By Jana Choukeir, Enas Alashray, Ahmed Tolba and Menna AlaaElDin
DUBAI/CAIRO, July 17 (Reuters) - The United States on Friday launched a seventh straight night of attacks on Iran, which in turn struck U.S. allies in the Gulf, as both sides targeted infrastructure while shipping in the Strait of Hormuz came under further assault.
By Catherine Cartier and Jonathan Saul
July 17 (Reuters) - A vessel under sanctions for moving Russian fuel is likely leaking oil in a protected marine area off the coast of Oman, according to analysis of satellite imagery and experts.
The Caroline Bezengi vessel took Russian oil on board in Novorossiysk before leaving for its most recent voyage, according to ship tracking data. It last transmitted a signal on public AIS tracking on June 11 off the coast of Yemen.
By Nilo Tabrizy
NEW YORK, July 17 (Reuters) - A new wave of U.S. attacks on Iran has plunged Iranians back into deep uncertainty and anxiety after a period of relative calm while a shaky ceasefire held.
Iranians contacted by Reuters via an encrypted messaging app said economic problems were mounting and they were consumed by worries over what will happen next.
Sharing a photograph of her weekly grocery shopping, Somayeh, 40, a photographer in Tehran, said the pre-war prices had almost doubled.
ISLAMABAD, July 17 (Reuters) - Pakistan has been negotiating an expanded defence pact with Kuwait in exchange for energy cooperation and investment, according to five sources with knowledge of the talks.
Several other Gulf nations have also reached out to Pakistan with requests after Islamabad signed a mutual defence agreement with Saudi Arabia last year.
Here is a look at the defence forces and arsenals of nuclear-armed Pakistan, according to data from the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
PERSONNEL
By Mubasher Bukhari, Asif Shahzad, Ariba Shahid and Timour Azhari
ISLAMABAD/ RIYADH, July 17 (Reuters) - Pakistan has been negotiating an expanded defence pact with Kuwait in exchange for energy cooperation and investment, according to five sources with knowledge of the talks.
The talks remain at an early stage, all the sources said, and could still be complicated by heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, said one source.
BEIRUT, July 17 (Reuters) - Iran struck eastern Syria on Friday, Iranian state media and a Syrian military source said, in the first known attack by Tehran on Syrian territory since a regional war erupted earlier this year.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked a U.S. special operations command centre at al-Tanf in Syria in retaliation for the killing of Iranian soldiers in Iranshahr, state media reported.
By Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom
WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio heads this weekend to meetings of Asia-Pacific countries in Manila, where he is expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart to prepare a possible September summit between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump.
(Refiles to add FACTBOX tag)
July 17 (Reuters) - More airlines are restoring flights to parts of the Middle East after the conflict that followed U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, but some carriers have kept suspensions in place.
Below is an update on the status of airlines' flights, in alphabetical order:
AEGEAN AIRLINES
Greece's largest carrier cancelled its flights to Dubai until August 31, and to Erbil and Baghdad until September 30.
AIRBALTIC
Flights to Dubai are cancelled until October 24.
AIR CANADA
By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, July 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday a man was charged with arson in relation to a fire last week at a mosque in Philadelphia.
Here are the details:
• Vincent Lang, 60, of Philadelphia was arrested and charged "with one count of maliciously damaging or destroying by means of fire any building or property used in interstate commerce, or attempting to do so, in connection with an arson fire last week at a city mosque," the DOJ said in a statement.
