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As Russia asserted progress in its goal of seizing the entirety of contested eastern Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin tried on Saturday to shake European resolve to punish his country with sanctions and to keep supplying weapons that have supported Ukraine's defense.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Lyman, the second small city to fall this week, had been "completely liberated" by a joint force of Russian soldiers and Kremlin-backed separatists, who have waged war for eight years in the industrial Donbas region bordering Russia.

Ukraine's train system has ferried arms and evacuated citizens through Lyman, a key railway hub in the east.

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Control of it also would give Russia's military another foothold in the region; it has bridges for troops and equipment to cross the Siverskiy Donets river, which has so far impeded the Russian advance into the Donbas.

In his Saturday video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the situation in the east as "very complicated''.

He said the "Russian army was trying to squeeze at least some result'' by focusing its efforts there.

The Kremlin said Putin held an 80-minute phone call with the leaders of France and Germany in which he warned against the continued transfers of Western weapons to Ukraine and blamed the conflict's disruption to global food supplies on Western sanctions.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron urged an immediate cease-fire and a withdrawal of Russian troops, according to the chancellor's spokesperson, and called on Putin to engage in serious, direct negotiations with Zelenskyy on ending the fighting.

A Kremlin readout of the call said Putin affirmed "the openness of the Russian side to the resumption of dialogue."

The three leaders, who had gone weeks without speaking during the spring, agreed to stay in contact, it added.

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But Russia's recent progress in Donetsk and Luhansk, the two provinces that make up the Donbas, could further embolden Putin.

Since failing to occupy Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, Russia has set out to seize the last parts of the region not controlled by the separatists.

"If Russia did succeed in taking over these areas, it would highly likely be seen by the Kremlin as a substantive political achievement and be portrayed to the Russian people as justifying the invasion," the British Ministry of Defense said in a Saturday assessment.

Russia has intensified efforts to capture the cities of Sievierodonetsk and nearby Lysychansk, which are the last major areas under Ukrainian control in Luhansk.

Luhansk Gov. Serhii Haidai reported that Ukrainian fighters repelled an assault on Sievierodonetsk but Russian troops still pushed to encircle them.

Later Saturday he said Russian forces had seized a hotel on the city's outskirts.

Sievierodonetsk Mayor Oleksandr Striuk said the previous day that some 1500 civilians in the city, which had a prewar population of around 100,000, have died, including from a lack of medicine or diseases that could not be treated.

Russia's advance raised fears that residents could experience the same horrors seen in the southeastern port city of Mariupol in the weeks before it fell.

Residents who had not yet fled faced the choice of trying to do so now or staying.

Just south of Sievierodonetsk, AP reporters saw older and ill civilians bundled into soft stretchers and slowly carried down apartment building stairs Friday in Bakhmut, a city in Donetsk.

Svetlana Lvova, the manager of two buildings in Bakhmut, tried to persuade reluctant residents to leave but said she and her husband would not evacuate until their son, who was in Sievierodonetsk, returned home.

"I have to know he is alive. That's why I'm staying here," said Lvova, 66.

On Saturday, people who managed to flee Lysychansk described intensified shelling, especially over the past week, that left them unable to leave basement bomb shelters.

Yanna Skakova left the city Friday with her 18-month-old and 4-year-old sons and cried as she sat in a train bound for western Ukraine. Her husband stayed behind to take care of their house and animals.

"It's too dangerous to stay there now," she said, wiping away tears.

A nearly three-month siege of Mariupol ended last week when Russia claimed complete control of the city. Mariupol became a symbol of massive destruction and human suffering, as well as of Ukrainian determination to defend the country.

Mariupol's port has reportedly resumed operations after Russian forces finished clearing mines in the Azov Sea.

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Russian state news agency Tass reported that a vessel bound for Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia entered the port early on Saturday.

In the call with Macron and Scholz, the Kremlin said, Putin emphasised that Russia was working to "establish a peaceful life in Mariupol and other liberated cities in the Donbas."

Germany and France brokered a 2015 peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia that would have given a large degree of autonomy to Moscow-backed rebel regions in eastern Ukraine.

However, the agreement stalled long before Russia's invasion in February.

Any hope that Paris and Berlin would anchor a renewed peace agreement now appears unlikely with both Kyiv and Moscow taking uncompromising stands.

Ukrainian authorities have reported that Kremlin-installed officials in seized cities have started airing Russian news broadcasts, introduced Russian area codes, imported Russian school curriculum and taken other steps to annex the areas.

Russian-held areas of the southern Kherson region have shifted to Moscow time and "will no longer switch to daylight saving time, as is customary in Ukraine," Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Krill Stremousov, a Russian-installed local official, as saying Saturday.

In his address Saturday, Zelenskyy also accused Russian forces of preventing Kherson residents from leaving, saying they effectively "try to take people hostage'' in a "sign of weakness.''

The war has caused global food shortages because Ukraine is a major exporter of grain and other commodities.

Moscow and Kyiv have traded accusations over which side bears responsibility for keeping shipments tied up, with Russia saying Ukrainian sea mines prevented safe passage and Ukraine citing a Russian naval blockade.

The press service of the Ukrainian Naval Forces said two Russian vessels "capable of carrying up to 16 missiles" were ready for action in the Black Sea, adding that only shipping routes established through multilateral treaties may be considered safe.

Ukrainian officials have pressed Western nations for more sophisticated and powerful weapons.

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The U.S. Defense Department would not confirm a Friday CNN report saying the Biden administration was preparing to send long-range rocket systems.

Russia's ambassador to the United States, Anatoliy Antonov, said Saturday that such a move would be "unacceptable" and admonished the White House to "abandon statements about the military victory of Ukraine."

Moscow is also trying to rattle Sweden and Finland's determination to join NATO. Russia's Defense Ministry said its navy successfully launched a new hypersonic missile from the Barents Sea that struck its target about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) away.

If confirmed, the launch could spell trouble for NATO voyages in the Arctic and North Atlantic.

The Zircon, described as the world's fastest non-ballistic missile, can be armed with either a conventional or a nuclear warhead and is said to be impossible to stop with current defense systems.

Last week Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced that Russia would form new military units in the country's west in response to Sweden and Finland's bids to join NATO.

The Al Jazeera news network says it will submit a case file to the International Criminal Court on the killing of reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead earlier this month during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank.

The Qatar-based network and the Palestinian Authority have accused Israeli soldiers of deliberately killing her.

Israel rejects those allegations as a “blatant lie." It says she was shot during a firefight between soldiers and Palestinian militants, and that only ballistic analysis of the bullet – which is held by the PA – can determine who fired the fatal shot.

An AP reconstruction lent support to witnesses who say the veteran Palestinian-American correspondent was killed by Israeli fire, but any final conclusion may depend on evidence that has not yet been released.

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Al Jazeera said late Thursday it has formed an international legal team to prepare a case dossier to be submitted to the ICC. The court launched an investigation into possible Israeli war crimes last year. Israel is not a member of the ICC and has rejected the probe as being biased against it.

Al Jazeera said the case file would also include the Israeli bombing of the building housing its offices in Gaza City during last year's war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, “as well as the continuous incitements and attacks on its journalists operating in the occupied Palestinian territories.”

Israel said the building – which also housed the Gaza office of The Associated Press – contained Hamas military infrastructure, but has not provided any evidence. The AP was not aware of any purported Hamas presence in the building and condemned the strike as “shocking and horrifying.” No one was hurt in the strike, which came after an Israeli warning to evacuate.

“The Network vows to follow every path to achieve justice for Shireen, and ensure those responsible for her killing are brought to justice and held accountable in all international justice and legal platforms and courts,” Al Jazeera said.

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Israel says it cannot determine whether Palestinian militants or its own soldiers fired the fatal shot unless the PA hands over the bullet that killed Abu Akleh for ballistic analysis. The PA has refused to cooperate with Israel in any way, saying it doesn't trust Israel to investigate itself.

The PA announced the results of its own probe on Thursday, saying Abu Akleh was deliberately killed by Israeli forces and that there were no militants in the area. Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz rejected the findings, saying “any claim that the IDF intentionally harms journalists or uninvolved civilians is a blatant lie,” referring to the Israeli military.

Palestinian Attorney General Akram Al Khateeb, in announcing the results of the probe, said the bullet that killed her was an armor-piercing 5.56 mm NATO round and that it appeared to have been fired by a Ruger Mini-14 semiautomatic rifle.

The Israeli military declined to comment on whether the gun described by the Palestinians matches one the military has previously identified as having possibly fired the fatal shot. It also declined to say whether the army uses the Ruger Mini-14 or whether any were in use during the May 11 raid in which Abu Akleh was killed, in the West Bank town of Jenin.

Israel has publicly called for a joint investigation with the PA, with the participation of the US The State Department said this week that neither Israel nor the PA have formally requested its assistance. Each side is in sole possession of potentially crucial evidence, and neither is likely to accept any conclusions reached by the other.

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The NSW government will next year offer a cash rebate for people undergoing private IVF treatment.

Rebates of up to $2000 will be supplied to 12000 people to reduce the "prohibitively expensive" costs.

NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said the $80 million budget package aims to "help families fulfill their dream of having a baby".

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"No-one should have to face the impossible choice between looking after their household budget and starting a family," Kean said.

With one in every six couples experiencing fertility issues, the process can be emotionally and financially taxing.

One in 20 births across the state currently involves reproductive treatments.

"Fertility challenges can be stressful and heartbreaking," said minister for women Bronnie Taylor.

"I hope that by lowering the cost of treatments, we can help more women on their journey to start a family."

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The fertility package will also provide five days of paid treatment leave for teachers, nurses and other public servants across the state.

The $2000 rebate will open January 1 next year, however women who have undergone treatment from October 1 2022 will be able to submit a claim.

The government will look to extending the amount of applications from 12000 in the future once they can ensure private fees remain low.

Sydney Harbour's historical Me-Mel Island will be returned to the Aboriginal community for future management and conservation of the land.

The official transfer process of the Island to the Cadigal people began today after the NSW government announced $43 million to regenerate and restore Me-Mel.

Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council Deputy Chair Yvonne Weldon said the move will help healing and progress inside Sydney's Aboriginal community.

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"Me-Mel is a place where we can go to be within our culture, pass culture on to our younger generations and share with other people," Weldon said.

"Me-Mel is an opportunity for truth telling, and it's about recognising the past and unlocking the future."

Also known as Goat Island, it's the largest island in Sydney Harbour and marks the start of an Eora songline – Boora Birra – where the eel spirit created the water courses known today as Sydney Harbour.

The island is located near Darling Harbour, about 600 metres north-west of Balmain East public wharf.

It is about 300 metres wide and 180 metres long in size.

Me-Mel was once inhabited by Wangal man Bennelong and his wife Barangaroo.

Bennelong's father born on the island.

The heritage listed island has a rich array of Aboriginal, historical and natural heritage values, including more than 30 buildings and other structures dating from the 1830s to the 1960s.

In 2015, Labor leaders announced a plan to return Me-Mel to the Aboriginal community if they were to elected into government.

The island however remained NSW government property.

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Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Ben Franklin said a committee will make recommendations to help determine how the island is used.

"The Me-Mel Transfer Committee includes Aboriginal people and NSW Government agency representatives, and importantly, its establishment is supported by the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council," said Frankiln.

The $42.9 million funding boost over a four year period will contribute to upgrade works such as repairing seawalls and buildings and improving wharf access.

Me-Mel is currently managed by the National Parks Wildlife Service, who are calling on people to join the Me-Mel Transfer Committee through an Expression of Interest (EOI) process.

EOI nominations are open until June 27.

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Police have charged a second man over the alleged murder of 25-year-old Sunshine Coast woman Feebie McIntosh.

The young woman was taken to Caloundra Base Hospital in a critical condition on Friday morning with gunshot wounds to her head after an altercation at a Dicky Beach residence.

She died a short time later from her injuries.

A 30-year-old Narangba man was charged with her murder on Friday night and denied bail.

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Police have now charged a second 30-year-old man from Wurtulla with her murder.

He has also been denied bail.

Police allege McIntosh was transported to hospital by a 58-year-old man who is known to her.

"The men and woman were known to each other however preliminary investigations suggest this is not a domestic-related incident," police said yesterday.

Both the 58-year-old man and the Dicky Beach homeowner are assisting with inquiries.

A crime scene was established at the Dicky Beach property, and homicide investigators are involved in the investigation.