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Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal held a meeting at the former's official residence in Baluwatar on Monday morning.

It has been learnt that the duo discussed Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) during the meeting.

Ruling coalition partners have not reached an agreement to endorse the MCC from the Parliament yet.

A Nepali Congress leader said that the task force has been trying to forge consensus on the issue.

According to a source, Dahal and CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal among other leaders have agreed in principle to move ahead by ratifying the MCC.

A court in army-ruled Myanmar will start an election fraud trial of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 14, a source familiar with the proceedings said on Monday, after she was accused of influencing the 2020 vote to win a second term in office, Reuters reported.

Suu Kyi faces trial in more than a dozen cases and so far has been sentenced to a combined six years in detention by a court in the capital Naypyitaw, in legal proceedings derided by the international community as a sham.

She has denied the military's accusations of fraud in a 2020 poll swept by her National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Suu Kyi, 76, is accused of influencing the election commission during the ballot. Former president and ally Win Myint and Min Thu, a former cabinet member, face the same charges, said the source, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.

The trio have been charged under section 130-A of the penal code and face up to three years in jail and a fine if found guilty. It adds to a slew of cases against Suu Kyi that carry combined maximum prison terms of more than a century. L4N2UB1FJ

A spokesperson for the junta did not answer a call seeking comment. The military government has previously said Suu Kyi would be afforded due process by an independent court.

The military said it took power because its complaints of fraud by the NLD, which won the 2020 election in a landslide, were being ignored by the election commission. The NLD says it won fairly.

Suu Kyi was arrested in the hours before the Feb. 1 coup last year and the junta's critics say the charges against her are designed to ensure she can never return to politics.

The trials are taking place behind closed doors and defence lawyers, previously the only source of information on the proceedings, are currently the subjects of a gag order.

Protesters against a vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the US-Canada border have brought Canada's capital city to a standstill for a second day, BBC reported.

Thousands of demonstrators joined the so-called Freedom Convoy in Ottawa.

Police have started investigations after several incidents, including the appearance of swastika flags and footage of a woman dancing on the tomb of the unknown soldier.

Defence Minister Anita Anand said the incidents were "beyond reprehensible".

Ottawa police said in a Twitter post that "several" investigations were now under way into the "desecration" of a number monuments in the capital city, as well as "threatening/illegal/intimidating behaviour to police/city workers and other individuals and damage to a city vehicle". 

Elsewhere across the city, truckers blocked the streets around Canada's parliament building and Ottawa's Mayor Jim Watson said some protesters had harassed staff at a soup kitchen, demanding free meals after they were turned away by restaurants for their refusal to comply with indoor mask mandates.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family also left their home in Ottawa over safety concerns on Saturday. 

Around 90% of Canada's 120,000 cross-border truckers are now vaccinated, in line with the country's adult population. 

The demonstration has grown beyond a call to end the cross-border mandate to a push to an end to all vaccine mandates nationwide, and some demonstrators have pledged to continue their protests they are removed. 

Mr Trudeau called the protesters "a small fringe minority" during a press conference earlier this week. 

Conservative leader Erin O'Toole has met some of the protesters and has spoken in favour of the right to peaceful demonstration, but criticised "individuals desecrating" memorials in Ottawa. 

Mr Trudeau's Liberal government brought in the vaccine mandate on 15 January that would require unvaccinated Canadian truckers crossing the two nations' border to quarantine once they return home. 

The US has also recently said that foreign truck drivers must show proof of vaccination to enter the country.

Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao has held a virtual meeting with Nepalese Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal.

On behalf of the Nepalese government, Paudyal extended sincere New Year greetings to China, congratulated Beijing on becoming the world's first city to host both Summer and Winter Games, and wishes the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 a complete success, according to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Wu Jianghao expressed his thanks and extended holiday greetings to his Nepalese colleagues. He stressed China will work with the international community to vigorously carry forward the Olympic spirit and present a streamlined, safe and splendid Games to the world.

Both sides also exchanged in-depth views on bilateral cooperation against COVID-19, Belt and Road cooperation, and international and regional issues of common concern, according to a press statement.