Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Thousands protest British PM Johnson's move to suspend parliament

Thousands of people across Britain and Northern Ireland protested on Saturday against Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to suspend parliament for about a month before the deadline for the country to leave the European Union. Johnson has pledged to take Britain out of the EU on Oct. 31 with or without a deal on future relations with the bloc. The move to shut parliament for around a month in the period before that will hinder efforts by his opponents to stop him. 'Earthquake' elections in east Germany could jolt Merkel's coalition

Elections in two east German states on Sunday are set to yield a surge in support for the far right and raise the pressure on conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel's Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners to quit her government. Both Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and the SPD are expected to lose support to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Brandenburg and Saxony. Turkey to launch own Syria plan in weeks unless has 'safe zone' control: Erdogan

Turkey will launch its own operation to establish a "safe zone" in Syria if talks with the United States fail to give Turkish troops control of the area within a few weeks, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday. Washington and Ankara have been at odds over plans for the region in northeastern Syria where the U.S.-backed force led by the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia have been fighting Islamic State. Iranian oil tanker no longer has Turkish destination: ship tracking data

An Iranian oil tanker at the center of a dispute between Washington and Tehran is no longer heading towards Turkey's Iskenderun port and now has no specified destination, Refinitiv ship tracking data showed on Saturday. The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday blacklisted the tanker, Adrian Darya 1, which was detained by Britain off Gibraltar in July due to British suspicion it was carrying Iranian oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions. British PM Johnson challenges lawmakers to deliver Brexit

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson challenged lawmakers to deliver on the Brexit vote and not thwart his plans to take Britain out of the European Union on October 31. Johnson has pledged to deliver Brexit with or without a deal, but opposition lawmakers - and several lawmakers from Johnson's Conservatives - want to act to rule out a no deal Brexit when parliament returns from recess on Tuesday. One dead, nine wounded in France after suspected knife attack

One person was killed and at least nine others wounded on Saturday in the city of Villeurbanne near Lyon in central France after a suspected knife attack, a police source told Reuters. A suspect carrying a knife was arrested, the source said. A second source close to the police said the man had told officers he was an Afghan national. Hezbollah says commanders ready, Israel orders more forces to border region

Hezbollah said on Saturday its field commanders were ready to respond to an attack a week ago that the Lebanese group blamed on Israeli drones, after Israel's military ordered extra forces to deploy near the border. Tensions have heightened between the Iran-backed Lebanese movement and its old enemy Israel -- who fought a month-long war with each other in 2006 -- since two drones crashed in the southern suburbs of Beirut which are dominated by Hezbollah. Hong Kong commercial centers paralyzed as protesters, police exchange petrol bombs and tear gas

Hong Kong police fired tear gas and water cannon on Saturday and pro-democracy protesters threw petrol bombs in the latest in a series of chaotic clashes that have plunged the Chinese-ruled city into its worst political crisis in decades. Police fired round after round of tear gas and protesters took cover behind umbrellas between the local headquarters of China's People's Liberation Army and the government. Protesters also threw bricks dug up from pathways at police. North Korea says Pompeo's remarks make talks with U.S. more difficult

A recent remark by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about "North Korea's rogue behavior" will make talks with the United States more difficult, the North's KCNA news agency on Saturday quoted its vice foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, as saying. "We recognized that North Korea's rogue behavior could not be ignored," Pompeo said on Tuesday, while speaking at the American Legion National Convention in the state of Indiana. Russians demand free elections in Moscow, defying protest ban

A few thousand Russians took to the streets of central Moscow on Saturday to demand free elections to the capital's city legislature on Sept. 8, defying a ban which has been enforced with violent detentions during previous protests. Weeks of demonstrations over elections for the city legislature have turned into the biggest sustained protest movement in Russia since 2011-2013, when protesters took to the streets against perceived electoral fraud.

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