Somali pirates holding a cargo ship full of battle tanks are trying to negotiate for its release after failing in their demand for £10m (€12.7m).

Pirates holding a Ukrainian ship laden with tanks and weapons today claimed they were celebrating the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr despite being surrounded by American warships and helicopters.

Iran test-fired nine long and medium-range missiles today during war games that officials said were in response to US and Israeli threats, state television reported.

The US Navy has confirmed that an American cargo ship working for it opened fire on Egyptian boats while transiting the Suez canal.

Iran today claimed a video of its gunboats harassing American warships in the Persian Gulf was made up.

A Foreign Office minister held fresh crisis talks with the Iranian ambassador today in a bid to secure the release of 15 Royal Navy personnel.

Efforts are continuing today to secure the release of 15 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines seized by Iranian patrol boats off the coast of Iraq.

British foreign secretary Margaret Beckett has demanded Iran provide a "full explanation" for the detention of 15 British servicemen seized in Iraqi waters.

Somali government troops backed by Ethiopians today prepared to launch a major assault on the last stronghold of Islamic movement militiamen.

An Irishman has been confirmed as being among the 57 people who drowned when a cruise ship capsized off the Bahraini coast last night.

A ferry carrying up to 150 people capsized and sank last night off the coast of Bahrain and at least 48 bodies have so far been recovered, officials said.

Egyptian officials turned down offers of help from the Royal Navy after a Red Sea ferry caught fire and sank with the loss of more than 1,000 lives, it was revealed today.

Coast Guard vessels have pulled dozens of bodies from the water today after an Egyptian passenger ferry carrying around 1,300 people (or up to 1,415 according to some reports), mostly Egyptian workers returning from Saudi Arabia, sank in the Red Sea overnight.

US National Guard troops from Louisiana and other Gulf states won’t be pulled out of Iraq ahead of schedule, despite the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, the US command said today.

Bahrain’s king said today that that his tiny Gulf kingdom is ready to send a naval force to help safeguard Iraqi territorial waters, if asked by the new Iraqi government, the official Bahrain News Agency reported.

Men claiming to be US and British intelligence agents have harassed Iraqi diplomats in Bahrain, trying to frighten them into handing over information, an Iraqi diplomat has claimed.

The US Government has warned Americans living in the Gulf states to be wary of possible terrorist attacks.