By Mohammad Yunus Yawar and Rick Noack

KABUL/ISLAMABAD, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The Taliban marked five years in power on Saturday, seeking to portray their government as in control even as aid and rights groups warned of escalating crises.

Outside the former U.S. embassy in Kabul, armoured Taliban vehicles took part in a parade, displaying flags and banners, and celebrating what the government described as "victory day" from Western domination.

By Florence Tan

SINGAPORE, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed over the weekend, data showed on Monday, following attacks on tankers, while U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the Middle East conflict stalled.

Five commodity vessels transited the strait on Saturday, with none registered for Sunday, shiptracking data from Kpler showed, versus 31 in the prior weekend.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's envoys met with Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators in Cairo on Sunday, a diplomatic source said, aiming to advance the U.S. president's Gaza peace plan, even as Israel pressed on with airstrikes in the enclave.

Hamas officials were present at some of the meetings that mediators held with Trump's envoy and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Trump's Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, the diplomat said.

US President Donald Trump's envoy Jared Kushner said Monday that progress towards disarming Hamas and mov

DUBAI, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Iran's parliament approved on Sunday the general principles of a bill that would criminalise interviews and other communications with media deemed hostile to the Islamic Republic, including U.S. or Israeli media and outlets financed by either country, Iran's Shargh newspaper reported.

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Pope Leo called on Sunday for an end to violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, amid a surge of attacks by militant settlers and a siege in the territory's village of Qusra.

Israeli settlers encircled houses after cutting off water and electricity, in what rights groups have said is a concerted effort to seize more land, and further eat into territory where Palestinians aim to establish a state.

Yemen's years-long civil conflict killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted millions and drove the country to the brink of famine before a 2022 truce restored relative calm. Now, renewed hostilities between the Houthi rebels and the government have many fearing the return of all-out war.

Hodeida native Anwar, a father of two, recalls fleeing the advance of the Iran-backed Houthis, seeking refuge in the city of Mokha.

By Ali Sawafta

QUSRA, West Bank, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Israeli troops took up positions inside Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra on Thursday, the mayor said, after settlers trapped Palestinian families this week in a siege Palestinians say is aimed at forcing them from their land.

The siege began at the weekend when Jewish settlers closed off the road to the three homes in the Palestinian village of Qusra and set up a tent in their front yards, refusing to allow anyone to enter or leave. The settlers had earlier cut off their electricity and water.

Aug 15 (Reuters) - Yemen's Mocha port has suspended commercial and maritime operations after being hit by more than 25 missiles in Houthi attacks over recent days, the port's director said on Saturday.

The attacks killed seven people and caused an estimated $16 million in losses, the director told a news conference.

• Mocha is a Red Sea port near the Bab el-Mandab strait, a strategic chokepoint connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and a key route for international shipping.