Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. First Jerusalem-born American gets U.S. passport that lists 'Israel' as birthplace

The United States on Friday issued for the first time a passport to a Jerusalem-born American with 'Israel' listed as the place of birth instead of the city. The U.S. Ambassador to Israel presented the document to 18-year-old Menachem Zivotofsky after a change of policy by President Donald Trump that is likely to please pro-Israel supporters ahead of next week's election, but that Palestinians condemned as a violation of international law. U.S. fights delay in extraditing Carlos Ghosn's accused escape plotters to Japan

The U.S. Justice Department on Friday urged a federal judge to swiftly reject a last-minute bid by two Massachusetts men to avoid being extradited to Japan to face charges that they helped former Nissan Motor Co Ltd Chairman Carlos Ghosn flee the country. The department in a court filing said Japanese agents are slated to come to the United States in the "coming days" to transport U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor and his son, Peter Taylor, back to their country. France tightens security after Nice attack, protests flare in parts of Muslim world

France stepped up security nationwide on Friday to guard against Islamist attacks after the fatal stabbings at a church in Nice, while protests flared in parts of the Middle East, Asia and Africa over French caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad. President Emmanuel Macron deployed thousands of soldiers to protect sites including places of worship and schools, and the nation was at its highest level of security alert after the second deadly knife attack in its cities in two weeks. Exclusive: Russian hackers targeted California, Indiana Democratic parties

The group of Russian hackers accused of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election earlier this year targeted the email accounts of Democratic state parties in California and Indiana, and influential think tanks in Washington and New York, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The attempted intrusions, many of which were internally flagged by Microsoft Corp over the summer, were carried out by a group often nicknamed "Fancy Bear." The hackers' activity provides insight into how Russian intelligence is targeting the United States in the run-up to the Nov. 3 election. Angry French city asks after church attack: Why us again?

When a suspected Islamist from Tunisia killed three people this week in a church in the French Riviera city of Nice, for many residents it brought painful memories flooding back. Four years ago, another suspected Islamist originally from Tunisia had driven a 19-tonne truck into a crowd about not far from the church, killing more than 80 people. U.S. says Iranian hackers behind threatening emails accessed voter data

U.S. officials said late Friday that the Iranian hackers behind a wave of threatening emails sent to thousands of Americans earlier this month successfully accessed voter data. The statement, issued jointly by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), partially confirms the authenticity of a video distributed as part of a disinformation campaign that briefly drew attention when it became public last week. Armenia, Azerbaijan agree to defuse Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on Friday to urgent steps after talks to resolve the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh where hundreds have been killed in more than a month of fighting, a statement by major powers said. The ministers, who met in Geneva, agreed to not deliberately target civilian populations, engage in exchange of bodies on the battlefield, and provide lists of detained prisoners of war within a week with the aim of eventual exchange, said the statement by envoys from Russia, France and the United States. Strong earthquake kills 19 people in Turkey and Greek islands

Nineteen people were killed in Turkey and Greece after a strong earthquake struck the Aegean Sea on Friday, bringing buildings crashing down and setting off tidal waves which slammed into coastal areas and islands. People ran onto streets in panic in the Turkish city of Izmir, witnesses said, after the quake struck with a magnitude of up to 7.0. Neighbourhoods were deluged with surging seawater which swept debris inland and left fish stranded as it receded. Analysis: Stick or twist? Azerbaijan looks to drive home Nagorno-Karabakh gains

A recent rallying cry by the ethnic Armenian leader of Nagorno-Karabakh contained a startling admission: enemy troops were no more than five kilometres (three miles) from the mountain enclave's second-largest city. Emboldened by Turkish support, Azerbaijan has the upper hand in the bloodiest fighting in more than 25 years in the South Caucasus. In just over a month, it has retaken much of the land in and around Nagorno-Karabakh that it lost in the 1990s. Hundreds of Romanians form human chain on fifth anniversary of deadly fire

On the steps of a Bucharest court on Friday, Adrian Albu pointed to his sister among the pictures of the 65 people who died in a nightclub fire five years ago, triggering mass protests across Romania at a culture of graft and lack of accountability. Hundreds of people wearing protective masks and standing four metres apart lit candles and formed a socially-distanced human chain between the site of the former Colectiv club and the Bucharest Court of Appeals where the trial against those responsible is still taking place on the fire's fifth anniversary.