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

Waters have continued to rise in flooded areas of Texas and Louisiana, causing what the National Weather Service calls (an) "unprecedented" crisis. At least six people have died and an estimated 30,000 have been evacuated from their homes and placed into shelters.

President Donald Trump traveled to Texas on Tuesday after first praising first responders and others involved in rescue efforts.

"We see neighbor helping neighbor, friend helping friend and stranger helping stranger. And you see that all over. If you watch on television, you just see such incredible work and love."

The president said recovery efforts in Texas and Louisiana will need billions of dollars in aid.

The U.N. Security Council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss how to respond to North Korea's launch of a ballistic missile over Japan. It comes less than a month after the council imposed its toughest yet sanctions on Pyongyang.

Japanese Ambassador Koro Bessho says his country feels a need to put more pressure on North Korea but will discuss how to do it.

"The first thing today is to make sure that we are on the same page and to make sure that we go together to try to put pressure on North Korea to change its course."

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley says that something serious has to happen but hasn't specified what.

Lawyers made their closing arguments Tuesday evening to Kenya's Supreme Court over a challenge by longtime politician Raila Odinga to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election earlier this month.

Odinga claims the declaration of Kenyatta's victory with 54 percent of the vote was fraudulent, contending hackers infiltrated the electoral commission's servers.

This is VOA news.

The Taliban have claimed a suicide bombing at a bank near Kabul's diplomatic quarter. Matthew Larotonda reports.

Another attack in the heart of Afghanistan's capital, and this one near the heavily fortified U.S. embassy.

A suicide bomber was responsible for this explosion at a bank near Kabul's diplomatic quarter. At least five were killed and eight wounded, according to the Interior Ministry.

It was claimed by the Taliban, who say they were targeting police and military personnel withdrawing their salaries. The government hasn't confirmed the identities of those killed.

U.N. estimates suggest that in addition to attacks on security forces, over 200 civilians have been killed in the city in just the first half of the year between attacks by the Taliban, Islamic State, and other militants.

This latest incident also comes just a week after the U.S. announced it would be ramping up its troop levels in the country again, with no planned withdrawal. The White House has not disclosed how many they will be sending, but there are about 8,400 already in the country, just a sliver of the 100,000 troops at the war's height during the Obama administration.

That is reporter Matthew Larotonda.

Islamic State fighters and their families have been bussed to eastern Syria under a cease-fire deal with Hezbollah and the Lebanese army. Lucy Fielder has the story.

Islamic State fighters and their families have surrendered their enclave on the Lebanese-Syrian border, heading for eastern Syria on Tuesday under a cease-fire deal that ended a week-long battle. This last convoy of more than three hundred militants marks the end of the insurgent presence in the area and the first time in years that Lebanon has controlled its entire border with Syria.

The Lebanese army planting its flags near the border. They fought the Islamic State fighters on one front; Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah militants fought on another alongside the Syrian army.

Islamic State will also hand over one Hezbollah captive and the bodies of Hezbollah fighters and one Iranian killed in battles in Syria.

Inside Syria, too, Islamic State is retreating on many fronts, facing offensives by the Russian-backed Syrian army and U.S.-backed militias.

Reporter Lucy Fielder.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated his commitment to the two-state solution between Israel and Palestinians. He also said there was a disagreement regarding Jewish settlements on the West Bank lands that the Palestinians want for a future state following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vow to not approve settlements.

Meeting in Paris on Monday, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Spain agree to help Chad and Niger with border control to stem the flow of migrants through Libya and across the Mediterranean Sea.

Leaders have agreed to set up a method of identifying legitimate migrants who are fleeing war and prosecution and separating them from economy migrants.

I'm Steve Miller in Washington.

That's the latest world news from VOA.