From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David DeForest reporting.

Iraqi commanders say coalition forces have broken through jihadist lines east of Mosul and were poised to enter the Islamic State's strong hold.

The breakthrough comes two weeks after a coalition of Iraqi and Kurdish forces launched the military operation to retake the city.

Syrian opposition activists are urging the United Nations and the international community to push for the release of tens of thousands of detainees in Syria.

A delegation from the High Negotiations Committee says the release could help revive the stalled peace process for Syria. The delegation has been meeting with people working with the U.N. special envoy for Syria.

The opposition [delegate hopes] delegation, rather, hopes a release of detainees will lead to an improved negotiation process. They think that in turn, that could encourage a break in the siege of Aleppo and the delivery of more humanitarian aid.

Lebanon's parliament has elected former Army Commander Michel Aoun as president.

The election ends more than a two-year power vacuum and political stalemate in Lebanon.

Aoun was quickly sworn in. He pledged political and economic reform and urged a real partnership among deeply divided Lebanese political factions.

He has a wide support base, mostly among Lebanon's educated youth but is considered a divisive figure in the country for his role in the 1975 to 90 civil war.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi unveiled plans Monday to rebuild large areas of central Italy. Those areas have been ravaged by the region's worst earthquake since 1980.

This is VOA news.

Public opinion polls in the U.S. show Democrat Hillary Clinton with a narrow edge over Republican Donald Trump in the last week of the presidential campaign. The reopened investigation into Clinton's emails from her tenure as secretary of state has added an uncertain element to the race.

Trump told a rally in Michigan that "it took a lot of guts" for the FBI director to take a new look at Clinton's emails.

"Hillary is not the victim. The American people are the victims of this corrupt system in every way. And this is your one chance right now November 8th to change it."

Clinton told her supporters she is confident investigators will decide "there is no case" against her.

"I think most people have decided a long time ago what they think about all of this. Now what people are focused on is choosing the next president and commander-in-chief of the United States of America."

Several national surveys Monday showed Clinton with a 1-to-3 percentage point advantage over Trump. The two candidates are locked in tight races in several of the key states. Surveys, though, still show Clinton with a more likely path to victory.

The U.S. Justice Department says it is working with the FBI to conduct the [newly invest] reinstated investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails "as expeditiously as possible."

Senior Justice Department official Peter Kadzik sent assurances in a letter Monday to several leading Senate Democrats, who are angry that the FBI announced the renewed probe so close to the election.

In Turkey, concern is growing over the police raid and arrests of journalists working at the country's oldest newspaper - one of the few remaining media outlets critical of the government. Dorian Jones reports.

Hundreds gathered outside the headquarters of Cumhuriyet to protest the police raid on the paper and the arrest of its editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu. The paper's website said arrest warrants had been issued for more than a dozen people linked to the paper, including many of its leading writers.

All those detained are accused of violating Turkey's ant-terror law and for giving support to the Kurdish rebel group, the PKK, or followers of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen. Gulen is blamed by the government for being behind July's failed coup attempt.

Dorian Jones, Istanbul.

The U.N. humanitarian chief warned Monday that Yemen is "one step away from famine."

Stephen O'Brien told the U.N. Security Council more than 21 million Yemenis, or 80 percent of the population, are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has vowed not to let a growing political crisis undermine the nation's national security.

A spokesman told reporters the government will maintain what he called "a firm readiness posture under any circumstances."

In Washington, I'm David DeForest.

That's the latest world news from VOA.