Mumbai, April 29 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address six campaign rallies for the MahaYuti alliance in Maharashtra on Monday and Tuesday. Prime Minister Modi will address poll rallies in Solapur, Karad and Pune on Monday and in Malshiras, Dharashiv and Latur on Tuesday, said state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule. On Monday, the Prime Minister will address a rally at 1.30 p.m. in Solapur for BJP nominee Ram Satpute, who is pitted against Congress’ Praniti Shinde. At 3.45 p.m., he will hold a rally in Karad for party nominee Udayanraje Bhosale who is fighting against the NCP-Sha ..read more

Beirut, April 29 (IANS) French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne has called on Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel to avoid escalation, reaffirming France’s ongoing efforts to prevent the expansion of conflict between the two sides. “We reject the worst scenario in southern Lebanon, and it is in no one’s interest for the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel to expand,” Sejourne was quoted by Lebanese TV channel Al-Jadeed as saying on Sunday. Sejourne made the remarks after his meeting in Beirut with senior Lebanese officials, during which they discussed solutions to the ongoing conflict between ..read more

Gaza, April 29 (IANS) At least 15 Palestinians were killed on Sunday night in Israeli airstrikes on three residential buildings in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported on Monday. Many others were still trapped under the rubble and civil defence crews were working to rescue them, Xinhua news agency reported, citing local sources. The Israeli army killed 66 Palestinians and wounded 138 others during the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 34,454 and injuries to 77,575 since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict broke out on October 7, 2023 ..read more

Gaza, April 29 (IANS) A Hamas official has said that the group will not accept any agreement with Israel that does not include a cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip. Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, said in a statement on Sunday that the group “will not accept any agreement that does not include a cessation of war in Gaza”, Xinhua news agency reported. Abu Zuhri added that Israel’s response, which reached the movement through mediators, is under study, and that it is too early to reach a decision regarding it. A Hamas delegation is scheduled to visit Cairo on Monday, to deliver ..read more

Mexico City, April 29 (IANS) At least 14 people died and 31 were injured when the bus they were travelling in while on pilgrimage overturned near Malinalco in central Mexico. The accident occurred on Sunday morning on the Capulin-Chalma highway and state police have attended to it, the local Mexican security secretariat said in a statement. Medical units also rushed to the scene to transport the injured to hospitals. How the driver had come to lose control remained unclear. According to media reports, the pilgrims from Guanajuato state were travelling to Chalma, the site of a Christian sanctu ..read more

Tokyo, April 29 (IANS) Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has lost all three lower house seats, as the country’s main opposition party won big by sweeping victories in three key by-elections. The Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) of Japan on Sunday emerged victorious in three crucial by-elections, including a closely watched race in Shimane Prefecture, traditionally considered a conservative stronghold, long dominated by the LDP, Xinhua news agency reported. The by-elections, the first elections since the LDP’s slush fund scandal surfaced lat ..read more

Patna, April 29 (IANS) Former Union Mininster and BJP candidate for Bihar’s Saran Lok Sabha seat, Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Sunday said that his real fight is with RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Rohini Acharya is just a “mask”. “Lalu Prasad Yadav cannot contest the election… Hence, he is using Rohini Acharya as a mask,” Rudy said. “Rohini Acharya sometimes calls me a fool and makes indecent remarks about our (BJP) state president Samrat Choudhary. The people of Saran sent me to the Parliament for the two consecutive terms, were they fools? Is Rohini trying to say this?” the sitting MP said. Rudy is con ..read more

Patna, April 29 (IANS) Bihar’s Kishanganj police on Sunday arrested four persons in connection with the gan-grape of a 30-year-old woman. The accused, identified as Sher Singh (55), Aakash Singh (27), Brijlal Singh (30) and Shayamu Singh (25), allegedly kidnapped the victim on Saturday from her house located at Halim Chowk under Kishanganj police station area and took her in a Bolero camper van. Later, they brutalised her at knifepoint in a maize field. The accused, after committing the crime, threatened her with dire consequences and fled from the spot in the van. The victim reached home and ..read more

New Delhi, April 29 (IANS) Indian Naval Destroyer INS Kochi responded to a maritime security incident after an attack on a merchant vessel by Houthi rebels. The incident involved an attack on Panama-flagged crude oil tanker Merchant Vessel (MV) Andromeda Star PM on 26 April, in the Red Sea. The Navy said on Sunday that the Indian Mission deployed in the sea responded and all 22 Indian nationals, who were on board the merchant vessel, are safe. According to the Navy, the MV was intercepted by the Navy ship and an aerial recce by helicopter was undertaken to assess the situation. The EOD team w ..read more

Gurugram, April 29 (IANS) Gurugram Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer Nishant Kumar Yadav has said that all preparations for the polling for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections have been completed. A single-phase polling will be conducted in Haryana in all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state on May 25 in the sixth phase of the 2024 Parliamentary elections. In nine assembly segments of the Gurugram Lok Sabha constituency, 2,407 general polling stations and 74 auxiliary polling stations have been set up. A total of 25,33,958 voters will exercise their franchise at all these booths, of w ..read more