By Ali Kucukgocmen

KONYA, Turkey, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Hundreds of sinkholes have emerged in Turkey's central agricultural region due to dwindling rainfall and receding groundwaters, causing concern among farmers and environmental experts who see it as a worrying sign of climate change.

Gaping sinkholes pockmark farmland producing maize, wheat and sugar beet in Karapinar in Konya province, with more than 10 packed into a field in places. In mountainous areas, vast, ancient sinkholes previously filled with water have now mostly dried up.

Dec 23 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday he called Israeli President Isaac Herzog and invited him to visit Australia, expressing his shock and dismay over the attack at the Jewish community Chanukah event on Bondi Beach last week.

Herzog said he would accept the invitation and mentioned that the President of the Zionist Federation of Australia also sent him an official invitation expressing their wish for him to visit, and he intends to do so, Albanese said in a post on X.

When her children, trembling with fear, ask where the family can go to escape Israel's continued bombardment in southern Gaza's Khan Yunis area, Umm Ahmed has no answer.

In her small, devastated village near Khan Yunis city, recent Israeli drone and artillery strikes shattered the tenuous sense of peace delivered by a ceasefire that has largely held since October 10.

Residents say the strikes have targeted neighbourhoods east of the so-called Yellow Line -- a demarcation established under the truce between Israel and Hamas.

By Andrew Hay

Dec 22 (Reuters) - Over a dozen employees have left jobs at the Heritage Foundation or were fired in recent days, according to the influential right-wing U.S. thinktank, as it grapples with allegations from former supporters that it has aligned itself with those accused of antisemitism.

In a statement about the resignations and firings on Monday, Heritage Foundation Chief Advancement Officer Andy Olivastro said a handful of staff had chosen "disruption" and "disloyalty."

By Renju Jose

SYDNEY, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Australia's most populous state is set to pass tougher gun laws, ban the display of terrorist symbols and curb protests after the state parliament's lower house cleared a bill late on Monday in an emergency sitting following the Bondi mass shooting.

The terrorism and other legislation amendment bill won support from the opposition Liberal Party in New South Wales state, and is expected to clear the upper house on Tuesday.

Dec 22 (Reuters) - At least two civilians were killed and several wounded in a wave of attacks in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Monday, with government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces trading blame for the deaths.

The Syrian health ministry said two people were killed and several were wounded in shelling by the SDF on residential neighbourhoods in the city. The injuries included two children and two civil defense workers.

The Syrian government and Kurdish-led forces on Monday ordered their fighters to cease fire following deadly clashes that came as Turkey's top diplomat urged the Kurds to integrate into the Syrian army.

At least three people were killed in the clashes, which came ahead of a deadline for implementing a March 10 agreement between Damascus and the Kurds to integrate the SDF -- which controls vast swathes of Syria's oil-rich northeast -- into the state.

By Emily Rose, Michele Kambas and Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he will discuss Iran's nuclear activities during his visit next week with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israel was aware Iran had been conducting "exercises" recently, without elaborating.

BEIRUT, Dec 22 - Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam urged cabinet to swiftly approve a draft law allowing depositors to gradually recover funds frozen in the banking system since a financial collapse in 2019, a move critical to reviving the economy.

The collapse - the result of decades of unsustainable financial policies, waste and corruption - led the state to default on its sovereign debt and sank the Lebanese pound.

Visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday urged Kurdish-led forces to integrate into Syria's army and not obstruct the country's stability, as the deadline for implementing a deal between Damascus and the Kurds approaches.

Turkey and Syria have developed close ties since the toppling of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year and Ankara, a key supporter of the new authorities, sees the presence of Kurdish forces on its border with Syria as a security threat.