World News Roundup: Israel's Netanyahu left teetering after close election

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Hong Kong horse races, fireworks called off amid protest threat

Hong Kong's Jockey Club canceled all races planned for Wednesday after pro-democracy protesters said they would target the Happy Valley racecourse where a horse part-owned by a pro-China lawmaker was due to run. The government also said fireworks to mark Chinese National Day on Oct. 1 had been called off.

Israel's Netanyahu left teetering after close election

Israel's election was too close to call on Wednesday, with a partial vote tally showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tied with his main rival, former military chief Benny Gantz. An official result was still hours, perhaps days off. But with more than 63 percent of votes counted, the Netanyahu-led right-wing bloc was, as expected, more or less even with Gantz's center-left.

EU warns Britain heading for a no-deal Brexit

The European Union warned on Wednesday that Britain was headed for a damaging no-deal Brexit, with London's ideas for solving the contentious issue of the Irish border still unlikely to unlock a deal just six weeks before Britain is due to leave. Addressing EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had told him on Monday that London still wanted a deal, but would leave with or without one on Oct. 31.

Parliament suspension not a matter for judges, UK Supreme Court told

Boris Johnson's decision to suspend parliament is a political issue and not a matter for judges, a lawyer for the prime minister said on Wednesday as he sought to persuade the British Supreme Court that the five-week shutdown was lawful. Johnson asked Queen Elizabeth to prorogue or suspend, parliament from Sept. 10 until Oct. 14, prompting accusations from opponents that he wanted to silence the legislature in the run-up to Britain's exit from the European Union on Oct. 31.

Suicide bomber and gunmen hit eastern Afghanistan gov't office

A suicide bomber and gunmen wounded at least nine people, including a child and a woman, in an attack on a government building in eastern Afghan on Wednesday, officials said. The attackers detonated explosives before gunmen poured into the building, said the officials. The office is a distribution center in the city of Jalalabad for national identity cards, which people need to vote in Afghanistan's presidential election in 10 days.

"Sick and tired": Spaniards fed up with yet another election

Spaniards were frustrated and angry on Wednesday after being called to the polls for the fourth time in four years and some said they would stay away from the ballot box, making it harder to predict how the political deadlock could be broken. Spain has been in political limbo since the Socialists emerged as the biggest party in a parliamentary election in April but without enough seats to govern on their own.

Erdogan says 2-3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, Europe can be resettled in 'safe zone'

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that a planned "safe zone" in northern Syria could host 2-3 million Syrian refugees that have settled in Turkey and Europe after eight years of war at home. Addressing academics in Ankara, Erdogan also repeated that Ankara would act on its own if the zone, planned jointly with the United States in Syria's northeast, bears no results.

Turkish court rules to keep U.S. consulate worker in jail: lawyer

A Turkish court ruled on Wednesday to keep U.S. consulate employee Metin Topuz in jail as his trial on espionage charges continues, a lawyer for Topuz said, meaning he will remain in detention until the next hearing in December. The trial of Topuz, a Turkish translator and fixer for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) at the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, has been one of the various sources of strain in already fragile ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States.

Saudi Arabia promises 'material evidence' linking Iran to oil attack

Saudi Arabia said it would show evidence on Wednesday linking regional rival Tehran to an unprecedented attack on its oil industry that Washington believes originated from Iran in a dangerous escalation of Middle East frictions. Tehran has denied involvement in the Sept. 14 attacks on oil plants, including the world's biggest crude processing facility, that initially knocked out half of Saudi Arabia's production.

"Bloody Sunday" families to ask for accused soldier to be named

Families of victims of the 1972 "Bloody Sunday" shootings in Northern Ireland are to ask prosecutors to strip the only British soldier facing prosecution of his anonymity, a lawyer said on the first day of a court hearing into the case. Soldiers from the elite Parachute Regiment opened fire on Sunday, Jan. 30, 1972, during an unauthorized civil rights march in the Bogside nationalist area of Londonderry, in one of the most notorious incidents of the Northern Ireland conflict.