World News Roundup: Brexit deal possible in weeks; Qatari-bought fuel enters Gaza

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Brexit deal possible in weeks, says Northern Irish party that props up May

A Brexit deal is "eminently possible" within weeks but there can be no regulatory barriers within the United Kingdom, the head of the Northern Irish party that props up British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday. Less than six months before the UK's exit from the European Union, there is little clarity about how the world's fifth largest economy and its preeminent international financial centre will trade with the EU after Brexit.

Iran is the new transit point for Somali charcoal in illicit trade taxed by militants: U.N. report

Criminal networks are using Iran as a transit point for illicit Somali charcoal exports that earn Islamist militants al Shabaab millions of dollars annually in tax, U.N. sanctions monitors said in a report seen by Reuters. In the unpublished annual report to the U.N. Security Council, the monitors add that domestic revenue generation by al Qaeda-affiliated al Shabaab "is more geographically diversified and systematic" than that of Somalia's federal government.

The possibility of the chemical attack in the UK getting closer: security minister

The possibility of a terrorist attack involving chemical or biological weapons is getting closer, Britain's security minister and top counter-terrorism police officer warned on Tuesday. "I see plots where the only limit to the ambition of our adversaries is their imagination," Ben Wallace told a security conference in London.

Ukraine suspects sabotage after ammo depot explosions

Ukrainian authorities suspect sabotage lay behind explosions that tore through an ammunition depot in the early hours of Tuesday, sending fireballs into the sky and causing more than 12,000 people to be evacuated. No casualties were reported at the depot, located 176 km (about 110 miles) east of the capital, Kiev. Explosions were happening at a rate of two to three a second at one stage, according to the defence ministry.

Bulgaria detains suspect over the murder of journalist: source

Bulgarian police have detained a suspect in connection with the murder of TV journalist Viktoria Marinova, whose body was found in a park in her Danube hometown of Ruse, a government source familiar with the investigation said on Tuesday. "We can say there is a suspect detained," the source told Reuters without elaborating.

Saudi Arabia invites Turkey to visit its Istanbul consulate: Turkish state news agency

Saudi Arabian officials invited Turkish experts and related officials to visit its consulate in Istanbul, the Turkish state-owned Anadolu news agency reported on Tuesday, following the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi a week ago. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday asked Riyadh to prove its claim that Khashoggi had left the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, while Washington urged Saudi Arabia to support an investigation into his disappearance.

Qatari-bought fuel enters Gaza amid fears of the flare-up with Israel

A truck brought fuel across Israel's border into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in what sources said was a Qatari- and U.N.-backed drive to ease conditions in the enclave and stem any escalation in Palestinian-Israeli violence. The shipment was a potential slap to the Western-backed administration of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which opposed the foreign relief plan. Gaza is controlled by Abbas's rival, the Islamist Hamas group and the Palestinian president has been using economic pressure in order to wrest back control.

Indonesians step up the search for quake victims to beat deadline as toll exceeds 2,000

Rescue workers in Indonesia stepped up their search for victims of an earthquake and tsunami on Tuesday, hoping to find as many bodies as they can before this week's deadline for their work to halt, as the official death toll rose to 2,010. The national disaster mitigation agency has called off the search from Thursday, citing concern about the spread of disease. Debris would be cleared and areas, where bodies lie, would eventually be turned into parks, sports venues and memorials.

Suicide bomber kills eight at Afghan election rally, including candidate

A suicide bomber killed eight people in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand on Tuesday, including a candidate in upcoming parliamentary elections, the latest in a series of deadly attacks targeting the vote, officials said. The election candidate, Saleh Mohammad Achekzai, was killed in the blast at an election rally in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, Omar Zwak, the provincial governor's spokesman confirmed. At least 11 people were wounded.

Second Russian blamed for Skripal poisoning named as GRU doctor: Bellingcat

The second of two Russians who Britain blames for the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal was named by investigative website Bellingcat on Monday as a military doctor for Russia's GRU intelligence service. Bellingcat, which covers intelligence matters, named him as Alexander Yevgenyevich Mishkin, aged 39, who was charged by Britain last month under the name of Alexander Petrov.