Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Belarus police detain dozens as crowds chant against Lukashenko

Belarusian security forces detained dozens of protesters on Saturday as crowds rallied in central Minsk accusing President Alexander Lukashenko of rigging last month’s election. One group of women chanted “Our president is Sveta” – referring to opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya who they say won the vote. Riot police dragged many of them into vans and arrested other protesters nearby. Syria accuses U.S. using sanctions to suffocate Syrians ‘like George Floyd’

Syria’s foreign minister accused U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday of attempting to suffocate Syrians with sanctions “just like George Floyd and others were cruelly suffocated in the United States.” New U.S. sanctions that took effect in June under the so-called Caesar Act have further crippled the war-torn country’s already crumbling economy by prohibiting foreign companies trading with Damascus. Israelis protest outside Netanyahu’s home after bid to curb demonstrations

Crowds protested outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home on Saturday demanding he quit over his handling of COVID-19 – many angered by what they said were government attempts to use lockdown measures to stifle demonstrations. Long lines of cars drove along the main highway to Jerusalem in a protest convoy and groups gathered on bridges and junctions in other cities, also demonstrating about corruption charges against Netanyahu – charges he denies. Paris knife attack suspect says he was targeting Charlie Hebdo: police source

A man arrested in Paris after two people were wounded with a meat cleaver says he was targeting weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in the attack, a police source said on Saturday. The two people were attacked on Friday in front of the former offices of Charlie Hebdo, where Islamist militants shot dead 12 people in 2015 because the magazine had published cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammad. At U.N., Belarus accuses western states of trying to sow ‘chaos and anarchy’

Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei accused Western countries on Saturday of attempting to sow “chaos and anarchy” in the former Soviet republic, which has been rocked by street protests since an election last month. “We are seeing attempts to destabilize the situation in the country,” he told the United Nations General Assembly in a video statement. “Interference in our internal affairs, sanctions and other restrictions on Belarus will have the opposite effect, and are harmful for absolutely everyone.” North Korea warns of naval tensions during search for slain South Korean: KCNA

North Korea said it would hand over the body a South Korean man killed by its troops if it is found during a search operation, but warned South Korea from sending any warships into the North’s territorial waters, state media reported on Sunday. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a rare apology on Friday after South Korea’s military said that the North’s soldiers had killed the man, doused his body in fuel and set it on fire near the sea border. As U.S., China squabble at U.N., a plea – and warning – from one of world’s smallest states

As China and the United States feuded at the United Nations this week over COVID-19 and climate, one of the world’s smallest states pleaded for detente. “Micronesia asks our American and Chinese friends to reinforce their cooperation and friendship with each other … to achieve what is best for our global community,” the Federated States of Micronesia President David Panuelo told the U.N. General Assembly in a video address. UK’s Johnson should rip up Brexit divorce deal, think-tank says

An influential pro-hard Brexit think-tank urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to tear up his divorce deal with the European Union on Saturday, saying it would still allow the bloc too much power in Britain. Johnson’s government has sought this month to pass laws that could override parts of Britain’s EU exit treaty that it signed in January, despite a warning from Brussels that doing so would wreck their future relationship. Queen Elizabeth to honour UK health workers during the pandemic

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth will recognise the work of hundreds of doctors, nurses, fundraisers and volunteers during the COVID pandemic when the her annual birthday honours list is published next month. The list, which was due to be published in June, was postponed in order to add nominations for people playing key roles in the early months of the outbreak. It will be released on Oct. 10. Lebanon’s prime minister-designate quits in blow to French initiative

Lebanon’s prime minister-designate quit on Saturday after trying for almost a month to line up a non-partisan cabinet, dealing a blow to a French plan aimed at rallying sectarian leaders to tackle the worst crisis since the nation’s 1975-1990 civil war. Mustapha Adib, former ambassador to Berlin, was picked on Aug. 31 to form a cabinet after President Emmanuel Macron’s intervention secured a consensus on naming him in a country where power is shared out between Muslims and Christians.