Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Iran goes further in breaching nuclear deal, IAEA report shows

Iran has gone further in breaching its nuclear deal with world powers, increasing its stock of enriched uranium and refining it to a greater purity than allowed, the U.N. atomic agency report said on Friday. The quarterly report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is policing the 2015 deal, confirms Iran is progressively backing out of the deal in retaliation for Washington's withdrawal form the accord and renewal of sanctions that have hit Iranian oil sales.

Hong Kong activists arrested including Joshua Wong in crackdown on protests

Hong Kong police arrested a number of prominent pro-democracy activists including Joshua Wong and three lawmakers on Friday, seeking to rein in protests that have plunged the city into its worst political crisis for decades. Wong, who was one of the leaders of the pro-democracy "Umbrella" movement five years ago, is the most prominent activist to be arrested since protests escalated in mid-June over fears China is exerting greater control over the city and squeezing its freedoms.

Italy's 5-Star unsettles PD with tough terms for coalition deal

Italy's 5-Star Movement will enter a coalition with the opposition Democratic Party (PD) only if it agrees to a string of policy demands, the 5-Star leader said on Friday, setting an uncompromising tone for the negotiations. Luigi Di Maio's hardline message dented growing optimism that a deal might be at hand, causing financial markets to fall, while a stunned PD sought immediate clarification that 5-Star still wanted an accord.

Brexit: PM Johnson faces mounting legal, political, diplomatic challenges

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit plan was facing mounting legal, political and diplomatic challenges on Friday as Ireland accused Britain of being unreasonable and former British leader John Major sought to stop the suspension of parliament. The ultimate outcome of Britain's tortuous three-year Brexit crisis remains unclear with options ranging from a frantic departure without an exit deal or a last-minute agreement to an election or referendum that could cancel the whole endeavor.

Trump Iran photo tweet raises worries about disclosure of U.S. surveillance secrets

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday posted on Twitter a photo of what appeared to be the site of a failed Iranian satellite launch, raising questions about whether he had disclosed U.S. surveillance secrets. The black-and-white photo showed the fire-blasted launch site at a space center in northern Iran including a damaged gantry service tower and a downed mobile erector launcher.

In Trump's team, misgivings emerge over any deal with Taliban in Afghanistan: U.S. officials

As negotiators work to nail down an agreement with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, misgivings have grown among some Trump administration officials and lawmakers that it will erode the United States' ability to thwart attacks from there, U.S. officials said. Their concerns collide with U.S. President Donald Trump's impatience to secure a deal to draw down 14,000 troops and end America's longest war, allowing him to claim a foreign policy victory as he campaigns for re-election in 2020.

Trump says U.S. has good negotiations with Taliban but no deal yet

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday the United States had good negotiations going on with the Taliban but had not yet reached a deal with the Islamist group on U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Trump made the remark to reporters at the White House before leaving for the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland.

Brazil officials, Bolsonaro's son meet with Trump to discuss Amazon fires

Brazil's foreign minister and President Jair Bolsonaro's son met with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday to discuss the fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest, although no concrete measures to deal with the blazes were announced. Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Eduardo Bolsonaro said there could be an announcement later, potentially after his return to Brasilia on Saturday and consultations with his father.

Exclusive: Messaging app Telegram moves to protect identity of Hong Kong protesters

Telegram, a popular encrypted messaging app, will allow users to cloak their telephone numbers to safeguard Hong Kong protesters against monitoring by Chinese authorities, according to a person with direct knowledge of the effort. The update to Telegram, planned for release over the next few days, will allow protesters to block Chinese authorities from discovering their identities in the app's large group chats.

U.S. blacklists Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya, sanctions captain

The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday blacklisted the Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya, which is at the center of a confrontation between Washington and Tehran, and sanctioned its captain. The ship, formerly called Grace 1, 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. It was released in mid-August after Iran gave assurances its cargo was not headed to Syria.