Reuters World News Summary

Australians had to vote "Yes" or "No" in the referendum, the first in almost a quarter of a century, on the question of whether to alter the constitution to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people through the creation of an Indigenous advisory body, the "Voice to Parliament". Israeli army says killed two Hamas commanders who led attack Israel's military said on Saturday it killed two Hamas commanders who were behind the cross-border deadly rampage into Israel a week ago.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Man surrenders to Polish police after incident that closed Warsaw square

Polish police negotiators persuaded a man to come down from a monument in a central Warsaw square, a spokesperson said, putting an end to an incident that had seen part of the capital cordoned off amid reports of a bomb threat. Private broadcaster Polsat News reported that at around 1130 GMT the man surrendered to police. Its footage showed him climbing down from the monument, taking off his jacket and walking away with his hands in the air.

Top Ukraine general says fighting in northeast has 'significantly worsened'

Fighting along the northern portion of Ukraine's eastern front has "significantly worsened" in recent days, the commander of Kyiv's ground forces said on Saturday. Oleksandr Syrskyi, who was visiting Ukrainian troops in the area, said Russian forces had regrouped after suffering losses and were attacking around the village of Makiivka and towards the city of Kupiansk.

Palestinians flee northern Gaza as Israel masses troops for assault

Thousands of Palestinians fled the north of the Gaza Strip on Saturday from the path of an expected Israeli ground assault, while Israel pounded the area with more air strikes and said it would keep two roads open to let people escape. Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas militant group that controls Gaza in retaliation for a rampage by fighters, who stormed through Israeli towns a week ago, gunning down civilians and making off with scores of hostages. Some 1,300 were killed in the worst attack on civilians in Israel's history.

Exclusive - Taliban to join China's Belt and Road forum, elevating ties

The Taliban will attend China's Belt and Road Forum next week, a spokesman said on Saturday, underscoring Beijing's growing official ties with the administration, despite its lack of formal recognition by any government. Taliban officials and ministers have at times travelled to regional meetings, mostly those focussed on Afghanistan, but the Belt and Road Forum is among the highest-profile multilateral summits it has been invited to attend.

Australia rejects Indigenous referendum in setback for reconciliation

Australia on Saturday decisively rejected a proposal to recognise Indigenous people in the constitution, in a major setback to the country's efforts for reconciliation with its First Peoples. Australians had to vote "Yes" or "No" in the referendum, the first in almost a quarter of a century, on the question of whether to alter the constitution to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people through the creation of an Indigenous advisory body, the "Voice to Parliament".

Israeli army says killed two Hamas commanders who led attack

Israel's military said on Saturday it killed two Hamas commanders who were behind the cross-border deadly rampage into Israel a week ago. The military said it killed Merad Abu Merad, who was the head of the Hamas aerial system, and Ali Qadi, a company commander of a commando force.

Israeli military says it is examining incident in which Reuters journalist killed

The Israeli army said on Saturday it was investigating an incident in southern Lebanon in which a Reuters journalist was killed. A Reuters witness at the scene has said he was struck by missiles fired from the direction of Israel. "We are aware of the incident with the Reuters journalist," army spokesman Lt Col Richard Hecht told a regular briefing. "We are looking into it. We already have visuals. We're doing cross examination. It's a tragic thing," he said.

Grieving and on edge, US Jews, Muslims seek solace as Hamas-Israel war rages

Jewish and Palestinian Muslim communities in the United States remain on edge a week after the brutal attack by Hamas militants on Israeli civilians and Israel's subsequent reprisals in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Friday services, highlighted by the main weekly prayers for Muslims and the start of the Jewish Sabbath at sundown, were the first since the massacre. Mosques and synagogues beefed up security as tension ran high in both communities.

As Israel bombards Gaza, bakeries run out of bread, water runs low

As an unrelenting Israeli bombardment intensified on Saturday, bakeries in Gaza were running out of bread, drinking water was in short supply and power outages left families without charged phones to find out if fleeing relatives were safe. "There is an electricity crisis, food crisis, water crisis, a crisis of everything," Eyad Abu Mutlaq, 45, said in Khan Younis in south Gaza, a region filling up with thousands of people fleeing the north for fear of an Israeli invasion.

New Zealand National Party's Luxon to lead new government

New Zealand's centre-right National Party led by Christopher Luxon will form a new government with its preferred coalition party ACT, as Prime Minister Chris Hipkins conceded his Labour Party could not form a government after Saturday's general election. The National Party, now in opposition, had 39% of the votes with 92% counted, while the ACT party had 9%. That would give the two parties enough seats to form a government, according to the Electoral Commission.

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