By Jana Choukeir, Nayera Abdallah and Elwely Elwelly
DUBAI, July 21 (Reuters) - Two oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea on Tuesday after threats from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, as a widening Middle East conflict disrupted shipping through two of the world's most critical energy chokepoints.
By Idrees Ali, Patricia Zengerle and Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - The cost of the United States' war in Iran has risen to $37.5 billion so far, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday, as he faced skeptical lawmakers for the first time since heavy bombings resumed to seek urgent funding for the unpopular conflict.
By Nandita Bose, Maya Gebeily and Tom Perry
WASHINGTON/BEIRUT, July 21 (Reuters) - Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday that a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory was essential to consolidating stability and enabling the state to extend its authority, the Lebanese presidency said.
By Maya Gebeily and Tala Ramadan
BEIRUT, July 21 (Reuters) - Lebanese army troops began deploying in the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh on Tuesday after Israeli forces withdrew from the area, a senior Lebanese security official said, in line with a U.S.-brokered plan.
The plan foresees Lebanese army troops confiscating weapons from the Iran-aligned Hezbollah group in parts of southern Lebanon and phased withdrawals of Israeli troops. The Israeli military said on Monday that the plan, dubbed the pilot zone programme, had begun.
By Jonathan Saul and Renee Maltezou
LONDON/ATHENS, July 21 (Reuters) - Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militia told shipping companies not to load or discharge cargo at Saudi Arabian ports or they may be targeted, according to an email the group sent to companies.
The Houthis on Monday declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia, opening a potential new front against the United States in its war with Iran and raising the threat to global energy supplies and trade beyond the Gulf.
By Karen Lema and Nestor Corrales
MANILA, July 21 (Reuters) - The Middle East crisis overshadowed a diplomatic gathering in Southeast Asia on Tuesday, where foreign ministers voiced concerns over renewed hostilities that add to uncertainty in a region grappling to manage tensions and conflicts of its own.
By Huseyin Hayatsever
ANKARA, July 21 (Reuters) - Turkey's opposition leader, Ozgur Ozel, said he would form a new party to challenge Tayyip Erdogan, a political splintering that could boost the president's prospects of extending his 23-year rule at the next elections.
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Dawoud Abu Alkas
CAIRO/GAZA, July 21 (Reuters) - An Israeli airstrike on Tuesday killed a father, his wife and their four children in Gaza City, while setting their home ablaze, health officials said, in the latest deadly attack since a U.S.-backed ceasefire was agreed more than nine months ago.
Medics said the Israeli strike on the family house in the Sabra neighbourhood killed the man, Firas Al-Masri, his wife, Salsabeel, and their three daughters and son.
By Huseyin Hayatsever
ANKARA, July 21 (Reuters) - Turkish opposition leader Ozgur Ozel said on Tuesday he would resign his post and form a new party, a political splintering that compounds the challenges facing President Tayyip Erdogan's opponents as they face an unprecedented legal crackdown.
The new party is expected to spark an exodus of voters and parliamentarians from the secularist Republican People's Party (CHP), which modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk established more than a century ago.
