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Bank Indonesia To Maintain Market Intervention As Rupiah Weakens Amid Global Pressures

JAKARTA, May 5 2026– Bank Indonesia (BI) will continue to intervene in the market to ensure orderly functioning as the rupiah weakens to around 17,400 against the US dollar amid .... read more

WASHINGTON, May 5 -- The Pulitzer Prizes this year honoured multiple works examining the impact of policies by US President Donald Trump, reported German news agency dpa. Pulitzer administrator Marjorie Miller said during the announcement on Monday that much of the coverage had centred on controversial topics of the year, including immigration policy, sharp cuts to US development aid and reporting on files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Washington Post was awarded for its reporting on the impact of the Trump administration's restructuring of federal agencies. The New York Times won for investigations that uncovered how Trump used his power to financially benefit his family. Journalists at the Chicago Tribune were recognised for their coverage of operations by US immigration authorities in the city. Awards were also given for reporting on artificial intelligence, a deadly flood in the US state of Texas and destruction in Gaza. A special citation went to Julie K Brown of the Miami Herald for her 2017–18 investigations into Epstein and the abuse of young women. Miller said the awards also underscored a commitment to press freedom at a time of growing pressure on media, pointing to restrictions on access to the White House and Pentagon as well as legal action taken by the president against news outlets. The Pulitzer Prizes are widely regarded as the most prestigious awards in journalism and are also given for achievements in literature, music and theatre. --BERNAMA-dpa

Trump Policy Coverage Dominates Pulitzer Prize Winners

WASHINGTON, May 5 — The Pulitzer Prizes this year honoured multiple works examining the impact of policies by US President Donald Trump, reported German news agency dpa. Pulitzer administrator Marjorie .... read more

HYDERABAD, May 5 -- India's key regional elections have produced stunning results in the states of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, electrifying its national politics. The most unexpected result came from Tamil Nadu, where C. Joseph Vijay, aged 51, unfancied as a political contender but popular as a movie icon, led his newly-formed Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) to victory against the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Commonly known as Vijay or Thalapathy (meaning leader), he was not seen as a major political threat either to the DMK or the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the two parties that have ruled Tamil Nadu for more than six decades. The TVK has secured 108 seats in the 234-member assembly, followed by 59 for the DMK and 47 won by AIADMK, with the rest going to other parties, according to seat tallies on the Election Commission's website on Tuesday morning. Vijay is poised to lead the state as chief minister, even though the party, launched in 2024, has fallen short of the 118 seats required to form a majority government on its own. DMK leader and outgoing chief minister M.K. Stalin lost his own seat of Kolathur, which he had won three times since 2011, to the TVK's V.S. Babu by a margin of 8,795 votes. Stalin in his post-result reaction said he has seen victories as well as defeats in his public life but the DMK's political journey will continue and it will act as a good opposition party. Outgoing deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin emerged victorious in the Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni constituency. Tamil Nadu is no stranger to creating big politicians out of film stars. The AIADMK was started by famous actor-turned-politician M.G. Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR, after breaking away from the DMK in 1972. He later served as the state's chief minister. J. Jayalalithaa, hailed as "Puratchi Thalaivi" (revolutionary leader) and popularly known as Amma, took over the party upon MGR's death in 1987, and dominated Tamil Nadu's politics for three decades during which she served as chief minister six times. The AIADMK has considerably weakened since Jayalalithaa's death in 2016 at the age of 68. Now Vijay is being hailed as a new political icon in the state whose more than 80 million people have a strong sense of regional and linguistic identity. The assembly elections were held in the states of Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the federally-administered territory of Puducherry last month and votes were counted on Monday. In the state of West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) achieved a landslide win against three-term chief minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC). Winning in the state bordering Bangladesh would enable the Hindu nationalist party to burnish its image as a party of broader national appeal rather than an organisation with its core strength in the Hindi-speaking region and western states like Gujarat and Maharashtra. The BJP had pulled out all the stops to snatch West Bengal state from the TMC and the occasion was celebrated by its supporters across states. West Bengal, India's fourth most populous state with a population of more than 100 million, witnessed a particularly fierce election campaign. Banerjee, a strong critic of BJP policies, lost her assembly seat of Bhabanipur to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari by about 15,000 votes. Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, who spent many days in the state campaigning for the BJP, reacted to Banerjee's defeat on social media. "Hats off to the people of Bhabanipur. Their mandate has made it clear what fate awaits an anarchic ruler," he said on X. Banerjee and her allies bitterly criticised the "Special Intensive Revision (SIR)" of voter rolls in which nine million voters, representing 12 per cent of the state's electorate, were controversially removed. "Assam and Bengal are clear cases of the election being stolen by the BJP with the support of the EC (Election Commission)," India's main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X on Monday, adding that he agrees with Banerjee that "more than 100 seats were stolen in Bengal." The Election Commission has called the elections fair, defended the voter list revision to take into account absentee or deceased voters and hailed high voter turnouts in West Bengal. The BJP won 206 seats in West Bengal's 294-member assembly, with the TMC getting 81 and the Congress party managing just two wins. The BJP's vote share is 45.8 per cent compared with 40.8 per cent support for the TMC. Meanwhile, Modi along with top party leaders celebrated his party's election wins at the party headquarters in New Delhi. He told his cheering supporters that "a new chapter has begun in the destiny of West Bengal." Modi also hailed the party's victory in Assam state, where it will form a government for the third consecutive five-year term. The BJP's seat tally in Assam is 82, followed by 19 seats for the Congress, and 10 each for the Bodoland Peoples Front and the Asom Gana Parishad. In Puducherry, the BJP scored wins in four seats and its regional ally All India N.R. Congress won 12 seats to secure a combined majority in the 30-member legislature. In the southern state of Kerala, the Indian National Congress emerged as the single largest party by winning 63 seats and its alliance partner Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) won 22 seats, enough to enjoy a comfortable majority in the 140-member house. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) returns to power after a decade-long rule of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the state with a population of more than 35 million. -- BERNAMA

From Star Power To Stunning Victories, India’s Regional Elections Deliver Electrifying Outcomes

HYDERABAD, May 5 — India’s key regional elections have produced stunning results in the states of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, electrifying its national politics. The most unexpected result came .... read more

ISTANBUL, May 4 -- US President Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States would begin escorting neutral foreign vessels safely out of the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday morning West Asian time, describing the effort as a “humanitarian gesture” toward countries caught up in a conflict they have no part in. Anadolu Ajansi reported Trump said ships from countries around the world had asked the US for help after becoming trapped in the waterway. He said he had instructed his representatives to inform those nations that the US would use its "best efforts" to guide their ships and crews out of the restricted passage, adding the vessels would not return until the area was safe for navigation. Trump named the initiative "Project Freedom," saying many of the stranded ships were running low on food and other essentials needed to keep large crews in healthy condition. "The ship movement is merely meant to free up people, companies, and countries that have done absolutely nothing wrong - They are victims of circumstance," he said. He said the move was “for the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States,” adding that any interference with the humanitarian effort would "have to be dealt with forcefully." Trump also said his representatives are engaging in "very positive" discussions with Iran that he believed "could lead to something very positive for all." Iran did not immediately react to his announcement. The announcement came as Trump told the Israeli media outlet Kan News that he had studied Iran's proposal to end the war and found it unacceptable. "It's not acceptable to me. I've studied it, I've studied everything — it's not acceptable," he said. On Saturday, he had already expressed skepticism, saying Tehran had not yet paid a "big enough price" for its actions over the past 47 years. Despite the public dismissal, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff told CNN that Washington remained engaged, Anadolu reported. "We're in conversation," Witkoff said when asked about the state of discussions. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Saturday that Tehran had submitted a 14-point response to a US proposal through a Pakistani intermediary. Iran said Sunday that it had received a US response and was reviewing it. The Axios news site reported that the US on Sunday submitted a newly revised draft agreement aimed at ending the war in response to Iran’s latest proposal. The war paused after a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire took hold in early April and was later extended indefinitely. Peace talks were held in Islamabad last month, but an agreement was not reached, and another round could not be arranged. Trump said "we're not flying anymore with 18-hour flights every time we want to see a piece of paper. We're doing it telephonically.” -- BERNAMA-ANADOLU

Trump Says US To Help Escort Neutral Ships Out Of Strait Of Hormuz Starting Monday

ISTANBUL, May 4 — US President Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States would begin escorting neutral foreign vessels safely out of the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday morning .... read more

ISTANBUL, May 4 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- The Asian Development Bank on Sunday announced US$70 billion in new energy and digital infrastructure initiatives through 2035, Anadolu Ajansi reported. "Energy and digital access will define the region’s future," said the bank's President Masato Kanda in a statement. The Pan-Asia Power Grid Initiative will link national and subregional power systems to enable the flow of renewable energy, while the Asia-Pacific Digital Highway aims to close digital infrastructure gaps and support AI-driven growth across the region. "These two initiatives build the systems Asia and the Pacific need to grow, compete, and connect. "By linking power grids and digital networks across borders, we can lower costs, expand opportunity, and bring reliable power and digital access to hundreds of millions of people," he added. The Pan-Asia Power Grid Initiative targets US$50 billion by 2035 for cross-border power infrastructure. The Asia-Pacific Digital Highway aims to mobilize US$20 billion by 2035 to fund digital infrastructure and AI-ready economies, including fiber networks, satellites, and regional data centers. The bank aims to integrate around 20 gigawatts of cross-border renewable energy, expand energy access to 200 million people, create 840,000 jobs, and cut regional power sector emissions by 15 per cent by 2035. -- BERNAMA-ANADOLU

Asian Development Bank Announces US$70b Plan For Energy, Digital Infrastructure

ISTANBUL, May 4 — The Asian Development Bank on Sunday announced US$70 billion in new energy and digital infrastructure initiatives through 2035, Anadolu Ajansi reported. “Energy and digital access will .... read more

Trump Taken Out Of White House Correspondents’ Dinner After Security Incident

U.S. President Donald Trump is escorted out as a shooter opens fire during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 25, 2026, in this screen .... read more

Migrants In EU Reach 64 Mln In 2025 – Rockwool Foundation

MOSCOW, April 23 2026– The number of migrants living in the European Union (EU) has reached a record 64 million in 2025, according to a report by the Rockwool Foundation .... read more

Trump Extends Iran Ceasefire, Maintains Naval Blockade Pending Tehran Proposal

WASHINGTON, April 22 2026– US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Washington would extend its ceasefire with Iran to allow time for Tehran to prepare a “unified proposal”, following .... read more

Lebanon Needs €500 Million To Tackle Humanitarian Crisis From Israeli War, PM Says

ISTANBUL, April 22 2026 – Lebanon needs €500 million (over US$588 million) over the next six months to address a worsening humanitarian crisis caused by the Israeli war, Prime Minister .... read more

M7.7 Quake Jolts Northeastern Japan, Tsunami Of 80 CM Seen On Pacific Coast

21/04/2026 10:09 AM TOKYO, April 21 2026 — A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 struck northeastern and northern Japan on Monday, causing a tsunami of up to 80 .... read more

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