From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Jim Bertel reporting.

On the eve of becoming Zimbabwe's president, Emmerson Mnangagwa is pledging to be a servant of the people with a goal of progress through unity. But many wonder if the longtime Robert Mugabe ally can bring the change the country craves.

Already, the main opposition group says it has not been invited to his inauguration Friday.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's ruling party says prosecuting Robert Mugabe was never part of the plan in his removal. Mugabe and his wife Grace remain in the capital, Harare.

Iraqi military officials say they've launched an operation to clear the last Islamic State fighters from positions in the desert bordering Syria.

In a statement, the military said troops from the Iraqi army and Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces were taking part in the campaign.

The Reuters news agency quoted Army Colonel Salah Kareem as saying the objective is to prevent remaining IS groups from disappearing into the desert region and using it as a base to launch future attacks.

The Argentine navy says an abnormal sound that was consistent with an explosion was detected in the South Atlantic Ocean around the time that a missing submarine sent its last signal. Jillian Kirchner reports.

As the search for a missing Argentine submarine ramps up Thursday, the country's navy says a sound consistent with an explosion was detected in the South Atlantic Ocean around the same time the vessel sent its last signal.

"We received information of an abnormal, singular, short, violent, non-nuclear event that was consistent with an explosion."

The navy captain said they have yet to determine the cause of the so-called explosion or whether the ARA San Juan with 44 crew on board could have been attacked on November 15.

This is VOA news.

A suicide blast in eastern Afghanistan killed at least eight people Thursday and wounded 16 others.

Officials said the explosion in Jalalabad ripped through a crowd outside the residence of a former district police commander.

A provincial government spokesman said the victims were supporters of the commander and were demanding his reinstatement.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the bombing.

Search and rescue operations continue for three sailors still missing after a U.S. Navy transport plane crashed Wednesday in the western Pacific Ocean.

The Navy said the aircraft plummeted into the sea about 925 kilometers southeast of Okinawa while it was on a routine mission taking passengers and cargo to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier.

It said the eight people were rescued soon after the crash and are reported in good condition.

The holiday season officially kicked off in the U.S. Thursday with the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York.

U.S. President Donald Trump reached out to U.S. troops around the world to thank them for their sacrifice.

"Hello, everybody, and happy Thanksgiving. You're very, very special people to me and to everybody in this country -- that I can tell you. And I've got five deployed units bravely representing each branch of our armed forces."

Mr. Trump is celebrating the holiday at his oceanfront Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

France is seeking an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the alleged sale of African migrants as slaves.

CNN aired footage of an apparent auction where black men were presented to buyers as potential farmhands and sold off for as little as $400. The video sparked international outrage, with protests erupting across Europe and Africa.

President Emmanuel Macron called the video footage "scandalous" and "unacceptable."

A French diplomat says the Security Council will be meeting on this sometime next week.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state targeting Muslim Rohingya qualifies as ethnic cleansing. Reuters Grace Lee has more.

The verdict follows the conviction of the ....

That is not Grace Lee.

Looking back at our top stories, the Argentine navy says an abnormal sound that was consistent with an explosion was detected in the South Atlantic Ocean around the time that a missing submarine sent its last signal.

Iraqi military officials say they've launched an operation to clear the last Islamic State fighters from positions in the desert bordering Syria. In a statement, the military said many troops were taking part in the campaign.

For all of these stories around the clock, please visit us at voanews.com.

That's the latest world news from VOA.