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Russia has said it may close its main gas pipeline to Germany if the West goes ahead with a ban on Russian oil, BBC reported.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said a "rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market", causing prices to more than double to $300 a barrel.

The US has been exploring a potential ban with allies as a way of punishing Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

But Germany and the Netherlands rejected the plan on Monday.

The EU gets about 40% of its gas and 30% of its oil from Russia, and has no easy substitutes if supplies are disrupted, according to BBC.

In an address on Russian state television, Mr Novak said it would be "impossible to quickly find a replacement for Russian oil on the European market".

"It will take years, and it will still be much more expensive for European consumers. Ultimately, they will be hurt the worst by this outcome," he said.

Pointing to Germany's decision last month to freeze certification of Nord Stream 2, a new gas pipeline connecting the two countries, he added that an oil embargo could prompt retaliation.

"We have every right to take a matching decision and impose an embargo on gas pumping through the [existing] Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline," he said, BBC reported.

Russia is the world's top producer of natural gas and second top producer of crude oil, and any move to sanction its energy industry would badly damage its own economy.

Ukraine has implored the West to adopt such a ban, but there are concerns it would send prices soaring. Investor fears of an embargo drove Brent crude oil to $139 a barrel at one point on Monday - its highest level for almost 14 years, according to BBC.

Average UK petrol prices also hit fresh record of 155p a litre.

The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine deepened Monday as Russian forces intensified their shelling and food, water, heat and medicine grew increasingly scarce, in what the country condemned as a medieval-style siege by Moscow to batter it into submission, Associated Press reported.

A third round of talks between the two sides ended with a top Ukrainian official saying there had been minor, unspecified progress toward establishing safe corridors that would allow civilians to escape the fighting. Russia’s chief negotiator said he expects those corridors to start operating Tuesday.

But that remained to be seen, given the failure of previous attempts to lead civilians to safety amid the biggest ground war in Europe since World War II.

Well into the second week of the invasion, with Russian troops making significant advances in southern Ukraine but stalled in some other regions, a top U.S. official said multiple countries were discussing whether to provide the warplanes that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pleading for, according to the Associated Press.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces continued to pummel cities with rockets, and fierce fighting raged in places. In the face of the bombardments, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces were showing unprecedented courage.

“The problem is that for one soldier of Ukraine, we have 10 Russian soldiers, and for one Ukrainian tank, we have 50 Russian tanks,” Zelenskyy told ABC News in an interview that aired Monday night. He noted that the gap in forces was diminishing and that even if Russian forces “come into all our cities,” they will be met with an insurgency.

In one of the most desperate cities, the encircled southern port of Mariupol, an estimated 200,000 people — nearly half the population of 430,000 — were hoping to flee, and Red Cross officials waited to hear when a corridor would be established, Associated Press reported.

The city is short on water, food and power, and cellphone networks are down. Stores have been looted as residents search for essential goods.

Police moved through the city, advising people to remain in shelters until they heard official messages broadcast over loudspeakers to evacuate.

Hospitals in Mariupol are facing severe shortages of antibiotics and painkillers, and doctors performed some emergency procedures without them.

The lack of phone service left anxious citizens approaching strangers to ask if they knew relatives living in other parts of the city and whether they were safe, according to the Associated Press.

In the capital, Kyiv, soldiers and volunteers have built hundreds of checkpoints to protect the city of nearly 4 million, often using sandbags, stacked tires and spiked cables. Some barricades looked significant, with heavy concrete slabs and sandbags piled more than two stories high, while others appeared more haphazard, with hundreds of books used to weigh down stacks of tires.

A team of 40 women is on a 13-day trek to Kalapathar in the Everest region to raise awareness about climate change.

Sathsathai, an NGO, is organizing the trek under the slogan ‘Women United for Climate Justice.’ 

The team representing women from different fields, including Supreme Court Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla, began their journey from Lukla on Feb 28. They plan on reaching Kalapathar on March 8, which coincides with the International Women’s Day. 

Nepal is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries. The effects of climate change are most pronounced in the mountains. A recent study shows that snow storage in the mountains has decreased by 29 percent and the number of glaciers has increased by 11 percent. The campaign’s objective is to draw the world’s attention to the issue.  

The campaign participants will also discuss the effects of climate change in the Everest region with local women.  

“We are uniting to raise our voice and fight the effects of climate change on our Himalayas,” says Prajita Karki, chairperson of Sathsathai. “If women are committed, they can bring change in their homes, society and the country.” 

Sathsathai also plans on extending the climate campaign in all seven provinces.  

Elite mountaineer Mingma David Sherpa is accompanying the team, which is supported by the Ministry of Forests and Environment, the National Nature Conservation Fund, UNDP, ICIMOD, WWF, Nepal Airline, Asian Pharmaceuticals and National Reference Laboratory.   

Previously, Sathsathai had conducted a similar campaign in the Annapurna region.   

“Our campaign gives women from different walks of life the opportunity to know each other as well as the places affected by climate change, and to unite to mitigate the challenges,” says Karki. 

Russia announced yet another limited cease-fire and the establishment of safe corridors to allow civilians to flee some besieged Ukrainian cities Monday, Associated Press reported.

But the evacuation routes led mostly to Russia and its ally Belarus, drawing withering criticism from Ukraine and others.

Ukrainian officials accused Moscow of resorting to “medieval siege” tactics in some places, and in one encircled city, Mariupol, there was no sign yet of an evacuation.

Russian forces continued to pummel some Ukrainian cities with rockets even after the new announcement of corridors and fierce fighting continued in some areas, indicating there would be no wider cessation of hostilities, according to the Associated Press.

Efforts to set up safe passages for civilians to leave besieged areas over the weekend fell apart. But the Russian Defense Ministry announced a new push Monday, saying civilians would be allowed to leave the capital of Kyiv, the southern port city of Mariupol, and the cities of Kharkiv and Sumy. 

The two sides also planned to meet for talks again Monday, even though hopes were dim that they would yield any breakthrough. Their foreign ministers are also scheduled to meet in Turkey on Thursday, according to that country’s top diplomat.

In Mariupol, where an estimated 200,000 people hoping to flee were becoming increasingly desperate, Red Cross officials waited to hear when a safe humanitarian corridor would be established. The city is short on water, food and power, and mobile phone networks are down. Shops have been looted as residents search for essential goods, Associated Press reported.

Police moved through the city advising people to remain in shelters until they heard official messages broadcast over loudspeakers to evacuate. Russia and Ukraine traded blame after a planned evacuation mostly failed over the weekend there.

Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka said that Russia's attack on Ukraine will affect the ties between small and big countries.

Speaking at a press conference organised in the ministry on Monday, he said that the sovereignty of both small and big countries will be equal.

He was of the opinion that it cannot be said that Nepal is supporting Ukraine just by issuing a statement taking its side.

"Ukraine is a sovereign country. Russia's attack on Ukraine will disrupt the world peace. This will affect the ties between the small and big countries. That is why, we issued a statement honouring the UN charter," Minister Khadka said.

Russia is trying to manipulate French President Emmanuel Macron and other Western leaders by demanding that any humanitarian corridors in Ukraine exit through Russia or Belarus, a senior Ukrainian official said on Monday, Reuters reported.

Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Ukraine was calling on Russia to agree to a ceasefire from Monday morning to allow Ukrainians to evacuate towards the western Ukrainian city of Lviv instead.

Ukraine received Russia's proposal early on Monday morning after Macron held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Vereshchuk told a televised briefing.

"I hope that French President Emmanuel Macron understands that his name and sincere desire to help ... in reality is being used and manipulated by the Russian Federation," she said.

Ukraine has accused Russian forces of shelling areas designated as humanitarian corridors to prevent people escaping cities that are under attack, according to Reuters.

Russia's defence ministry said the new "corridors" would be opened from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the eastern cities of Kharkiv and Sumy, as well as the port city of Mariupol. Moscow has blamed Ukraine for the failure so far of humanitarian corridors and denies targeting civilians.

The two sides were preparing for a third round of talks at an undisclosed location on Monday. Ukraine has played down the prospects of any breakthroughs.

About 200,000 people remained trapped in Mariupol, most sleeping underground to escape more than six days of shelling by Russian forces that has cut off food, water, power and heating, according to the Ukrainian authorities.

Russia's invasion has been condemned around the world, sent more than 1.5 million Ukrainians fleeing abroad, and triggered sweeping sanctions that have isolated Russia in a way never before experienced by such a large economy, Reuters reported.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" that is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.

The European Union has asked the UN nuclear watchdog to safeguard Ukraine's nuclear plants, two of which are now under Russian control, and mobilise international help in case of an emergency, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

Russian forces have seized Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe' biggest, and the spent-fuel and radioactive waste facilities at Chernobyl, next to the now defunct power plant where the world's worst nuclear accident happened in 1986, Reuters reported.

"I... request that IAEA does its utmost to ensure the nuclear safety of Ukraine's nuclear facilities under the current conditions of war," EU energy policy chief Kadri Simson wrote in a letter to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director Rafael Grossi.

Russia "should immediately cease its violent actions against Ukraine and first and foremost return all of Ukraine's nuclear facilities to the full operational and regulatory control of Ukraine," said the letter, dated March 4 and seen by Reuters.

Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces had seized control of Zaporizhzhia on Friday after setting an adjacent training facility on fire. Russia's defence ministry blamed the attack on Ukrainian saboteurs.

Russian forces have since placed staff running the facility under their command and restricted communications with the outside world - developments the IAEA said on Sunday it was "extremely concerned" about. Read full story

While the fire at Zaporizhzhia was quickly extinguished and there was no damage to its reactors, it highlighted concerns about the potentially disastrous consequences should the conflict damage one of Ukraine's four operating nuclear power plants, Reuters reported.

Simson called on the IAEA to mobilise the international community "to be ready to provide Ukraine with assistance in case of an emergency".

Ukrainian power producer DTEK called on Sunday for Western countries, NATO and the U.N. to introduce no-fly zones over Ukraine's nuclear power plants.

The EU is preparing to urgently link Europe's electricity system to Ukraine's grid, which would allow Ukraine to receive emergency power from Europe if military attacks caused power outages.

The government has announced vacancies for the posts of chairperson and members of the Electricity Regulatory Commission.

It has sought applications for the positions within 15 days through a notice issued today by the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation. The vacancy announcement was as per the Electricity Regulatory Commission Rules, 2018. The posts were turned vacant after the government sacked its chairperson Dilli Bahadur Singh and other members, citing their poor performance.

The Commission is legally a four-member body comprising the Chairperson and three members including a woman.

According to the Ministry, only shortlisted applicants (maximum five) will be called for the proposal presentation. The Commission was established in 2072 BS as a government entity to regulate power trade and electricity tariff affairs and issues relating to energy sector.