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Delhi Capitals beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 21 runs in an Indian Premier League match on Thursday, The Indian Express reported.

Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and decided to field first.

With this win, Delhi Capitals have played 10 matches and won 5 games, according to The Indian Express.

They are at the 5th spot in the IPL points table.

In a major victory for Sri Lanka's embattled Rajapaksa clan, the government backed nominee on Thursday won the secret vote for the position of Deputy Speaker, demonstrating the ruling SLPP coalition's ability to prove their parliamentary majority despite raging public protests demanding their resignation for mishandling the country's worst economic crisis, PTI reported.

MP Ranjith Siyambalapitiya was re-elected to the position from which he had resigned.

Siyambalapitiya, a member of the former President Maithripala Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), had resigned as his party decided to stay independent of the government.

He was elected with 148 for and 65 against with three invalid votes, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeyawardene announced.

Despite the SLFP going independent, the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) decided to back Siyambalapitiya in their bid to show that the government majority was intact. Speaking after his election as the Deputy Speaker, Siyambalapitiya said he had expected to be unanimously appointed by both the government and the Opposition.

The main Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa said they decided to field their nominee Imtiaz Bakeer Markar as they had learnt the ruling SLPP was to back Siyambalapitiya at a possible secret vote.

Premadasa accused Siyambalapitiya as a "government stooge."

The government majority was seen as fragile since the decision by some 40 lawmakers from the ruling coalition declaring independence in view of the raging public protests calling for the resignation of the entire Rajapaksa family, according to PTI.

With more members from the ruling coalition calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to make way for an interim government of all parties, Rajapaksa stayed put claiming majority.

The Deputy Speaker's vote appears to have restrengthened his position, experts said. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa are coming under increasing pressure to step down in the simmering economic meltdown where people struggle with all essentials, including having to put up with power cuts.

The main opposition party, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), handed over to the Speaker two motions of no-confidence against the SLPP coalition government and embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa under Article 42 of the Constitution.

Article 42 stipulates that the President is responsible to Parliament for the exercise, performance and discharge of his functions  PTI reported.

Any motion needs seven days' notice before getting into the order paper for debate. A date has not yet been announced for a vote on the no-confidence motions.

The Opposition parties accuse top government officials of excessively printing money, hurting farm production by banning chemical fertilizers to make the production fully organic and minimize import costs, failing to order COVID-19 vaccines in a timely manner and buying them later at higher prices.

Sri Lanka is currently in the throes of unprecedented economic turmoil since its independence from Britain in 1948. The crisis is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which has meant that the country cannot afford to pay for imports of staple foods and fuel, leading to acute shortages and very high prices, according to PTI.

A key ally of Russia, authoritarian Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, has defended the war in Ukraine while indicating it has not gone to plan, BBC reported.

He told the AP news agency that the operation had "dragged on".

Belarus shares a border with Ukraine and Russia sent troops from there when it launched its invasion.

Russia's Vladimir Putin helped Mr Lukashenko cling to power in 2020 after his widely disputed presidential re-election sparked mass protests.

In turn, Belarus's long-time leader has given his backing to Russia's invasion and critics have said he is little more than a vassal and accomplice to Mr Putin.

In his interview with AP, Mr Lukashenko said that Russia's leader had no choice but to act because Ukraine was "provoking Russia".

But he added: "I am not immersed in this problem enough to say whether it goes according to plan, like the Russians say, or like I feel it, according to BBC.

"I want to stress one more time: I feel like this operation has dragged on."

Mr Lukashenko said he wanted the war to end, saying Belarus had "done and are doing everything" to stop it.

By calling it a war, he went further than Russia's own description of its invasion as a "special military operation". Moscow has justified the war as an effort to "demilitarise and de-Nazify" Ukraine - which is considered a baseless pretext. 

Mr Lukashenko also said that any suggestion that Russia might use nuclear weapons against Ukraine was "unacceptable because it's right next to us", but added he did not know whether Moscow intended to use them.

Although Belarus has provided a platform for Russian forces it has not sent its own troops in. On Wednesday it began snap military drills which it said posed no threat to Ukraine, BBC reported.

Belarus was already under Western sanctions following the 2020 election, and faces further measures over its role in the conflict.

It was one of only a handful of countries to back Russia's invasion at an emergency UN vote.

Out of the 193 UN member states, 141 condemned the war, with some major countries like China and India choosing to abstain, according to BBC.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has apologised after his foreign minister said that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had "Jewish blood", Israel says, BBC reported.

Mr Putin made the apology in a call with Israeli PM Naftali Bennett, his office said in a statement.

Russia's account of the conversation did not mention an apology.

Sergei Lavrov made the initial comments to try to justify Russia's portrayal of Ukraine as "Nazi" despite the fact that its president is Jewish.

Mr Lavrov spoke to Italian TV on Sunday, days after Israel marked Holocaust Remembrance Day - one of the most solemn occasions in the Israeli calendar.

When asked how Russia can claim that it is fighting to "de-Nazify" Ukraine when President Volodymyr Zelensky is himself Jewish, Mr Lavrov said: "I could be wrong, but Hitler also had Jewish blood. [That Zelensky is Jewish] means absolutely nothing. Wise Jewish people say that the most ardent anti-Semites are usually Jews."

The comments sparked outrage in Israel. Nazi Germany murdered six million Jews in the Holocaust in World War Two, according to BBC.

Israel had demanded an apology, with Mr Bennett saying shortly after that "such lies are meant to blame the Jews themselves for the most terrible crimes in history and thus free the oppressors of the Jews from their responsibility". 

In Thursday's statement, Mr Bennett's office said that he had accepted Mr Putin's apology and "thanked him for clarifying his attitude towards the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust".

Russia said the two discussed the Holocaust, but did not say Mr Putin apologised. 

Israel has tried to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, but has also faced criticism for not taking a tougher line against President Putin.

Israeli media this week reported that Israel was considering boosting its military and civilian assistance to Ukraine, BBC reported.

A storm system spawned several tornadoes that whipped through areas of Texas and Oklahoma, causing damage to a school, a marijuana farm and other structures, Associated Press reported.

There were no reports of serious injuries following the Wednesday night tornadoes, but the system caused flooding in parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas, and more stormy weather took place Thursday.

Significant damage was reported in the Oklahoma city of Seminole, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southeast of Oklahoma City, where Gov. Kevin Stitt said damage assessments were underway after he toured the area Thursday. 

“(We’re) getting all the resources and supplies that the city wants and needs,” including generators, Stitt said. “Thank the Lord that nobody was hurt” and no deaths have been reported.

The National Weather Service said it found damage in Seminole from an EF2 tornado, which has winds speeds of up to 135 mph (217 kph), according to the Associated Press.

More than 2,900 customers remained without power in Seminole late Thursday afternoon, according to Oklahoma Gas & Electric, more than 63% of the utility customers in the city.

The Academy of Seminole took a direct hit but no one was injured, the school said on Facebook.

Video footage from Oklahoma TV station KOCO showed a tornado hit a marijuana farm in the nearby town of Maud.

Several roads and highways were closed Thursday morning in parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas because of flash flooding.

In Bixby, Oklahoma, located south of Tulsa, officials opened a temporary shelter at a church after thunderstorms flooded some homes and streets in one neighborhood. 

In East Texas, a tornado on Thursday damaged several campers and buildings at an RV park in Rusk County, Sheriff Johnwayne Valdez told KTRE-TV. The Rusk County Office of Emergency Management reported one person was injured after being hit by a tree, Associated Press reported.

On Wednesday, a “large and dangerous tornado” was spotted in the rural community of Lockett, about 170 miles (275 kilometers) northwest of Dallas, said the National Weather Service office in Norman, Oklahoma.

The weather service said it found damage near Lockett from an EF3 tornado, which has winds speeds of up to 165 mph (265 kph). 

There were no significant injuries or deaths to residents in Wilbarger County, where Lockett is located, Sheriff Brian Fritze told KAUZ-TV. He said several homes and barns appeared to sustain extensive damage, according to the Associated Press.

Balen Shah, a rapper and structural engineer, is an independent mayoral candidate for the Kathmandu Metropolitan City. 

Shah became popular among the Nepali youths as a rapper after the Raw Barz, the first ever rap battle league in Nepal. 

He has recently made public his manifesto for the local level elections slated for May 13.

Here are the key highlights of his election manifesto: 

1.     To improve infrastructure, quality and environment of community schools and to give priority on technical education

2.     To start ambulance, having all kinds of facilities, services under the Kathmandu Metropolitan City and to operate the services through call center

3.     To conduct free home to home free health check-up for the people above 70 years of age

4.     Roads, drainages and sewages among others will be repaired by physical infrastructure ambulances through call center

5.     To connect GPS in all public transportation to track the location of vehicles

6.     To revive old water resources to bring stone spout, Dhungedhara in Nepali and Hiti in Nepal bhasa into use 

7.     To install CCTV in all public vehicles for security reasons

8.     To establish public toilets in all wards 

9.     To establish idea bank for employment and entrepreneurship promotion 

10. To launch one house one tree campaign

Also read: Balen Shah: I will implement only tried and tested plans

Heavy rain and flooding has killed 22 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and damaged crops in Afghanistan, which is already facing a humanitarian crisis, a disaster management official said on Thursday, Reuters reported.

The Taliban government, struggling to cope with the disaster that has affected more than a third of its provinces, will approach international relief organisations for help, officials said.

"Due to flooding and storms in 12 provinces, 22 people have died and 40 injured," said Hassibullah Shekhani, head of communications and information at Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority.

The rain and flooding was particularly severe in the western provinces of Badghis and Faryab and the northern province of Baghlan, according to Reuters.

Afghanistan has been suffering from drought in recent years, made worse by climate change, with low crop yields raising fears of serious food shortages.The weather has exacerbated problems of poverty caused by decades of war and then a drop in foreign aid and the freezing of assets abroad after the Taliban took over, and US-led forces withdrew, in August.

Shekhani said 500 houses were destroyed, 2,000 damaged, 300 head of livestock killed and some 3,000 acres of crops damaged.

He said the International Committee of the Red Cross was helping and officials would approach other international organisations for help.

The international community is grappling with how to help the country of some 40 million people without benefiting the Taliban, Reuters reported.

Nepal logged 17 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 2, 336 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 15 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 435 people underwent antigen tests, of which two were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of the virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 15 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 217 active cases in the country.