Reuters World News Summary

Sergei Lavrov visited India to shore up support from a country Russia has long regarded as an ally a day after U.S. and British officials pressed India to avoid undermining the dollar-based financial system and sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. U.S. NTSB helps China download voice record of crashed Boeing jet The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Friday it was assisting Chinese investigators with the download of the cockpit voice recorder in Washington from an China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 jet as it sent a team of U.S. investigators to China.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Brazil's central bank employees go on strike, as its chief vacations in Miami

Brazil's central bank employees began an indefinite strike for a wage increase on Friday, threatening the stability of the wildly popular Pix instant payment system and the publication of data releases. With Brazilian inflation reaching double digits, public sector strikes have become more common in recent months, disrupting the government's day-to-day operations and causing headaches for President Jair Bolsonaro as he seeks re-election in October.

Sri Lanka declares emergency after violent protests over economic crisis

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a nationwide public emergency late on Friday following violent protests over the country's worst economic crisis in decades. In a Sri Lankan government gazette notification, Rajapaksa said the decision was taken in the interests of public security, the protection of public order, and to ensure the maintenance of supplies and essential services.

Bodies and tanks mark path as Russia moves troops from Kyiv

Ukraine recaptured more territory around Kyiv from Russian soldiers who left shattered villages and their own abandoned tanks as they moved away from the capital, while a disputed cross-border strike in Russia complicated peace talks on Friday. In the hamlet of Dmytrivka to the west of the capital, smoke was still rising from the wrecks of armored vehicles and the bodies of at least eight Russian soldiers lay in the streets, Reuters correspondents saw.

Camp of Ukrainians at the U.S.-Mexico border swells, as more refugees arrive

Hundreds of Ukrainians are camping in the border city of Tijuana, Mexico, hoping to seek U.S. asylum, a dramatic increase in arrivals just days after the Biden administration said the United States would accept up to 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing from war. Many of the Ukrainians escaping the Russian invasion of their home country have flown to the U.S.-Mexico border hoping officials will allow them in so they can reunite with U.S. relatives or friends.

Russia's Lavrov hopes to bypass sanctions in trade with "friend" India

Russia will increase its use of non-Western currencies for trade with countries such as India, its foreign minister said on Friday, as he hailed New Delhi as a friend that was not taking a "one-sided view" on the Ukraine war. Sergei Lavrov visited India to shore up support from a country Russia has long regarded as an ally a day after U.S. and British officials pressed India to avoid undermining the dollar-based financial system and sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

U.S. NTSB helps China download voice record of crashed Boeing jet

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Friday it was assisting Chinese investigators with the download of the cockpit voice recorder in Washington from an China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 jet as it sent a team of U.S. investigators to China. The U.S. safety board told Reuters it was helping the Civil Aviation Administration of China "with the download of the cockpit voice recorder from China Eastern Flight 5735 in our lab in Washington."

Russia's ally China tells EU it will pursue Ukraine peace in its own way

China offered the European Union assurances on Friday that it would seek peace in Ukraine but said this would be on its own terms, deflecting pressure for a tougher stance towards Russia. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told EU leaders that Beijing would push for peace in "its own way", while President Xi Jinping said he hoped the EU would treat China "independently", in a nod to Europe's close ties with the United States.

Burkina Faso leader says security situation will dictate transition timeline

Burkina Faso's interim president, Paul-Henri Damiba, said on Friday that the 36-month transition timeline to democracy could be revised if the security situation improves. The West African country is facing an insurgency by groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State which have killed thousands and displaced more than 1.7 million people.

Exclusive-U.S. cancels ICBM test due to Russia nuclear tensions

The U.S. military has canceled a test of its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile that it had initially aimed only to delay in a bid to lower nuclear tensions with Russia during the war in Ukraine, the Air Force told Reuters on Friday. The Pentagon first announced a delay of the test on March 2 after Russia said it was putting its nuclear forces on high alert. Washington said at the time it was important both the United States and Russia "bear in mind the risk of miscalculation and take steps to reduce those risks."

Exclusive-U.S. NTSB assisting in download of cockpit voice recorder in China March 21 crash

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed late on Friday the cockpit voice recorder from a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 that crashed March 21 is at the U.S. agency's lab in Washington. A NTSB spokesman told Reuters that U.S "investigators are assisting the Civil Aviation Administration of China with the download of the cockpit voice recorder from China Eastern Flight 5735 in our lab in Washington."