Conflict

Ukraine has condemned a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin making it possible to confer Russian citizenship on Ukrainian children moved to Russia.

Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah group says it has fired rockets at Israel, and its arch-foe says it has struck a "terrorist cell" in retaliation.

The Iraqi government is beginning the process to remove the US-led international military coalition from the country, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's office said on Friday.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has spoken with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken about a range of topics, including conflicts overseas.

The Minister of Defence says it was important to join in condemning attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea because New Zealand is so dependent on supply lines.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has outlined proposals for the future governance of Gaza once the war between Israel and Hamas is over.

US helicopters repelled an attack by Iran-backed Houthi militants on a Maersk container vessel in the Red Sea, sinking three ships and killing 10 militants.

A senior figure in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition has called for Palestinian residents of Gaza to leave the besieged enclave, making way for Israelis.

Such a move by Israel would be a de facto reversal of its 2005 withdrawal from Gaza, placing the enclave under exclusive Israeli control.

Taiwan's presidential and parliamentary elections are happening at a time of fraught relations between Beijing and Taipei.

Ukraine insisted that only military infrastructure had been targeted in the attack on Belgorod.

Israeli forces continue to push deeper into central and southern Gaza as intensive air strikes filled hospitals with dead injured people.

The halting of operations by two international aid organisations risks exacerbating a humanitarian crisis caused by more than eight months of war.

Russia has unleashed its biggest air attack of the war on Ukraine, killing 31 civilians, and wounding more than 160 others, officials said.

Tens of thousands of fleeing Palestinians sought shelter as Israeli tanks pushed through the central Gaza Strip.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry has said at least 241 people were killed in the past 24 hours, as Israel's military operation continues in the territory.

President Xi Jinping has vowed to resolutely prevent anyone from "splitting Taiwan from China in any way", the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militia claimed responsibility for a missile attack on a container ship in the Red Sea, and for an attempt to attack Israel with drones.

A Ukrainian attack on the Crimean port of Feodosia has damaged a large Russian landing ship and killed one person, Moscow says.

There is no let-up in Israeli air strikes in Gaza, a UN official has told the BBC, after visiting a hospital struggling to treat the injured.