JERUSALEM (AP) — In a charged election campaign that has been heavy on insults and short on substance, Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians has been notably absent from the discourse.

ROME, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The economic gap between Italy's wealthy, industrialized northern regions and the agrarian, poorer south dates back generations.

Latest statistics show the gap is still expanding, while the government floats a plan that could widen it even further.

Italy's Ministry of Economy and Finance this week released new figures, showing the difference in wealth between northern and southern regions is reaching record proportions.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After a nearly 48-hour manhunt, police arrested the suspect they say gunned down Nipsey Hussle in front of the popular rapper’s South Los Angeles clothing store.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies detained Eric Holder, 29, on Tuesday afternoon in the city of Bellflower, two days after the shooting and 20 miles away from the crime scene. LAPD detectives quickly arrived to verify that he was the suspect they’d sought.

New Delhi, Apr 2; PTI/GANASHAKTI: Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, over 200 writers from across the country have appealed to Indian citizens to caste their votes in favour of a "diverse and equal India", and help eliminate the politics of hate.

In an open letter published on the Indian Cultural Forum, writers including Girish Karnad, Arundhati Roy, Amitav Ghosh, Nayantara Sahgal, and Romila Thapar said hate politics was being used to divide the country, create fear and increasingly exclude more number of people from living as "full-fledged citizens".

Mangaluru, Apr 2 (PTI) Congress in Karnataka Tuesday alleged that the sole agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah was to incite communal hatred among the people to derive political mileage.

Addressing reporters at the district Congress committee office here, KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao said the BJP was trying to divide people on the lines of religion to garner votes as the NDA government has not been able to fulfil any of the promises made in 2014.

Srinagar, Apr 2 (PTI) National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah Tuesday welcomed the Congress party's promise to amend the Armed Forces Special Powers Act if voted to power in the general elections.

"If the Congress has mentioned this in their manifesto, I welcome it. It is better late than never. If they had done this before 2014 (polls), we would have worked to lift ASFPA from certain parts of the state," said Omar Abdullah.

Pune, Apr 3 (PTI) Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, a huge amount of bomb-making material, and some explosives and weapons have been seized from a house in Pune district of Maharashtra, police said on Wednesday.

One person, identified as Rajaram Abhang (71), was arrested following the seizure, an official at the anti-terrorist cell of Pune rural police said.

3 Apr 2019; AFP: South Korea launches the world’s first fully-fledged 5G mobile networks Friday, a transformational leap that already has superpowers sparring for control of an innovation that could potentially change the day-to-day lives of billions of people.

The superfast communications heralded by fifth-generation wireless technology will ultimately underpin everything from toasters to telephones; from electric cars to power grids.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A Malaysian court started hearings Wednesday on the corruption charges against former Prime Minister Najib Razak after previous delays.

Najib showed up at the high court in Kuala Lumpur for the hearings on the seven charges, including criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power involving 42 million ringgit (10.3 million U.S. dollars) deposited into his personal bank account from SRC International, a former unit of state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Srinagar, Apr 2 (PTI) PDP chief and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti Tuesday said BJP president Amit Shah was "daydreaming" about abrogating Article 370 of the Constitution that provides special status to the state.

Mufti said the Constitutional provision is a bridge between the people of the state and India.

"I want to tell Amit Shah that you are daydreaming if you think you will abrogate Article 370," Mufti said while addressing a workers' meet in Handwara area of north Kashmir's Kupwara district.

Jerusalem, Apr 3; PTI/GANASHAKTI:  A delegation led by Israel's National Security Adviser lost classified documents related to weapons deals with India but in a stroke of luck they were recovered, thanks to a restaurant waiter's presence of mind, a media report said on Wednesday.

National Security Adviser (NSA) Meir Ben Shabbat travelled with several members of the National Security Council (NSC) to India in January this year when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.

Washington, Apr 3; PTI/GANASHAKTI:  The US has approved the sale of 24 multi-role MH-60R Seahawk maritime helicopters to India at an estimated cost of USD 2.6 billion, the State Department has announced, boosting the Indian Navy's anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare operations as China expands its presence in the Indian Ocean.

Designed for hunting submarines as well as knocking out ships and conducting search-and-rescue operations at sea, the Lockheed Martin-built helicopters, would replace India's aging fleet of British-made Sea King helicopters.