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I'm VOA's Joe Ramsey with your worldwide news update.
Israel said Sunday it is targeting the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah's financial arm with a new wave of strikes in Beirut. AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports. Speaking in a news briefing, Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israel plans to target Hezbollah financial institutions in Beirut after days of strikes that have pummeled the Lebanese capital and southern Lebanon. Hagari warned Lebanese citizens to stay clear of Hezbollah's financial institutions as Israel plans to heavily attack them. The scope of the new Israeli evacuation warnings was not immediately clear. Israel's announcement came a day after U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called civilian casualties in Lebanon "far too high" and urged Israel to scale back some strikes, especially in and around Beirut. I'm Karen Chammas. Pro-Russian bloggers say Moscow's forces are fighting street-to-street battles with Ukrainian troops in the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian town of Selydove as Russia's forces push to gain control over the whole Donbas region. Open source data shows Russian forces, which President Vladimir Putin ordered into Ukraine in February, 2022, advanced in September at their fastest rate since March, 2022 despite Ukraine taking a part of Russia's Kursk region. The thrust of the Russian advance over recent months has been in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, over which Putin says he wants to gain full control. In recent weeks, Russia has surrounded towns in Donetsk region and then slowly constricted them until Ukrainian units are forced to withdraw. Bloggers say they are doing the same to Selydove, which had a pre-war population of over 20,000. This is VOA News. Residents of Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region went to the polls in long-awaited parliamentary elections under the shadow of ongoing rivalries, economic instability, and unresolved disputes with Baghdad. The primary competitors in Sunday's vote were two dominant Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. The two parties have historically controlled different parts of the region. This division has frequently led to political deadlock. The parliamentary elections were originally set for 2022. They were postponed several times due to disputes over the election law and procedures. Two prominent opposition party officials were gunned down Saturday in Mozambique's capital days before the results of the country's disputed elections are expected. Charles Mangwiro reports from Maputo. Eyewitnesses report that gunmen ambushed the car that opposition lawyer Elvino Dias and party official Paulo Guambe were traveling in Saturday. Dias was a legal adviser to Venâncio Mondlane and the People Optimistic for the Development of Mozambique, or PODEMOS party. The killings prompted condemnations in Mozambique and abroad. In a joint statement, the United States Embassy, the Canadian High Commission, the Norwegian Embassy, the Swiss Embassy, and the United Kingdom High Commission expressed their deep condolences to the families of the victims and strongly condemned the murders. Preliminary results from the country's general elections held on October 9 show presidential candidate Daniel Chapo of the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique, or Frelimo party, on course to win the vote. Chapo's closest rival, Venâncio Mondlane, ran as an independent, but was supported by PODEMOS. Mondlane claims the election was marred by fraud and manipulation by Frelimo. The final election results could be announced Thursday and Chapo is expected to win. Charles Mangwiro, VOA News, Maputo, Mozambique. Hurricane Oscar has made landfall in eastern Cuba, an island troubled by a massive power outage. The National Hurricane Center in Miami says the storm center arrived in the Cuban province of Guantanamo near the city of Baracoa on Sunday evening. Oscar made landfall on Great Inagua Island in the Bahamas early Sunday. It is expected to produce significant coastal flooding there and in other areas of the southeastern Bahamas. That wraps up this update, but the world and news never stop. For additional updates, visit our website. I'm Joe Ramsey, VOA News. |