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Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has urged the leaders and cadres, who have filed their candidacies against the official candidates of the party for the local level elections slated for May 13, to withdraw their nominations.

Issuing an appeal on Thursday, Prime Minister Deuba urged the rebel candidates to withdraw nominations by 5 pm tomorrow.

President Deuba urged the candidates to withdraw their nominations also by assessing the current and future situation of the country.

Russia's decision to cut off gas exports to Poland and Bulgaria is an "instrument of blackmail", the EU says, BBC reported.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the move showed Russia's "unreliability" as a supplier.

But the Kremlin said Russia had been forced into the action by the "unfriendly steps" of Western nations.

Europe depends on Russia for more than a third of its gas needs and state energy giant Gazprom holds a monopoly on pipeline supplies in Russia.

While many European countries have taken steps to wean themselves of Russian oil imports since it invaded Ukraine, Russia has continued to supply large amount of gas to many European countries.

After Western powers placed financial sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that "unfriendly" countries would have to pay for gas in Russian currency.

Gazprom said this was why it had suspended supply to Bulgaria and Poland, according to BBC.

Poland said the move was in retaliation for Polish sanctions against Russian individuals and firms. Poland has also been a key transit country for weapons to Ukraine.

Bulgaria has historically had warm relations with Russia, but a new government took office last year which has denounced the invasion. 

Western forces intervene in Ukraine, they will face a "lightning-fast" military response.

In what is seen as a reference to ballistic missiles and nuclear arms, he told lawmakers in Moscow: "We have all the tools no-one can boast of... we will use them if necessary."

But there are signs that Russia's offensive in Ukraine is not going as smoothly as planned, with one official saying Russian forces are having difficulties overcoming a "staunch Ukrainian resistance" in their offensive in the east of the country.

In reaction to Gazprom's statement regarding the suspension of gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, Polish state gas company PGNiG confirmed that Gazprom's supplies to the country had been halted and warned that it reserved "the right to seek compensation".

Polish President Andrzej Duda said "appropriate legal steps" will be taken against Gazprom, while his deputy foreign minister, Marcin Przydacz, told the BBC that Russia was seeking to "foster divisions" between Western allies."

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said the country was reviewing all of its contracts with Gazprom, including for transit of Russian gas to Serbia and Hungary, emphasising that "one-sided blackmail was not acceptable".

Bulgaria, which relies on Gazprom for more than 90% of its gas supply, said overnight it had taken steps to find alternative sources but no restrictions on gas consumption were currently required for Bulgarians, BBC reported.

Ms von der Leyen, speaking in Brussels, said Gazprom's move was "unjustified and unacceptable," but emphasised that the bloc was "prepared for this scenario". 

She added that the EU, along with its international partners, will implement an "immediate, united and coordinated" response.

The EU leader also hit out against reports carried by the media outlet Bloomberg which alleged 10 European energy companies are preparing to make payments for Gazprom gas in roubles, and that four energy companies have done so already. 

She said such moves would be "high risk" for the corporations and would constitute "a breach of our sanctions".

"Our guidance here is very clear," Ms von der Leyen said.

While the EU has been firm that it will not comply with Mr Putin's demands that payments be made in roubles, Hungary has reached a workaround deal with Gazprom, according to BBC.

The countries will pay into a euro-denominated account with Gazprombank, a subsidiary of the energy giant, which in turn will deposit the amount in roubles. 

Russia has refused to say how many other countries have agreed to make payments in this way, according to BBC.

Tapas Adhikari, Ambassador of Nepal to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has presented his Letters of Credence to Ayatollah Seyed Ibrahim Raisi, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran accrediting him as non-resident Ambassador of Nepal to the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

During the presentation, Ambassador Adhikari conveyed warm greetings and best wishes to President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba as well as from the people of Nepal for the personal health and happiness of the President of Iran and the continued progress and prosperity of friendly people of Iran, according to Nepali Embassy in Islamabad. 

Ambassador Adhikari expressed that the bilateral relationship between Nepal and Iran has always been friendly based on mutual trust and cooperation. He said that Nepal and Iran are working together in the Non-Aligned Movement, Group of 77, United Nations, and other important international forums on various issues of common concern. Ambassador Mr. Adhikari further said that he would make sincere efforts to enhance bilateral relations between Nepal and Iran.

Russia opened a new front in its war in Ukraine on Wednesday, cutting NATO members Poland and Bulgaria off from its gas, a dramatic escalation in the conflict that is increasingly becoming a wider battle with the West, Associated Press reported.

One day after the United States and other Western allies vowed to speed more and better military supplies to Ukraine, the Kremlin upped the ante, using its most essential export as leverage. It then went even further, saying Russia could halt gas supplies to other European customers.

European gas prices shot up on the news that Poland and Bulgaria were cut off, a move that European leaders denounced as “blackmail.”

In a memo, state-controlled Russian giant Gazprom said it was cutting Poland and Bulgaria off from its natural gas because they refused to pay in Russian rubles, as President Vladimir Putin had demanded. The company said it had not received any such payment since the beginning of the month.

The gas cuts do not immediately put the countries into dire trouble since they have worked on getting alternative sources for several years now and the continent is heading into summer, making gas not as essential for households.

Still, it sent shivers of worry through the 27-nation European Union, which immediately convened a special coordination group to limit the impact of the move. And Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov’s ensuing warning was sure to worry them even more. He told reporters that other European customers may be cut off if they also refuse to pay in rubles, according to the Associated Press.

On the ground too, the geopolitical fight intensified, with the Russian military claiming Wednesday that its missiles hit a batch of weapons that the US and European nations delivered to Ukraine.

A day earlier, explosions rocked the separatist region of Trans-Dniester in neighboring Moldova, knocking out two powerful radio antennas and raising fears the war could spill over Ukraine’s borders. No one claimed responsibility for the attacks — the second in as many days — but Ukraine all but blamed Russia.

And a Russian missile hit a strategic railroad bridge linking Ukraine’s Odesa port region to neighboring Romania, a NATO member, Ukrainian authorities said.

Just across the border in Russia, an ammunition depot in the Belgorod region was burning early Wednesday after several explosions were heard, the governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on the messaging app Telegram.

Gazprom’s decision to cut gas to two European countries was another dark turn in the war, which has revived the geopolitical rifts of the Cold War, and it had an immediate impact. European gas prices spiked 25%, with benchmark Dutch futures jumping from around 100 euros per megawatt hour to around 125 euros.

Fatih Birol, the executive director of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, called the move a “weaponization of energy supplies” in a tweet, Associated Press reported.

“Gazprom’s move to completely shut off gas supplies to Poland is yet another sign of Russia’s politicization of existing agreements & will only accelerate European efforts to move away from Russian energy supplies,” he wrote.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the move “yet another attempt by Russia to use gas as an instrument of blackmail.”

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov also called the suspension of gas deliveries blackmail and said it was “a gross violation of their contract.”

“We will not succumb to such a racket,” he added.

The stoppage marked “an historical turning point in the bilateral energy relationship” between Russia and Europe, said Simone Tagliapietra, senior fellow at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels.

On Tuesday, the US defense chief urged Ukraine’s allies to “move at the speed of war” to get more and heavier weapons to Kyiv as Russian forces rained fire on eastern and southern Ukraine, Associated Press reported.