Reuters World News Summary

The proposed sale of 12 AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters made by Bell and related equipment worth $875 million is being delayed in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Syrian rebels attack army outposts in southern Syria Syrian rebels waged a spate of mortar attacks on Syrian army checkpoints in the southern province of Deraa in the biggest flare-up of violence since government forces retook the restive region three years ago, rebels, residents and the army said on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Russia's Nauka space module experiences problem after docking with ISS - RIA

Russian astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) informed mission control in Moscow on Thursday about a problem with the new Russian Nauka module after it docked at the station a few hours earlier, RIA news agency reported. The astronauts flagged an unplanned restart of Nauka's engines, RIA reported, citing conversations between the team and their headquarters on Earth, translated by the NASA space agency.

Exclusive-Investigative media outlet fleeing Russia to escape crackdown, editor says

Roman Badanin, chief editor of investigative news outlet Proekt, has left Russia with no plans to return and is evacuating his staff to avoid possible prosecution after Proekt was outlawed in a media crackdown, he told Reuters. Proekt has published a series of deeply researched and unflattering investigations into Russia's ruling elite. Russian authorities declared it an "undesirable" organisation on national security grounds on July 15, effectively banning it.

Taliban assassinations of Afghan pilots 'worrisome,' U.S. govt watchdog says

Taliban assassinations of Afghan pilots detailed by Reuters https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/afghan-pilots-assassinated-by-taliban-us-withdraws-2021-07-09 this month mark another "worrisome development" for the Afghan Air Force as it reels from a surge in fighting, a U.S. government watchdog said in a report released on Thursday. At least seven Afghan pilots have been assassinated off base in recent months, two senior Afghan government officials told Reuters, part of what the Islamist Taliban says is a campaign to see U.S.-trained Afghan pilots "targeted and eliminated."

Brazil's Bolsonaro escalates rhetoric over electoral fraud

Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro pleaded on Thursday for the replacement of the country's electronic voting system with printed ballots that can be counted, alleging that it is necessary to avoid fraud in next year's election. "I want elections next year, but clean, democratic and sincere elections," he said in his weekly social media webcast to supporters.

Israeli forces kill Palestinian during clashes in West Bank, officials say

Israeli troops killed a Palestinian man in clashes that erupted on Thursday during the funeral of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy shot dead by soldiers a day earlier, the Palestinian health ministry said. Witnesses said hundreds of Palestinians hurled stones at Israeli forces during the burial near the town of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

Proposed U.S. arms sale to Nigeria on "hold" over human rights concerns-sources

U.S. lawmakers have put on hold a proposal to sell almost $1 billion of weapons to Nigeria over concerns about possible human rights abuses by the government, three sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The proposed sale of 12 AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters made by Bell and related equipment worth $875 million is being delayed in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Syrian rebels attack army outposts in southern Syria

Syrian rebels waged a spate of mortar attacks on Syrian army checkpoints in the southern province of Deraa in the biggest flare-up of violence since government forces retook the restive region three years ago, rebels, residents and the army said on Thursday. The widespread attacks at army outposts near the Damascus-Deraa highway leading to the border crossing of Nassib with Jordan also disrupted passenger and commercial traffic at the main gateway for goods from Lebanon and Syria to the Gulf.

U.S.'s Blinken urges Tunisia to return to 'democratic path'

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said he had urged Tunisia's president to take action that would return the country "to the democratic path" after his seizure of governing powers on Sunday. President Kais Saied invoked a national emergency over the pandemic and poor governance to dismiss the prime minister, freeze parliament and seize executive control in a move welcomed by street rallies, but which his opponents branded a coup.

U.S. congressmen call on Hilton to cut link to Xinjiang project

A bipartisan U.S. congressional commission has called on Hilton Worldwide not to allow its name to be associated with a hotel project on the site of a mosque bulldozed by authorities in China's Xinjiang region, where Washington says minority Muslims have been victims of genocide. In a letter on Thursday to Christopher Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc, Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative Jim McGovern raised concerns about reports that a Hampton by Hilton hotel was being constructed on the site of the mosque destroyed in 2018 in Xinjiang's Hotan prefecture.

Peru's Castillo names Marxist party member as PM, likely scaring investors

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo on Thursday named Guido Bellido, a member of his Marxist party, as prime minister, a move likely to further spook investors wary of a new leftist government that will also face resistance in Congress. Bellido, an elected congressman, is a member of the self-described Marxist-Leninist Free Peru party, with which Castillo won the presidency this year.