‘Cocktail of Hindutva and welfarism’: How Modi’s BJP is wooing Assam voters
Party banks on mix of xenophobic anti-Muslim policies and financial aid schemes aimed at women to retain power in state.

Party banks on mix of xenophobic anti-Muslim policies and financial aid schemes aimed at women to retain power in state.






![It’s been 10 years since the Panama Papers leak exposed how the world’s richest hide their wealth. From offshore shell companies to political scandals, the documents revealed a global network of secret finances. [Global News Insight]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-1775229416.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)

![People wait to buy liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders at a gas agency office in Noida on April 2, 2026 amid ongoing oil and gas import disruptions caused by the US-Israel war on Iran. [Arun Sankar/AFP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-1775163813.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
China has been trying to mediate a negotiated settlement to the conflict between the allies-turned-foes.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper accused Iran of blockading the waterway ‘to hold the global economy hostage’.
Islamabad’s statement follows Trump threatening to bomb Iran ‘back to the Stone Ages’.
Analysts say carpet bombing countries is a war crime. But it wouldn’t be new for the US.
Two ships have passed through the Strait of Hormuz and arrived at Karachi Port.
Muslim-majority nations denounce Israel’s ‘increasingly discriminatory’ practices that ‘entrench a system of apartheid’.
Asian stocks also took a hit after Trump’s speech as most Southeast Asian countries rely heavily on oil imports.
As sowing season approaches across the region, farmers face scarcity and rising cost of fertiliser.

India has begun counting its around 1.4 billion population in the world’s largest census, its first since 2011.
The population count, which was delayed by five years, will include caste enumeration for the first time in a century.