8 pm

A different campaign

D. Suresh Babu, India Desiya Makkal Katchi's candidate from Central Madras Lok Sabha playing foot ball with children during his election campaign at Pudupet on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: R. Ragu

3.30 pm

ECI begins arrangements for phase 1 LS polls

Election Commission of India officials have started making arrangements for conducting the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls on April 11.

2.00 pm

Only Modi can give a strong govt: Amit Shah

A section of the crowd at the rally of BJP president Amit Shah in Shamshabad, in Hyderabad on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal

BJP President Amit Shah on Tuesday made a strong pitch for return of the party-led NDA government at the Centre, saying only Prime Minister Narendra Modi can give a strong government.

Addressing an election rally at Shamshabad near Hyderabad, he also said the BJP’s manifesto released Monday was nothing but a document to make the country great.

Referring to the Pulwama terrorist attack and subsequent air strike by India targetting terror camps in Pakistan, Mr. Shah asked whether Congress President Rahul Gandhi could give a fitting reply like Modi.

“The biggest work that the Modi government did was to secure the nation,” he said.

12:30 pm

Israel parliamentary elections: voting begins

Benny Gantz, leader of Blue and White party, and his wife Revital cast their ballots as Israelis began voting in a parliamentary election, at a polling station in Rosh Ha'ayin, Israel April 9, 2019. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Israeli voters began casting ballots Tuesday in parliamentary elections that will determine whether longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains in office after a decade in power.

Clouded by a series of looming corruption indictments, Netanyahu is seeking a fourth consecutive and a fifth overall term in office, which would make him Israel’s longest-ever serving leader, surpassing founding father David Ben-Gurion.

“Go to vote. Choose whoever you believe in. Respect each other and let us all wake up for a new dawn, a new history,” he said.

12:00 noon

Nissan ex-chair Ghosn says 'conspiracy' led to his arrest

Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn, seen on a screen, speaks in a video during a press conference held by his lawyers in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 9, 2019. | Photo Credit: AP

Ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn said he was innocent and slammed former colleagues whom he accused of backstabbing and conspiring against him, in a pre-recorded video that marked his first public address since his initial arrest last year.

In the video, shown to reporters in Tokyo, the former Nissan Motor Co chairman said he was the victim of selfish rivals bent on derailing a closer alliance between the Japanese automaker and French partner Renault SA.

11:30 am

Protesters warn of Chinese 'invasion' of Philippines

Anti-China protesters raise placards and national flags during a protest in front of Chinese consular office in the financial district of Manila on April 9, 2019. | Photo Credit: AFP

Protesters descended on the Chinese embassy in Manila on Tuesday to oppose the Asian superpower's growing sway in the Philippines and as tensions rise over Beijing's presence in the disputed South China Sea.

Filipino flag-waving marchers chanted "China out" and brandished a banner saying "Defend our sovereign rights", referring to Beijing's expansive claims to the resource-rich waterway.

9: 30 am

9 leaders of Hong Kong pro-democracy protests found guilty

Occupy Central leaders, from right, Benny Tai, Chan Kin-mMan, Chu Yiu-ming, Tanya Chan and Eason Chung shout slogans before entering a court in Hong Kong, Tuesday, April 9, 2019. | Photo Credit: AP

A group of Hong Kong democracy leaders were found guilty on Tuesday for their involvement in mass rallies at a trial that sparked renewed alarm over shrinking political freedoms under an assertive China.

Nine activists were all convicted of at least one charge in a prosecution that deployed rarely-used colonial-era public nuisance laws over their participation in the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests, which called for free elections for the city's leader.

Among the most prominent members of the group on trial were sociology professor Chan Kin-man, 60, law professor Benny Tai, 54, and Baptist minister Chu Yiu-ming, 75.

8:30 am

Colombia lower house rejects president's changes to peace tribunal

Opposition members of the Colombian Congress, celebrate after voting in support of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) during a plenary session on the government's lodging of objections to the JEP at the National Congress in Bogota on April 8, 2019. | Photo Credit: AFP

Colombia's lower house on Monday rejected President Ivan Duque's suggested changes to a special tribunal tasked with trying former rebels and military officials for war crimes, the latest in a series of congressional defeats for Duque.

The changes had been widely expected to be defeated because the peace accord is now part of the country's constitution and changes to it require a two-thirds majority in the legislature.

(With inputs from Agencies)