Srinagar, Oct 8; PTI:  Over six per cent of the electorate turned out to cast their votes on Monday in the 83 wards of urban local bodies in Kashmir during the first six hours of polling in the first of the four-phased elections in the valley amidst tight security arrangements, an official said.

"Over 5,400 voters have exercised their franchise till 1.00 pm at the 150 polling stations set up in the 83 wards across the Kashmir Valley where polling is going on today," the official said.

Around 85,000 voters including 40,800 women are eligible to vote in the valley.

Kolkata, October 8; GANASHAKTI:  On 7th October ,2018 it was a Red letter day  for Siliguri  when umpteen  people joined  the march of the commoners to protect the essence of democracy. Siliguri Mayor Ashok Bhattacharya, Party District Secretary Jibesh Sarkar and other Left Front leaders  joined the March  against the ploy  of the ruling party to weaken the democratic process in the state .

Taking democracy to the grass root, it can be recalled that the Left Front in Siliguri has converted  the demands of development of Siliguri into a movement.

New Delhi, Oct 8 (PTI) Delhi's air quality has slipped back to poor category due to change in direction of wind, which is now flowing from stubble burning areas in Punjab and Haryana, authorities said Monday.

The air quality Sunday had improved to moderate level with an index of 181 but Monday the air quality slipped to poor category with the Air Quality Index (AQI) at 235, according to data at the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).

ROME (AP) — Italian authorities say they have placed a 25-year-old Italian under investigation for allegedly hacking eight NASA web domains in 2013.

Italy’s postal police, who handle hacking and other cybercrime investigations, said the suspect was allegedly a member of a group called “Master Italian Hackers Team” and boasted of the hack on social media.

In addition to NASA sites, police said the unnamed suspect also hacked some 60 Italian institutional sites, including those of state-run broadcaster RAI, the penitentiary police and some provincial sites in Tuscany.

Lahore, Oct 8 (PTI) Former Pakistan premiers Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, along with a prominent journalist, appeared before the Lahore High Court on Monday for hearing on a petition seeking treason proceedings against them in a case related to the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

Journalist Cyril Almeida, Assistant Editor for the Dawn newspaper is also a respondent in the case being heard by a three-member bench headed by Justice Mazahar Ali Naqvi, The Express Tribune reported.

Raipur, Oct 8 (PTI) Sixteen Naxals, five of them suspected to be involved in a deadly attack on a CRPF team last year, were arrested from Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, police said Monday.

There were two women among the arrested ultras, they added.

The arrests were made Sunday from a hill near Minpa village under the Chintagufa police station limits by a joint team of the Special Task Force (STF), the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the district police, a senior police official told PTI.

7 Oct 2018; AFP: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife Sara Netanyahu goes on trial Sunday for allegedly using state funds to fraudulently pay for hundreds of meals, part of a list of legal troubles facing the family.

The start of the trial will be the latest chapter in a saga intensely scrutinised in Israel -- but dismissed by the Netanyahus as another "absurd" attempt to discredit them.

ISTANBUL; 7 Oct 2018; (AP) — Turkish investigators believe a prominent Saudi journalist who contributed to The Washington Post was killed in “a preplanned murder” at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, the Post reported Saturday night, citing two anonymous officials.

One Turkish official also told The Associated Press that detectives’ “initial assessment” was that Jamal Khashoggi was killed at the consulate, without elaborating. Saudi authorities early Sunday called the allegation “baseless.”

By Lalit K Jha

Washington, Oct 7 (PTI) Donald Trump's controversial nominee Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as a judge of the US Supreme Court, in a major victory for the US President amid crackling tension, angry protests and high drama on Capitol Hill.

Kavanaugh was officially sworn in Saturday evening as the 114th Justice of the Supreme Court by Chief Justice John Roberts who administered the Constitutional Oath in the Justices' Conference Room, hours after the 53-year-old judge was confirmed by a bitterly divided Senate by 50-48 votes.

7 Oct 2018; AP: A rare scene in the American justice system unfolded Friday in a Chicago courthouse: A white officer stood before a mostly white jury and was convicted of killing a black teenager.

ANKARA; 7 Oct 2018; AA: Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi who has been missing since he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct.2, has not left the building since, police sources said on Saturday.

The Washington Post's columnist Khashoggi visited the Saudi consulate for marriage procedures, the sources who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media, said.

Washington, Oct 7; PTI: For India, getting a presidential waiver from the biting CAATSA sanctions might not be that easy, some American experts believe referring to the changing political dynamics within the administration and President Donald Trump's personal strong views against New Delhi's trade and tariff policies and calling it a "tariff king".