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This is VOA News. I'm Joe Ramsey.
Israel's military claimed it killed Hezbollah's most senior commander in an airstrike on Beirut on Tuesday in retaliation for a cross-border rocket attack that killed 12 youngsters three days ago which it blamed on the Lebanese armed group. A loud blast was heard and a plume of smoke could be seen rising above Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of the [Iran...] Iranian-backed Hezbollah, a witness said. Hezbollah has denied involvement in a rocket strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday that killed 12 youths in a football field. Tensions are escalating after Israel on Tuesday said it attacked Hezbollah targets in seven areas of south Lebanon with airstrikes and artillery fire. Linda Gradstein reports from Jerusalem. There is tension, but no signs of panic as many on the streets of Jerusalem brace for an expected Israeli retaliation on Hezbollah after the weekend's attack that killed 12 Druze children and teenagers while they were playing soccer. The attack has shocked and angered Israelis. Across the border in Lebanon, most of the foreign airlines have suspended flights. Yet the seashore is still filled with locals and residents of south Lebanon, many saying they hope the border tensions will not lead to a full-scale war. Linda Gradstein, VOA News, Jerusalem. Scores of supporters of the Venezuelan opposition gathered on the streets of Caracas on Tuesday after a disputed presidential election, with many chanting freedom. Opposition leader María Corina Machado asked her supporters to remain peaceful even if provoked by government allies. Protests in Venezuela spread on Tuesday as anger grew over the awarding of Sunday's election to President Nicolás Maduro despite opposition claims they had clinched a landslide victory. This is VOA News. A large crowd of anti-Muslim protesters clashed with British police on Tuesday in a northern English town where three girls were stabbed to death and five other children critically wounded during an attack on a Taylor Swift-themed event on Monday. The horrific stabbing incident in Southport, a quiet seaside town north of Liverpool, has shocked the nation. Police have said it was not linked to terrorism and that the suspect was born in Britain. Yet far-right groups have [spoked] stoked speculation that the teenage suspect was involved with Islam, and police said Tuesday's violence erupted when several hundred people began to throw items at a mosque. The U.S. Secret Service's acting chief told U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday it's indefensible the roof used by the gunman and Donald Trump's attempted killing was unsecured. AP correspondent Sagar Meghani reports. Ronald Rowe says he went to the Pennsylvania site, climbed on the roof and laid in the shooter's position. "What I saw made me ashamed." As a former protective detail agent, "I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured." Rowe told two Senate panels while his agency failed, he's also troubled local law enforcement never reported seeing a gunman on the roof before the shooting. "We didn't know that there was this incident going on." The FBI is also sharing new details about the shooter, saying a social media account believed associated with him supported political violence and extreme views. Sagar Meghani, at the White House. Facebook parent company Meta agreed to a massive settlement with Texas on Tuesday in a privacy lawsuit over facial recognition. AP correspondent Julie Walker reports. Texas attorney general says Meta's $1.4 billion settlement with the state over claims that the tech giant used biometric data of users without their permission is the largest secured by a single state. In 2021, a judge approved a $650 million settlement with the company, formerly known as Facebook, over similar claims of users in Illinois. Meta says in a statement the company is "pleased to resolve" the matter. In 2019, Facebook stopped automatically recognizing people in photos and suggesting people "tag" them. I'm Julie Walker. U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris held a marginal one-percentage-point lead over Republican Donald Trump in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, closing the gap that opened in the final weeks of President Joe Biden's reelection bid. The three-day poll completed on Sunday showed Harris supported by 43 percent of registered voters, with Trump supported by 42 percent within the polls, 3.5-percentage-point margin of error. I'm Joe Ramsey. |