Reuters World News Summary

The Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza said earlier its fighters were clashing with Israeli troops in areas near the border with Israel after Israel reported intensified attacks in Gaza. Russian diplomats deny Moscow executed soldiers on battlefield Russian diplomats on Friday dismissed as lies a White House allegation that Moscow's military was executing its own soldiers if they refused to carry out battlefield orders in Ukraine.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Israeli military says it can't guarantee journalists' safety in Gaza

Israel's military has told international news organisations Reuters and Agence France Presse that it cannot guarantee the safety of their journalists operating in the Gaza Strip, under Israeli bombardment and siege for almost three weeks. Gaza, a Palestinian enclave run by the militant group Hamas, has been under bombardment since Oct. 7 when Hamas gunmen burst through the Gaza border into Israel and killed some 1,400 people. Gaza's health ministry says around 7,000 people have been killed by Israeli strikes.

Prayers, protests and clashes in Jerusalem and West Bank as Gaza war rages

Israeli security forces restricted young Palestinians from entering Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem for prayers on Friday and deployed in strength across the Old City and beyond to quell any unrest spilling over from the conflict in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, Israeli troops killed four Palestinians during raids, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said. Two of the dead were identified by militant factions as their members.

Maine lifts shelter-in-place order as search for Lewiston shooter continues

Police in Maine lifted an order that had kept tens of thousands of people in their homes while hundreds of officers continued their pursuit on Friday of Robert R. Card, suspected in the mass shootings that killed 18 people at a bar and a bowling alley in Lewiston this week. The shelter-in-place order had been imposed shortly after the shootings on Wednesday night.

Hamas vows 'full force' after Israel steps up Gaza ground operations

Hamas said on Saturday its militants in Gaza were ready to confront Israeli attacks with "full force" after Israel's military widened its air and ground attacks on the Palestinian enclave. The Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza said earlier its fighters were clashing with Israeli troops in areas near the border with Israel after Israel reported intensified attacks in Gaza.

Russian diplomats deny Moscow executed soldiers on battlefield

Russian diplomats on Friday dismissed as lies a White House allegation that Moscow's military was executing its own soldiers if they refused to carry out battlefield orders in Ukraine. "Whoever came up with these other-worldly lies could only have been a person with an imagination far into overdrive," the Russian embassy in Washington said in comments carried by the RIA Novosti news agency.

UN overwhelmingly calls for aid truce between Israel and Hamas

The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly called for an immediate humanitarian truce between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas and demanded aid access to the besieged Gaza Strip and protection of civilians. The resolution drafted by Arab states is not binding but carries political weight, taking the global temperature as Israel steps up ground operations in Gaza in retaliation for the worst Hamas attack on civilians in Israel's 75-year-old history.

Israeli military says Hamas hiding tunnels, operations centres in Gaza hospital

The Israeli military accused the Islamist movement Hamas on Friday of using the main hospital in Gaza as a shield for its tunnels and operational centres. "Hamas has turned hospitals into command and control centres and hideouts for Hamas terrorists and commanders," Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israel's chief military spokesman, told a news conference.

Russia shells Ukraine's Kherson, injuring 8, damaging buildings

Russian forces heavily shelled the centre of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Friday, injuring eight people and destroying or damaging at least 15 buildings, a senior city official said. Pictures posted on social media showed at least three sites dotted with piles of rubble and the interior of one building strewn with shattered building materials and other debris.

Biden meets Wang as US-China gear up towards expected leaders summit

U.S. President Joe Biden met China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday, holding an hour of talks that the White House characterized as a "good opportunity" in keeping lines of communication open between the two geopolitical rivals. Wang earlier held a second day of meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken as the two countries seek to manage differences while laying groundwork for an expected summit between Biden and his counterpart Xi Jinping in November.

North Korea says US and allies' criticism of its ties with Russia 'distorted'

North Korea said on Saturday it was the "steadfast will" of Pyongyang to expand ties with Russia, criticising a recent condemnation by the United States and its allies on Pyongyang's suspected arms deliveries to Russia as politicised and distorted. North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui denounced military cooperation between the U.S., South Korea and Japan, and said Pyongyang's relations with Moscow will act as a "powerful strategic" element if security in the region is endangered.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)