World News Roundup: U.S. faces hurdles in trying to nudge Belarus toward democracy; Lebanon's embattled savers try to rebuild and more

Qatar Emir meets Trump adviser Kushner: statement Qatar's ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, met U.S. President Donald Trump's senior adviser Jared Kushner on Wednesday, the Amiri Diwan said, following an accord between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize ties.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Qatar Emir meets Trump adviser Kushner: statement

Qatar's ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, met U.S. President Donald Trump's senior adviser Jared Kushner on Wednesday, the Amiri Diwan said, following an accord between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize ties. Kushner, who hopes more Muslim countries will also cement ties with Israel, was told by Sheikh Tamim that his country supports the two-state solution according to international law, the statement added.

U.S. faces hurdles in trying to nudge Belarus toward democracy

Hindered by frayed ties with Europe, limited leverage and doubts about President Donald Trump's devotion to democracy in Belarus, the United States is gingerly trying to nudge the former Soviet state toward new elections without provoking Russia. Current and former U.S. officials acknowledge the challenge of promoting change in Belarus, which faces protests over an Aug. 9 election that the opposition says was rigged to extend the 26-year reign of President Alexander Lukashenko.

'Now we are ruined': Lebanon's embattled savers try to rebuild

Like many Lebanese expatriates, Nadim Srour wired savings back as a nest egg for his return. Now those deposits have crumbled in an economic crisis and a Beirut blast has destroyed his home. "Our lives turned 180 degrees," said the 43-year-old who returned from the Gulf with his wife and two sons in September 2019 - a month before Lebanon's banking system imploded and a year before the port explosion shattered a swathe of Beirut.

Japan's Suga says to run for ruling party leadership race, wants to avoid vacuum

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday said he would run for leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), formally entering a race he is already heavily favored to win to become the next prime minister. A longtime aide to outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Suga said he decided to stand for party leader to avoid a political vacuum during the coronavirus pandemic.

Trial of suspected Charlie Hebdo attack accomplices begins

Fourteen alleged accomplices to the Islamist gunmen who attacked the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015 went on trial on Wednesday, as the country recalled a dark episode that marked the onset of a wave of militant violence. French Prime Minister Jean Castex wrote in a tweet the simple words: "Always Charlie".

Britain still not engaging constructively on key Brexit areas, says EU's Barnier

Britain has so far not engaged constructively in the key areas under negotiation on future ties with the European Union that must be settled by the end of next month, the bloc's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Thursday. Barnier said Britain's position has not evolved in recent months on the sticking point of fisheries, nor has London given any credible guarantees on open and fair competition once the transition arrangement ends at the end of 2020.

Uzbekistan stages outdoor exams for 1.4 million university applicants

Tens of thousands of youngsters headed to sports arenas across Uzbekistan on Wednesday to sit university entrance exams in the open air due to the coronavirus pandemic. The massive exercise, which will span two weeks, will see more than 1.4 million applicants take a three-hour test while seated at desks on the running tracks or walkways of the stadiums. They are competing for some 150,000 university places under a centralized admissions system.

Russia asks Germany for copious details of poison tests on Navalny

Russia has asked Germany to provide exhaustive details of medical tests conducted on Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition politician lying in a coma in Berlin after a suspected poisoning in Siberia last month, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. Russian newspaper RBC said the general prosecutor's office had asked Germany's justice ministry for information on Navalny's treatment, including test results for drugs, poisons, heavy metals and cholinesterase inhibitors, which affect the nervous system.

Afghanistan frees nearly 200 Taliban prisoners to push peace talks

Afghanistan has freed nearly 200 Taliban prisoners to spur long-delayed peace talks, as a team of negotiators readies to fly this week to Qatar's capital, Afghan officials said on Wednesday. The prisoners formed part of a group of 400 jailed "hardcore" Islamist separatists whose stalled release had appeared set to delay talks between the government and the insurgent group to end nearly two decades of war.

Spanish court strips late dictator Franco's heirs of summer palace

A Spanish court stripped General Francisco Franco's heirs of the late dictator's summer palace and ordered it to be transferred to the Spanish state, which had claimed ownership of the estate as part of a move to erase the dictatorship's legacy. Built between 1893 and 1907, the Pazo de Meiras palace in the region of Galicia was acquired in 1938, during the civil war, using public donations.