Reuters World News Summary
Following is a summary of current world news briefs.
'Burning the metro': Chile election divides voters between protest and order
For many Chileans, Plaza Baquedano, a broad rotary in central Santiago that for decades served as a center of social protest, has become a powerful symbol of hope. For two years, city residents have regularly gathered here https://graphics.reuters.com/CHILE-PROTESTS/0100B32527X/index.html to protest pensions that are too low, public transit fees that are too high and, more generally, an old-guard political class that just does not get it.
Struggling Venezuelans put faith in latest Mexico migrant caravan
Hundreds of Venezuelans are in a migrant caravan that departed this week from Mexico's southern border with Guatemala, according to organizers, just as Mexico is mulling tighter restrictions on their access to the country. Reuters spoke with a dozen Venezuelans who said they had left in the caravan of around 3,000 people from the city of Tapachula on Thursday after fleeing poverty and hardship in their homeland, where elections are due this weekend.
Germany's gender-balanced cabinet takes shape as coalition deal nears
Germany's next cabinet is taking shape as coalition negotiations near a deal, with chancellor-in-waiting Olaf Scholz determined to deliver on his campaign pledge to have as many women as men in his team, sources said on Saturday. Scholz's centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), who narrowly won the federal election in September by beating Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, are trying to form a three-way ruling coalition with the pro-spending Greens and the fiscally conservative Free Democrats (FDP).
Tens of thousands march in Vienna against COVID measures before lockdown
Tens of thousands of people, many of them far-right supporters, protested in Vienna on Saturday against coronavirus restrictions a day after Austria's government announced a new lockdown and said vaccines would be made compulsory next year. Whistling, blowing horns and banging drums, crowds streamed into Heroes' Square in front of the Hofburg, the former imperial palace in central Vienna, in the early afternoon, one of several protest locations.
Poland reports fewer attempts to cross its border with Belarus
The number of migrants trying to force their way into Poland from Belarus fell again on Friday after an apparent change in tack by Minsk that could help calm a crisis that has escalated into a major East-West confrontation. The Polish Border Guard said on Twitter that there were 195 attempts to cross the frontier on Friday, down from 250 on Thursday and 501 the day before, though Warsaw warned that the migrant crisis was far from over.
U.S.-bound passengers stranded after flight makes emergency landing
Dozens of people were stranded in Europe for a second night on Saturday after their U.S.-bound flight made an emergency landing in Dublin following an engine failure, passengers said. Brussels Airlines flight 102 was en route from Brussels to New York on Friday when pilots issued a "pan-pan" message, which indicates an urgent but manageable problem, less serious than a "mayday," when flying west at 37,000 feet over the Celtic Sea, aviation media and tracking websites said.
Flood-hit Canada province braces for heavy rain, three bodies found
Searchers located three bodies swept away by landslides in British Columbia, officials said on Saturday, after record rainfall that paralyzed parts of the province, leading to food and fuel shortages. Canada's westernmost province declared a state of emergency after a phenomenon known as an "atmospheric river" brought a month's worth of rain in two days. The rainfall washed out roads and railways, cutting off Vancouver and the lower mainland region from the rest of the country, and blocking access to some towns entirely.
Three in hospital after police fire on Dutch COVID-19 protesters
Three people were being treated in hospital in Rotterdam on Saturday after they were seriously injured when Dutch police fired shots during a violent protest against COVID-19 measures, authorities said. Crowds of several hundred rioters torched cars, set off fireworks and threw rocks at police during the protests on Friday evening. Police responded with warning shots and water canons.
Blinken says U.S. investing in Africa without unsustainable debt
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday his country was investing in Africa without imposing unsustainable levels of debt, as he witnessed the signing of contracts worth more than $1 billion in Senegal's capital Dakar.
The deals between four U.S. companies and Senegal are being billed as part of his country's pitch to help Africa build infrastructure with transparent and sustainable deals.
Migrants from 12 countries among 600 found in two trucks in Mexico
Migrants from 12 countries were among 600 people found hidden in the back of two trucks in eastern Mexico on Friday, most of them from neighboring Guatemala, the government's National Migration Institute (INM) said on Saturday. The INM said 401 of the people were from Guatemala, 53 from Honduras, 40 from the Dominican Republic, 37 from Bangladesh, 27 from Nicaragua, 18 from El Salvador and eight from Cuba.
