TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian authorities on Monday announced preliminary results from parliamentary and local elections in which only candidates loyal to the country’s authoritarian leader were allowed to compete and the opposition called for a boycott. The vote further cemented the 30-year rule of President Alexander Lukashenko, who declared his intention to seek another five-year term in a presidential election next year. Most candidates belonged to the four officially registered parties: Belaya Rus, the Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Party of Labor and Justice, all of which support Lukashenko’s policies. The Central Election Commission said 73%

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP): The eldest daughter and close aide of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday became the country’s first-ever female chief minister in eastern Punjab province. Mariam Nawaz, 50, was elected chief minister in a 220-0 vote in her favor, beating out rival for the post, Rana Aftab, who was nominated by the Sunni Ittehad Council, an ally of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Opposition lawmakers supporting Khan, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament in 2022, boycotted the session of the 371-member Punjab Assembly. Nawaz thanked God in televised remarks and promised she

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday told the Supreme Court that he made a mistake by retweeting an allegedly defamatory video circulated by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee related to the BJP IT Cell. A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, without issuing notice on a plea of Kejriwal challenging a Delhi High Court order which upheld summons issued to him as an accused in the criminal defamation case, asked the complainant whether he wanted to close the matter in view of the chief minister’s apology. The bench also asked the trial court not to take up the

Washington (AP): Donald Trump won over South Carolina Republicans as the candidate who voters believe can win in November, keep the country safe and has the mental capability to be president. Trump cruised to victory in the South Carolina primary with the support of an almost unwavering base of loyal voters. AP VoteCast found that Republicans in the state are broadly aligned with Trumps’s goals: Many question the value of supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russia; overwhelming majorities see immigrants as hurting the U.S. and suspect that there are nefarious political motives behind Trump’s multiple criminal indictments. Even in her home state