# Karnataka

• Congress comfortably swept past the majority mark of 113 in the Karnataka assembly elections, winning 135 seats.
• BJP won only 66 seats in the wake of strong anti incumbency.
• The third player JDS has been pushed to irrelevance by the strong comeback of the Congress.
• The challenge for the Congress would be to select a chief minister from the divided party.

# Turkiye

• President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye approaches the toughest election of his career on Sunday.
• Erdogan has been dominating the Turkiye for the last two decades and has been taking many populist measures in the wake of election.
• He has captured all the screen time on state broadcaster and his opponent has been barely allowed to appear on it.
• Polls show Erdogan trailing the main opposition candidate Kemal Kilickardoglu, a 74 year old former civil servant, a day ahead of elections.
• However, if neither of them win more than 50% of the vote, the vote will go to a runoff on may 28.

# NATO

• NATO is considering opening a liaison office in Japan.
• International security experts say this step could deepen the alliance’s engagement in the region as it grows increasingly concerned about China’s support of Russia.
• It would be NATO’s first office in Asia, of opened.
• Japan has recalibrated its foreign policy since Russia invaded Ukraine.

# Berlin

• Germany on Saturday sent the strongest signal yet of its commitment to backing Ukraine in its battle against Russia.
• The arms package, totalling €2.7 billion, amounted to roughly as much as Germany’s total military aid to Ukraine since the war began.