ukrainian, according to Associated Press.

With the invasion well into its second week, Russian troops have made significant advances in southern Ukraine but stalled in some other regions. Ukrainian soldiers and volunteers fortified the capital, Kyiv, with hundreds of checkpoints and barricades designed to thwart a takeover. A steady rain of shells and rockets fell on other population centers, including the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where the mayor reported heavy artillery fire.

“We can’t even gather up the bodies because the shelling from heavy weapons doesn’t stop day or night,” Mayor Anatol Fedoruk said. “Dogs are pulling apart the bodies on the city streets. It’s a nightmare.”

In one of the most desperate cities, Mariupol, an estimated 200,000 people — nearly half the population of 430,000 — hoped to flee.

Russia’s coordination center for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine and Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk both said a cease-fire was agreed to start Tuesday morning to allow some civilians to evacuate, but it was not clear where all the corridors would lead to, amid disagreement between the two sides, Associated Press reported.

Russia’s coordination center suggested there would be more than one corridor, but that most would lead to Russia, either directly or through Belarus. At the U.N., however, the Russian ambassador suggested corridors from several cities could be opened and people could choose for themselves which direction they would take.

Vereshchuk, meanwhile, only said that the two sides had agreed to an evacuation of civilians from the eastern city of Sumy, toward the Ukrainian city of Poltava. Those to be evacuated include foreign students from India and China, she said.

CPN-UML Chair and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said nation building is the priority of his party. 

In his address to a party programme in Pokhara today, leader Oli was of the view that party cadres should voluntarily dedicate their time for the building of society not for gaining posts and positions. 

Chairman Oli said that he wanted party cadres to work for the cause of people, adding that the party was continuously working in the areas of social justice and equality.

He said that the party was committed to democratic norms and values.

On the occasion, he welcomed newcomers to the party who quit other parties to join the UML.

Talking about the International Women’s Day that is being observed in Nepal today, he said that he realised that the scale of women’s empowerment had increased in the country and women were successfully undertaking the given responsibilities. RSS