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This is VOA News. I'm Alexis Strope.
The Israeli military and a security source in Lebanon said Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander and several members of the group's elite Radwan unit in an airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday. Reuters correspondent Zachary Goelman reports. Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the attack killed Ibrahim Aqil, the acting commander of the group's elite Radwan force. Hagari said the strike also killed other senior members of that unit. Lebanon's Health Ministry gave a preliminary toll of 12 dead and 66 wounded. Friday's attack caps off a week that saw a stunningly deadly campaign appearing to target Hezbollah figures. On Tuesday, thousands of electronic pagers used by the group detonated. A day later, handheld radios exploded. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday blamed Israel for the blasts, saying it had crossed "all red lines" and vowing retribution. Israel did not comment on the detonation of the electronics. Zachary Goelman from Reuters. President Biden is kicking off a busy foreign policy stretch. AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports. The president tomorrow will host leaders of the Indo-Pacific group known as the Quad at his Delaware home, including dinner at his old high school. "... busy weekend up in Wilmington." Before White House national security spokesman John Kirby says the focus shifts back here to Washington for a meeting with the United Arab Emirates' president, and then to Manhattan. "... the U.N. General Assembly up in New York." And then here again for a meeting with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy. All the while, leaders are starting to seek meetings with Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, who says he will probably meet with Zelenskyy next week. It would be their first in-person talk in five years. Sagar Meghani Washington. This is VOA News. A U.S. Secret Service probe found communication gaps and a lack of diligence ahead of the July attempted assassination of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally. Reuters correspondent Freddie Joyner has more. Acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe told reporters on Friday that those responsible would be disciplined. "The mission assurance review has identified deficiencies in the advanced planning and its implementation by Secret Service personnel. These employees will be held accountable and this agency has among the most robust table of penalties in the entirety of the federal government." The July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, wounded Trump's ear, killed a rally attendee and injured two others. The shooting led to widespread criticism of the Secret Service in the resignation of its former director and raised concerns about how the suspect was able to access a nearby rooftop with a direct line of sight to where the former president speaking. Freddie Joyner from Reuters. A paid passenger on an expedition to the Titanic with the company that owned the Titan submersible testified before a U.S. Coast Guard investigatory panel Friday that the mission he took part in was aborted due to an apparent mechanical failure. The Titan submersible imploded last year [while on it] while on another trip to the Titanic wreckage site. A Coast Guard investigatory panel has listened to four days of testimony. Fred Hagen was first to testify Friday and was identified as a mission specialist, which he and other witnesses have characterized as people who paid a fee to play a role in OceanGate's underwater exploration. He said his 2021 mission to the Titanic was aborted underwater when the Titan began malfunctioning. Residents in Kyiv have been told to stay indoors as air pollution blankets the Ukrainian capital. AP correspondent Charles De Ledesma reports. Officials say the pollution results from the burning of peat lands and other wildfires combined with autumn temperature fluctuations. The capital woke up to thick smog, with the rancid smell of blazing fires in the air. Some people were spotted wearing masks. The Ukrainian capital has topped a list of the most polluted major cities early Friday in a real-time database by IQAir, a Swiss company that monitors air quality levels. Officials warn about an increased concentration of suspended particles, such as dust, soot, and smoke, in the air. I'm Charles De Ledesma. Meta, Facebook's parent company, has lost an appeal [ina] in a Kenyan labor court. On Friday, the court ruled that Meta could be sued in Kenya over the mass sacking of content moderators. The case involves 185 content moderators from various African countries. They were working for a Meta contractor in Nairobi. Their lawyer confirmed the case would proceed in the labor court. The moderators are seeking $1.6 billion in compensation. They accused Meta of exploitation and mental health damage. For additional stories, visit voanews.com. I'm Alexis Strope, VOA News. |