World News Roundup: Turkey-Russian missile deal; China tightens security

Erdogan says Turkey committed to Russian missile defense deal

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday it was out of the question for Turkey to take a step back from its deal with Moscow to buy Russian S-400 missile defense systems. Speaking to reporters after morning prayers, Erdogan also said an offer from the United States to sell Patriot missiles to Turkey was not as good as the Russian offer.

Italy's Di Maio says confident of League deal over building code

Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Tuesday he was confident of reaching a deal with his League coalition partner over a disputed new building code, which has fueled tensions within the government. "I am sure we will come to a shared and sensible solution," Di Maio said in a statement.

South Korea could start returning bodies from Budapest boat disaster

The South Korean government expects to begin returning to Seoul the remains of some of the victims who died when a tourist boat sank last week in Budapest, an official said on Tuesday, as conditions for exploring the wreckage improved. Twenty-eight people are presumed to have died when The Mermaid, a pleasure boat carrying 33 South Korean tourists and two Hungarian crew, capsized and sank after being hit by a cruise liner in Budapest last Wednesday. Seven Koreans survived and another 19 people are listed as missing.

Ukraine police officers arrested for murder in killing of five-year-old boy

Two Ukrainian police officers were arrested on suspicion of murder on Tuesday, accused of fatally shooting a five-year-old boy while drunkenly firing weapons at cans and bottles in the courtyard of an apartment building, officials said. The boy Kyrylo Tliavov was taken to hospital with a head injury last week and died late on Monday, sparking protests by activists outside the interior ministry building. They lit flares and held placards saying "the police kill people".

Do you believe in UFOs? China hints at test of new missile

With a cryptic message about UFOs and a picture of a missile launcher, China's military has hinted that it has carried out a test of a new missile, after images of an object streaking toward the sky circulated on Chinese social media. The People's Liberation Army typically does not announce new missile tests, but occasionally drops hints about what it is up to, amid a massive modernization push championed by President Xi Jinping to ramp up combat capabilities.

U.S. President Trump speaks to UK PM candidate Johnson

U.S. President Donald Trump waded into Britain's political crisis on Tuesday by telephoning Boris Johnson, the Brexit-supporting favorite to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May. Feted by Queen Elizabeth on the first day of his state visit to Britain, Trump turned to politics on Tuesday, offering to meet Johnson, a former foreign minister who has said the United Kingdom should leave the EU on Oct. 31, deal or no deal.

China tightens security around Tiananmen on anniversary of crackdown

Tourists thronged Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Tuesday amid tighter-than-usual security, although most visitors approached by Reuters said they were unaware of the bloody crackdown on student-led protests 30 years ago or would not discuss it. The Chinese government sent tanks to quell the pro-democracy protests on June 4, 1989, and has never released a final death toll. Estimates from human rights groups and witnesses range from several hundred to thousands.

Kremlin dismisses Trump tweet on alleged Venezuela withdrawal

The Kremlin said on Tuesday it didn't know where U.S. President Donald Trump had got the idea Moscow had removed most of its military specialists from Venezuela, who it said continued to work there. Trump tweeted on Monday that Russia had told the United States it had removed "most of their people" from Venezuela, where Moscow has maintained close military and economic ties with socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

Mexico's Ebrard eyes common ground in U.S. talks on immigration, tariffs

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard on Tuesday said he expects to find mutual understanding at talks with U.S. officials over immigration amid a diplomatic push to head off a punitive tariff threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump. Ebrard told reporters Mexican officials planned to present an immigration proposal to their U.S. counterparts on Wednesday that they hoped could be a starting point for negotiations. Mexican lawmakers and private sector officials will also be visiting Washington this week to press Mexico's case, he added.

No easy options for Germany as SPD crisis shakes coalition

The abrupt resignation of the leader of Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) after disastrous European and regional elections has thrown the future of the 'grand coalition' with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives into doubt. The government looks set to limp on until elections in three former Communist eastern states in September and October. But if the SPD and Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) do badly, the risk of a government collapse would increase sharply.