Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar met Netherlands Foreign Minister Casper Veldkamp in The Hague today. He posted about this on X. Jaishankar wrote – Netherlands has strongly condemned the Pahalgam attack, I appreciate it. We support the Netherlands’ zero tolerance against terrorism. The Indian Foreign Minister said that there was also a discussion between the two leaders on increasing partnership with the European Union. Jaishankar is on a six-day visit to the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany from Monday to May 24. During this, he will meet the leaders and foreign ministers of these countries. Other big news of the day… 4.2 magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan, this is the fourth earthquake in the country in four days An earthquake of 4.2 magnitude hit Afghanistan on Monday morning. According to NCS, the earthquake occurred at 8:54 am local time. Its depth was 140 km below. According to the National Center of Seismology (NCS), this was the fourth earthquake in the country in the last four days. An earthquake of 4.5 magnitude hit Afghanistan on May 18. Earlier, earthquakes had hit Afghanistan on 16 and 17 May. UNOCHA said that frequent earthquakes in Afghanistan harm vulnerable communities. Mob attacks rehab centre in Pakistan, drives away more than 120 drug addicts A violent mob attacked the Sunshine Rehab Centre in Karachi, Pakistan on Saturday night. According to ARY News, the mob damaged the property of the centre and beat up the employees. Apart from this, the police van parked outside the centre was also targeted. The miscreants also drove away 127 drug addicts from the rehab centre. All of them were undergoing treatment here to quit drug addiction. This centre is run by Sindh police officer Abdul Khaliq Ansari. At the time of the attack, 10-15 security personnel were present at the centre, who were taking care of the patients. According to the report, the people in the mob were upset with the patients’ habit of stealing. Bomb blast in Balochistan market, several shops collapsed, 4 killed 4 people have died in a bomb blast in a market in Balochistan, Pakistan on Sunday. At the same time, 20 people are injured. The explosion took place near Jabbar Market in Kila Abdullah district. According to the Express Tribune newspaper, several shops collapsed after the explosion. Many shops also caught fire. Kila Abdullah Deputy Commissioner Riaz Khan said that the market was adjacent to the rear wall of the Frontier Corps (FC) fort. After the explosion, there was firing between unknown attackers and FC personnel. At present, the area has been sealed and a search operation has been started. Trump supporter leader loses in Romania’s presidential election, European Union supporter Nicusor Dan wins Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan has won the presidential elections held in Romania. He has defeated Trump supporter leader George Simion in a tough contest. After counting all the votes, Dan got 54.17% votes, while his rival candidate Simion got 45.83% votes. This victory is also special because in the first round of voting two weeks ago, Simion got more votes (40.96%) than Dan while Dan got only 20.99% votes. Dan made a great comeback in the last round. Earlier, the results of the 2024 presidential election were canceled due to allegations of Russian interference and irregularities. After this, re-elections were held. Simion was seen getting an edge in the pre-poll surveys, but Dan’s comeback in the last round turned the contest around. Dan’s agenda was pro-European. He promised that he would make law and administrative reforms, continue to help Ukraine and strengthen relations with Western countries. At the same time, Simion ran a ‘Romania First’ campaign in Trump’s style, in which it was said to distance himself from the policies of the European Union, reduce taxes and reduce the military aid being given to Ukraine. The role of the President is very important in Romania. The President plays a major role in choosing the Prime Minister, foreign policy and defense matters. Apart from this, he also has important rights like veto on the unanimous decisions of the European Union. No candidate got majority in the first round of presidential elections in Poland, last round on June 1 No candidate got majority in the first round of presidential elections held in Poland on Sunday. Warsaw’s liberal mayor Rafal Trzaskowski got the highest 31.2% votes. At the same time, his main rival and nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki got 29.7% votes. Now both the candidates will face each other in the second round of elections to be held on June 1. This election is considered very important for the political future of Poland. Trzaskowski is in favor of pro-Europe policy, while Nawrocki is considered a Trump supporter. In the survey conducted before the election, Trzaskowski was said to be 4-7% ahead of Nawrocki, but the actual difference was just 1.5%. The competition may be tougher in the second round, because in the first round 21% votes were received by Slawomir Mentzen and Grzegorz Brown. The candidate who is successful in getting more votes than these two is sure to win. PM Montenegro’s party missed majority in Portugal, right-wing Chega surprised by getting 23% votes In the European country Portugal, the ruling party center-right Democratic Alliance (AD) has got the most votes in the parliamentary elections held on Sunday. However, the party has not got a majority. This has once again increased political uncertainty in the country. According to the initial results, AD has got 32.7% votes. This is less than the 42% required for a majority. The Socialist Party got 23.4% votes, while the right-wing Chega got 22.6% votes. This is a big success for the Chega party because in the elections held three years ago it got only 7% votes. This time also, no party getting a majority means that the big party will have to form an alliance with smaller parties or run a minority government. Official results are expected to come by late Monday night. This was the third parliamentary election in Portugal in three years. This time the elections were held because Prime Minister Luis Montenegro could not win the trust vote. Questions were raised on him regarding the transactions related to his family’s company, although he denied any wrongdoing. Read the updates related to May 18 here…
