Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Russia appoints new leader of Ukraine campaign as Wagner says Soledar fully captured

Moscow named a new commander for its invasion of Ukraine while Russian private military firm Wagner Group said its capture of the salt mining town Soledar in eastern Ukraine was complete. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday appointed Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov as overall commander for what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine, now in its 11th month.

Record rains pound California with bigger storm on the way

The seventh consecutive atmospheric river since Christmas dumped more rain on Northern California on Wednesday, offering little relief for a state already battered by floods, gale force winds, power outages and evacuations of entire towns.

Downtown San Francisco recorded a phenomenal 13.6 inches (34.5 cm) of rain from Dec. 26 until Wednesday morning, while San Francisco International Airport, the city of Oakland and the city of Stockton all recorded 16-day records over the same period, the National Weather Service said.

Suicide blast kills at least five outside Afghan foreign ministry

A suicide bomber killed at least five people outside the Afghan foreign ministry on Wednesday, police said, and a nearby hospital said over 40 people were wounded. Kabul police spokesperson Khalid Zadran said the official confirmed death toll was five.

Airlines hope for return to normal Thursday after FAA outage snarls U.S. travel

The U.S. aviation sector was struggling to return to normal on Wednesday following a nationwide ground stop imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) over a computer issue that forced a 90-minute halt to all U.S. departing flights. Almost 9,600 flights have been delayed so far and over 1,300 canceled, according to FlightAware, in the first national grounding of flights in about two decades. Many industry officials compared the grounding to what occurred after the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Navalny's wife and allies sound growing alarm over his health in jail

The wife of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appealed to prison staff to provide him with basic medicines on Wednesday as his supporters warned with increasing urgency that his life was in danger. Navalny's allies said the 46-year-old was placed in a cramped punishment cell for 15 days on Dec. 31, the 10th time he had been sent there in the space of five months for misdemeanours such as washing his face at the wrong time or failing to button up his prison uniform.

Lula government braces for new pro-Bolsonaro protests in Brazil

Brazil's 11-day-old government braced on Wednesday for more protests by far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro's supporters, whose Sunday rampage through public buildings marked the worst attack on the country's institutions in decades. The government of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva bolstered security measures nationwide as flyers appeared on pro-Bolsonaro social media calling for mass demonstrations in Brazilian cities to "retake power."

Deal on safe zone for Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant getting harder -IAEA

Brokering a deal on a safe zone around Ukraine's Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is getting harder because of the involvement of the military in talks, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday. The Soviet-era plant, Europe's largest, was captured by Russian forces in March, soon after their invasion of Ukraine. It has repeatedly come under fire in recent months, raising fears of a nuclear disaster.

China imposes transit curbs for S.Korea, Japan; WHO voices concern over data

The World Health Organisation said a lack of data was making it challenging to help China manage the risks of a COVID-19 surge over the Lunar New Year holiday, as the world's second-largest economy reopens after three years of isolation. The holiday, known before the pandemic as the world's largest annual migration of people, comes amid an escalating diplomatic spat over COVID curbs that saw Beijing introduce transit curbs for South Korean and Japanese nationals on Wednesday.

'Seriously doubt' imminent invasion of Taiwan by China -Pentagon chief

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday he seriously doubted that ramped up Chinese military activities near the Taiwan Strait were a sign of an imminent invasion of the island by Beijing. "We've seen increased aerial activity in the straits, we've seen increased surface vessel activity around Taiwan," Austin said during a press conference alongside U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their Japanese counterparts.

Exclusive-U.S. and Brazil lawmakers seek to cooperate on investigation of Brasilia riots, sources say

Aides to U.S. lawmakers from the Jan. 6 committee have engaged in early talks to cooperate with Brazilian lawmakers looking to investigate the storming of the capital Brasilia by protesters urging a military coup to overthrow the president, according to two people familiar with the matter. U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson, chairman of the recently dissolved House of Representatives committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, is one of the lawmakers whose office is involved in the talks, according to one of the sources, who requested anonymity because the discussions are preliminary.

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