Probe into deadly encounter in Indian-controlled Kashmir
NEW DELHI, Nov 19: The administration of Indian-controlled Kashmir ordered a probe on Thursday into a controversial operation in which security forces killed four people earlier this week. Two civilians and two suspected rebels died on Monday in a police raid at a commercial complex in the Hyderpora area in Srinagar, the region's capital. According to police, the civilians - businessman Altaf Ahmad Bhat, 48, and Mudasir Gul, 40, a dental surgeon - died in the crossfire. But witnesses and families of the victims said troops had used them as human shields. The deaths of Bhat and Gul sparked outrage in the Muslim-majority region. Their families have held sit-ins in Srinagar demanding justice and that the bodies be returned for a proper Islamic funeral after authorities secretly buried them at a remote graveyard. —Arab News
Chile's centrists, overshadowed in election, could yet play kingmaker
SANTIAGO, Nov 19: Chile's centrist presidential candidates are lagging behind the polarized favorites on the right and left ahead of Sunday's election, but could play roles as kingmakers in an expected second-round run-off. Yasna Provoste, 51, a former teacher, sits in third place in opinion polls for the powerful centre-left Christian Democratic party, behind hard-right front-runner Jose Antonio Kast and leftist former student protest leader Gabriel Boric. Sebastian Sichel, 44, a lawyer and independent allied to the centre-right ruling coalition, is in fourth. Both have been squeezed out - at least according to the polls - by voters shifting to radical candidates amid anger over inequality, crime and immigration. Most pollsters forecast that Kast and Boric will seize the top two spots needed to head to a run-off in December, though both will fall well short of the 50 per cent plus one vote needed to win outright. Luring voters from their centrist rivals will be key. — Reuters
Austria reimposes full lockdown, plans to make COVID vaccines compulsory
VIENNA, Nov 19: Austria will become the first country in western Europe to reimpose a full coronavirus lockdown this autumn to tackle a new wave of infections, and will require its whole population to be vaccinated as of February, its government said on Friday. Roughly two-thirds of Austria's population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, one of the lowest rates in western Europe. Its infections are among the highest on the continent, with a seven-day incidence of 991 per 100,000 people. Austria introduced a lockdown for all those who were unvaccinated on Monday but since then infections have continued to set new records. — Reuters
Somalia faces 'rapidly worsening' drought: UN
NAIROBI, Nov 19: Somalia's "rapidly worsening" drought has left more than two million people facing severe food and water shortages, the United Nations said, warning of a fourth consecutive season of poor rainfall in the conflict-wracked country. "About 2.3 million people in 57 of 74 districts... are ravaged by serious water, food and pasture shortages as water pans and boreholes have dried up," raising the risk of water-borne diseases, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. — AFP
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