By Jonathan Saul, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali

LONDON/PANAMA CITY, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Transit through the Strait of Hormuz appeared to grind to a near standstill on Friday after two more ships were attacked there and the United States said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely.

A senior Iranian source said on Wednesday that there had been no progress in talks to build on a June agreement to end the war. Since the ceasefire renewed in the June deal broke down, Iran has resumed attacks on ships it accuses of trying to transit the strait without its permission.

By David Brunnstrom

Aug 14 (Reuters) - The United Nations appealed to donors on Friday not to cut funding for women's programs in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, saying this would add to suffering in a country where conditions for women are already the worst in the world.

By Pesha Magid and Rami Ayyub

QUSRA, West Bank, Aug 14 (Reuters) - The United States wants Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly condemn militant settlers who have besieged Palestinians in their homes in the occupied West Bank, U.S. and Israeli officials said on Friday, as settlers pressured residents by pitching a new tent before Israeli soldiers arrived and it was taken down.

President Donald Trump dismissed concerns Friday over living conditions and the mental health of service members on a US aircraft carrier deployed against Iran, while confirming the ship would soon rotate out.

Asked by reporters whether family members were worried about the situation on the USS Abraham Lincoln, Trump said "no, they're not."

Trump also rejected the idea that the ship -- now at sea for nine months -- had been deployed for too long. "No, no, no, not nearly enough," he said.

(This story has been refiled to remove the images, with no changes to text)

By Nilo Tabrizy, Catherine Cartier and Jonathan Saul

Aug 14 (Reuters) - Two slicks have appeared in Iranian waters, satellite imagery and video verified by Reuters show, as tit-for-tat attacks on oil tankers and other vessels by Iran and the United States spark concerns about environmental damage to the Gulf.

(Refiles to correct garble in sourcing in paragraph 15)

By Erin Banco

WASHINGTON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. has received several warnings from Israel over the past year that Iran intended to assassinate President Donald Trump, including before a secret Air Force One ruse in Turkey, which U.S. intelligence officials could not independently verify, according to a current U.S. official and two former officials.

By Nazih Osseiran

BEIRUT, Aug 14 (Reuters) - For decades, the Gulf served as the center of gravity for much of Lebanon's creative talent, with swathes of designers and marketing executives flocking to its cities to find clients or relying on its foundations and cultural centers for funding.

But with Gulf economies now under pressure from a nearly six-month-old regional war, Lebanese creatives say financing and work opportunities are drying up.

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Attacks on healthcare facilities, workers and patients in conflict zones including Ukraine and Gaza have continued to rise in 2026, reaching an average of more than four per day, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

There have been more than 900 attacks between January and August this year, resulting in at least 900 deaths and more than 1,400 injuries, according to WHO data presented in Geneva by Altaf Musani, the agency's director of humanitarian and disaster management.

By Pesha Magid

FASAYIL, West Bank, Aug 14 (Reuters) - On a searing summer day, Israeli settlers splashed in a West Bank pool created by siphoning off water that had irrigated Palestinian crops, one of many seizures of water resources across the occupied territory.

The spring served as a lifeline for the nearby village of Fasayil in the fertile Jordan Valley, where Palestinians have relied on it for generations for food, employment and to supplement irregular Israeli supplies to their domestic taps.