Reuters World News Summary

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog had said earlier this week that Iran had followed through on its plan to make uranium metal, after Tehran had alarmed Western nations with its intent to produce the material with which the core of nuclear weapons can be made.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. France, Germany, UK: condemn Iran's production of uranium metal

The 'E3' group of leading European powers - France, Germany and the United Kingdom - on Friday condemned Iran's decision to produce uranium metal, which they said was in breach of commitments made by Iran to the international community. The United Nations' nuclear watchdog had said earlier this week that Iran had followed through on its plan to make uranium metal, after Tehran had alarmed Western nations with its intent to produce the material with which the core of nuclear weapons can be made. Three wounded in Myanmar as hundreds of thousands of protesters defy junta

Supporters of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi clashed with police on Friday as hundreds of thousands joined nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations in defiance of the junta's call to halt mass gatherings. The United Nations human rights office said more than 350 people, including officials, activists and monks, have been arrested in Myanmar since the Feb. 1 military coup, including some who face criminal charges on "dubious grounds". China New Year travel slumps amid coronavirus curbs

The number of people who travelled in China ahead of Lunar New Year plummeted from two years ago as coronavirus restrictions curbed the world's largest annual domestic migration. The seven-day celebration, which kicked off on Thursday, is China's most important national holiday and is usually marked by big family reunions. Millions of workers traditionally travel - sometimes thousands of kilometres from Beijing and other major cities - to their hometowns in remote regions. BBC World News barred in mainland China, radio dropped by HK public broadcaster

China barred Britain's BBC World News from its television networks on Friday and Hong Kong's public broadcaster said it would stop relaying BBC World Service radio, a week after Britain revoked Chinese state television's broadcast licence. China's National Radio and Television Administration said BBC World News' reports on China had "seriously violated" a requirement to be "truthful and fair", harmed China's interests and undermined national unity. Tokyo Olympics chief quits, apologises again over sexist remarks

Tokyo 2020 Olympics chief Yoshiro Mori resigned on Friday and apologised again for sexist remarks that sparked a global outcry, leaving the troubled Olympics searching for a chief five months from the opening ceremony. The resignation of former prime minister Mori, 83, will further erode confidence in the organisers' ability to pull off the postponed Summer Games during a coronavirus pandemic. Danish, German police arrest 14 over alleged terrorist attack plan

Danish police said they have arrested 13 people in the last week, while German police have arrested one more, on suspicion of attempting to make explosives and planning a terrorist attack in either Denmark or Germany. "These people could be inspired by militant Islamism," the chief of operations in the Danish intelligence service, Flemming Dreyer, told a press briefing on Friday. U.S. continues plan to keep Central American migrants at bay

​In the days before U.S. President Joe Biden's inauguration, Mexican soldiers patrolling the banks of the wide Suchiate River found few migrants amid the flow of trade across the water from Guatemala. The likely explanation lay hundreds of miles to the south, where baton-wielding Guatemalan security forces beat back one the largest U.S.-bound migrant caravans ever assembled, according to a Reuters photographer and other witnesses. Kremlin critic Navalny denounces slander trial amid tensions with West

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Friday appeared in court on slander charges he denounced as politically motivated amid mounting tensions between Russia and the West over his treatment. Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic, was jailed last week for almost three years for parole violations he said were trumped up. The West has condemned the case and is discussing possible sanctions on Russia. Last rites: Himalayan helicopter flies flood-hit villagers home to mourn

For three days, Sushma Rana waited at a makeshift dirt helipad in the Indian Himalayas to return to her village and look for her missing brother-in-law. Yashpal Rana was herding goats when a flash flood swept down a remote valley on Sunday, smashing everything in its path including two hydroelectric power stations. Russia says it would be ready to cut EU ties if hit with painful sanctions

Russia said on Friday it would be ready to sever ties with the European Union if the bloc hit it with painful economic sanctions, a statement that Germany described as disconcerting and incomprehensible. Ties between Russia and the West, already at post-Cold War lows, have come under renewed pressure over the arrest and jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.