World News Roundup: Polish farmers take grain protests to Lithuanian border; Myanmar junta's access to arms, cash must be cut off, UN rights chief says and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Myanmar junta's access to arms, cash must be cut off, UN rights chief says The international community must take "targeted action" to restrict the Myanmar junta's access to arms, jet fuel and foreign currency to prevent it from committing "atrocities" against its people, the U.N. human rights chief said on Friday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Myanmar junta's access to arms, cash must be cut off, UN rights chief says

The international community must take "targeted action" to restrict the Myanmar junta's access to arms, jet fuel and foreign currency to prevent it from committing "atrocities" against its people, the U.N. human rights chief said on Friday. "I repeat my call to the international community to refocus its energy on preventing atrocities against all people in the country, including the Rohingya," Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the Human Rights Council in Geneva, referring to the junta.

Polish farmers take grain protests to Lithuanian border

Polish farmers protested on the border with Lithuania on Friday against what they say are imports of Ukrainian grain through the Baltic country, something Vilnius denies. Small groups waving Polish flags and carrying banners joined customs officials checking trucks coming over the frontier at the Budzisko crossing, but made no attempt to block the route.

Mexico kicks off election campaign with ruling party's Sheinbaum in lead

Mexico's presidential candidates will start their campaigns on Friday for elections in June, with the ruling party candidate leading in a race that will likely crown a woman to lead Latin America's second-largest nation for the first time. Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, who is running under a coalition led by current President Andre Manuel Lopez Obrador's leftist MORENA party, holds a comfortable 20 percentage point lead over former Senator Xochitl Galvez, who represents the opposition coalition.

Russia ready to hand over crash victims' bodies to Ukraine, official says

Russia is ready to hand over the bodies of the victims of a January military plane crash to Ukraine, the RIA news agency cited Russian human rights official Tatyana Moskalkova as saying on Friday. Moscow accuses Kyiv of downing the Ilyushin Il-76 plane in Russia's Belgorod region and killing 74 people on board, including 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers en route to be swapped for Russian prisoners of war. It has not presented evidence.

Britain's Galloway wins parliament seat with Gaza agenda, vows to take on Labour

Veteran left-wing political maverick George Galloway was elected as the new lawmaker for the English town of Rochdale on Friday, vowing to be a thorn in the side for the opposition Labour Party over Gaza before a national election it is tipped to win. After running a pro-Palestinian campaign, Galloway won over many of Rochdale's Muslim community by attacking both Labour and Britain's governing Conservatives for supporting Israel in its war against Hamas, making a foreign conflict the major issue - unusual in a by-election where local concerns usually dominate.

UK minister allows Prince Harry to use inquiry details in lawsuit

Britain's media minister said on Friday she had agreed to allow documents submitted to a public inquiry to be used by lawyers acting for Prince Harry, singer Elton John and other claimants in their lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail. Harry, the younger son of King Charles, and the other six claimants were given permission in December to take to trial their case against Associated Newspapers over allegations phone-hacking and other serious privacy breaches dating back 30 years. The publisher rejects the accusations.

South Korea police launch raid on doctors' association over walkout

South Korean police launched a raid on Friday targeting officials of the Korean Medical Association, as authorities step up pressure to end a walkout by trainee doctors protesting against plans to reform the health system. The raid comes ahead of a mass demonstration in Seoul planned for Sunday by doctors, after the walkout, which began on Feb. 20, disrupted major hospitals, forcing some to turn away patients and cancel surgeries and other medical procedures.

Bangladesh building fire kills 46, injures dozens

A massive fire in Bangladesh that raged through a six-storey building home to restaurants where many families with children were dining has killed at least 46 people and injured dozens, the health minister said on Friday. Fire authorities said a gas leak or a stove could have caused Thursday's blaze in the capital, which spread quickly after breaking out in a biryani restaurant, and was only reined in following two hours of effort by 13 units of firefighters.

Navalny's funeral held amid tight security as Russians chant outside

Thousands of Russians chanted opposition politician Alexei Navalny's name on Friday and said they would not forgive the authorities for his death as his mother and father attended a small funeral in a Moscow church surrounded by police. A photograph of Navalny released on social media showed his body lying inside a flower-laden coffin inside as his mother, wearing a black headscarf and with a candle in one hand, sat alongside his father nearby.

Khamenei urges citizens to go to polls as Iran discontent mounts

Iranians voted for a new parliament on Friday in an election seen as a test of the clerical establishment's legitimacy at a time of growing frustration over economic woes and restrictions on political and social freedoms. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has called voting a religious duty, was the first to cast his vote in Iran.