The Economist.

Hello, you're listening to the free edition of the world in brief from The

Economist. As a reminder, if you subscribe to the economist, you'll get access to a deeper look at the day ahead, updated three times a day.

If you're already an economist subscriber, visit Economist.com slash Espresso,

or visit our Espresso app to start listening.

Here's today's free edition. This is the World in Brief from The Economist.

Our top stories.

Israel said that Hezbollah had suffered a crushing blow from Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon, which it claimed foiled Hezbollah's plans for a bigger attack.

On Sunday, the Iran-backed militant group fired hundreds of rockets towards Israel, a long-awaited retaliation for Israel's killing of a top

Hezbollah commander last month.

Meanwhile, polio vaccines arrived in Gaza. The World Health Organization confirmed last week that a 10-month-old

boy had contracted the disease, the enclave's first case in 25 years.

At least 70 people were killed in a series of attacks in Balochistan in southwest Pakistan.

The Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist group, claimed to have killed

at least 22 people on a highway in the province. Officials say they targeted individuals from Punjab.

Baloch nationalists in Pakistan feel that Punjabi,

the country's largest ethnic group, have sidelined and impoverished them.

Vladimir Zelensky, Ukraine's president, urged the West to allow his country to use their weapons

systems to strike inside Russia.

America continues to impose restrictions on where Ukraine can fire

its precious long-range missiles.

Mr. Zellensky's plea came after Russia attacked 15

...