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This is VOA News. I'm Joe Ramsey.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday negotiations in Cairo to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza and a hostage deal are still pressing ahead, adding the discussions will continue on the working-group level for the next few days to iron out specific issues. Kirby pushed back on suggestions that the talks had broken down and said, on the contrary, that they were "constructive." Kirby said Brett McGurk, U.S. President Joe Biden's top Middle East aide at the White House who has been participating in the talks, will soon leave Cairo after staying an extra day to start the working-group talks As escalation fears grow on the border between Israel and Lebanon, many in the Lebanese capital of Beirut say the country's economy can't afford a new war. Reuters correspondent Trevor Koroll has more. "The hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli military have taken a particularly hard toll on bus drivers," says Ali Ayoub. "The whole country has stopped, the situation in the whole country is bad. Nothing is working in the country." Lebanon had already been hollowed out by a five-year economic crisis, resulting in lost jobs and less need for daily commutes. Hezbollah and Israel have been trading rocket fire for nearly 10 months in parallel with the war in Gaza, with exchanges mostly limited to the border area, but the effects have been felt nationwide. Reuters correspondent Trevor Koroll. UNICEF began delivering doses of a polio vaccine to Gaza on Sunday as part of an operation aimed at vaccinating up to 640,000 children. "The objective is to lead a large-scale vaccination campaign against polio virus Type two in cooperation with WHO, UNRWA and other partners." This is VOA News. A huge Russian missile and drone salvo launched at Ukraine on Monday targeted energy facilities nationwide and left several people dead. Reuters correspondent Olivia Zollino reports. Thousands of residents took shelter underground as sirens blared through Kyiv overnight. "I would like to see a response to Moscow so that they will feel what we feel," says this woman. Ukrainian officials say Russia launched more than 200 missiles and drones in the attack. And neighboring NATO member Poland reported a drone had probably entered its airspace during the bombardment. Kyiv said the attack targeted power or other critical infrastructure in at least 10 regions. Reuters correspondent Olivia Zollino. Sea level rises in the Pacific Ocean are outstripping the global average, a World Meteorological Organization report showed on Tuesday, imperiling low-lying island states. Globally, sea level advances are accelerating at (as) higher temperatures driven by the continued burning of fossil fuels melt once-mighty ice sheets, while warmer oceans cause water molecules to expand. But even compared to the global average rate rise of 3.4 millimeters a year over the past three decades, the WM(O) report shows that the average annual increase was "significantly higher" in two measurements in the areas of the Pacific, north and east of Australia. Mozambique over the weekend began a 45-day election campaign to choose the next president, with four hopefuls looking to succeed President Filipe Nyusi. He will step down in January at the end of his second five-year term. Charles Mangwiro reports from Maputo. More than 17 million registered voters will choose the country's new head of state and 250 members of parliament in the October 9 election. The ruling Frelimo party's presidential candidate, Daniel Chapo, is expected to face a stiff challenge from Venâncio Mondlane, who is running as an independent. The other two candidates are Ossufo Momade of the former rebel Renamo party and Lutero Simango of the Mozambique Democratic Movement. Charles Mangiero, VOA News, Maputo, Mozambique. A suspected case of mpox in a passenger at Brazil's main international airport is likely chickenpox, a São Paulo hospital said on Monday, as health officials remain on alert for a new mpox variant that has caused global concern. A state-owned infectious disease hospital said chickenpox was the main theory for the reported case, and lab tests should confirm the patient's ailment in the coming days. I'm Joe Ramsey. |