2 KILLED IN VIENNA "TERROR ATTACK" AT 6 LOCATIONS; 1 GUNMAN SHOT DEAD

A huge manhunt was under way Tuesday after gunmen opened fire at multiple

locations across central Vienna, killing at least two people and wounding

several more in what Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz describes as a

"repulsive terror attack".

One of the gunmen was shot dead by police who said they were hunting for at

least one more assailant still at large.

The attacks, in six locations including near a synagogue in the centre of

the city, were carried out by "several suspects armed with rifles", police

said on Monday night.

The shooting began just hours before Austria was to re-impose a coronavirus

lockdown, with people out in bars and restaurants enjoying a final night of

relative freedom.

Police initially said one person had been killed by the gunman, with public

broadcaster ORF describing them as a passer-by.

Vienna mayor Michael Ludwig later told ORF that a second person had died of

her injuries, and that 15 people had been taken to hospital, seven of them

seriously wounded.

Police said that an officer had also been hurt during the attacks.

The attacks started at around 8 pm (1900 GMT) when the first gunshots were

heard in the city's centrally located first district.

In a press conference in the early hours of Tuesday, Interior Minister Karl

Nehammer said: "According to what we currently know, there is at least one

attacker who is still on the run."

It was unclear how many assailants were involved in the assault.

IS ATTACK ON AFGHAN UNIVERSITY LEAVES 22 DEAD, 22 WOUNDED

A brazen attack by Islamic State militants who stormed Kabul University has

left at least 22 dead and 22 wounded in the Afghan capital. The assault

sparked a hours-long gunbattle on the school's campus on Monday.

The Interior Ministry says all three attackers were ultimately killed in the

ensuing firefight at the country's largest school.

The Taliban promptly issued a statement denying they were behind the

assault. The attack came as the insurgents are continuing peace talks with

the U.S.-backed government in Qatar, with the aim to help the U.S. finally

withdraw from Afghanistan.

Later in the day, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the

assault.

AMERICANS TO GO TO POLLS TODAY

Today is the final day of voting in US - early voting has been open since

mid-September - and by Monday night India time, over 96 million Americans

had already cast their votes, either in person or by returned mail ballots,

according to the US Elections Project.

Unlike India's Election Commission, there is no federal body in the US that

runs the election or tallies the results. Each state runs the election

according to its own rules. Although most states allow electronic methods,

paper ballots are the norm across the country. Ahead of counting comes a

stage called processing, which involves checking signatures, verifying

documentation, and perhaps even scanning the ballots. Counting votes is a

separate, and later, process.

The count is not officially finalised for weeks - in 2016, it took until

December. What happens on Election Night is that major TV networks and the

Associated Press "call" the election in favour of one of the candidates - a

projection based on exit polls, interviews with voters, and trends - a

legitimate exercise, and a necessity in the US system. The projections are

not usually contested, and the candidate projected to have lost concedes the

election.

This year, given the pandemic and the huge volumes of mail-in ballots, there

is widespread apprehension that a clear winner will not emerge on November 3

or even the day after - unless any one candidate wins in a landslide.

JUDGE REJECTS GOP EFFORT TO THROW OUT 127,000 HOUSTON VOTES

A federal judge on Monday rejected another last-ditch Republican effort to

invalidate nearly 127,000 votes in Houston because the ballots were cast at

drive-thru polling centres established during the pandemic.

The lawsuit was brought by conservative Texas activists who have railed

against expanded voting access in Harris County, where a record 14 lakh

early votes have already been cast. The county is the third largest in the

United States and a crucial battleground in Texas, where President Donald

Trump and Republicans are bracing for the closest election in decades on

Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen's decision to hear arguments on the brink

of Election Day drew concern from voting rights activists and came after the

Texas Supreme Court rejected a nearly identical challenge over the weekend.

The ruling came in response to a lawsuit by conservative GOP activists, who

have filed a battery of court challenges over moves to expand voting options

during the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges have not involved Trump's

campaign.

Another 20,000 or more voters were expected to use drive-thru polling

locations on Tuesday, said Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins, the county's

top election official.

GILGIT-BALTISTAN TO BE A FULL PROVINCE: PAKISTAN PM

Prime Minister Imran Khan has angered India after declaring that part of the

contested Kashmir region will provisionally become a full province of

Pakistan.

Pakistan has administered the area now known as Gilgit-Baltistan since

shortly after the country's birth in 1947, but New Delhi asserts the

mountainous territory bordering China and Afghanistan is an integral part of

Kashmir.

"We have decided to grant provisional provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan,

which was a long-standing demand here," Mr. Khan said in a speech in Gilgit

city on Sunday.

The move comes after New Delhi last year revoked the special status of

Kashmir, upending a decades-long status quo and drawing strong condemnation

from Islamabad.

Mr. Khan, who was speaking ahead of local elections slated for November 15,

did not provide a timeline for the move.

Mr. Khan said the modern and well-maintained road had brought important

progress to Gilgit-Baltistan and the move to make the area a province would

help "uplift backward areas and poor segments of society".

Any change in status would require a constitutional amendment. If finalised,

it would make Gilgit-Baltistan Pakistan's fifth province.

PAKISTAN PM IMRAN KHAN TO LAUNCH 'CPEC CITY' PROJECT IN KHYBER-PAKHTUNKHWA

PROVINCE

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will launch work on a mega city

development project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in

Rashakai town of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on November 18, according to a

media report.

Federal Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak announced that the Prime

Minister would launch the 'CPEC City' project while addressing a public

meeting in Abakhel, Nowshera Kalaan on Sunday, the Geo News reported.

The city will be constructed under the CPEC (project) and will consist of

education and commercial zones, public buildings, apartments, golf course,

theme park and sports facilities, the Minister said.

He said a large number of industrial units would be set up at the CPEC City

which would create thousands of jobs for the people of Nowshera and other

nearby districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The $60 billion CPEC connecting China's resource-rich Xinjiang province with

Pakistan's strategic Gwadar port in Balochistan is regarded as the flagship

project of the multi-billion BRI, the pet scheme of President Xi Jinping

aimed at furthering China's influence globally with Chinese funded

infrastructure projects.

India has objected to the CPEC as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied

Kashmir.

PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN BECOMES NEW ZEALAND'S FIRST INDIAN-ORIGIN MINISTER

Priyanca Radhakrishnan on Monday became New Zealand's first-ever

Indian-origin minister after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern inducted five new

ministers into her executive, two weeks after her party won a landslide

victory in the country's general election.

"Today has been an incredibly special day. I'm feeling a lot of things

including an overwhelming sense of privilege to become part of our

Government," the 41-year-old Labour Party leader said.

"Huge thanks to everyone who has taken the time to message/call/text

congratulatory messages- thank you all. Humbled to be appointed a Minister

and I'm looking forward to working with an incredible line up of Ministerial

and caucus colleagues this term," she said in a Facebook post. She was born

in Chennai but her family is from Paravoor in Kerala. She went to school in

Singapore before moving to New Zealand to further her education.

She has spent her work life advocating on behalf of people whose voices are

often unheard - women survivors of domestic violence, and migrant workers

who have been exploited.

She has become New Zealand's first-ever Kiwi Indian Minister, the New

Zealand Herald newspaper quoted Indian Weekender as saying.

Radhakrishnan, who is from the 2017 intake of new MPs, is a minister outside

of the Cabinet.

She lives in Auckland with her husband.