Morning Digest: Bengal police says vehicles with fake number plates used in murder of Suvendu’s aide; U.S., Iran trade fire over Hormuz, and more

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. A bike, which was allegedly used by assailants who shot dead BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's close aide Chandranath Rath, is recovered and brought to the Madhyamgram Police station, in the North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, on May 7, 2026. | Photo Credit: PTI Vehicles with fake number plates were used to target and kill Chandranath Rath, personal assistant to Suvendu Adhikari, the outgoing Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, late on Wednesday night (May 6, 2026), according to the West Bengal police. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the attack, and forensic experts have visited the scene of the crime in North 24 Parganas, Madhyamgram. “If he was not my aide or I did not defeat [outgoing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee] in Bhabanipur, maybe they would not have targeted Rath. His crime was being my personal assistant,” Mr. Adhikari said, after visiting his aide’s family at the Barasat Medical College and Hospital where a post-mortem was being conducted on Rath’s body. The U.S. military said it carried out strikes on Iranian military targets on Thursday (May 7, 2026) after an attack on three American destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran accused Washington of striking first. The violence threatened to unravel a fragile truce in effect since April 8 that brought an end to weeks of U.S.-Israeli attacks on the Islamic republic, which has retaliated with strikes across West Asia and by blocking the strait, a vital route for oil and gas shipments. The post-election political climate in Tamil Nadu turned upside down on Thursday (May 7, 2026) after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leadership began toying with the idea of extending outside support to its arch-rival, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam — a prospect that would have been unthinkable till a week ago. In a related development, the Lok Bhavan said Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar invited Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president C. Joseph Vijay and “explained that the requisite majority support in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, essential for forming the government, has not been established.” The Congress Legislative Party, which met in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday (May 7, 2026), passed a resolution authorising the party high command to choose the next Chief Minister of Kerala, even as the three leaders in contention were involved in hectic parleys to secure the support of MLAs. At Indira Bhavan, the headquarters of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), All India Congress Committee (AICC) observers Mukul Wasnik and Ajay Maken as well as AICC general secretary and Kerala in-charge Deepa Dasmunsi held one-on-one meetings with the 63 legislators of the Congress to know about their choice for the Chief Minister’s post. A year on, two schools in Jammu & Kashmir, which bore the brunt of the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan in May last year, stand testimony to the cost of war, tragedy, and trauma, staring at a long road to recovery. With Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) on the other side of the nearby hills, the Christ High School in Poonch is finding it hard bury the memories of the war. “Who would want a war that leaves children dead? In pursuit of justice for the Pahalgam victims, there was addition to the list of civilian deaths. War exposes the vulnerabilities of human beings,” Father Shijo, principal of the school for the past seven years, told The Hindu. Over 40 days after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against her in a rape and sexual exploitation case, suspended TCS employee Nida Khan was taken into police custody in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar late on Thursday night. The arrest was made in a joint operation by the Nashik SIT, the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Crime Branch and the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Police Commissioner. “Nida Khan has been taken into custody from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. We are in the process of completing the legal action now,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police Sandip Mitke, who heads the Nashik Police SIT. The Supreme Court on Thursday (May 7, 2026) asked if there had been a “pr

Morning Digest: Bengal police says vehicles with fake number plates used in murder of Suvendu’s aide; U.S., Iran trade fire over Hormuz, and more

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Morning Digest: Bengal police says vehicles with fake number plates used in murder of Suvendu’s aide; U.S., Iran trade fire over Hormuz, and more

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