A man imprisoned six years for terrorism offenses before his release last year stabbed several people in London on Friday, two fatally, before being tackled by members of the public and then fatally shot by officers on London Bridge.

Neil Basu, London's police counterterrorism head, said 28-year-old Usman Khan was attending a program that works to educate prisoners when he launched the attack, killing a man and a woman and injuring three others just yards from the site of a deadly 2017 van and knife rampage. Basu said the suspect appeared to be wearing a bomb vest but it turned out to be "a hoax explosive device."

Owners of gas stations in Lebanon suspended a one-day strike on Saturday that paralyzed the country and drove angry Lebanese to block in protest the highways with their vehicles creating traffic jams.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis said he met Friday with Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh and discussed with him measures “urgently needed to stop the further deepening” of the economic crisis and to increase the ability of the banking sector to cope with the pressures.

“Formation of a credible and competent government that can regain the trust of the people and of the international partners of #Lebanon is the priority,” Kubis tweeted.

Even among hardliners in Iran, there seems to be an acknowledgment of one fact after widespread protests, violence and a security force crackdown following a spike in government-set gasoline prices: This will not be the last time demonstrators come out on the street.

As Iran struggles under crushing U.S. sanctions following President Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal of America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers, its elected civilian government and those in its Shiite theocracy will face ever-tougher decisions on where to cut costs.

Hong Kong police ended their blockade of a university campus Friday after surrounding it for 12 days to try to arrest anti-government protesters holed up inside.

Police removed a stash of nearly 4,000 gasoline bombs left behind by protesters, who fought pitched battles about two weeks ago with riot officers on surrounding streets.

Lebanon paid back a Eurobond worth $1.5 billion that was scheduled to mature Thursday, a Finance Ministry official said, pacifying concerns of a first-ever default on its debt amid the worst financial crisis in three decades.

The tiny Mediterranean country's economic emergency has ignited nationwide protests against widespread corruption and mismanagement, bringing the country to a standstill for over a month. The protests were initially sparked by new taxes, but have snowballed into calls for the entire political elite to step aside.

The Arab League said Thursday it is ready to help Lebanon solve its political stalemate, after weeks of mass protests and amid the country’s worst financial crisis in decades.

President Michel Aoun received at Baabda visiting Arab League assistant secretary general, Hossam Zaki who relayed the League’s willingness to help Lebanon out of its political and economic impasse, the National News Agency reported.

Amid a political impasse after more than 40 days of protests, sectarian and political rivalries are awakening in Lebanon, with scuffles breaking out daily, including in areas that were deadly front lines during the country's 1975-90 conflict.

Overnight confrontations in several Lebanese regions, mostly fistfights and stone throwing, injured dozens of people and 16 people were detained for their involvement, the Lebanese Red Cross and the army said Wednesday.

The nationwide uprising against the country's ruling elite has remained overwhelmingly peaceful since it began Oct. 17, but as the political deadlock for forming a new government drags on, tempers have risen. President Michel Aoun has yet to hold consultations with parliamentary blocs on choosing a new prime minister after the government resigned a month ago.

Colombians unhappy with President Iván Duque's response to nearly a week of boisterous protests are taking to the streets again Wednesday demonstrating over issues ranging from tax reform to shark hunting quotas in the biggest display of unrest the nation has seen in decades.

The daily protests jolting the South American country are proclaiming an unusually diverse set of complaints, though with one similar refrain: an opposition to a government that many believe only looks after the most privileged citizens.