By Trevor Hunnicutt and Andrea Shalal

BEIJING/WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to ask China to help end the costly and unpopular Iran war in discussions with President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, with peace talks stalled and the global economic cost of the conflict increasing.

The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran looms large over Trump's visit to China, the first by a U.S. president since his last trip there in 2017, although analysts say he is unlikely to get the support he wants.

The United States on Thursday sought to extend a shaky ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon as President Donald Trump voiced optimism at China's efforts on Iran.

A ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel -- considered to still be in place despite hundreds of deaths in Israeli strikes -- ends on Sunday and violence again flared as the two governments met in Washington.

Israel has pounded Lebanon and invaded its south in response to retaliatory fire from Shia movement Hezbollah following Israel's killing of Iran's supreme leader at the start of the war on February 28.

SEOUL, May 14 (Reuters) - The possibility that an entity other than Iran was responsible for the attack against a South Korean cargo vessel near the Strait of Hormuz is low, a senior official in Seoul was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency on Thursday.

South Korea is analysing intelligence shared by the U.S. on the May 4 attack against South Korean shipper HMM's Namu vessel, which caused a fire and damaged the lower stern hull, Yonhap quoted a senior foreign ministry official as telling reporters.

From her home in an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, Anna Sloutskin yearns to expand her country's borders and one day move to southern Lebanon. And she is not alone.

With fighting between Israel and Hezbollah displacing more than a million Lebanese, a far-right fringe of Israel's settler movement is turning its gaze northwards.

Uri Tzafon, or "Awake, North Wind", comprises dozens of families, according to Sloutskin, a 37-year-old research biologist who says the movement has seen growing traction since she co-founded it in 2024.

After months under a near-total internet blackout during the Middle East war, Iranian tech worker Amir-Hassan was finally able to get back online, but only through a privileged service that has sparked public criticism.

Millions like the 39-year-old have been unable to access the internet since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, punishing the pockets of online entrepreneurs and workers.

Lebanon and Israel are to hold new peace talks in Washington starting Thursday, as their latest ceasefire -- considered to still be in place despite hundreds of deaths in Israeli strikes -- nears its end.

The two countries last met on April 23 at the White House, where US President Donald Trump announced a three-week ceasefire extension and voiced optimism for a historic agreement.

By Karen Sloan

May 13 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked U.S. sanctions against Francesca Albanese, a U.N. expert on the Palestinian territories, finding that the Trump administration likely violated her free-speech rights by imposing the measures after she criticized U.S. ally Israel’s war in Gaza.

WASHINGTON, May 13 (Reuters) - The United States hopes to convince China to play a more active role in trying to persuade Iran to walk away from what it is doing in the Gulf, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview aired on Fox News on Wednesday.

Rubio made the comments in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Writing by Christian Martinez; editing by Michelle Nichols )

Iran held a send-off ceremony Wednesday for the national football team as it prepared to play in the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The players, dressed in red and black tracksuits, were presented at a stage in the central Tehran square of Enghelab, where crowds of people cheered for them, according to videos aired on state TV.

Coach Amir Ghalenoei and the president of Iran's football federation, Mehdi Taj, were also present.

By Ayhan Uyanik and Erol Dogrudogan

VIENNA, May 13 (Reuters) - Israel's contestant at the Eurovision Song Contest semi-final on Tuesday heard the boos of a small number of pro-Palestinian protesters as he took the stage even though many in the room could not, he told Reuters on Wednesday.