Briefly

RUSSIA

Direct train service to Pyongyang to resume

Direct international train service between Pyongyang, the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK, and Moscow will resume on June 17, Russian Railways announced on Tuesday via its official Telegram channel. Passenger train service between Pyongyang and Khabarovsk in Russia's Far East is scheduled to restart on June 19. The route, which will operate twice a month, is the longest direct international train service in the world. The journey spans over 10,000 kilometers and takes about eight days to complete.

IRAN

Fresh round of nuclear talks planned for Sunday

Iran's foreign ministry has said a fresh round of nuclear talks with the United States is being planned for Sunday, after US President Donald Trump said it was expected on Thursday. "The next round of Iran-US indirect talks is being planned for next Sunday in Muscat," a foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday, adding that the foreign minister and chief negotiator, Abbas Araghchi, would this week attend Norway's Oslo Forum, a gathering of conflict mediators. Iran and the United States have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new deal.

FRANCE

Pupil, 14, stabs to death teaching assistant

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday condemned "senseless …violence" after a 14-year-old pupil fatally stabbed a teaching assistant. The secondary school student was arrested after attacking the 31-year-old assistant with a knife during a bag search in Nogent in eastern France, officials said. The assistant at the Francoise Dolto school in Nogent was stabbed several times. The suspect was taken into custody.

Xinhua - Agencies