Yemen's Houthi fighters claim to have attacked shipping in the Red Sea - a move that threatens to further escalate the already volatile situation in the Middle East. By forcing ships to turn back from the narrow Bab El Mandeb strait, they have threatened to choke off the main maritime route from Europe to Asia. It comes as US-Iran strikes continue and while a deal to develop Saudi Arabia's nuclear industry prompts fears of an arms race. So is the Middle East becoming more dangerous? So far, 2026 is sadly proving to be one of the more violent years for parts of the Middle East. For 12 consecutive nights, US Central Command (Centcom) has carried out air strikes on Iranian coastal radar, drone and missile bases.

Pentagon officials are weighing whether to disperse U.S. military bases in the Gulf after Iranian missile and drone attacks exposed vulnerabilities at major Middle East installations.

'We had to get out of the way': The backlash over delivery robots The first time Chicago resident John Roberts saw a delivery robot trundling down the sidewalk on his street he was impressed. I actually thought they were kind of neat - it felt futuristic, he says. But his attitude started to change when, soon after, he was out for a walk with his family. As another robot approached, they found themselves having to dodge it. To us it felt a little off - the fact that we were on the one strip reserved for walking, and we were having to get out of the way, says Roberts.

Calls to remove Iran's clerical regime sounded outside Iran's opening match at the World Cup. Iranian-Americans gathered in Los Angeles to protest the presence of Iran's team, which they believe is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Iran striker Mehdi Taremi told reporters this week that US-Iran political tension "undermines the joy" of the World Cup. You can read the match report on the game here. Watch: What does the US-Iran deal to end war mean for Lebanon and Israel?

A sea drone was used to save two crew members of a downed US army helicopter off the coast of Oman earlier this week, according to the US military - making it the first publicly known instance of an unmanned vessel being used to conduct a rescue mission. President Donald Trump said the apache helicopter was shot down by Iran near the Strait of Hormuz - the dangerous waterway which has been largely blocked off to shipping since the start of the Iran war. The two soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition, US Central Command (Centcom) said. BBC Verify has examined what we know about the drone boat and how the mission took place. What is the US sea drone?

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Pope Leo says AI must be'disarmed' in first major teaching Pope Leo has presented the first major teaching document of his papacy, warning that artificial intelligence needs to be disarmed. The word is strong, I know, but deliberately chosen because this moment needs words capable of attracting attention, the Pope said. Encyclicals are technically letters to Catholic bishops, but over recent decades the missives have become messages to the world from a Pope. While this letter was largely focused on AI, Pope Leo also included one of the strongest, most comprehensive apologies from the Vatican for the Catholic Church's role in slavery. It was impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many, the Pope wrote, adding that he sincerely asked for pardon in the name of the Church.

How Saudi Arabia's spending spree reached the end of the line Autocratic monarchs once left an echo of their glory in the ruins of the megaprojects they commanded at the peak of their unchallenged power. Those monumental physical traces are to be found in the fertile plains, mountainsides and deserts of the Middle East. But one of their most prominent modern counterparts may only have a digital footprint to leave behind for some of his most ambitious concepts. A decade ago, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman - or MBS as he is widely known - decreed a revisioning of his country that leapt from the realm of science fiction. It was called Vision 2030. Extraordinary monolithic structures were to help bring forth new technological marvels not just for the Kingdom but for the world.

This week, with air raid warnings wailing in the distance, Kyiv held a funeral for two sisters. They had already lost their father who had been fighting on the front line. Their grieving mother is now the family's sole survivor. This is the human cost of the largest sustained Russian aerial assault so far - with 1,500 drones and 56 missiles fired at Ukraine within 48 hours. But the loss of life could have been even higher.

Inside the'kill-zone' on Ukraine's front line, where new weapons have transformed war After 225 days stuck in a front-line foxhole, the Ukrainian infantryman's muscles were so weak he could barely walk. His commanders had tried five times to swap him with another soldier - but they could never reach him. Rotating soldiers on the front line in eastern Ukraine is extremely difficult because of the constant threat of drones. This area near Kostyantynivka is currently one of the most dangerous hotspots and the Ukrainian military admits that Russian forces have reached its outskirts. Known as Kenya, the infantryman took two days to walk 11km (6.8 miles) to get back to his brigade, avoiding mines and hiding from drones to get out.