International

• Saturday, March 21st 2026 - 22:08 UTC

  US bolsters military presence in the Gulf with thousands of Marines and amphibious ships

  

  The United States is deploying roughly 5,000 Marines and half a dozen warships toward the Persian Gulf in the largest force expansion since the war against Iran began on February 28. The buildup comes as American aircraft intensify strikes against Iranian positions along the coastline and islands of the Strait of Hormuz, the maritime chokepoint through which approximately 20% of global oil transits and which Iran has effectively closed since the start of the conflict.

• Saturday, March 21st 2026 - 10:54 UTC

  London condemns Iranian attack on Diego Garcia, confirms RAF defending the base

  

  Britain's Ministry of Defence condemned on Saturday the launch of two Iranian intermediate-range ballistic missiles at the joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, in the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. Neither projectile struck the installation.

• Friday, March 20th 2026 - 20:31 UTC

  Falklands end of working horse? British Army decides to retire iconic Land Rover fleet

  

  British soldiers will use a new fleet of thousands of modern vehicles, following the start of the retirement of the iconic Land Rover fleet. The retirement marks the end of an era for the vehicle that has been a cornerstone of UK military operations for more than 70 years, as reported by MoD. 

• Friday, March 20th 2026 - 16:16 UTC

  Trump brands NATO allies “cowards” for refusing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz

  

  US President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric against NATO allies on Friday, lambasting them as “cowards” for refusing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway that has remained effectively closed since the start of the war with Iran. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump declared that without the US military, NATO amounts to nothing more than “a paper tiger,” and warned that Washington would not forget the alliance's stance.

• Thursday, March 19th 2026 - 22:59 UTC

  Uruguay to seek damages after Spanish shipyard Cardama fails to appeal OPV contract termination

  

  Spanish shipyard Cardama did not file an appeal against the Uruguayan government’s decision to terminate the contract for the purchase of two offshore patrol vessels for the Navy, meaning the measure is now final and the Ministry of Defence will move ahead with a claim for damages. The confirmation came on Thursday from Presidential Secretary Jorge Díaz.

• Thursday, March 19th 2026 - 22:52 UTC

  Trump jokes about Pearl Harbor in front of Japan’s prime minister during White House meeting

  

  U.S. President Donald Trump made a joke about Pearl Harbor on Thursday during an Oval Office meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, while answering a question about why Washington had not informed some allies in advance about its decision to strike Iran. The bilateral meeting was part of the White House’s official schedule for March 19.

• Thursday, March 19th 2026 - 22:43 UTC

  Netanyahu hints a ground phase may be needed as Iran war hits Gulf energy infrastructure

  

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested on Thursday that an air campaign alone would not be enough to bring down Iran’s regime, as the conflict entered a new phase marked by strikes on Gulf energy facilities and renewed warnings over the Strait of Hormuz.

• Thursday, March 19th 2026 - 17:35 UTC

  UK Plan to combat waste crime vandals who will forced into “clean up squads”

  

  The UK Government through the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs will be publishing a New Action Plan to tackle waste crime and restore pride to towns and cities.

• Thursday, March 19th 2026 - 12:57 UTC

  Western Democracies backsliding, with U.S. decline “unprecedented”

  

  Democratic backsliding is now happening in well-established democracies. Democracy in the USA is deteriorating at unprecedented speed, and media and journalists are increasingly targeted across the world. This, and more, is reported in the latest Democracy Report from the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg.

• Thursday, March 19th 2026 - 02:12 UTC

  Russian diesel shipment bound for Cuba challenges US blockade

  

  A Hong Kong-flagged tanker that could be carrying fuel to Cuba has resumed navigation in the Atlantic after remaining halted for several weeks, in a move that could offer limited relief to the island’s deepening energy crisis. According to ship-tracking available on Vessel Finder, the Sea Horse loaded fuel in a ship-to-ship operation earlier this year and then resumed course with Cuba as a possible destination. The Financial Times reported that the vessel was part of two Russian energy shipments headed to the island and could arrive within days.