From Washington, this is VOA news. Hello, I'm Steve Miller.

National security adviser H.R. McMaster said new U.S. sanctions against Venezuela are meant to demonstrate that "the United States will not allow an illegitimate dictatorship to take hold in the Western hemisphere at the expense of its people."

"We will continue to work with our friends and partners in the international community to support the Venezuelan people until their rights and democracy are fully restored."

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the sanctions would "undermine Maduro's ability to pay off political cronies and regime supporters."

The governor of Texas says Hurricane Harvey will be a "major disaster" as he warned residents to prepare for record flooding when the storm makes landfall.

It's a statement shared by Brad Kieserman, the vice president of disaster operations and logistics at the American Red Cross. "I believe that this is going to be one of the most devastating disasters in recent U.S. history. The eye of Harvey is less than a hundred miles from the coast of Texas and it still continues to intensify."

Winds are expected to surpass 200 kilometers per hour when the hurricane hits a 600-kilometer wide swath of Texas on Friday or Saturday.

South Korea's military says North Korea's launch may be a ballistic missile or several off of its east coast Saturday morning.

Yonhap news says South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff described it as an unidentified projectile and flew about 250 kilometers.

Military officials in Seoul say the missile may have been launched from a site in the eastern province of Gangwon.

Details are still emerging about this story and we will have further updates. Be sure to follow VOA on social media platforms for instantaneous stories. This is VOA news.

The rape conviction of a self-proclaimed spiritual leader in India poured thousands of supporters into India streets, killing at least 28 in violent protest that followed. Edward Baran reports.

The rape conviction of a self-proclaimed spiritual leader in India has led to violent protest by his followers.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh called a godman of Haryana was found guilty of sexually assaulting two of his followers in a case dating back to 2002. Thousands of his supporters have rioted across the country's north in response.

In addition to those killed, more than 200 are thought to be injured, arson targeting many vehicles even watching media.

Over 500 Indian soldiers are called up to restore order. About 1,000 have been arrested.

That's reporter Edward Baran.

Police say the hours-long attack at a Shiite Muslim mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul has ended with all four attackers dead.

Afghan police special forces unit commander General ???: "According to the reports from police and the NDS, there were four attackers. All four attackers are killed. None of them are alive and the situation is under control."

??? said the death toll wasn't immediately known but a hospital official says at least 20 were killed and 50 wounded in the attack.

The mosque was packed with worshipers attending Friday prayers.

Mohammad Salim Rasouli, the chief of Kabul's hospitals, said the death toll could rise because many of the wounded were seriously hurt.

Somali forces supported by U.S. troops shot dead 10 Somalis, including three children, in a village near the capital of Mogadishu on Friday.

The village that was attacked, Barire in Lower Shabelle, which is about 50 kilometers from the capital, has a history of clan feuds.

The deputy governor of lower Shabelle, Ali Nur, also said the victims were "innocent farmers" killed for no reason.

"Bancroft forces in ??? killed these people in their homes. Some of them were in their beds while others were guarding their farms from the animals."

He said those killed were farmers and had armed themselves to defend themselves from a rival clan.

The U.S. Africa Command said in a statement that it is aware of the civilian casualty allegations near Barire and that they are taking any allegations of civilian casualties seriously and they are conducting an assessment into situation to determine the facts on the ground.

From the news center in Washington, I'm Steve Miller.

That's the latest world news from VOA.