News in pictures: Parents hack daughter to death in India; Turkey quake toll rises; Zero COVID cases in Australia; Murder accused held after 23 years; Georgia ruling party leads; Exorcism after US protests; Earthquake in India…

3.4 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE STRIKES CHANGLANG IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH: An earthquake of magnitude 3.4 on the Richter scale struck southwest of Changlang, in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday. The earthquake hit 47 kilometres southwest of Changlang at 8:01 am. "Earthquake of magnitude 3.4 on the Richter scale occurred 47 km southwest of Changlang, Arunachal Pradesh at 8:01 am," National Centre For Seismology said.

AUSTRALIA SEES ZERO LOCAL COVID CASES: Australia on Sunday recorded its first day with no local cases of coronavirus transmission since June even as a growing number of other countries impose renewed measures to stem the resurgent pandemic. The milestone, announced by Health Minister Greg Hunt on Twitter, comes as state governments ease domestic travel restrictions and as Melbourne, the nation's second-largest city, emerges from a three-month lockdown that shuttered business and largely confined residents to their homes.

AUSTRIA TO IMPOSE SECOND LOCKDOWN: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has announced that a second lockdown will come into force in the country starting from Tuesday until the end of this month, in an effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic from further spreading. Starting from Tuesday, exit restrictions will apply between 8 pm and 6 am, during which leaving home is only permitted for specific reasons such as going to work.

MURDER ACCUSED HELD 23 YEARS AFTER HE JUMPED BAIL: A murder accused, Keshav Kumar Shukla, 45, has been arrested, 23 years after he jumped bail in a murder case in an Indian state. Shukla was found working in a hotel in Moradabad with a different identity. Shukla, a resident of railway Colony in Shahjahanpur, was arrested for the murder of one Bablu Pandey in 1996. In 1997, he was granted bail by a court after which he went missing. The court issued several summons and warrants in the past 23 years but Shukla remained elusive.

PARENTS HACK DAUGHTER TO DEATH: Parents of a 20-year-old woman in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh axed her to death after they found her pregnant out of wedlock. Both have been arrested. The body of the unidentified young woman was found on the railway tracks near Alapur in Pratapgarh district on October 25, said Nawabganj Station House Officer (SHO) Akhilesh Pratap Singh.

GEORGIA RULING PARTY LEADS PARLIAMENTARY VOTE: Georgia's ruling party narrowly led opposition parties in parliamentary elections Sunday, according to early results from the central election commission. With votes from more than 58 percent of precincts counted, the Georgian Dream led the opposition by 49.32 percent to 44.47 percent in a proportional ballot that will decide 120 of the 150 seats in the legislature.

SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE ON THE RISE DESPITE LOCKDOWNS: A new research has found that despite the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) lockdown restrictions, diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including gonorrhoea, secondary syphilis and mycoplasma genitalium (MG), has increased. The new research was launched at 29th EADV (European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology) Congress, EADV Virtual. The research, conducted in two main STI centres in Milan, Italy, compared the number of confirmed diagnoses of the most common STIs in patients with symptoms for the period 15 March 2020 to 14 April 2020 following social isolation measures (lockdown) adopted to control the epidemic, with the same period in 2019.

DEATH TOLL FROM EARTHQUAKE IN TURKEY SURPASSES 40: The death toll from the devastating earthquake in Turkey's western Izmir province has gone up to 42, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD). A 6.6-magnitude quake toppled more than a dozen buildings in Izmir on Friday. More than 880 people were injured.

STATE FORMATION DAY - PM MODI HAILS CONTRIBUTION OF KERALA, KARNATAKA, MP: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday extended greetings to the people of Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and other states on their formation day. Wishing the people of Andhra Pradesh on this occasion, Modi tweeted, "Andhra Pradesh is synonyms with hard work and compassion. People belonging to Andhra Pradesh have gone on to excel in several fields. On AP's Formation Day, my greetings to the people of the state and best wishes for their developmental aspirations." Modi also extended his wishes to the people of other states including, Karnataka, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala on their formation day.

HALLOWEEN IN THE PANDEMIC: Costumes and candy, at a distance: Ghosts, skeletons, princesses and black cats roamed the streets as usual this Halloween, but they kept their distance, wore face coverings and carried hand sanitizer in their quest for treats. Like with everything else this year, the pandemic also left its mark on Halloween. Parades, parties and haunted houses were canceled due to bans on large gatherings and concerns that spooky celebrations could spread the coronavirus. But across the US, parents and costumed kids found ways to preserve the essence of the holiday Saturday while also observing the rules of social distancing.

EXORCISM AFTER US PROTESTS: In popular culture, exorcism often serves as a plot device in chilling films about demonic possession. This month, two Roman Catholic archbishops showed a different face of exorcism - performing the rite at well-attended outdoor ceremonies to drive out any evil spirits lingering after acrimonious protests. The events' distinctive character gave a hint of how exorcism - with roots in ancient times - has evolved in some ways as it becomes more commonplace in many parts of the world. In Portland, Oregon, Archbishop Alexander Sample led a procession of more than 200 people to a city park, offered a prayer, then conducted a Latin exorcism rite intended to purge the community of evil.