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UK households who open their homes to refugees from Ukraine are to be given £350 a month to do so, BBC reported.

The government's Homes for Ukraine scheme calls on people to offer a spare room or an empty property to a refugee for a period of at least six months.

But the Refugee Council said it was worried about the level of support available to those coming to the UK.

Labour said there many unanswered questions, and accused the government of "dragging its feet" over the crisis.

More than two million people have fled Ukraine because of Russia's invasion in what the UN has called the fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War Two, according to BBC.

The government has faced criticism - including from its own MPs - over the speed and scale of its response.

Announcing the new scheme, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove urged people to join the "national effort" and give a safe home to those in need.

It will launch on Monday, and will initially enable someone - a sponsor - to nominate a named Ukrainian individual or family to stay with them in their home, or in a separate property, for six months.

Sponsors won't be required to know them in advance - they might find them, for example, through posts on social media.

Applications would be made online, with both sponsors and refugees having to go through a home office vetting procedure. The sponsor would get a "thank you" payment of £350 a month.

In a later phase, organisations such as charities and churches will be able to do the same, though there is no start date for this yet, BBC reported.

Announcing the plan, Mr Gove said: "The crisis in Ukraine has sent shock waves across the world as hundreds of thousands of innocent people have been forced to flee their homes, leaving everything they know and love behind. 

"The UK stands behind Ukraine in their darkest hour and the British public understand the need to get as many people to safety as quickly as we can."

But the Refugee Council - a charity supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the UK - said it was concerned that people from Ukraine were facing further "bureaucratic hurdles", and said the government scheme fell short of what was needed.

"We are concerned that people from Ukraine are still not being recognised as refugees and being asked to apply for visas when they just need to be guaranteed protection. 

"By establishing a visa route and naming scheme, it will inevitably be restricted to those who are known to people in the UK and be a quite complex lengthy visa application process."

It said it was also worried about the support available to sponsors, according to BBC.

"We are talking about very traumatised women and children whose experiences are unique, and the level of support needs to match that. 

"It's like asking people to be foster carers without any robust checks, training or having a social worker in place to support them."

Labour's Lisa Nandy said it was unclear what support would be offered to vulnerable children and older people, whether provision would made for unaccompanied children, and what help would go to local government, sponsoring organisations and housing providers.

She said if Britons were required to have a prior connection to a Ukrainian family to sponsor them, that would be "a severe limitation", BBC reported.

Russian forces pounded the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Saturday, shelling its downtown as residents hid in an iconic mosque and elsewhere to avoid the explosions, Associated Press reported.

Fighting also raged in the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, as Russia kept up its bombardment of other cities throughout the country.

Mariupol has endured some of Ukraine’s worst punishment since Russia invaded. Unceasing barrages have thwarted repeated attempts to bring food, water and medicine into the city of 430,000 and to evacuate its trapped civilians. More than 1,500 people have died in Mariupol during the siege, according to the mayor’s office, and the shelling has even interrupted efforts to bury the dead in mass graves.

Talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire again failed Saturday, and while the U.S. announced plans to provide another $200 million to Ukraine for weapons, a senior Russian diplomat warned that Moscow could attack foreign shipments of military equipment, according to the Associated Press.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of employing “a new stage of terror” with the alleged detention of a mayor from a city west of Mariupol.

Russian soldiers pillaged a humanitarian convoy that was trying to reach Mariupol and blocked another, a Ukrainian official said. Ukraine’s military said Russian forces captured Mariupol’s eastern outskirts, tightening their siege of the strategic port. Taking Mariupol and other ports on the Azov Sea could allow Russia to establish a land corridor to Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014. 

“They are bombing it (Mariupol) 24 hours a day, launching missiles. It is hatred. They kill children,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a video address. Satellite images released Saturday by the company Maxar showed fires in parts of the city and extensive damage to apartments, homes and other infrastructure, Associated Press reported.

An Associated Press journalist in Mariupol witnessed tanks firing on a nine-story apartment building and was with a group of hospital workers who came under sniper fire on Friday. A worker shot in the hip survived, but conditions in the hospital were deteriorating: Electricity was reserved for operating tables, and people with nowhere else to go lined the hallways.

Among them was Anastasiya Erashova, who wept and trembled as she held a sleeping child. Shelling had just killed her other child as well as her brother’s child, Erashova said, her scalp crusted with blood, according to the Associated Press.

“No one was able to save them,” she said.

CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli has suggested that civil servants should be impartial and independent for the local level elections scheduled for May 13. 

The former Prime Minister made this statement at the 11th national convention of the Nepal Civil Service Employees Association here today. 

"Government employees as country's citizens should be independent and impartial in elections. They should not favour any political party." 

They should provide support and help for the government, he said. 

He also pledged to extend his support and assistance when relevant demands relating to the rights of democracy and trade unions are neglected. 

In another context, stating that the country's economy has been at risk of a collapse, he claimed that his party would get at the helm of the government again through elections.  RSS

The Government of South Korea will remove the seven-day quarantine restrictions for the overseas arrivals, who have completed their COVID-19 vaccination. This will apply from March 21. 

South Korea is one of the labour destination countries for Nepali migrant workers. The restriction removal is believed to ease the entry or the return of Nepali migrant workers to the country. 

South Korea has been receiving migrant workers from various 16 countries including Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar under the EPS programme. 

Lack of spaces and high fees for isolation has hit migrant workers waiting for their return or entry to the country, it has been said. RSS

At least three persons died in a motorbike accident at Ramailodanda in Ichchhakamana Rural Municipality-2 of in Chitwan on Friday. 

The deceased have been identified as Triki Gurung (30) of Ichchhakamana-3 of Chitwan, her five-year-old son Aron Gurung and relative Nabin Gurung (34) of Ichchhakamana-2, confirmed Spokesperson of District Police Office, Chitwan DSP Narahari Adhikari. 

The two-wheeler fell some 300 metres down the road. The bodies were sent to Bharatpur Hospital for post-mortem, spokesperson Adhikari added. 

Police said further investigation into the incident is underway. RSS

Cura Health is a medical assistance app that offers online ticketing, telemedicine and lab test services. The app was launched in November 2020 and has over 10,000 users. Its services are currently available in Kathmandu, Pokhara, Biratnagar and Itahari.

 “The app was created to offer quick and easy medical access to its users,” says Aayush Bhagat, the founder of Cura Health. “The idea for the app was conceived after we saw that people had to go through a lot of trouble just to consult a doctor and get even minor medical tests.”

The company works with over 50 hospitals and more than 300 doctors. Compared to the fares of other labs, its services are much cheaper as well. For example, the standard market price for a thyroid test is Rs 1,200, whereas at Cura Health the service is available at Rs 800. Similarly, the starting price for a full body checkup can cost you anywhere between Rs 5,000 and Rs 8,000. Cura Health offers this service in the Rs 3,500-Rs 5,500 price range.

Cura health collaborates with over 20 labs that users can select from.

“We offer a list of labs and their services, at the comfort of one's own home, so that users can compare and pick the one they think is the best,” says Bhagat.

The company is planning to expand its coverage in other parts of the country.

“We want to change the way people think about medical care and services,” says Bhagat.

India says it accidentally fired a missile into Pakistan on Wednesday, blaming the incident on a "technical malfunction" during routine maintenance, BBC reported.

Delhi said it was "deeply regrettable" and expressed relief no one was killed.

Pakistan's military said a "high-speed flying object" had crashed near the eastern city of Mian Channu and its flight path had endangered passenger flights.

Both countries have nuclear weapons.

In a statement, India's defence ministry said: "On 9 March 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile. The Government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry." 

Islamabad warned Delhi to "be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence" and to avoid a repeat. The object had been launched from Sirsa in Haryana state, it said, according to BBC.

Pakistan's air force said the missile travelled at Mach 3 - three times the speed of sound - at an altitude of 12,000m (40,000ft) and flew 124km (77 miles) in Pakistani airspace before crashing.

"The flight path of this object endangered many national and international passenger flights both in Indian and Pakistani airspace, as well as human life and property of ground," said Pakistani military spokesman Major-General Babar Iftikharon Thursday, BBC reported.

Pakistan also urged India to share the findings of its investigation into what happened.