Madhya Pradesh gears up for a crucial Lok Sabha battle between BJP and Congress. BJP aims to secure Chhindwara stronghold, while Congress strategically fields incumbents in key constituencies. The results will be revealed on June 4.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, called into question US assertions that Islamic State, which once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, was behind the attack. “Attention – a question to the White House: Are you sure it’s ISIS? Might you think again about that?” Zakharova said in an article for the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.

A day after BJP released its fifth list, Congress announced its sixth list of five candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, fielding Prahlad Gunjal from Kota to take on outgoing Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. The list had no names from Karnataka. The party is yet to name candidates for Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Ballari and Chamarajanagar LS constituencies.