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South Carolina’s Republican voters have to decide between Nikki Haley and Donald Trump. But where Nikki is "liked", Donald is "loved". And therein lies the rub for Haley, for whom winning her home state is a matter of prestige. However, prestige stands no chance against prejudice. South Carolina’s conservatives, the majority of them, are prejudiced in favour of Trump, doesn’t matter that Nikki was twice elected South Carolina Governor by these same Republicans. The Oval Office looks distant for Nikki Haley and Trump, as everybody knows, has a love-hate relationship with the White House.

New Delhi: Putting behind their shock defeat against Egypt, India trounced Jamacia 13-0 in their third and final Pool B match to qualify for the quarterfinals of the FIH Hockey5s Men’s World Cup Oman Muscat, on Monday.

New Delhi: Olympian Divyansh Singh Panwar won the gold medal in the men’s 10m air rifle shooting event with a World record score at the ISSF World Cup in Cairo.

The growing Chinese People’s Liberation Army-Navy action agenda sending so-called research vessels to ports in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and now the Maldives poses a major maritime threat to India and its littoral region. The PLA-Navy’s tie-ups with India’s neighbouring countries are all bilateral. The government of India may be upset with the actions of its sovereign neighbours, but it can do little to prevent the PLA-Navy’s bilateral cooperation with countries in the region. What do these Chinese research vessels do in these ports? What are they researching.

The order issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on January 26 asking Israel to stop genocide of Palestine people is a development of major significance in the battle of the peace-loving people of the world demanding the end of the war between Israel and Palestine in Gaza. The nearly four-month-old conflict has expanded to other areas of West Asia involving Lebanon, Yemen and Iran.

Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar’s switching over again to join BJP after ditching INDIA Bloc has inspired two sets of reaction – first, BJP and NDA will have significant political gain as their leaders have claimed; secondly, it was a good riddance for INDIA bloc which would have greatly suffered with a leader having lost face and too much anti-incumbency, as TMC leader Mamata Banerjee believed. Both the claims seem to be too simplistic to be true in tremendously increased political complexity not only in Bihar but across the country. It seems just the beginning of the pre-poll political game which is likely to continue until the post-poll formation of the government.

On Sunday, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar threw a bomb shell by leaving the ruling Mahagathbandhan in Bihar and returning to the N.D.A. coalition. He also quit the opposition coalition which he had built eight months ago. This dismantling of the bloc has dealt a significant blow to the I.N.D.I.A. bloc at the national level. They missed the slim chance of defeating the B.J.P. in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Inside Rajbhawan in Patna, the three storied building in Palladian form built by the New Zealand architect, has been witness to the crude form of intrigue during last four days. While Nitish Kumar was taking oath of chief minister for ninth time in succession, outside the palatial structure, just beneath the statute of India’s first president, known for his commitment to probity in public life and strict adherence to truth, the people assembled there did not hesitate in using filthy words against the chief minister and forecast this fifth desertion will witness his political demise.

There is yet another Nitish Kumar-Modi/Shah government in Bihar, and questions are being asked why Modi-Shah went back on their word to never align with Nitish Kumar after the last time he broke up with the BJP in 2022. Whatever happened, why the sudden need for Nitish Kumar’s much lent shoulder? Of course, there are the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, but could it be the threat to the BJP from the INDI-Alliance and Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’? Could it be fear of the expected ‘Manipur’ backlash; perhaps, the fear of a total ‘South’ white-wash? Could it be apprehensions of losing the majority? Maybe, the “400+ seats” will turn out to be a pipedream?

For developing countries struggling economically to contain rising fuel, food and import costs in the post Ukraine war period, one positive sign of the times is that West-sponsored economic sanctions may not be as damaging as before. The experience of Russia and new emerging alignments within the world order suggest that no other country may face the kind of economic crippling that Cuba has had to endure for decades, mainly under unrelenting US pressure.