ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey's presidential communications office on Monday called Israel's latest strikes on Gaza "an attack on press freedom and another war crime," after Palestinian officials said at least 15 people, including four journalists, one of whom worked for Reuters, were killed at Nasser hospital.

(Fixes spelling of envoy's surname Barrack in paragraphs 2 and 9)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel on Monday signalled it would scale back its military presence in southern Lebanon if the Lebanese armed forces took action to disarm Iran-backed Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah.

The announcement from the Israeli prime minister's office came a day after Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, who has been heavily involved in a plan that would disarm Hezbollah and withdraw Israeli forces from Lebanon.

(Reuters) -The Israeli military said it carried out a strike in the area of Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip on Monday and that the chief of the general staff had ordered an inquiry.

Palestinian health officials said at least 20 people had been killed in the strike, including five journalists, one of whom worked for Reuters.

A diplomatic row between the United States and France escalated on Monday when Washington decided to stand firmly behind its ambassador's criticism of the French response to a rising tide of antisemitism.

US ambassador Charles Kushner, the father of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, was ordered to report to the French foreign ministry on Monday.

But, as Kushner was absent, the US embassy's charge d'affaires went in his place, and was received by two French foreign ministry directors, a French diplomatic source said.

(Reuters) -Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa is expected to address the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September, a Syrian official told Reuters on Monday.

Sharaa, who once pledged allegiance to al Qaeda before severing ties in 2016, met with U.S President Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia in May in a bid to have sanctions on Syria lifted.

(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

Gaza's civil defence agency said five journalists were among at least 20 people killed Monday when Israeli strikes hit a hospital in the south, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing regret over the "tragic mishap".

Reuters, the Associated Press and Al Jazeera all issued statements mourning their slain contributors, while the Israeli military said it would investigate the incident.

HELSINKI (Reuters) -The captain and two officers of an oil tanker accused of severing five undersea power and telecoms cables when their vessel left Russia and sailed through the Gulf of Finland in late 2024 will stand trial in Helsinki on Monday.

Investigators have concluded that the Eagle S dragged its anchor along the seabed, severing the Estlink 2 power cable connecting Finland and Estonia, and four internet lines, leading Finnish security forces to interrupt the vessel's journey and board it from helicopters after ordering it to move into Finnish territorial waters.

(Reuters) -Israeli strikes on Nasser Hospital in Gaza on Monday killed at least 15 people, including three journalists, one of whom worked for Reuters, Palestinian health officials said.

Cameraman Hussam al-Masri, one of the journalists killed in the strikes according to the officials, was a contractor for Reuters. Photographer Hatem Khaled, who was also a Reuters contractor, was wounded, the officials said.

The Israeli military and Prime Minister's Office both had no immediate comment regarding the strikes.

(Removes repetition of 'per hour' in first paragraph)

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey’s transport minister was slapped with a speeding ticket after posting a video of himself driving 225 km per hour (140 mph) on a highway — nearly twice the legal limit — prompting ridicule on social media and a public apology.

The clip, set to folk music and excerpts of a speech by President Tayyip Erdogan praising the government's infrastructure, showed Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu's speedometer soaring and his car zipping past others in the fast lane on the Ankara–Nigde motorway.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) says that preparations for the 2029 Asian Winter Games in Saudi Arabia are "on schedule" after South Korea and China emerged as potential replacements.

Saudi Arabia is supposed to host the next edition of the regional winter competition in a move derided by environmental groups.

The OCA in 2022 unanimously approved the desert kingdom's bid to stage the Games at its $500 billion megacity NEOM, part of Saudi Arabia's splurge on major sporting events, including the 2034 football World Cup.