Reuters World News Summary

After blast in northwest Syria town, U.S. says rise in attacks troubling The United States on Wednesday said it was troubled by a recent rise in attacks in Syria, a day after a blast in the northwest town of al-Bab killed at least 11 people.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Russia evacuates villages as huge blaze breaks out at arms depot: Ifax

Russian authorities rushed to evacuate people from more than 10 villages in the region of Ryazan on Wednesday after a blaze broke out at an ammunition depot, sending thick smoke belching into the air, the Interfax news agency reported. Munitions could be heard detonating at the depot in footage circulated on social media. A witness in one of the videos said shrapnel and ash was falling from the sky. Reuters could not immediately verify the videos. After blast in northwest Syria town, U.S. says rise in attacks troubling

The United States on Wednesday said it was troubled by a recent rise in attacks in Syria, a day after a blast in the northwest town of al-Bab killed at least 11 people. "The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack near a crowded traffic circle in al-Bab yesterday," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement, adding that other reports indicated more than 20 people were killed. "We are deeply troubled by the rise in such terrorist attacks in recent months." Iran fears regional war as fighting rages around Nagorno-Karabakh

Iran's president warned on Wednesday that fighting between Azeri and ethnic Armenian forces in the South Caucasus could trigger a regional war as the death toll rose on the 11th day of hostilities. More than 300 have now died in the renewed fighting in and around the mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, which under international law belongs to Azerbaijan but is populated and governed by ethnic Armenians. UK PM Johnson says COVID cases rising but lockdown approach correct

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that COVID-19 infections were rising in London and elsewhere, but that his government's approach to controlling the spread of the virus was still the right one. "The local and regional approach combined with the national measures remains correct," Johnson told parliament, when asked why infections continued to rise in areas where local lockdown measures have been put in place. Hurricane Delta weakens before landfall near Mexico's Cancun

Hurricane Delta rapidly lost strength before landfall near top Caribbean getaway Cancun on Wednesday, potentially saving the area's hotels, condos and Mayan indigenous villages from an onslaught threatened when it was a menacing Category 4 storm. Delta had weakened to Category 2 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity, with winds of 110 miles per hour (175 km per hour), by the time it hit the coast close to Puerto Morelos, a fishing village popular with tourists. Germany expects EU response to Navalny case in coming days

Germany and its European Union partners will agree in the coming days a joint response to the poisoning in Russia of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent in the banned Novichok family, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Wednesday. "It is a serious violation of civic rights committed with a chemical nerve agent, and we firmly believe that this cannot remain without consequence," Maas told German lawmakers in Berlin, where Navalny has been treated. Genetic 'scissors' scientists win Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Two women scientists won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for creating genetic 'scissors' that can rewrite the code of life, contributing to new cancer therapies and holding out the prospect of curing hereditary diseases. Emmanuelle Charpentier, who is French, and American Jennifer Doudna share the 10 million Swedish crown ($1.1 million) prize for developing the CRISPR/Cas9 tool to edit the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with precision. EU lawmakers clear Commission reshuffle after Hogan exit

The European Parliament approved on Wednesday a reshuffle of the EU executive forced by the resignation of Phil Hogan, the Irishman who had been in charge of trade. Lawmakers cleared the appointment of Mairead McGuinness, who was vice president of the European parliament when Ireland put her forward as its new commissioner. She will be responsible for financial services. 'Mercenary' hacker group runs rampant in Middle East, cybersecurity research shows

Saudi diplomats, Sikh separatists and Indian business executives have been among those targeted by a group of hired hackers, according to research published on Wednesday by mobile firm BlackBerry Corp. The report on the group, known publicly as Bahamut, the name assigned to the mythical sea monster of Arab lore, highlights how cybersecurity researchers are increasingly finding evidence of mercenaries online. Kremlin says no cause for optimism in nuclear arms talks with U.S.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it saw no cause for optimism in Russia's talks with the United States over extending a major nuclear arms control pact and wanted the negotiations to be more successful. New START, the last major nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States, is due to expire in February.