Shahbaz Sharif elected as Pakistan’s new prime minister

Sharif takes over after Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted by a no-confidence vote. [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [View in your browser]( [Top of The World]( --------------------------------------------------------------- What The World is following Shahbaz Sharif elected as Pakistan’s new prime minister [Pakistan's opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif speaks during a press conference after the Supreme Court decision, in Islamabad, Pakistan, April 7, 2022.] Credit: Anjum Naveed/AP/File photo Pakistan Pakistan’s parliament has elected opposition lawmaker Shahbaz Sharif as the new prime minister. The move follows the ousting of Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday after a no-confidence vote removed him from power. Sharif is the brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Shahbaz Sharif was [elected with 174 votes](, after more than 100 lawmakers from Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf — or Movement for Justice — party staged a walkout of the National Assembly in protest. Sharif will inherit the country's economic woes, including high inflation and a soaring energy crisis. He will have to form a new government that can stay in power until the [next elections set for August 2023](. France The frontrunners of France’s presidential election are now campaigning toward the April 24 runoff in two weeks. Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen secured their places [in a tight race]( with Macron gaining 27.6% of the vote and Le Pen claiming 23.4%. Both candidates also faced off for a second round in the 2017 election five years ago. Le Pen saw a late surge in the polls this time, reflecting public disappointment over [rising prices, security and immigration](. Though, Macron still enjoys a slight lead. The controversial candidate Éric Zemmour — a TV pundit turned politician — has called on his supporters to back Le Pen in the second round of voting. India US President Joe Biden is set to speak with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a virtual meeting on Monday. The two countries are generally on the same page, but this time, Biden plans to press Modi to take a hard line against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It follows [India’s recent decisions]( to abstain in last week’s vote that saw Russia suspended from the UN human rights council, buy 3 billion barrels of Russian crude while other nations are imposing oil sanctions on Moscow, as well as New Delhi’s acquisition of Russia’s S-400 air defense systems. White House press secretary [Jen Psaki said in a statement]( on Sunday that the two leaders will discuss “strengthening the global economy, and upholding a free, open, rules-based international order to bolster security, democracy, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.” --------------------------------------------------------------- From The World [Indigenous communities score victories against two mining projects in Mexico]( ["Water is for the people" reads a sign in defense of Indigenous land and water rights at a large gathering in Ahuacatlán, Puebla state, Mexico.]( Credit: Michael Fox/The World In recent months, top federal courts in Mexico have canceled controversial mining concessions near Indigenous communities in two regions of Puebla state. About 100 Indigenous activists are now on a monthlong caravan to [defend land and water rights]( across southern Mexico. [‘They were shooting and shooting and shooting’: Ukrainian survivor shares harrowing account of atrocities in Bucha]( [Journalists stand by a mass grave in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, April 4, 2022.]( Credit: Rodrigo Abd/AP Oleksii Vostretsov was trapped in his hometown of Bucha for 22 days at the start of the war. He [tells his story]( to The World’s Marco Werman, through an interpreter. --------------------------------------------------------------- Bright spot Astronomers recently discovered the farthest star yet through the Hubble Space Telescope. Nicknamed “Earendel,” the star is super hot and bright, and it formed nearly 13 billion years ago! 🌠But it’s likely gone by now, because it takes eons for light emitted from distant stars to reach us. “We’re seeing the star as it was about 12.8 billion years ago, which puts it about 900 million years after the Big Bang,” [said astronomer Brian Welch](, a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins University. [The star Earendel and the Sunrise Arc galaxy optically bent due to a massive galaxy cluster between it and the Hubble Space Telescope which captured the light, March 30, 2022.] Credit: NASA, ESA, Brian Welch (JHU), Dan Coe (STScI); Image processing: NASA, ESA, Alyssa Pagan (STScI) via AP --------------------------------------------------------------- [In case you missed it from The World]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Don't forget to subscribe to The World's Latest Edition podcast using your favorite podcast player: [RadioPublic](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Stitcher](, [Soundcloud](, [RSS]( [The World logo]( [The World on Facebook]( [The World's Twitter account]( [Donate]( | [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [Edit your subscription]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [View in your browser]( Top of the World is written weekday mornings by the team at [The World](. [The World]( is produced by [PRX]( and [GBH](.