By Mohammad Yunus Yawar

KABUL, May 14 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban government has detained at least three journalists on unspecified charges, the United Nations mission there said on Thursday in a statement that called for the protection of reporters.

The three were the head of the Kabul-based Paigard News Agency, and two staff from Afghanistan's first 24-hour news channel, TOLOnews, media and rights groups said.

LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) - King Charles was greeted by cheering crowds on Thursday when he visited an area of London which has suffered a spate of antisemitic attacks in recent weeks, in a show of support for Britain's fearful Jewish communities.

The monarch met two victims of a recent stabbing attack when he made the unannounced visit to Golders Green, which is home to a sizeable Jewish population and has borne the brunt of the recent antisemitic incidents across the British capital.

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM, May 14 (Reuters) - Israel plans to sue The New York Times and one of its journalists for defamation over an article that said Israeli soldiers, prison guards and settlers had used widespread sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he had instructed his legal advisers "to consider the harshest legal action" against the newspaper and Nicholas Kristof, a veteran journalist who reported the story from the occupied West Bank.

ADEN/AMMAN, May 14 (Reuters) - The internationally recognised Yemeni government and the Iran-aligned Houthi group will exchange more than 1,600 prisoners, the office of the U.N. special envoy for Yemen said on Thursday, marking the largest release of detainees since the outbreak of the war in Yemen.

The conflict erupted after the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention in support of the government the following year.

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) - Iraqi officials have approached the International Monetary Fund about securing financial assistance as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, a source close to the IMF said on Thursday.

Initial conversations took place last month during the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington, and discussions are ongoing about how much funding Iraq would need and how any loan would be structured, the source said.

DUBAI, May 14 (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister accused the United Arab Emirates of direct involvement in military operations against his country during a BRICS meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, Iranian state media reported.

The spat comes a day after the UAE denied a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he visited the Gulf country during the Iran war, to which Araqchi already reacted by saying that "those colluding with Israel to sow division will be held to account."

DUBAI, May 14 (Reuters) - Iran has begun allowing some Chinese vessels to transit through the Strait of Hormuz following an understanding over Iranian management protocols for the waterway, the semi-official Fars news agency said on Thursday, citing an informed source.

The Fars report came as U.S. President Donald Trump, who is on a state visit to China, agreed with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping that the Strait of Hormuz must be open for the free flow of energy.

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that reopening the Strait of Hormuz is in China's best interests and he believes Beijing will do what it can to reopen the waterway.

"I think they're going to do what they can," Bessent said in an interview with CNBC. "China, it's very much in their interest to get the Strait reopened, and I think they will be working with behind the scenes to the extent anyone has any say over the Iranian leadership."

By Laila Bassam

BEIRUT, May 14 (Reuters) - Lebanon will demand Israel cease fire at face-to-face talks in Washington on Thursday, a senior Lebanese official said, as Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel continued to trade blows despite a U.S.-backed truce declared last month.

The talks between Lebanese and Israeli envoys will mark the sides' third meeting since hostilities reignited between Hezbollah and Israel on March 2. Beirut is attendingdespite strong objections from Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah.

By Joshua McElwee

ROME, May 14 (Reuters) - Pope Leo on Thursday decried rising European military spending, which grew last year by the highest amount since the end of the Cold War amid pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, saying it was a betrayal of diplomacy.

Leo, who has drawn Trump's ire in recent weeks after criticizing the Iran war, told university students in Rome that they should not refer to such rearmament as defence spending, adding that the world was being "maimed by wars".