Suvendu Adhikari to become the first BJP Chief Minister of West Bengal

Newly elected MLAs of the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal unanimously elected Suvendu Adhikari as leader of their legislature party on Friday (May 8, 2026). Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who presided over the meeting, said all proposals were received in favour of Mr. Adhikari. Accompanied by several leaders of the BJP’s State unit, including Dilip Ghosh, Locket Chatterjee, and Tapas Roy, the Chief Minister-designate reached Lok Bhavan and met Governor R.N. Ravi to stake claim to form the government. The BJP had won 207 seats in the 294-member Legislative Assembly while the Trinamool Congress was reduced to 80 seats.

Plea in Supreme Court says Governor is ‘duty-bound’ to invite TVK to form government in Tamil Nadu

A writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Friday (May 8, 2026), submitting that the Tamil Nadu Governor is duty-bound to invite Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party president C. Joseph Vijay, as the leader of the single largest party, was to form the government in the State and later prove the majority on the floor of the House. The petition filed by Ezhilarasi P., who said she is a TVK party member based in Chennai, cited media reports that Governor Rajendra Arlekar may invite post-poll coalition parties in Tamil Nadu to form the government.

AMMK chief Dhinakaran slams TVK for submitting ‘forged’ letter to Governor claiming his party’s backing

In a late night development on Friday (May 8, 2026), Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran accused the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) of submitting to the Governor, a photocopy of a “forged letter”, claiming it has the support of his party’s lone MLA-elect from Mannargudi constituency S. Kamaraj. “The TVK, which claims to be a ‘pure force’ has indulged in forgery in the hope that later they could indulge in horse trading and buy our lone MLA, as it would not attract anti-defection law. They submitted a photocopy of ‘a WhatsApp letter’ to the Governor. When he asked for the original, they left saying it will be brought,” Mr. Dhinakaran told journalists outside the Lok Bhavan, accompanied by Mr. Kamaraj.

Census enumerators ID can be verified through QR code

Census enumerators have been given identity cards with QR codes to enable residents to verify authenticity, said Lalit Jain, Director of Census Operations (DCO), Haryana, amid resistance from several high-end gated societies to grant access to enumerators. In an interview with The Hindu on Friday (May 8, 2026), Mr. Jain said, “We understand that there may be some apprehension in their [residents] minds that maybe people [enumerators] are not genuine. Now, we have introduced the scan code enabled identity cards. Any person who has any doubt about the authenticity of our enumerator can scan the code on the ID card for verification.”

U.S. imposes sanctions on 10 individuals, companies for aiding Iran’s weapons sector

The U.S. ​Treasury on Friday (May 8, 2026) announced sanctions against ‌10 individuals and companies, including several ​in China and ⁠Hong Kong, for aiding efforts by Iran’s military to secure weapons and raw ‌materials used to build Tehran’s Shahed drones. The Treasury move comes ⁠days before U.S. President Donald Trump ⁠plans to travel to China for a meeting with President Xi Jinping and ​as efforts ‌to end the war with Iran have stalled.

U.K. PM Starmer says he won’t step down after Labour’s losses

Friday was not a good day for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Labour Party, as results for 136 councils to elect 5,000 councillors in England and Assembly elections in Wales and Scotland started coming in. A defiant Mr. Starmer pushed back against calls from within his party, for him to step down. “I’m not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos, “ Mr. Starmer said in London on Friday (May 8, 2026) morning, as he acknowledged the results were “really tough”.

India faces no immediate public health threat from hantavirus: NIV chief

Amid concerns over two Indian nationals reportedly infected with the hantavirus aboard a cruise ship, Director of the ICMR’s National Institute of Virology Dr. Naveen Kumar on Friday (May 8, 2026) said the cases appear to be isolated ones and there is no immediate public health threat to India. Mr. Kumar said there is no evidence of community spread as of now. Hantaviruses are mainly transmitted to humans through contact with infected rodents or their excreta, such as saliva, urine and faeces, he told PTI. People usually get infected by inhaling aerosolised virus particles from rodent urine, droppings, or saliva in closed or poorly ventilated spaces such as warehouses, ships, barns and storage areas, he said.

ECI publishes Assembly poll index cards, statistical reports in record 72 hrs

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday (May 8, 2026) published the index cards and statistical reports for the elections to the Legislative Assemblies and bye-elections 2026 within a record 72 hours of the declaration of results. The data release covers all 830 Assembly constituencies where the election process concluded on May 6. Digital updating and faster publication of the index cards and statistical reports are among the over 30 initiatives taken in the last year by the Election Commission, the ECI said in a statement on Friday (May 8, 2026).

Spain readies for evacuations as hantavirus-hit cruise ship heads for Canary Islands

Spanish authorities on Friday (May 8, 2026) were preparing to receive more than 140 passengers and crew members on board a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship headed for the Canary Islands, where health officials have said they will perform careful evacuations. The vessel is expected to reach the Spanish island of Tenerife, off the coast of West Africa, on Saturday or Sunday. “They will arrive at a completely isolated, cordoned-off area,” said Virginia Barcones, Spain’s head of emergency services, on Thursday (May 7, 2026).