The world in brief

The Israel Defence Forces struck a Hizbullah stronghold in a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, reportedly killing the militia’s “most senior” commander. Israel blames the Lebanese Shia militia and political party for a rocket attack that killed 12 children in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights on July 27th, and said it targeted “the commander responsible”. (Hizbullah denies it fired the rocket.) Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, had vowed that the group would “pay a heavy price”. Diplomats including Antony Blinken, America’s secretary of state, have sought to contain the response and prevent a broader regional war.

Venezuela’s attorney-general said that more than 700 people had been arrested following protests that swept the country after Nicolás Maduro, the country’s authoritarian president, claimed an implausible victory in Sunday’s presidential election. Venezuela’s opposition said that nearly three-quarters of the vote tallies that it has seen show its candidate, Edmundo González, well ahead of Mr Maduro. María Corina Machado, the main opposition leader, was barred from standing.