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Hi, I'm VOA's Alexis Strope with your worldwide news update.
While the United States and other Western countries hoped Israel's killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar could pave the way to a cease-fire, Israel and foes including Hamas have vowed to fight on. Reuters correspondent Lucy Fielder has more. "Well, this is not the end of the war in Gaza." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to keep up the war until hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were released. Hamas said the hostages would only be released with a halt of hostilities there, an Israeli withdrawal and the release of its prisoners, while Iran, Israel's arch foe and both militant groups' main backer, said Sinwar's death would only fuel "the spirit of resistance." Hezbollah, too, announced the transition to a new and escalating phase in the confrontation with Israel. Sinwar, a mastermind of the October 7, 2023, attack that triggered the Gaza war, was killed on Wednesday in a gunbattle by Israeli soldiers in Gaza. Families of Israeli hostages called the killing of Sinwar an achievement, but one that would be incomplete while captives are still in Gaza. Reuters correspondent Lucy Fielder. U.S. President Joe Biden concluded his brief visit to Berlin. During his swansong trip to the German capital, he held closed-door talks with Allied German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to discuss matters ranging from Ukraine to the expanding conflict in the Middle East. Before boarding Air Force One, Biden was asked about the consensus on Ukraine's victory plan. "We're gonna stay with Ukraine. We're gonna make sure they continue to have capabilities." And the consensus on allowing Ukraine to strike deeper into Russia. "Right now, there's no consensus for long-range weapons (inaudible)." Biden's trip came just two and a half weeks before the U.S. presidential vote. Former president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has signaled he would be more reluctant than Biden to continue to support Ukraine. This is VOA News. Seoul says North Korea is sending troops to aid Russia in Ukraine. AP correspondent Charles De Ledesma has more. South Korean intelligence has found that North Korea has dispatched 12,000 troops, including special operation forces, to support Russia's war against Ukraine. News reports say Friday Yonhap news agency cites the National Intelligence Service said that the North Korean troops have already left the country. The NIS hasn't immediately confirmed the report but South Korea's presidential office says in a statement that President Yoon Suk Yeol had presided over an emergency meeting early on Friday to discuss South Korea's troop dispatch to Ukraine. The statement said participants of the meeting agreed that North's troop dispatch poses a grave security threat to South Korea and the international community. I'm Charles De Ledesma. The U.N. Security Council has voted unanimously to expand the arms embargo in Haiti to all types of weapons and ammunition, expressing grave concern at the extremely high levels of gang violence and criminal activities in the impoverished Caribbean nation. The resolution adopted Friday authorizes the 193 U.N. member nations to take "appropriate steps to prevent the illicit trafficking and diversion of arms and related material to Haiti." U.N. experts have said increasingly sophisticated weapons that end up in the hands of gang members and criminals are being trafficked from the United States, especially from Florida. The resolution also extends the travel ban and asset freeze on individuals on the U.N. sanctions blacklist for a year. Cuba's power grid goes offline amid a massive blackout and after a major power plant fails. AP correspondent Ed Donahue reports. The government is implementing emergency measures to cut power demand, including suspending classes, shutting down some state-owned workplaces and canceling non-essential services. Prime Minister Manuel Marrero says, "It is important what I have just explained, because there is the matrix of the opinion of the enemies that this is going to get worse, that this is not going to be solved. And with all the objectivity and transparency that it deserves, we are not in the bottom of the abyss." The outage is being blamed on increased demand from small and medium-sized companies and home air conditioners, as well as breakdowns in old thermoelectric plants. Throughout Cuba, candles and lanterns can be seen inside homes. I'm Ed Donahue. A federal judge has delayed an order requiring Google to open up its Android app store to more competition. That's until an appeals court decides whether to block the shakeup because of legal questions surrounding a jury's verdict that branded Google as a monopolist. The delay comes less than two weeks after U.S. District Judge James Donato issued a decision that would have forced Google to begin making sweeping changes to its play store for Android smartphones beginning November 1. That wraps up this update, but the world and news never stop. For additional updates, visit our website. I'm Alexis Strope, VOA News. |