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Thousands of people lined the streets of the city of Kolkata on Sunday as a large white hearse, festooned with red flags bearing the hammer and sickle, slowly carried away the man known as India's "Marxist patriarch."

Accounts of the escapades of Narayan Dutt Tiwari, a former governor of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, have stunned that nation. He resigned in December, citing health concerns.

The chief minister of India's most populous state came from humble origins, but Mayawati, as she is known, has not been shy about displaying her wealth. Recently, the show of opulence at a political rally — where she accepted a garland made entirely of money — seems to have gone too far, even by her standards.

Just over nine months after his wife, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated in a suicide attack, Asif Ali Zardari has been chosen as the new president of Pakistan. His election Saturday has been received warily by the Pakistani public. It came on a day marred by death and mayhem after a suicide bomb attack in Peshawar killed at least 30 people.

Connoisseurs of the rarified sport of cricket still speak in whispers of the scandal, 34 years ago, when an Englishman was accused of rubbing Vaseline into the ball to make it swerve more. That affair pales by comparison with the uproar in Australia this week when Pakistan's captain was caught on camera biting a cricket ball like an apple. Ball-tampering is considered the worst form of skullduggery in the so-called Gentleman's Sport. The loudest protests have come from Pakistan's arch-rival, India.

During the past few weeks, large demonstrations have taken place in Kashmir. Muslims have taken to the streets to demand an end to Indian rule. Troops are enforcing a curfew, and shops, schools and businesses are closed.

The ruling coalition is moving to oust President Pervez Musharraf. Some Western officials worry that a lengthy impeachment process will distract the government from the weakening economy and the fight against terrorism.

India's foreign minister is in Pakistan as the two countries try to resume four years of peace efforts. Their often-combative relationship recently hit a difficult patch, in part because of the fragility of Pakistan's new government.

Pakistan's governing coalition says it is beginning proceedings to impeach President Pervez Musharraf. The move adds to pressure on Musharraf to resign, but there is no guarantee that the coalition can muster the votes needed for the impeachment to proceed.

Pakistan is strongly protesting a U.S. airstrike that it says killed 11 soldiers at a border post. The men were part of the Frontier Corps serving on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The incident is straining an already tense relationship between the countries.