World News Roundup: Britain, EU strike pessimistic tone in post-Brexit trade talks; Freed Nigerian schoolboys return home, tales of beatings and hunger emerge and more

UN rights office calls on Thailand to amend royal insult law The United Nations human rights office called on Thailand on Friday to amend its lese majeste law which it said had been used against at least 35 activists - one as young as 16 - in recent weeks.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Britain, EU strike pessimistic tone in post-Brexit trade talks

Britain and the European Union struck a pessimistic tone in trade talks on Thursday, with a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying it was "very likely" there would be no agreement unless the bloc changed its position "substantially". Just over two weeks before Britain finally leaves the bloc's orbit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was also downbeat, saying it would be "very challenging" to overcome the "big differences" that remained.

Freed Nigerian schoolboys return home, tales of beatings and hunger emerge

Dozens of schoolboys who were rescued from kidnappers in northwest Nigeria arrived back home on Friday, many of them barefoot and clutching blankets. Television pictures showed the boys dressed in dusty clothes, looking weary but otherwise well, getting off buses in the city of Katsina and walking to a government building.

UN rights office calls on Thailand to amend royal insult law

The United Nations human rights office called on Thailand on Friday to amend its lese majeste law which it said had been used against at least 35 activists - one as young as 16 - in recent weeks. It said Thailand should stop using the law, which bans insulting the monarchy, and other serious criminal charges against protesters, saying that criminalising such acts violates freedom of expression.

Greek police detain Turk consular official on spy claim

Police in Greece have detained a Turkish consular official on suspicion of spying, a senior Greek source said on Friday, in a case likely to further strain relations between the two NATO allies. The detained official, a Greek national employed with the Turkish consulate on the island of Rhodes, was arrested on Friday after being questioned a week ago. A second Greek national was also arrested.

Turkey's Kavala denies charges as coup-related trial begins

Prominent Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala, already in jail for more than three years without being convicted, denied charges against him on Friday as an Istanbul court opened a new trial in which he is accused of involvement in an attempted coup in 2016. Ankara's Western allies have raised concerns about Kavala's detention and the European Court of Human Rights has said it only serves to silence him. After President Tayyip Erdogan last month promised judicial reforms, rights activists and opposition politicians redoubled calls for his release.

Gas, marbles and lead pellets: Peru protest deaths turn spotlight on police violence

Ruben Guevara was marching in teargas-filled streets in Lima in November when he was hit in the face by what felt like a gas canister, severely damaging his right retina. "We were protecting people who had already fallen to the ground and police kept moving forward and shooting straight at us," said Guevara, 32, a father of two.

'Life is short': Wuhan's COVID-19 survivors share lessons one year on

In late 2019, Wuhan businesswoman Duan Ling and her surgeon husband Fang Yushun began to hear snippets in hospital chat groups about a disease emerging in the city's respiratory wards. Duan didn't pay much attention at first. Special Report-The last taboo.

A new generation of Thais is defying the monarchy

Songphon "Yajai" Sonthirak had been a boxer for most of his young life and knew how to face down a stronger opponent: Keep your guard up, stand tall, stay focused. So he was shocked to discover, on the day of his arrest, how little his training mattered and how fear seized him. Yajai, meaning "balm for the heart," is a 21-year-old law student with a mop of dyed blue-green hair. He'd volunteered to help with security at a small anti-government protest in the heart of old Bangkok.

Analysis-U.S., Iran and inertia, an axis to dampen France's Lebanese dreams

During a private dinner in Paris last month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made clear that Washington was unhappy with France's strategy to include Iran-backed Hezbollah in efforts to resolve the economic and political crisis in Lebanon. French President Emmanuel Macron has been spearheading international efforts to rescue the former French protectorate from its deepest crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war. He has travelled twice to Lebanon since a huge explosion at the Beirut port in August devastated the city.

Suspected rickshaw bomb kills 15, mostly children, at Afghan Koran reading ceremony -official

A suspected rickshaw bomb killed at least 15 civilians, including 11 children, on Friday at a Koran recitation ceremony in central Afghanistan, officials said. Initial information suggested that explosives were placed in a rickshaw in a district of Ghazni province, interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said. At least 20 people were wounded.