Reuters World News Summary

'Performance art?': China rebukes U.S. envoy for photo stunt at talks with Russia The U.S. envoy to nuclear arms control talks with Russia on Monday taunted China for refusing to attend, posting a picture of Chinese flags placed at empty seats around the table, which Beijing dismissed as an act of "performance art." U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to include China in talks to replace New START, the flagship nuclear arms treaty between the United States and Russia, which expires in February.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. New Zealand seizes $90 million in assets of Russian cybercrime suspect

New Zealand police has seized assets worth NZ$140 million ($90.68 million) linked to a Russian man suspected of laundering billions of dollars in digital currency. The police said it seized the assets because they were being held in a New Zealand company owned by Alexander Vinnik, who is accused of masterminding a bitcoin laundering ring and is wanted by both France and the United States. U.S. designates four major Chinese media outlets as foreign missions

The United States said on Monday it will start treating four major Chinese media outlets as foreign embassies, alleging they are mouthpieces for Beijing, in a move that is likely to further sour already fraught ties between the world's top two economies. David Stilwell, the senior U.S. diplomat for East Asia, told reporters the designation would affect China Central Television, the China News Service, the People's Daily and the Global Times, and reflected their real status as "propaganda outlets" under the control of the Chinese Communist Party. Democrats say U.S. withdrawal from Open Skies Treaty may be illegal

Senior U.S. Senate Democrats on Monday accused President Donald Trump's administration of violating the law when it declared his intention last month to withdraw the United States from the Open Skies Treaty. In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mike Esper, the Democrats said the administration had not given the legally required 120 days' advance notice to Congress before beginning the withdrawal process. Coronavirus cases soar in big countries, especially Brazil, WHO says

Coronavirus cases are soaring in several major countries at the same time, with "worrying increases" in Latin America, especially Brazil, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday. The world recorded more than 183,000 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the most in a single day since the outbreak started in December, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. 'Performance art?': China rebukes U.S. envoy for photo stunt at talks with Russia

The U.S. envoy to nuclear arms control talks with Russia on Monday taunted China for refusing to attend, posting a picture of Chinese flags placed at empty seats around the table, which Beijing dismissed as an act of "performance art." U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to include China in talks to replace New START, the flagship nuclear arms treaty between the United States and Russia, which expires in February. China, a nuclear power with an arsenal a fraction the size of those of the Cold War-era superpowers, has repeatedly declined. Britain reels from latest terrorism-linked stabbing, American among dead

The English town of Reading held a minute's silence on Monday for the victims of a stabbing that killed three people, in an attack that police called a terrorist incident. Three people were also hospitalised after a man wielding a five-inch knife went on the rampage in a park on Saturday, randomly stabbing people enjoying a sunny, summer evening. Trump says he would only meet Venezuelan president Maduro to discuss exit

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday walked back comments that he would consider meeting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, saying he would only do so to discuss Maduro's departure from office. In an interview published on Sunday, Trump said he would consider meeting Maduro and played down his earlier decision to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate leader. U.S. officials to meet this week on Israel annexation plan

U.S. officials will gather this week to discuss whether to give Israel a green light for its plan to annex Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's target date of July 1 approaches. A senior administration official said on Monday that the U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, will be in Washington to meet officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, senior White House adviser Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Avi Berkowitz. President Donald Trump could also join in. Pompeo urges China to release two detained Canadians after 'groundless' charges

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Monday for the immediate release of two Canadians charged by China with espionage, saying the United States was "extremely concerned" and that the two men's detention was unjustified. "These charges are politically motivated and completely groundless," Pompeo said in a statement. England to reopen cinemas, museums and galleries from July 4

Cinemas, museums and galleries in England can reopen from July 4, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will say on Tuesday as he sets out which sectors of the economy can resume trading and announces the findings of a review into social distancing. Britain has been incrementally reopening its shuttered economy as the number of COVID-19 deaths and cases declines, having been one of the worst-hit countries during the pandemic.