A look at the top headlines right now:

  1. First phase of voting in Lok Sabha elections concludes, some clashes and EVM glitches reported: Voting also took place in four states for Assembly elections. In Noida, police denied political links after photographs showed ‘NaMo’ food packets at poll booths. In Andhra Pradesh, a TDP worker was killed in clashes.
  2. Congress demands inquiry into alleged laser threat to Rahul Gandhi: The party cited the assassinations of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi in its letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
  3. Voters don’t need to know where political parties get their funds from, says Centre during hearing on electoral bonds: The Supreme Court said it will deliver a judgement in the case against the use of electoral bonds for political funding on Friday.
  4. ‘BJP will remove all infiltrators from the country, except Hindus and Buddhists,’ says Amit Shah: The BJP president claimed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Congress party were mourning the Army’s action against terrorist hotbeds.
  5. Sonia Gandhi files nomination papers in Rae Bareli, says Narendra Modi is not invincible: The UPA chairperson recalled the 2004 elections, saying Atal Bihari Vajpayee was touted as invincible, but the UPA came to power.
  6. London police arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after Ecuador ends his asylum: Assange took refuge in Ecuador seven years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sexual assault case that has since been dropped.
  7. ‘Pakistan is helping Modi win as it wants riots in India,’ claims Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal: The AAP chief referred to the prime minister as Pakistan’s friend and said he was able to damage India’s brotherhood in five years.
  8. France denies report that it trained Pakistani officers to fly Rafale aircraft for Qatar: Ambassador Alexandre Ziegler said the claim made by the February 2018 report is ‘fake news’.
  9. Sudan President Omar al-Bashir forced to quit, military takes over administration: The development occurred on Thursday and followed months of protests against him in the capital of Khartoum.
  10. SC orders West Bengal to pay ‘Bhobishyoter Bhoot’ producer Rs 20 lakh for ‘virtual ban’ on film: The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the Mamata Banerjee-led government.