World News Roundup: UK lawmakers launch new group to try to secure Brexit deal

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

'Will we eat democracy?': Tunisians frustrated as elections approach

As he watched a campaign bus pull into town plastered with slogans and posters for one of the 26 candidates for president, Mondher Jawad slapped his hands with fury while the woman next to him shouted abuse at the candidate's staff. "Democracy means nothing to us," said Jawad, a 45-year-old with no job who has struggled to feed his three children in the dusty town of Fernana near the border with Algeria. "Will we eat or drink democracy?"

Hong Kong leader warns against interference, escalation of violence

Interference by foreign parliaments in Hong Kong's affairs is deeply regrettable, the leader of the Chinese-ruled city said on Tuesday, adding that an escalation of violence cannot solve social issues in the Asian financial hub. The city's Beijing-backed leader, Carrie Lam, was speaking after another weekend of sometimes violent clashes in the former British colony, with police firing tear gas in cat-and-mouse skirmishes with protesters who at times smashed windows and started fires in the streets.

Hasty rollout of Trump immigration policy has 'broken' border courts

On the day she was set to see a U.S. immigration judge in San Diego last month, Katia took every precaution. After waiting two months in Mexico to press her case for U.S. asylum, the 20-year-old student from Nicaragua arrived at the border near Tijuana three hours before the critical hearing was scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m.

Honduras says not considering safe third country migration deal with U.S.

Honduras is not considering a so-called safe third country designation for migrants seeking refuge in the United States, Foreign Minister Lisandro Rosales said late on Monday, denying reports of a deal agreed with U.S. officials. The United States has persuaded neighboring Guatemala to become a safe third country that would accept U.S.-bound asylum seekers, part of a larger effort by President Donald Trump to reduce the flow of migrants.

Boris Johnson tells parliament: You can tie my hands, but I will not delay Brexit

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday he would not request an extension to Brexit, hours after a law came into force demanding that he delay Britain's departure from the European Union until 2020 unless he can strike a divorce deal. For the second time in a week, lawmakers then rejected Johnson's request to try to break the deadlock through an early national election.

Kremlin says reported U.S. spy in Russian president's office was fired years ago

The Kremlin on Tuesday played down U.S. media reports of a CIA spy inside Russia's presidential administration, calling them "pulp fiction", but said a low-level official who Russian media suggested was the agent had worked there before being fired. CNN reported on Monday that the United States had successfully extracted one of its highest-level covert sources inside Russia in 2017. The New York Times later said the informant had sent secrets to Washington for decades.

North Korea says it will resume talks but adds pressure with new launches

North Korea fired a new round of short-range projectiles on Tuesday, South Korean officials said, only hours after it signaled a new willingness to resume stalled denuclearization talks with the United States. The launches were detected early in the morning by the South Korean military, which said they appeared to be short-range projectiles.

South Korean watchdog finds no foul play in defection of North Korean waitresses

An investigation by South Korea's human rights watchdog found no evidence the country's spy agency tricked or coerced a dozen North Korean restaurant workers into defecting in 2016, as some have alleged, documents reviewed by Reuters showed on Tuesday. Lawyers for some of the women said they would seek to challenge the findings in court, setting up a potential legal fight over a saga that has complicated efforts to improve relations between the two Koreas.

UK lawmakers launch new group to try to secure Brexit deal

Several British lawmakers launched a new group on Tuesday to bolster efforts to secure a deal to leave the European Union, hoping to persuade parliament finally to pass an agreement based on one it rejected three times. With the Brexit crisis deepening and parliament suspended, lawmakers are scrambling to find ways to prevent a disruptive no-deal Brexit at the end of October, which they say would hurt businesses, drive up job losses and deepen divides in Britain.

Pakistan warns of 'genocide' in Kashmir, sees no talks with India

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told the top United Nations human rights forum on Tuesday that India's "illegal military occupation" of the Muslim-majority territory of Kashmir raises the specter of "genocide". India revoked the autonomy of the disputed Himalayan region, home to 8 million people and a flashpoint for the nuclear-armed neighbors, on Aug. 5.