Reuters World News Summary

U.S. loses Iran arms embargo bid as Putin pushes summit to avoid nuclear deal showdown The United States lost a bid on Friday to extend a U.N. arms embargo on Iran as Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a summit of world leaders to avoid "confrontation" over a U.S. threat to trigger a return of all U.N. sanctions on Tehran.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. 'They beat everyone': Belarus releases protesters as EU weighs sanctions

Belarusian authorities released detained demonstrators on Friday after issuing a rare public apology in an effort to quell nationwide street protests that pose the biggest challenge yet to strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko's 26-year rule. Their release comes ahead of a meeting of European Union foreign ministers later on Friday which is due to discuss possible new sanctions on the Belarusian leadership after its harsh crackdown on post-election protests. State of collapse: Can Lebanon's troubled leadership save the country?

Beirut's seismic explosion propelled the scarred Lebanese capital 30 years back in time with a violence scarcely imaginable even to a country that has endured so many wars, invasions, occupations, air strikes, car bombs and assassinations. The city that took 15 years to rebuild after a devastating 1975-90 civil war lies now with its port wrecked and districts in ruins, just like three decades ago. Then, the Lebanese could justifiably hope for a rebirth. Now, hope is all but gone. Hezbollah will respond if Israel behind Beirut blast, says Nasrallah

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that his group would wait for results of an investigation into the Beirut port explosion, but if it turns out to be an act of sabotage by Israel then it would "pay an equal price". The leader of the powerful Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group said in a televised speech that the two theories under investigation were that either an accident due to negligence, or sabotage caused the explosion of warehoused ammonium nitrate. U.S. loses Iran arms embargo bid as Putin pushes summit to avoid nuclear deal showdown

The United States lost a bid on Friday to extend a U.N. arms embargo on Iran as Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a summit of world leaders to avoid "confrontation" over a U.S. threat to trigger a return of all U.N. sanctions on Tehran. In a U.N. Security Council vote, Russia and China opposed extending the weapons ban, which is due to expire in October under a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. Eleven members abstained, including France, Germany and Britain, while Washington and the Dominican Republic were the only yes votes. Israel-UAE deal could open up U.S. weapons sales to Gulf kingdom, experts say

Normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates could pave the way for more U.S. weapons sales to the Gulf Arab country, according to experts. Israel and the UAE announced on Thursday that they will normalize diplomatic ties and forge a broad new relationship under an accord that U.S. President Donald Trump helped broker. 'Canary in the coal mine': Greenland ice has shrunk beyond return, study finds

Greenland's ice sheet may have shrunk past the point of return, with the ice likely to melt away no matter how quickly the world reduces climate-warming emissions, new research suggests. Scientists studied data on 234 glaciers across the Arctic territory spanning 34 years through 2018 and found that annual snowfall was no longer enough to replenish glaciers of the snow and ice being lost to summertime melting. Lima Group members reject Venezuelan parliamentary elections

A regional bloc comprised mostly of Latin American nations said on Friday it rejects plans by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to hold legislative elections without participation by all political parties. "We express our firm rejection of the illegitimate regime's announcement of the celebration of parliamentary elections without the minimum guarantees and without the participation of all political forces," said the declaration co-signed by Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru. UAE's Israel deal met with Arab dismay but quiet welcome in Gulf

From cries of "betrayal" to fears about "falling dominoes", the deal making the United Arab Emirates the third Arab state to forge ties with Israel stirred anger and dismay around the Middle East, but a cautious welcome from the UAE's Gulf allies. The mixed response highlighted new fault lines in a region where fear and distrust of Iran - shared by Israel and some Arab states - has challenged a decades-old allegiance to the Palestinian issue as a major driver of Arab policy. Trump, France's Macron voice concern about Greece-Turkey tensions: White House

U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron "expressed concern over increased tension between NATO Allies Greece and Turkey" during a call on Friday, a White House spokesman said. NATO allies Turkey and Greece are embroiled in a dispute over Turkish oil and gas exploration in disputed eastern Mediterranean waters. Turkey said on Friday France should refrain from steps that escalate tensions after the French military conducted training exercises with Greek forces in the region on Thursday. White House officials seek momentum with other countries after Israel-UAE deal

Senior White House officials on Friday sought to use the momentum from a historic deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates to appeal to more Arab and Muslim countries to set aside long-standing tensions and make similar agreements. A senior White House official said President Donald Trump's senior adviser, Jared Kushner, and Middle East envoy, Avi Berkowitz, had been in touch with "numerous" countries in the region, trying to see if more agreements would materialize. The official declined to name the countries.