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Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday took oath as Pakistan's 14th President, a day after the veteran politician staged a remarkable comeback when he was overwhelmingly elected as the only civilian president of the coup-prone country for a second time. Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa administered the oath to the 68-year-old Zardari in a small yet formal ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the Presidential Palace. Zardari replaces Dr Arif Alvi, who stayed in office for five months after completing his five-year term in September 2023.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after Trinamool Congress announced his candidature from the Berhampore Lok Sabha seat for the upcoming polls. Yusuf Pathan said that it is the duty of the representatives of the people to uplift the deprived sections of society. «I'm eternally grateful to Mamata Banerjee for welcoming me into the TMC family and trusting me with the responsibility to become people's voice in the Parliament. As representatives of the people, it is our duty to uplift the poor and deprived, and that is what I hope to achieve,» Yusuf Pathan posted on X.

Russia-Ukraine conflict raged in 2022, the United States started «preparing rigorously» for a potential nuclear strike by Moscow against Kyiv, in what would have been the first nuclear attack since the US dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki nearly eighty years before, CNN reported citing two senior administration officials. The report stated that outreach from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other countries also played an important role in averting the crisis. The Biden administration was specifically concerned Russia might use a tactical or battlefield nuclear weapon, the officials said.

By David Randall

Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam on Sunday hit out at Rahul Gandhi and called him a «mad person,» claiming as long as he is in the party, Congress cannot be saved. «A mad person can say anything. A boy who has gone mad can say anything. No one should take seriously what a mad person or a child says,» Krishnam told reporters. Krishnam was ousted from the Congress for indiscipline in February. «In view of the complaints of indiscipline and repeated statements against the party, the Congress President has approved the proposal of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee to expel Pramod Krishnam from the party for six years with immediate effect,» the party had then said in a statement.

election commissioners are likely to be appointed by March 15 to fill the vacancies created by the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey and the surprise resignation of Arun Goel, sources said on Sunday. Days before the poll panel is expected to announce the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls, Goel resigned on Friday morning. His resignation was accepted by President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday and the Law Ministry issued a notification to announce it. This leaves Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar as the sole member of the poll authority. Pandey had demitted office on February 14 on attaining the age of 65 years.

Election Commissioner Arun Goel as «very surprising and shocking», days before the expected announcement of the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday demanded the Narendra Modi government to tell the reasons for his resignation. Goel resigned on Saturday, days before the expected announcement of the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

U.S. military said on Sunday it has carried out an operation in Haiti to airlift non-essential embassy personnel from the country and added U.S. forces bolster embassy security, as Caribbean nation reels under a state of emergency. The operation was the latest sign of Haiti's troubles as gang violence threatens to bring down the government and has led thousands to flee their homes. «This airlift of personnel into and out of the embassy is consistent with our standard practice for embassy security augmentation worldwide, and no Haitians were on board the military aircraft,» the U.S. military's Southern Command said in a statement.

By James Oliphant and Nandita Bose

Akhilesh Yadav's statement regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming the party is going to win again and the "hooliganism" of the Samajwadi Party is going to lose again. Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Keshav Prasad Maurya warned the Samajwadi Party (SP) chief in a post on social media platform 'X' «SP chief Shri Akhilesh Yadav ji should keep in mind that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji is the most popular leader not only in India but in the world,» Maurya said in his post. «The BJP won the 2014/2017/2019 and 2022 elections (Lok Sabha-Vidhan Sabha) and is going to win 2024 also. The SP's hooliganism is going to lose again. India will not tolerate Modi ji's insult,» he said.

TMC declared candidates from all Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, the Congress on Sunday said its doors are open for an alliance till the withdrawal of nominations and maintained that any agreement has to be finalised through negotiations and not by unilateral announcements. Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a public rally in Kolkata announced the names of 42 candidates for the Lok Saba election in the state. «Our doors are always open and an alliance can happen anytime before withdrawal,» Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said over the development. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also said that the Indian National Congress has repeatedly declared its desire to have a respectable seat-sharing agreement with the TMC in West Bengal.

Cricketer Yusuf Pathan got a ticket from the Berhampore constituency and will be up against Congress' Adhi Ranjan Chowdhury. Mahua Moitra is set to contest from Krishna Nagar. Abhishek Banerjee will be contesting from Diamond Harbour. Sitting MP and Bollywood veteran Shatrughan Sinha will fight again from the Asansol seat.

Brijendra Singh who was an MP from Hisar, Haryana resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday due to «compelling political reasons.» The former BJP leader met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi with Former Union Minister Birender Singh. «I have resigned from the primary membership of BJP, due to compelling political reasons. I extend gratitude to the party, National President Sh.

Chinese tech companies, including memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, in a fresh bid to restrain the Asian country’s development of advanced semiconductors. The US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is considering adding ChangXin to its so-called Entity List, which restricts companies’ access to US technology, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the conversations are private. BIS is also considering restricting five other Chinese firms, the people said, while emphasizing that the list isn’t final.

Lok Sabha elections, the Congress launched its “Nyay Geet" on Saturday, highlighting the party's “five pillars of justice" and its pledges to the youth. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and several other leaders shared the song's video on social media platforms.

class sizes across Canada, a new study is suggesting “smaller class sizes” may not give students a boost after all.The study found minimizing the number of students in classrooms did not lead to better grades, and suggests it may even decrease their odds at achieving the best results. The study looked at data from Macau, China and Japan, of 2,700 “disadvantaged” secondary school students with class sizes of 15 or fewer pupils to more than 50.It notes the quantity of teachers didn’t increase the odds for students from what they deemed the poorest backgrounds.

Congress party expressed concern over the resignation of Election Commissioner Arun Goel, warning against the «systematic decimation» of independent institutions that could lead to the erosion of democracy. Goel resigned just ahead of the anticipated announcement of the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge questioned the circumstances surrounding Goel's resignation, emphasizing the reduction of the Election Commission to only one Commissioner while crucial elections loom. He warned that if the trend of weakening independent institutions persists, democracy in India may give way to dictatorship.

Joe Biden is one of the most unpopular presidents in modern American history. In Gallup polling, his approval ratings are lower than those of any president embarking on a reelection campaign, from Dwight Eisenhower to Donald Trump. Yet an air of mystery hangs around his lousy polling numbers. As The Washington Free Beacon's Joe Simonson noted recently, just surfing around most U.S. media and pop culture, you probably wouldn't realize that Biden's job approval ratings are quite so historically terrible, worse by far than Trump's at the same point in his first term.

Zardari, was resoundingly elected as Pakistan's 14th President on Saturday, making history as the nation's only civilian leader for a second time. Zardari, the co-chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party, was the joint candidate of the ruling alliance of the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Elon Musk has made an unabashed turn to the right politically, defying the orthodoxy that Silicon Valley is a citadel of well-heeled liberals beholden to Democrats. Long considered non-identifiable ideologically, Musk's politics are now hardline right wing as he uses his platform (now called X) to stoke the themes cherished by Fox News, conservative talk radio and far right movements across the West.

Further, macroeconomic data such as consumer price inflation and industrial production will also be tracked by investors.