Tejashwi Yadav has been named the Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial candidate for Bihar, with Mukesh Sahani as his deputy. This move signals a shift in the alliance’s caste dynamics and leadership. However, the Congress faces internal dissent over ticket distribution, raising concerns about its influence within the opposition bloc.

European Union leaders on Thursday endorsed a plan to ensure that Europe can defend itself against an outside attack by the end of the decade as concern mounts that Russia is already probing the 27-nation bloc’s defences.

A fragile ceasefire has brought respite to Gazans exhausted by two years of fighting, but even without the daily bombing, they are struggling to live amid the catastrophic destruction wrought by the war.