Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Gaza family flees as home destroyed a second time

Fatima Bashir's family had a few minutes warning before an Israeli air strike destroyed their home in the Deir Al-Balah area of Gaza for the second time in a decade, leaving only a mass of rubble, broken furniture and scattered household items. Shortly before the strike, smaller projectiles hit the house, a tactic used by Israel's military to alert civilians of an imminent attack which gives them just enough time to run outside.

Russian missiles hit home town of Ukraine's Eurovision contestants

As the Eurovision song contest was underway in Britain late on Saturday, Russian missiles hit the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil, which is home to the electro-pop duo Tvorchi, this year's contestants from Ukraine. Local authorities, writing on Telegram, said the strike had hit warehouses owned by commercial enterprises and a religious organization, injuring two people.

Four Russian military aircraft shot down near Ukraine, Russian daily reports

Russian news outlet Kommersant said two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters had been shot down on Saturday close to the Ukrainian border, in what would be a spectacular coup for Kyiv if confirmed. Kommersant said on its website that the Su-34 fighter-bomber, Su-35 fighter and two Mi-8 helicopters had made up a raiding party, and had been "shot down almost simultaneously" in an ambush in the Bryansk region, adjoining northeast Ukraine.

Asylum-seekers from Mexico hope for U.S. entry after Title 42 end

Lupita, a 36-year-old Mexican woman from the state of Michoacan, has spent three months in a shelter, waiting to apply for asylum in the United States. She wears some of the evidence for her case: bullet wounds about her arms, shoulder and abdomen. Since March 2020, when broad COVID-era restrictions went into effect at the southwest border, Mexicans like Lupita were largely barred from seeking U.S. refuge and instead were quickly expelled back to Mexico.

Turkey votes in pivotal elections that could end Erdogan's 20-year rule

Turks will vote on Sunday in one of the most consequential elections in modern Turkey's 100-year history, which could unseat President Tayyip Erdogan after 20 years in power and halt his government's increasingly authoritarian path.

The vote will decide not only who leads Turkey, a NATO-member country of 85 million, but also how it is governed, where its economy is headed amid a deep cost of living crisis, and the shape of its foreign policy, which has taken unpredictable turns.

Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad agree Gaza truce

A truce between Israel and the militant Islamic Jihad group officially came into effect late on Saturday night, with an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire agreement meant to end the worst episode of cross-border fire since a 10-day war in 2021. As fighting tapered off, streets in Gaza that had largely been deserted filled with Palestinians. Some people cheered and honked car horns while others headed to the homes of people killed in the fighting to show their respect.

Old rivalries, new battle as Thailand goes to the polls

Thailand votes on Sunday in an election expected to deliver big gains for opposition forces, testing the resolve of a pro-military establishment at the heart of two decades of intermittent turmoil in the coup-prone country. About 52 million eligible voters are choosing among progressive opposition parties with a knack for winning elections and others allied with royalist generals keen to preserve the status quo after nine years of government led or backed by the army.

On final day of campaign, Erdogan accuses Turkish opposition of working with Biden

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan held his last election rallies in Istanbul on Saturday, accusing the opposition of working with U.S. President Joe Biden to topple him while making a final appeal ahead of the biggest challenge to his 20-year rule. Polls show Erdogan trailing the main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu a day ahead of one of the most consequential elections in Turkey's modern history. However, if neither of them win more than 50% of the vote and secure an outright win, the vote will go to a runoff on May 28.

Syria extends permission on post-quake aid border crossings for 3 months

Syria has extended permission for the United Nations to use two additional border crossings for post-earthquake aid for three more months, a Syrian official said on Saturday. Syria "has decided to extend the permission it granted to the U.N. and its specialised agencies to use the two border crossings of Bab Alsalama and al-Ra'i for an additional period of three months ending on 13 August," Bassam Sabbagh, Syria's U.N. ambassador, said in a tweet.

Zelenskiy asks pope to back Kyiv peace plan, help return children

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked Pope Francis on Saturday to back Kyiv's peace plan, and the pope indicated the Vatican would help in the repatriation of Ukrainian children taken by Russians. "It is a great honour," Zelenskiy told Francis, putting his hand to his heart and bowing his head as he greeted the 86-year-old pope, who stood with a cane.

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