World Politics

 Slightly high fare of short distance trains to discourage unnecessary travel: Railways PTINEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 12:58 IST UPDATED: FEBRUARY 26, 2021 13:01 IST SHARE ARTICLE 8PRINTA A A A ticket from Amritsar to Pathankot, which was priced at ₹25, costs ₹55 now. After concerns were raised over a rise in the ticket fares of short-distance passenger trains, the railways on Wednesday said the “slightly high fares” are only to discourage unnecessary travel. Since the coronavirus-triggered lockdown was eased, the railways is running only special trains. It started with long-distance trains and now, even short-distance passenger trains are being run as special trains. As a special provision in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fares of these trains have been fixed at par with the price of unreserved tickets of mail and express trains for the same distance, a statement from the railway ministry said. The railways, which has now started operating passenger or local train services, has

 Netanyahu, ‘King of Israel,’ Exits a Stage He Dominated Israel’s longest-serving prime minister was a polarizing figure who sidelined efforts to resolve the Palestinian conflict but opened relations with four Arab countries. Credit...Dan Balilty for The New York Times David M. Halbfinger By David M. Halbfinger June 13, 2021 Updated 9:06 p.m. ET JERUSALEM — He came to power like some conqueror from a distant land called Philadelphia. Educated in the United States, speaking flawless East Coast English, warning in pungent sound bites about the threats posed by Islamic terrorism and a nuclear Iran, the Benjamin Netanyahu who stormed into Israeli politics in the 1990s was like no other politician the country had seen. Before long, he would capture the prime minister’s office, lose it, then seize it again a decade later, becoming Israel’s longest-serving leader and inspiring such admiration that supporters likened him to the biblical King David. His political agility got him out of so many

 The Defeat of Benjamin Netanyahu Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister has dragged the country ever rightward, abandoning the peace process and imperilling its very democracy. By Ruth Margalit June 13, 2021 Benjamin Netanyahu looking down while speaking at a lectern “He can’t accept the fact that the Israeli public has turned him down,” a Netanyahu biographer has said of the departing Prime Minister.Photograph by Menahem Kahana / AFP / Getty In 2002, three years after losing the Israeli premiership, Benjamin Netanyahu went on a popular television show and spoke of a political comeback. His interviewer was a telegenic broadcaster with gelled black hair named Yair Lapid. “When you left,” Lapid began, “there were people who cried and said they would kill themselves, and there were others who said they would leave the country if you were ever elected again. Do you know why you elicit such strong reactions in people?” “In some, yes,” Netanyahu replied. He first took office in 1996, a yea