More than 1.5m foreign pilgrims begin Hajj despite Iran war fears Muslims have begun the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia against the backdrop of a region deeply shaken by the Iran war. Saudi authorities said last week that some 1.51 million pilgrims had arrived from outside the kingdom. That is 11,000 more than last year, despite concerns in the region about a resumption of the three-month-old conflict between the US, Israel and Iran. Before a fragile ceasefire took effect last month, Iran launched waves of missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours in retaliation for US and Israeli air strikes. Two civilians living in the central city of al-Kharj were killed in an Iranian attack on 8 March, along with a US service member stationed at the nearby Prince Sultan Air Base.

David Beckham and Dame Mary Berry are among the famous faces to have painted gnomes to raise funds for a school gardening campaign.

The UK has said it will contribute drones, fighter jets and a warship to a joint mission aimed at safeguarding shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Defence minister John Healey announced the package at a virtual summit of defence ministers on Tuesday. It includes autonomous systems to detect and clear naval mines, drone boats and Typhoon jets for air patrols. More than 40 other nations are involved in the mission, which Healey said would begin when conditions allow. For months Iran has been controlling the Strait of Hormuz - one of the world's busiest oil shipping channels - in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks.

Iran Is Using Tiny'Mosquito' Boats to Shut Down the Strait of Hormuz Iran's traditional naval fleet has been almost completely destroyed by US-Israeli raids. But Iran's Revolutionary Guard has deployed a fleet of small vessels that is crippling every passageway. In the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has developed an asymmetrical naval strategy that is crippling the passage of container ships. This "hemostat" uses guerrilla tactics, after Iran's "traditional" fleet was almost entirely destroyed by US and Israeli attacks. No longer able to rely on specialized military ships, Tehran is using an unconventional force made up of dozens of small military vessels armed with missiles, machine guns, and drones.

How well do you know Iran? The United Arab Emirates has said its air defences intercepted ballistic and cruise missiles fired from Iran, while a fire was reported at an oil facility in Fujairah after a suspected drone attack. Tehran has not officially commented. Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, along with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Union, have condemned the suspected Iranian strike on the UAE. The incident comes as tensions rise, with United States President Donald Trump warning Iran would be "blown off the face of the earth" if US Navy ships are targeted in the Strait of Hormuz.

US President Donald Trump has renewed his criticism of the UK government over its response to the Iran conflict, after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the country would not be drawn into the wider war. Trump told reporters on Monday he was not happy with the UK, adding it should be involved enthusiastically in efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz - a vital oil shipping channel . He later told a press conference there were some countries that greatly disappointed me before he singled out the UK, which he said had been considered the Rolls-Royce of allies. Trump's remarks came after Sir Keir said the UK was working with allies on a viable, collective plan to reopen the strait. Sir Keir also said the UK already had minehunters in the region but there was no decision yet on what action would be taken.

Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen says the conflict is stranding cargo and threatening inflation. After years of chaos in the global supply chain, Ryan Petersen, CEO of the logistics company Flexport, felt 2026 might offer some modicum of order. The pandemic was firmly in the rearview mirror. Red Sea shipping channels--which had been closed due to the Gaza crisis--were finally opening. The Supreme Court struck down many of Donald Trump's tariffs, and some Flexport customers were hoping for refunds.

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. The U.S. Navy sailed its first drone boat through the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, a crucial waterway for global energy supplies where American sailors often faces tense encounters with Iranian forces. The trip by the L3 Harris Arabian Fox MAST-13, a 41-foot speedboat carrying sensors and cameras, drew the attention of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, but took place without incident, said Navy spokesman Cmdr. Two U.S. Coast Guard cutters, the USCGC Charles Moulthrope and USCGC John Scheuerman, accompanied the drone.

Dubai/Washington – An American nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine traversed the strategically vital waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula on Monday, the U.S. Navy said, in a rare announcement that comes amid rising tensions with Iran. The Navy's 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, said the Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Georgia, accompanied by two other warships, passed through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passageway through which a fifth of the world's oil supplies travel. The unusual transit in the Persian Gulf's shallow waters, aimed at underscoring American military might in the region, follows the killing last month of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, an Iranian scientist named by the West as the leader of the Islamic Republic's disbanded military nuclear program. It also comes some two weeks before the anniversary of the American drone strike near Baghdad airport in Iraq that killed top Iranian military commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3. Iran has promised to seek revenge for both killings. The Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine's presence in Mideast waterways signals the U.S. Navy's "commitment to regional partners and maritime security with a full spectrum of capabilities," the Navy said, demonstrating its readiness "to defend against any threat at any time."

The proliferation of robotic warships could make naval warfare safer for human beings. But it also could have the unintended effect of reducing the threshold for military action. Recent events in the Strait of Hormuz underscore that danger. In the summer of 2019 U.S. and Iranian forces each shot down a surveillance drone belonging to the other side, escalating tensions that began with U.S. president Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the 2015 deal limiting Iran's nuclear program. "The immediate danger from militarized artificial intelligence isn't hordes of killer robots, nor the exponential pace of a new arms race," Evan Karlik, a U.S. Navy lieutenant commander, wrote for Nikkei Asian Review.