By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, July 16 (Reuters) - A federal judge has ruled the U.S. government violated the constitutional rights of Palestinian American Osama Abu Irshaid when customs agents seized and searched his cell phone on two occasions at a U.S. international airport in 2024.
Here are details:
By Nayera Abdallah, Jana Choukeir and Eman Abouhassira
DUBAI, July 16 (Reuters) - Iran and the United States exchanged intensifying fire on Thursday in a week-long escalation that has largely unraveled last month's truce, while Tehran disputed President Donald Trump's claim that a U.S. citizen had been released.
JERUSALEM, July 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President JD Vance said some members of the Israeli government had tried to influence U.S. public opinion to oppose a deal by the U.S. to end the war with Iran, in a podcast episode with host Joe Rogan posted on Wednesday.
The comments echoed earlier criticism of Israeli government policy by Vance, whom many view as a potential future presidential candidate, in a widening public rift between the two countries.
WASHINGTON, July 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. began conducting a new wave of strikes against Iran on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT) to "further degrade Iranian military capabilities," U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; Writing by Ryan Patrick Jones)
UNITED NATIONS, July 16 (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will travel to divided Cyprus at the end of July to discuss peacebuilding efforts between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots, a U.N. spokesperson said on Thursday.
• The visit comes against the backdrop of growing speculation the United Nations will launch a fresh push to resolve the decades-old split of Cyprus before his term expires at the end of the year.
July 16 (Reuters) - Yemen's Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Thursday that all Saudi oil and other vital facilities would be targets for the group's missiles and drones if Riyadh escalated its involvement in the conflict.
The warning came after the Houthis fired missiles at Saudi Arabia, accusing the kingdom of bombing an airport under their control on Monday, marking a rupture in a four-year truce between the two sides.
By Maya Gebeily
BEIRUT, July 16 (Reuters) - Lebanon and Syria will in the coming months begin revising decades-old trade agreements torevive their economic relationship following the ouster of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in 2024, Lebanon's economy minister told Reuters on Thursday.
Amer Bisat, who said the countries could eventually aim for a larger bilateral trade deal, spoke a day after holding talks with his Syrian counterpart in Damascus.
By Rick Noack, Mubasher Bukhari and Asif Shahzad
ISLAMABAD, July 16 (Reuters) - Attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis this week have frustrated Pakistan and threaten to draw Islamabad into the conflict, complicating any future role it may have as a mediator between the United States and Iran.
By Parisa Hafezi, Samia Nakhoul and Jonathan Saul
DUBAI, July 16 (Reuters) - Iran has asked Yemen’s Houthi movement to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route if the United States strikes Iranian power infrastructure, three sources told Reuters on Thursday, posing a potent new threat to global energy supplies.
The idea has been discussed within the Islamic Republic's leadership, and the message has been conveyed to Iran's Houthi allies, two senior Iranian sources and a regional source familiar with the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
