Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Polish nationalists and LGBT activists face off in Warsaw

Hundreds of Polish nationalists and defenders of LGBT rights faced off against each other on opposite sides of a street in central Warsaw on Sunday. The nationalists burnt a rainbow flag, while the LGBT activists painted one on the street. The groups shouted abuse at each other, separated by a line of several police vans and dozens of policemen. Lebanon faces ‘biggest danger’, needs elections, says patriarch

Lebanon’s top Christian cleric called on Sunday for early parliamentary elections and a government formed to rescue the country rather than the ruling “political class” after the vast explosion in Beirut’s port threw the nation into turmoil. The now-caretaker cabinet resigned amid protests over the Aug. 4 blast that killed more than 172 people, injured 6,000, left 300,000 homeless and destroyed swathes of the Mediterranean city, compounding a deep financial crisis. At least seven dead after gunmen attack Mogadishu hotel

Militants stormed a high-end seaside hotel in Mogadishu on Sunday, killing at least seven people and wounding more than 20 as they detonated a car bomb then opened fire with assault rifles in the latest attack in the Somali capital. Islamist insurgent group al Shabaab said it was behind the assault on the Elite Hotel in Lido beach, and that its gunmen battled security forces who rushed to the scene. Israel says it expects Bahrain and Oman to follow UAE in formalising ties

Bahrain and Oman could be the next Gulf countries to follow the United Arab Emirates in formalising ties with Israel, Israel’s intelligence minister said on Sunday. Israel and the UAE announced on Thursday that they will normalise diplomatic relations, reshaping Middle East politics from the Palestinian issue to the fight against Iran. India restores 4G internet services in parts of Kashmir

India on Sunday restored high speed 4G internet services in two districts of Kashmir after the Supreme Court last month said an indefinite shutdown of the internet there was illegal. The communications lockdown had been imposed after partial autonomy of the Muslim majority region was scrapped by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year. Biggest Thai protest in years puts pressure on government

More than 10,000 Thai protesters chanting “down with dictatorship” and “the country belongs to the people” rallied in Bangkok on Sunday in by far the biggest anti-government demonstration since a 2014 coup. There were cheers for student calls to curb the monarchy’s powers – once a taboo subject – as well as demands for the departure of former junta leader Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a new constitution and an end to the harrasment of opposition activists. New Zealand PM Ardern postpones general election to October 17

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday postponed the general election by four weeks to Oct. 17 but ruled out delaying it any further, as the country tackles a new outbreak of the coronavirus. “Ultimately, the 17th of October … provides sufficient time for parties to plan around the range of circumstances we will be campaigning under,” Ardern said in a news conference. Italy closes nightclubs as coronavirus cases rise among young

Italy is to shut discos and clubs and make it compulsory to wear a mask outdoors in some areas during the night-time in the first reimposition of restrictions as cases of coronavirus pick up across the country, especially among younger people. New cases in the past week in Italy, the first European country to be hit hard by the coronavirus, were more than double those registered three weeks ago and the median age of people contracting the virus has dropped below 40, data showed. Protesters pack Belarus capital, Russia says military help available

Belarusians chanting “Step down!” filled the centre of the capital Minsk on Sunday in the biggest protest so far against what they said was the fraudulent re-election a week ago of longtime president Alexander Lukashenko. Russia said it would offer Lukashenko military help if necessary, but there was no visible police presence at the protest, which attracted around 200,000 people, a Reuters reporter estimated. At least two protesters have died and thousands have been detained in a crackdown since the vote. Irish health chiefs to consider if more COVID-19 restrictions needed

Ireland’s health chiefs will meet on Monday to decide if further restrictions are needed to slow a sharp increase in the spread of the coronavirus that the government and officials have described as deeply concerning. Ireland has reopened its economy at a slower pace than most European Union countries but that has not stopped a jump in cases over the last two weeks that led to the first localised reimposition of some restrictions last week.