Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Iran says concern over its enriched uranium metal process is "unnecessary" Iran's decision to produce uranium metal enriched to 20% purity is solely for peaceful purposes, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday, adding that Tehran will reverse its nuclear steps as soon as U.S. sanctions are lifted. "Contrary to the claims of the United States and the European powers ...

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Iran says concern over its enriched uranium metal process is "unnecessary"

Iran's decision to produce uranium metal enriched to 20% purity is solely for peaceful purposes, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday, adding that Tehran will reverse its nuclear steps as soon as U.S. sanctions are lifted.

"Contrary to the claims of the United States and the European powers ... this measure is solely for peaceful purposes and it is for use at Tehran Research Reactor," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh, according to Iranian state media.

Former Brazil Health Ministry official arrested in Senate

Drama erupted in Brazil's Congress on Wednesday as a former Health Ministry official was arrested under the orders of the lawmaker leading a Senate inquiry into the government's handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Roberto Dias had been a logistics director at the Health Ministry but was fired last week after he was accused of asking for a bribe in the procurement of the Indian COVID-19 shot Covaxin. He has denied the accusation.

Heat wave in Pacific Northwest could soon repeat due to climate change - research

The suffocating heat wave that killed hundreds of people across the Pacific Northwest last week would have been "virtually impossible" without climate change, a study finds. Reporting the first research attributing the event to climate change on Wednesday, scientists said climate change had made such a heat wave in the region 150 times more likely. The scientists estimated the extraordinary temperatures were a one-in-a-thousand-year event, though noted this was difficult to quantify given the unprecedented heat in early summer. But if current greenhouse gas emissions continue, an event so extreme could start occurring every five to 10 years by the 2040s, they warned.

South Africa's Zuma hands himself over to police to begin sentence

South African former President Jacob Zuma turned himself in to police on Wednesday to begin 15 months in jail for contempt of court, the culmination of a long legal drama seen as a test of the post-apartheid state's ability to enforce the rule of law. Police spokesperson Lirandzu Themba confirmed in a statement that Zuma was in police custody, in compliance with the Constitutional Court judgment.

Brazil's Bolsonaro says he may not accept 2022 election under current voting system

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said on Wednesday he may not accept the result of a presidential election next year unless the voting system, which uses computers to record votes, is replaced with printed ballots that he favors. "If this method continues, they're going to have problems," he said on a radio interview. "Because one side, which is our side, may not accept the result."

Gunmen assassinate Haitian president at his home, hunt launched for killers

Haitian President Jovenel Moise was shot dead by gunmen with assault rifles in his private residence overnight on Wednesday, sparking fears of a further descent into chaos in the impoverished Caribbean nation as a manhunt got underway. The assassination, which drew condemnation from Washington https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-assessing-tragic-attack-that-killed-haiti-president-white-house-2021-07-07 and neighboring Latin American countries, came amid political unrest, a surge in gang violence and a growing humanitarian crisis https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/haitis-history-violence-turmoil-2021-07-07 in the poorest nation in the Americas.

With aid in balance, Syrians who fled Assad fear deeper hardship

Having fled their homes to escape President Bashar al-Assad's rule, many of Syrians sheltering in the rebel-held northwest fear their fate may once again be placed in his hands.

Russia, Assad's key ally, wants U.N. aid to the region to come through the capital Damascus and not via Turkey, raising fears that food on which they rely will fall under their oppressor's control.

Rockets hit Iraqi base housing U.S. forces, wounding two Americans -officials

At least 14 rockets hit an Iraqi air base hosting U.S. and other international forces on Wednesday, wounding two American service members, U.S. officials said, while Kurdish-led forces in Syria said they thwarted a drone attack in an area where U.S. forces also operate. While there were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks - part of a wave targeting U.S. troops or areas where they are based in Iraq and Syria - analysts believed they were part of a campaign by Iranian-backed militias.

Taliban looted, torched Afghan homes after evicting residents: Human Rights Watch

Taliban fighters in northern Afghanistan last month evicted families and looted and torched their homes in apparent retaliation for cooperating with the Kabul government, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday. The "retaliatory attacks" were committed by insurgents participating in a Taliban offensive that has overrun scores of districts around Afghanistan, including an estimated 150 districts in Kunduz and other northern provinces, the group said.

Biden to speak on Afghanistan amid Taliban gaining territory

U.S. President Joe Biden said he will speak on Afghanistan on Thursday, days after American troops pulled out of their main military base 20 years after entering the country.

Biden made the remark to reporters at the White House when asked if he was worried about Kabul falling in the face of a ramped-up Taliban offensive.