Chicago - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama returned to Chicago, the city where his rise to prominence began, Tuesday and cast his vote at 8:45 am (1345 GMT) at the Shoesmith School gymnasium.

Obama arrived at the polling station with his wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Natasha.

The Democratic candidate took his time, pausing to explain the process to his daughters at the booth, and prompting television commentators to joke: "Is he undecided?"

Obama, 47, who would be the first African American president in US history if elected, was the strong favourite heading into Tuesday's vote.

Ramallah - The Palestinian Authority officially called Tuesday on Palestinian residents of Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem to boycott the upcoming municipal elections in the city, saying that a vote in the November 11 poll constituted de facto recognition of the Israeli occupation of the city.

Moscow - Russian police arrested more than 300 right-wing extremists in Moscow T

Helsinki  - Finnish-based mobile telephone maker Nokia on Tuesday said it was to reorganize its operations and shut down a site in Finland.

The world's largest mobile telephone maker said it would shut down its plant in Turku, which employs 220. The employees were to be offered the option of relocating to Salo and Helsinki.

The group was also to reorganize its sales and marketing activities, which could mean the loss of 450 jobs, 100 of which are in Finland.

Stockholm  - Lennart Bergelin, former coach of Swedish tennis legend Bjorn Borg, has died at the age of 83, news reports said Tuesday.

Bergelin was the first Swede to win a Grand Slam when he won the 1948 mens' doubles at the French Open. He was among the best players in the world 1946-1955. , Bergelin coached Borg 1971-1983, with the now 52-year-old Borg winning 11 Grand Slams highlighted by five consecutive Wimbledon titles.

Bergelin also coached the Swedish Davis Cup team for five years, and during his tenure Sweden won its first Davis Cup title in 1975.

Frankfurt  - Germany's car industry on Tuesday cut its 2008 sales forecast in the wake of the global financial crisis and the deepening sense of economic gloom facing the Europe's biggest auto market.

The Federation of the German Automotive Industry Association (VDA) said that it expects new car registrations to come in at 3.1 million this year instead of a previous forecast of 3.2 million.

"The extent and the speed of the impact of the financial crisis on stock markets and the real economy was essentially not forecast," said VDA President Matthias Wissmann.