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

Afghan officials say they have repulsed a major Taliban assault on the provincial capital of central Uruzgan province. They say a "house-to-house" search has been launched to clear Tarin Kot of any remaining insurgents.

Local officials say Taliban insurgents fought their way into the city Thursday morning, triggering a battle with Afghan security forces.

Earlier, a spokesman for the Taliban said its forces had captured large parts of the provincial capital.

State media say Turkish authorities Thursday issued arrest warrants for six generals and several other military officials as well as 16 businessmen in connection with the failed July coup.

Turkey claims thy all had connections to the U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who the Turkish government says initiated the coup attempt.

The government claims all those given warrants were part of what it calls the "Gulenist Terrorist Organization."

Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup attempt.

Kurdish officials say six [Kurdish] Syrian Kurdish fighters were killed and a dozen were wounded as Turkish artillery fired across the border Thursday into Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says some of those wounded in the attack on the town of Afrin were civilians.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva Friday. He will try again to arrange a cease-fire in Syria.

The State Department says the talks will focus on "reducing violence, expanding humanitarian assistance for the Syrian people and moving toward a political solution needed to end the civil war."

Kerry and Lavrov have met several times over the past two weeks in Geneva and at the G-20 summit in China, but have failed so far to finalize an agreement on a cessation of hostilities.

This is VOA news.

A survey published Thursday shows a majority of American voters support the Trans-Pacific Partnership and similar free agreements.

The survey was done by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Its release comes at a time when both major U.S. presidential candidates are critical of free trade agreements.

Speaking to reporters in New York, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton Thursday called hunting down the Islamic leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, important.

"We should make it a top priority to hunt down the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and bring him to justice just as we did with Osama bin Laden."

Clinton says that would send a message that nobody gets away with directing or inspiring terrorist attacks against the United States.

President Barack Obama says an insulting comment by Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte will not have a negative impact on U.S. relations with the people of the Philippines.

"What I indicated to him is that my team should be meeting with his and determine how we can move forward on the whole range of issues."

Mr. Obama said the two leaders shook hands at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations dinner Wednesday.

Former United Nations chief Kofi Annan assured residents of Myanmar he is not in the country to police human rights violations.

"We are not here to do a human rights investigation and write a human rights report. I think I've indicated very clearly the mandate of this commission and I hope our recommendations will be helpful as we intend to."

Annan is part of a nine-member panel on a mission to find more about the ethnic and religious strife that has triggered a humanitarian crisis in Myanmar.

Uzbekistan's parliament Thursday appointed the country's prime minister to be the new acting president. He replaces Islam Karimov, who recently died.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who has served as Mr. Karimov's prime minister since 2003, was appointed in a joint session of parliament.

Police in France have detained another couple in connection with a car load of six gas canisters that was found near the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on Sunday.

The owner of the car is known to authorities to have ties with radical Islam. The owner's daughter is still being sought by police.

A joint study by the World Bank and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation published Thursday says air pollution has emerged as the deadliest form of pollution.

The report says air pollution caused 5.5 million premature deaths in [2014] 2013, rather. That's four times the toll from HIV/AIDS.

On Wall Street, U.S. stock indexes were down today.

I'm David DeForest.

That's the latest world news from VOA.