World News Roundup: Private dinner kicks off latest Brexit talks; Bus plunges into reservoir in China, 21 dead and more

Kremlin promises reciprocal steps over UK sanctions against Russians Russia will respond with reciprocal measures to British sanctions against 25 Russians, including the country's top state investigator, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

U.S. envoy arrives in South Korea as North Korea rejects talks

A U.S. envoy arrived in South Korea on Tuesday in an effort to renew stalled nuclear talks with North Korea, hours after it issued a statement saying it has no intention of sitting down with the United States and told South Korea to "stop meddling". U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, who has led working-level talks with the North Koreans, landed at a U.S. military base south of Seoul, media reported, and was due to meet South Korean officials on Wednesday and Thursday.

Private dinner kicks off latest Brexit talks

Top British and European Union negotiators will dine at Number 10 Downing Street later on Tuesday, kicking off the latest round of Brexit talks that have all but stalled because of major differences over their future relationship. Last week's round was cut short with both sides saying that, while they wanted an agreement, they had yet to overcome the gulf in positions that could see Britain leaving a status-quo transition period at the end of this year without a trade deal.

Kremlin promises reciprocal steps over UK sanctions against Russians

Russia will respond with reciprocal measures to British sanctions against 25 Russians, including the country's top state investigator, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. Britain imposed sanctions on 25 Russians and 20 Saudis on Monday as part of post-Brexit measures foreign minister Dominic Raab said was aimed at stopping the laundering of "blood money".

Mourners pay respects to ex-Pope's brother Georg Ratzinger

The brother of former Pope Benedict XVI lay in state in his hometown of Regensburg, Germany on Tuesday, visited by socially-distanced mourners wanting to pay respects to the cleric and choirmaster, who died last week at the age of 96. Mourners, wearing facial protection to guard against spreading the coronavirus, filed into St. Johann's Church past the coffin of Georg Ratzinger, who for many years led the city cathedral's famed Domspatzen boys' choir.

France-Turkey tensions mount after NATO naval incident

For France, it was the final straw. For Turkey, it was a misunderstanding. For NATO, it could be a turning point. The incident unfolded quickly in the eastern Mediterranean on June 10, when a French frigate under NATO command tried to inspect a Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship suspected of smuggling arms to Libya in violation of a U.N. embargo.

Bus plunges into reservoir in China, 21 dead

A bus carrying students to an exam plunged into a reservoir in China on Tuesday after making a sudden swerve across five other lanes of traffic, leaving 21 dead and 16 injured, a video on state media showed. The video on CCTV's social media account showed the bus moving at a slow pace on the inside lane of its side of the road before it made a 90 degree turn and smashed through the guardrail onto the other side of the six-lane dual carriageway and into the water.

'At war time speed', China leads COVID-19 vaccine race

China is forging ahead in the race to develop a vaccine to help control the COVID-19 pandemic, with Sinovac Biotech's experimental vaccine set to become the country's second and the world's third to enter final stage testing later this month. While a laggard in the global vaccine industry, China, where the new coronavirus is thought to have originated, has brought state, military and private sectors together in a quest to combat a disease that has killed over 500,000 people worldwide.

Britain now compliant with Saudi Arabia arms order, can issue export licenses: minister

Britain has complied with a court order over its decisions on granting export licences to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, its trade minister said on Tuesday, meaning it can once again issue new licences to export arms to the kingdom. The Court of Appeal last year ruled that Britain broke the law by allowing arms sales to Saudi Arabia that might have been deployed in the war in Yemen.

Syrian, Russian airstrikes in Idlib amount to war crimes, as do jihadist attacks: U.N.

Syrian and Russian planes have carried out deadly aerial strikes amounting to war crimes on schools, hospitals and markets in Idlib province, U.N. investigators said on Tuesday in a report that also condemned attacks by jihadist fighters. They said that "indiscriminate bombardment" by pro-government forces, ahead of a March ceasefire brokered with Turkey, claimed hundreds of lives and forced nearly one million civilians to flee, which may amount to a crime against humanity.

Russia opens criminal case against activist for failing to declare dual nationality

Russian investigators on Tuesday opened a criminal case against Pyotr Verzilov, an anti-Kremlin activist and associate of the Pussy Riot punk group, for having allegedly failed to declare his dual Canadian citizenship. The announcement came as Verzilov, publisher of the private Mediazona news outlet, had just been released following a 15-day stint in jail after he was found guilty of petty hooliganism for swearing in public.

(With inputs from agencies.)