How many people have been killed since Islamists began to fight for independence

Officials in Indian Kashmir say suspected Muslim militants are holding two women as hostages in an Islamic center. The officials say one soldier was killed in a gunfight after security forces surrendered the building in the town of Punch. Few other details were released. More than 60,000 people have been killed in Kashmir since Islamists began fighting for the area’s independence or joining with Pakistan.

Tens of thousands of health workers will go house to house over the next three days in an effort to immunise 63 million children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa. The campaign is the start of monthly national immunisation days during the low season for polio. It’s hoped that vaccinating children now—when the virus is at its weakest—will be the best way of stopping transmission.