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The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the auditing firm hired by Trump Media and Technology Group just 37 days ago with “massive fraud” — though not for any work it performed for former President Donald Trump's media company

The chief of staff of a Chinese businessman sought by the government of China has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges weeks before her boss goes to trial in New York in a fraud case

Three anti-wind power groups are suing New Jersey to overturn a key environmental approval for a wind energy farm planned off the coast of Long Beach Island

Ukraine, trade and investment are expected to dominate Chinese leader Xi Jinping's first trip to Europe in five years, which starts in France on Monday

Congress has filed a complaint to the Election Commission against BJP national president JP Nadda, social media in-charge Amit Malviya, and state chief BY Vijayendra for allegedly posting a video on social media aimed at «intimidating» members of Schedule Caste/ Schedule Tribe to not vote for Congress in the Lok Sabha polls. In a complaint filed to the Chief Electoral Officer in Bengaluru, the party also alleged the violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by using animated videos of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah by portraying the Congress party as favouring a particular religion (Muslims) and suppressing members of SC/STs and OBC communities, with the intention to create feelings of enmity, hatred and ill-will against members of the SC/ST community. Ramesh Babu, Chairman, Media and Communication of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), said in the complaint, "… the tenor of video… is in nature of intimidating persons belonging to SC/ST Community that leaders of Congress party are likely to favour Muslims at cost of SC/ST Community. Since, elections to Lok Sabha is being held on 07/05/2024 in 14 constituencies, the video post of BJP on their official social media handle is nothing but intimidating SC/ST community not to cast a vote to Congress. This is a clear case of intimidating SC/ST community members and further projecting SC/ST community people in a bad light showing them as 'Eggs' and being kicked by another religion i.e., Muslims."

Courts have to take a participatory role in a trial and not act as «mere tape recorders», the Supreme Court said here and lamented that there is «practically no effective and meaningful cross-examination» by public prosecutors of any hostile witness during hearings of criminal appeals. The apex court said a judge has to monitor the proceedings in aid of justice and, even if the prosecutor is remiss or lethargic in some ways, the court should control the proceedings effectively so that the truth is arrived at. Observing that relations between the public prosecution service and the judiciary are the very cornerstone of the criminal justice system, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said time and again, the top court has said that there should not be any element of political consideration in matters like appointment to post of public prosecutor etc. The observations by the bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, came in a judgement while upholding the conviction and life sentence awarded to a man for murdering his wife in 1995.

Modi will be filing his nomination papers from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat on May 14, BJP's city president Vidyasagar Rai said on Sunday. On May 13, Modi will hold a roadshow in the constituency, and preparations for it are underway, he added «The route for the roadshow has been finalised. On May 14, Prime Minister Modi will file his nomination from the Varanasi seat,» he said. The Congress has fielded its Uttar Pradesh chief Ajay Rai in Varanasi and the BSP Athar Jamal Lari.

Congress government in Karnataka will provide financial assistance to those allegedly sexually assaulted by JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna, the national party said on Sunday. Congress general secretary and the party's Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala made this announcement at a press conference here in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. He said former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had demanded that appropriate action be taken against the accused. «Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has announced financial assistance to the rape victims who are in hundreds, since it is a unique case which has never happened in the last 75 years,» Surjewala said.

Election Commission to initiate action against BJP's national president J P Nadda and other senior leaders for allegedly violating the model code of conduct by posting a video on social media intimidating members of SC and ST community not to vote for a particular candidate. In a complaint to the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer, the Congress mentioned about a video uploaded on social media platform 'X' by the official account of Karnataka State Bharatiya Janata Party @bjp4karnataka which is operated by Amit Malviya, the head of IT cell on instructions of J P Nadda, BJP National President, B Y Vijayendra, BJP State President and Social Media incharge- Karnataka BJP on May 4 at 5.34 pm. «The said video posted on social media featured animated characters of Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah. In the clip, SC, ST and OBC community are portrayed as „eggs“ in a nest and it also suggested Rahul Gandhi planting a big egg labelled as Muslim community. It is projected as though funds are being fed to the chick depicting the Muslim community, which then kicks out SC, ST and OBC community.»

sting video', claiming that the BJP faked the Sandeshkhali horrors to defame the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state; Dilip Ghosh, the latter's candidate for the Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha seat, said people were being 'bought and sold' in the state. Also weighing in on the controversy around the molestation charge against Bengal Governor CV Anand Bose by a staffer at the Raj Bhavan, Ghosh claimed that people were also being installed at the governor's official residence in exchange for money. Speaking to on Sunday, the BJP's former state president said, «People are being bought and sold (under the TMC). They are even being seated or installed at the Raj Bhavan in exchange for money. However, this (alleged sting video) wouldn't make any difference (to the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections in the state). It was not the BJP but the common people of Sandeshkhali who erupted in protest and came out on the streets against the ruling party. (Sheikh) Shahjahan (expelled TMC strongman and key Sandeshkhali accused) has confessed to the charges against him. It was his henchmen who attacked the ED and CBI (teams).»

Sandeshkhali case: BJP leader writes to CBI, calls 'sting' video AI-generated In the video, the man alleged, "We have followed Suvendu Da's (Bengal Leader of Opposition) instructions. We convinced the Trinamool people to do all this. Adhiakr told us that if we could not do this, we would not be able to stand here".

Congress has named Jay Narayan Patnaik as its Lok Sabha candidate from Puri in Odisha on Saturday after Sucharita Mohanty returned her ticket, citing alleged denial of funding by the party. «The Congress President (Mallikarjun Kharge) has approved the candidature of Shri Jay Narayan Patnaik (In place of Smt. Sucharita Mohanty) as the party candidate for the ensuing general elections to the Lok Sabha from 17 — Puri Parliamentary Constituency of Odisha,» the Congress said in a statement. Patnaik has been associated with the Congress for the past few years, he will make his electoral debut in this election. The last date for filing nominations in Puri is May 6.

Pakistan People's Party's Faisal Karim Kundi took oath as the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday, according to ARY News. Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), administered the oath to Faisal Karim Kundi during a ceremony at the Governor House. Faisal Karim Kundi, a PPP stalwart, served as Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly from 2008 to 2013.

Biden and Donald Trump are two presidents with unfinished business and an itch to get it done. Their track records and plans on abortion, immigration, taxes, wars abroad — you name it — leave no doubt that the man voters choose in November will seek to shape the landscape of American life in ways wholly distinct from the other.

Cong Puri candidate Sucharita Mohanty returns ticket over lack of party funding The police are also waiting for the post-mortem report of the politician. The family of Jeyakumar Dhanasingh has also alleged foul play citing a complaint he filed with the Superintendent of Police on April 30.

Mamata Banerjee slams BJP, says ‘shocking Sandeshkhali sting’ video shows… The man alleged in the video that Adhikari had asked him and other BJP leaders of the area to "instigate three-four local women to level allegations of rape against three TMC leaders, including Shajahan Sheikh". Mint did not verify the authenticity of the video posted by the TMC. The local BJP leader was also heard saying that Nandigram MLA "Adhikari himself had planted guns at a house in Sandeshkhali, which was later shown as the seizure by central agencies".

Congress President Malikarjun Kharge extended condolences over the death of personnel of the Indian Air Force in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. In a post on X, Kharge wrote, «Deeply pained by the cowardly terror attack on the IAF vehicle in Poonch, Jammu & Kashmir. We strongly and unequivocally condemn this dastardly terror attack and join the nation in standing together against terrorism.» «Our deepest condolences to the family of the brave air warrior who made the supreme sacrifice. We hope that the injured air warriors recover at the earliest and earnestly pray for their well-being. India is united for our soldiers,» he added.

India will continue to flourish under the leadership of the country's incoming Prime Minister Lawrence Wong who will be sworn in on May 15, the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) has said. «As Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong prepares to hand over (leadership of the city-state) to his successor, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, we are confident that Singapore-India ties will continue to flourish,» said SICCI Chairman Neil Parekh on Saturday night at the centenary celebrations of the chambers. «This is all the more so since DPM Lawrence Wong co-chaired the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable, which has set the stage and the tone for long-term ties between our two countries,» he said at the SICCI centennial celebration gala dinner. Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam was the guest of honour at the dinner attended by some 700 business and community leaders from the prosperous Asian financial centre.

Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday, Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj took a swipe at the ruling party, accusing it of «breaking opposition parties». The AAP leader, while speaking to the reporters here, also came down heavily on Lovely and said that the latter's entry into the BJP was already anticipated since he stepped down as the Delhi Congress president in protest against the party's alliance with INDIA bloc partner AAP. «The day he resigned from Congress, almost everybody got to know that he would be joining the BJP. This is the politics of BJP, they break other parties but even after doing all these things, INDIA alliance is going to win all the 7 seats in Delhi,» Saurabh Bharadwaj said.

Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi are set to launch several new sport-utility vehicle models over the next three months, hoping to further deepen their foothold in this growing segment fuelled by evolving lifestyle trends and changing preferences of India’s affluent buyers. Such premium vehicles priced at more than Rs 50 lakh currently make up as much as 60% of sales at these companies, attracting a broader set of buyers including families and adventure enthusiasts, according to data collated by Jato Dynamics. Versatility and imposing road presence of SUVs over luxury sedans is finding increasing favour among Indian buyers. Mercedes-Benz with the largest portfolio of a dozen SUVs, grew sales by 41% in Q1 2024 «buoyed primarily by record sales of GLA, GLC, GLE and GLS SUVs in the first quarter of 2024 and we expect this demand to remain strong in coming months,» said Santosh Iyer, MD, Mercedes-Benz India.

Russia has opened a criminal case against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and put him on a wanted list, the state news agency TASS reported on Saturday, an announcement Ukraine dismissed as evidence of Moscow's «desperation». TASS reported that the Russian Interior Ministry database showed Zelenskiy was on a wanted list but gave no further details.