World News Roundup: Military presence scaled down in Yemen; Duterte dares foes to test him and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Thai anti-junta activist attacked, latest in 'pattern' of violence

Unknown assailants attacked and wounded a Thai pro-democracy activist on Friday, apparently the latest victim of what rights groups call a systematic campaign of violence against critics of the army following a disputed election. Sirawith Seritiwat, 27, was attacked by four men wielding clubs near his home in a Bangkok suburb leaving him in the hospital with serious head injuries, his mother said.

UK's May tells Putin that Russia must end 'irresponsible activity'

British Prime Minister Theresa May told Vladimir Putin on Friday Russia must end its "irresponsible and destabilizing activity" if relations between the two countries, soured the poisoning of a former Russian spy on British soil, were to improve. May also told the Russian president during their meeting at the G20 summit in Japan that she wanted the two Russians Britain says is responsible for the attack on Sergei Skripal in Salisbury last year brought to justice, her office said in a statement.

Exclusive: UAE scales down military presence in Yemen as Gulf tensions flare

The United Arab Emirates, a key member of the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, is scaling back its military presence there as worsening U.S.-Iran tensions threaten security closer to home, four western diplomatic sources said. The UAE has pulled some troops from the southern port of Aden and Yemen's western coast, two of the diplomats said, areas where the Gulf state has built up and armed local forces who are leading the battle against the Iran-aligned Houthi group along the Red Sea coast.

Trump prepares for 'productive' talks with Xi on trade war

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he hoped for productive talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on a trade war that is casting a shadow on global growth, but said he had not made any promises about a reprieve from escalating tariffs. The trade feud and signs of a global slowdown have loomed over a two-day Group of 20 (G20) summit in the Japanese city of Osaka, where Trump and Xi met in passing and prepared for one-on-one talks on Saturday.

Impeach me, I'll jail you - Philippines' Duterte dares foes to test him

(Attention to strong language in paragraphs five and six.) Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened opponents with prison if they try to impeach him, the latest in what a top U.N. official and an Asian lawmakers' group this week called a pattern of persecution and assaults on free speech.

With Iran nuclear deal on the brink, U.S. vows to choke off Iranian oil sales

World powers warned Iran to respect the terms of their nuclear deal in talks on Friday that Tehran said were the "last chance" to save the pact, as Washington vowed to choke off all sales of Iranian oil. "We will sanction any imports of Iranian crude oil... There are right now no oil waivers in place," Brian Hook, the U.S. Special Representative On Iran, told reporters in London.

BBC cut crude remark about France by Johnson while he was foreign minister: paper

The British Broadcasting Corporation agreed to cut a crude remark made by Boris Johnson about the French while he was Britain's foreign minister after the government said it could upset relations, a newspaper said. Johnson, the leading contender to replace Prime Minister Theresa May, cast the French as "turds" but the BBC did not air the remark after the Foreign Office begged for it to be cut from a documentary about the ministry's work, the Daily Mail said.

Spain's Sanchez relishes European role but reality bites

Spanish leader Pedro Sanchez shot to prominence on the EU political scene after his victories in national and European elections, but now he faces a reality check that combines troubles at home with the complexity of EU talks. Still scrambling to gather enough support to be confirmed as prime minister by a fragmented parliament two months after the election, Sanchez is also learning the ropes for another set of tricky power-sharing talks - that of deciding on EU top jobs.

Hong Kong anti-extradition protesters rally again near government offices

More than 1,000 people, mostly students dressed in black, rallied outside government offices in Hong Kong on Friday as protests over a controversial extradition bill that has plunged the Chinese-ruled city into turmoil showed no signs of let-up. Embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam suspended the bill, that would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial, after some of the largest and most violent protests in decades, but she has stopped short of protesters' demands to scrap it.

Vatican says China intimidating Catholics loyal to pope

The Vatican asked China's communist government on Friday to stop intimidating Catholic clergy who want to remain unequivocally loyal to the pope and refuse to sign ambiguous official registration forms. The request, contained in Vatican guidelines to clergy in mainland China, was the latest hiccup in relations between the Holy See and Beijing since the two sides signed a historic and disputed pact on the naming of bishops last September.