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Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed 203 persons and injured over a thousand, the Lebanese health ministry said. The Israeli military said that it had, in a 10-minute operation, conducted “the largest coordinated strike” in Lebanon since the conflict in West Asia began.

With the attacks starting hours after a ceasefire was announced between the United States and Iran, Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz again.

The United States said that Iran must open the strategic waterway “immediately, quickly and safely” and that any closure of the strait was completely unacceptable. Read more.

Does India have enough fertiliser stocks to tide over Iran war shock? explains Vaishnavi Rathore

Voting took place for the Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry. As of 5 pm, the turnout in Assam was 84.42%. Kerala recorded 75.01% turnout while Puducherry saw 86.92%, according to data from the Election Commission.

The numbers are expected to rise as the poll panel revises figures based on inputs from several booths. This was the highest ever voter turnout recorded in Assam’s electoral history. In the Assembly elections held in 2021, the state had recorded a total voter turnout of 82.42%. Read more.

In Upper Assam, BJP faces an upbeat Opposition with its battalion of welfare schemes, reports Rokibuz Zaman

Congress leader Pawan Khera told the Telangana High Court that the forgery and criminal conspiracy case registered against him by the Assam Police “reeks of political vendetta”. He had moved the court seeking transit anticipatory bail after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife filed a first information report against him.

The court reserved the verdict in the case, asking why the Congress leader had not moved a court in Assam to seek relief.

The FIR was filed after the Congress leader claimed on Sunday that he had documentary evidence that showed that Riniki Bhuyan Sarma holds passports of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Antigua and Barbuda. Read more.

A Kolkata-based research organisation found that Muslims comprised more than 40% of the voters deleted from the electoral rolls in the city’s Bhabanipur seat during adjudication as part of the special intensive revision process. The community accounts for only about 20% of the population in the constituency.

Trinamool Congress chief and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is slated to contest the seat against Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Suvendu Adhikari.

The deletions of voters from the electoral rolls were caused by minor spelling mismatches or arbitrary criteria like “too many siblings”, said the Sabar Institute. The organisation noted that the patterns of deletions are “structural” across West Bengal. Read more.

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