By Angelo Amante

ROME, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Italy's defence minister on Friday called for a stronger naval presence in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping amid concerns over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital waterway threatened by the widening Middle East conflict.

The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have made rapid advances in recent weeks along the Red Sea coast, further complicating routes in a region that also includes the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic had already dwindled because of the U.S.-Iran war.

Syrian singer Assala Nasri has made a triumphant return to Damascus with a sold-out concert following 15 years of exile due to her opposition to ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Thousands of fans welcomed the 57-year-old, known mononymously as Assala, at a venue in the Syrian capital where she bowed and opened the show with songs hailing the Syrian people.

"Souls of my heart, I missed you," she repeatedly said to endless cheers on Thursday night.

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, Sept 18 (Reuters) - At least 112,000 people have been displaced inside Yemen within the last two weeksas fighting continues along the country's west coast amid a renewed ​conflict, while nearly 3,000 have fled by sea to Djibouti, theUnited Nations migration agency said on Friday.

When France, Britain and other Western powers last year recognised a Palestinian state, entrepreneur Adam Bader felt a sense of hope.

"I was happy when I heard about it," said Bader, 27, who lives in the occupied West Bank's city of Tulkarem, which has seen repeated Israeli raids in recent years.

"Now a year on, we're not seeing any improvement. On the contrary," he said. "The situation is getting worse by the day and no one can do anything."

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - A former Syrian government official who ​headed the Damascus Central Prison under ousted PresidentBashar al-Assad and was convicted of ‌torture by a US federal jury has been sentenced to60 years in prison by a US judge, federal prosecutors said.

Samir Ousman Alsheikh, 74, was charged in 2024 and convicted in March this year on three counts of torture and one count of conspiracy to commit torture for his involvement in the abuse of prisoners at Adra Prison in Damascus.

WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - China has made upgrades to its military base at Djibouti that should significantly enhance its ability to monitor military activity across the Middle East and Africa, a report by a US think tank released on Thursday said.

Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank said commercial satellite imagery showed that China's military had installed new antennas, satellite communications equipment and other assets at its only formally acknowledged overseas military base.

JAKARTA, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Indonesian rescuers called off a search on its 10th day for eight people missing at sea, including five journalists who were covering the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatauearlier this month.

• Ash from Mount Anak Krakatau, situated halfway between Java and Sumatra islands, blanketed the capital Jakarta and some surrounding areas after its initial eruption late on September 4.

By Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - When President Donald Trump addressed the United Nations a year ago, he touted the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites just months earlier as "totally obliterating everything" and said he had brought peace between Israel and Iran.

Returning to the world body on Tuesday, Trump will face a deeply skeptical audience increasingly rattled by six months of war between US forces and an emboldened Iran, growing regional instability and a nuclear threat that has not disappeared despite his claims.

By Heejin Kim and Joyce Lee

SEOUL, Sept 18 (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Friday he would not deploy military assets to the Middle East in a way that could draw the country into conflict, but Seoul was reviewing whether to play a greater role in safeguarding navigation in the region.

South Korea has maintained a naval presence off the coast of Somalia in an anti-piracy mission, while resisting calls from US President Donald Trump to play a more active military role in supporting Washington over the war in Iran.

By Nayera Abdallah, Yomna Ehab and Hatem Maher

DUBAI/CAIRO, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis exchanged fresh strikes across their border on Thursday and Yemenis took to boats in the Red Sea to escape fighting, as the spreading Middle East war created new threats to global oil supplies.

Houthi-controlled television reported Saudi airstrikes in Hajjah province close to the Saudi border near the Red Sea coast, and the vicinity of Taiz further inland to the south.