World News Roundup: Netanyahu pleads not guilty to corruption as trial resumes; Myanmar police warn protesters to disperse or face force and more

Hamas and Fatah hold Egyptian-brokered reconciliation talks in Cairo Leaders of rival Palestinian factions began Egyptian-brokered reconciliation talks in Cairo on Monday to try to heal long-standing internal divisions, ahead of planned Palestinian elections later this year.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Netanyahu pleads not guilty to corruption as trial resumes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pleaded not guilty on Monday to corruption charges at the resumption of his trial, six weeks before voters again head to the polls to pass judgment on his leadership. "I confirm the written answer submitted in my name," Netanyahu said, standing before the three-judge panel in the heavily guarded Jerusalem District Court.

EU, UK and U.S. to speak with Navalny team after Russia expels diplomats

The European Union will hold a video call on Monday with allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, joined by envoys from Britain, the United States, Canada and Ukraine, after Russia expelled diplomats from EU states last week, diplomats said. The meeting at 1200 GMT is likely to be the first forum for the West to consider any possible joint response to Navalny's jailing last week and Friday's expulsions, which took place while the EU's top diplomat was visiting Moscow.

Myanmar police warn protesters to disperse or face force

Myanmar police on Monday warned protesters to disperse or face force shortly after state television signalled impending action to stifle mass demonstrations against a military coup and the arrest of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Tens of thousands of people joined a third day of street demonstrations in towns and cities across the country to denounce the military for its seizure of power last Monday.

India glacier avalanche leaves 18 dead, more than 200 missing

Rescuers searched for more than 200 people missing in the Indian Himalayas on Monday, including some trapped in a tunnel, after part of a glacier broke away, sending a torrent of water, rock and dust down a mountain valley. Sunday's violent surge below Nanda Devi, India's second-highest peak, swept away the small Rishiganga hydro electric project and damaged a bigger one further down the Dhauliganga river being built by state firm NTPC. Dutch freeze international adoptions after abuses uncovered

The Netherlands is freezing international adoptions after a government commission found some children had been stolen or bought from their birth parents in cases going back to the 1960s. The commission was set up under pressure from increasing numbers of grown up adopted children who began to research their roots and often found that their birth documents had been forged or lost, or that their adoption had been illegal. Biden says decision on 2020 Games 'has to be based on science'

Any decision about holding the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, postponed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, must be based on science, U.S. President Joe Biden told a radio show. The Games are set to start in under six months, and the Japanese government and International Olympic Committee (IOC) are vowing to hold them as planned, although under strict conditions that could include staging them without spectators. South Africa halts AstraZeneca vaccine after shots fail against new variant

South Africa halted Monday's planned rollout of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccinations after data showed it gave minimal protection against mild infection from one variant, stoking fears of a much longer cat-and-mouse battle with the pathogen. The coronavirus has killed 2.3 million people and turned normal life upside down for billions but new variants have raised fears that vaccines will need to be tweaked and people may have to have booster shots. U.N. experts alarmed by Thailand's rise in royal insult cases

United Nations human rights experts on Monday spoke out against Thailand's increasing use of a law forbidding criticism of its royal family, singling out a 43-year sentence for an elderly woman convicted under the law. The condemnation comes after dozens of police cases have been filed against leaders of youth-led demonstrations that have broken taboos by openly criticising the Thai king, risking prosecution under a strict law known as lese majeste that is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Hamas and Fatah hold Egyptian-brokered reconciliation talks in Cairo

Leaders of rival Palestinian factions began Egyptian-brokered reconciliation talks in Cairo on Monday to try to heal long-standing internal divisions, ahead of planned Palestinian elections later this year. Egypt has tried in vain for 14 years to reconcile Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's nationalist Fatah faction and its bitter rival Hamas, the armed Islamist movement that opposes any negotiations with Israel. Southwest France hit by heavy floods, Paris area on flood alert

Southwestern France was hit by heavy flooding on Monday following days of torrential rain, and several other regions including eastern Paris were on flood alert ahead of a cold snap expected later this week. The worst flooding was in the town of Saintes, 115 km (71 miles) north of Bordeaux, where the Charente river stood at a near-record level of 6.20 metres (20 feet). The waters were at waist level in several streets and knee-deep in large parts of the town.