Reuters World News Summary

"We will continue to support exchanges between Chinese and American students and welcome students from all countries, including the United States, to study in China," an education ministry spokesman said in a statement.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Refusing to be gagged, Myanmar journalists work from shadows

Hiding from Myanmar's police, journalist Aung Marm Oo refuses to conceal his anger with the civilian government led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi as his country prepares for an election later this year. “Democracy is already dead,” the 37-year-old editor-in-chief of Development Media Group (DMG) told Reuters from a secret location where he is in hiding. 'Shameful' to threaten Churchill statue, says UK PM Johnson

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday it was "absurd and shameful" that a statue of Winston Churchill was at risk of attack by protesters, his strongest statement yet on a growing trend to challenge the legacies of past leaders. Anti-racism protesters, who have staged demonstrations since the death of African American George Floyd after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes while detaining him on May 25, have put statues at the forefront of their challenge to Britain's imperialist past. China says opposes U.S. restrictions on Chinese students

China on Friday said it resolutely opposes any U.S. government move to restrict Chinese students from studying abroad, and urged the United States to do more things to enhance mutual exchanges and understanding. "We will continue to support exchanges between Chinese and American students and welcome students from all countries, including the United States, to study in China," an education ministry spokesman said in a statement. Risk of new lockdowns rises with fear of second COVID-19 wave

Fears of a second wave of COVID-19 infections grew on Friday with a record daily increase in India, warnings against complacency in Europe and word from half a dozen U.S. states that their hospital beds were filling up fast. Health officials worldwide have expressed concerns in recent days that some countries grappling with the devastating economic impact of lockdowns may lift restrictions too swiftly, and that the coronavirus could spread during mass anti-racism protests. Putin appeals to Russians' core values as vote on extending term looms

President Vladimir Putin appealed to what he termed Russians' core values on Friday, the country's national day, as he sought to rally support for a vote on constitutional reforms that could potentially keep him in office until 2036. The plebiscite will run from June 25-July 1 and, if approved, includes a change that would allow 67-year-old Putin, in power since 1999, to serve two more six-year terms in the Kremlin after 2024, when he would under current laws be obliged to step down. For gay stars of banned condom ad, no let-up in Poland's LGBT rights clampdown

For Jakub Kwiecinski, a ban by Poland's public broadcaster on a condom advert featuring him and his husband has come as no surprise, but it does make him uneasy about what targets a government clampdown on LGBT rights will pick on next. The advert features both gay and straight couples, and broadcaster TVP told Reuters its decision not to air the footage in the staunchly Catholic country followed "a large number of complaints ...about advertising clips with intimate content." It did not specify further. France launches Sahel coalition to fight rising jihadi violence

France launched a coalition of West African and European allies on Friday to fight jihadi militants in the Sahel region, hoping more political cooperation and special forces troops would boost a military effort that has so far failed to stifle violence. Paris was due to host virtual meetings of 45 defence and foreign ministers to launch the revamped coalition, which was first announced at a summit in January. Iraq, U.S. affirm commitment to U.S. troop reduction: statement

Iraq and the United States affirmed their commitment to the reduction of U.S. troops in Iraq, a statement from the two countries said, as officials discussed Washington's future relationship with Baghdad. "Over the coming months the U.S. would continue reducing forces from Iraq and discuss with the Government of Iraq the status of remaining forces," the statement, published on Thursday, said. Iran asks French experts to read black boxes of downed jet: official

Iranian investigators have asked France's BEA air accident agency to read black boxes from a downed Ukrainian jetliner, Iran's envoy to the United Nations aviation agency said. The Ukraine International Airlines flight was shot down on Jan. 8 by an Iranian ground-to-air missile, killing 176 people in what Tehran termed a "disastrous mistake" at a time of heightened tensions with the United States. Arms seized by U.S., missiles used to attack Saudi Arabia 'of Iranian origin': U.N.

Cruise missiles used in several attacks on oil facilities and an international airport in Saudi Arabia last year were of "Iranian origin," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council in a report seen by Reuters on Thursday. Guterres also said several items in U.S. seizures of weapons and related materiel in November 2019 and February 2020 were "of Iranian origin."