Briefly

LEBANON

Hezbollah fires rockets after Israeli airstrikes

The militant Hezbollah group said it fired a barrage of rockets near Israeli positions close to the Lebanese border on Friday, calling it retaliation for Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon a day earlier. Israel said it was firing back after 19 rockets were launched from Lebanon, and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett swiftly convened a meeting with the country's top defense officials. The attacks were a significant escalation between Israel's new government and Hezbollah, and came amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran that has played out in the Persian Gulf.

AFGHANISTAN

Taliban kill govt's top media officer

The Taliban shot and killed the director of Afghanistan's Government Information Media Center on Friday, the latest killing of a government official and one that came just days after an assassination attempt on the acting defense minister. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group's fighters had killed Dawa Khan Menapal, who ran the government's press operations for the local and foreign media.

UNITED STATES

Apple to scan iPhones for child abuse images

Apple unveiled plans to scan US iPhones for images of child sexual abuse, drawing applause from child protection groups but raising concern among some security researchers that the system could be misused. The tool, designed to detect known images of child sexual abuse, called "neuralMatch", will scan images before they are uploaded to iCloud. If it finds a match, the image will be reviewed by an employee. If child pornography is confirmed, the user's account will be disabled and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will be notified.

TURKEY

9 killed, 30 injured in bus accident

At least nine people were killed and 30 others injured on Friday in a bus accident in Turkey's western province of Manisa, local media reported. The accident happened when a passenger bus, with 50 people on board, hit a stationary truck from behind, the Hurriyet daily said.

Agencies - Xinhua