ISTANBUL, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Top officials from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will gather in Istanbul on Monday for a first committee meeting under the joint defence accord that they signed this month, a Turkish foreign ministry source said.

The "Mecca Joint Defence Agreement", signed on August 7, brought together Sunni Muslim U.S. allies concerned by the Iran war and regional conflict that has led to Iranian missile fire on Gulf oil exporters.

SEOUL, Aug 30 (Reuters) - South Korea unveiled a major cabinet reshuffle on Sunday, naming First Vice Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il as the new deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance.

The administration also tapped ruling Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seung-won to lead the Ministry of Justice, and named Kang Shin-chul, former deputy commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, as the new defense minister, presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said in a televised address.

Alia al-Hallaq's son Mohammed was nine when he was killed by an Israeli army bullet last October, but the Palestinian homemak

By Pesha Magid

QUSRA, West Bank, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Dozens of masked Israeli settler militants attacked homes surrounding the occupied West Bank village of Qusra on Saturday, the first major attack since a siege by settlers in the area earlier this month drew an international outcry.

The settlers surrounded a Palestinian home, throwing stones while seven Palestinians were trapped inside, according to witnesses who spoke to Reuters.

By Eman Abouhassira, Yasmine Ghania and Ahmed Tolba

DUBAI/CAIRO, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Iranian leaders are acknowledging the economic toll of war with the U.S., with the supreme leader urging the government to address the hardship and the president saying foreign trade has shrunk by a third due to the American sanctions and blockade.

Dozens of Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian village of Qusra in the northern occupied West Bank on Saturday after nearly three weeks of tension in the area, drawing rare condemnation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Earlier in August a group of settlers began blocking supplies from entering Palestinian houses on the outskirts of the village near Nablus, trapping residents inside and drawing unusually strong criticism from the US ambassador.

By Julia Harte

Aug 29 (Reuters) - Since the United States went to war with Iran six months ago, Courtney Sanders has been helping soldiers’ families fill the gaps left by their loved ones.

There are school pickups to coordinate, lost incomes to supplement — and the ever-present separation anxiety.

“It's like being on pins and needles all of the time,” Sanders said.

By Eman Abouhassira, Yasmine Ghania and Ahmed Tolba

DUBAI/CAIRO, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Iran condemned the United States' new economic sanctions on Friday as "state terrorism" while its supreme leader said he was banning acts that could harm "social cohesion" amid concern that more financial pain could spark unrest at home.

With the war now at the six-month mark, and negotiations at an impasse, President Donald Trump's administration has stepped up efforts to punish Iran financially with what it has billed as an "economic D-Day".

Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping are expected in Central Asia's Kyrgyzstan Monday for a two-day summit, also attended by Iran's and India's leaders, of a regional bloc seeking to be a counter-influence to the West. 

Around a dozen heads of states will head to the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek to mark 25 years of the Shanghai Cooperation Group (SCO).

The group brings together Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, four Central Asian countries and Moscow-allied Belarus.

JENIN, West Bank, Aug 28 (Reuters) - An Israeli strike killed a Hamas operative and two of his accomplices in the West Bank on Friday, the military said, in a rare use of deadly air power in the occupied territory.

Hamas confirmed the man that Israel named as Qais Bitawi was one of its members and condemned the attack that killed him. The allied Islamic Jihad militant group also claimed him as a member.

The air strike targeted a car in the area of Jenin in the northern West Bank, the Israeli military and medics said.