Israel sent Iron Dome anti-missile batteries and personnel to operate them to the United Arab Emirates to defend the country during the Iran war, the U.S. ambassador to the country said Tuesday.

Mike Huckabee made the comment on stage at an event in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Ship operators rely on a sludgelike substance known as bunker fuel to keep vessels running. The Iran war 's closure of the Strait of Hormuz has choked off the supply of this fuel that powers the global maritime industry and its largest refueling hub in Asia.

Bunker fuel is a literal bottom of the barrel product — heavier and dirtier than the more expensive kinds of refined crude oil used by other vehicles like cars and airplanes — it sinks to the bottom of storage containers.

The last remaining passengers on a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak disembarked Monday and boarded flights to more than 20 countries to enter quarantine. A French woman was the latest to be confirmed as infected, while an American was suspected of infection after initial testing.

Passengers began flying home aboard military and government planes Sunday after the MV Hondius anchored in the Canary Islands. Personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks escorted the travelers from ship to shore in Tenerife, an effort that concluded Monday.

President Donald Trump has said he expects a "big, fat hug" from China's Xi Jinping when they meet in Beijing this week, despite multiple thorny issues between the two sides.

Trump on Tuesday is set to leave for Beijing to meet with Xi after weeks of trying, and failing, to persuade the Chinese government to use its considerable leverage to prod Iran to agree to U.S. terms to end the two-month old war — or at the very least, reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz.

Two regional diplomats familiar with the ongoing talks said that Pakistan was continuing its efforts to broker a compromise.

World shares were mixed Monday after Wall Street set more records, and oil rose more than 2% following U.S. President Donald Trump's rejection of Tehran's response to the latest U.S. proposal on ending the war in Iran.

U.S. futures edged less than 0.1% lower.

Trump quickly rejected a new Iranian proposal sent Sunday to him via Pakistan. In it, Iran demanded war reparations from the U.S., full Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, an end to sanctions and the release of its seized assets abroad, Iranian state television reported.

Iran also called for an immediate end to the war, including the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah — which have repeatedly exchanged fire though technically in a ceasefire. That conflict has seen Israeli strikes in Lebanon, its occupation of Lebanese territory and deadly Hezbollah attacks, including one that killed another Israeli soldier, the Israeli military said Monday.

A U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was due to expire on Monday with both sides accusing each other of breaching the 72-hour arrangement, as American and European officials considered how they might steer the warring countries into further talks.

Ukrainian authorities said Monday that Russian drones, bombs and artillery shelling struck civilian areas of the northeastern Kharkiv and southern Kherson regions, killing at least two people and wounding seven others.

A French woman and two Americans tested positive or showed symptoms of hantavirus Monday as nations around the world scrambled to repatriate passengers from a cruise ship hit by an outbreak and quarantine or isolate them.

Passengers from the ship began flying home aboard military and government planes Sunday after the vessel anchored in the Canary Islands. Personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks had escorted the travelers from ship to shore in Tenerife in an effort that was continuing Monday.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday slammed Iranian efforts to control the Strait of Hormuz, following a report that Tehran has created an authority to approve transit through the vital waterway.

"Iran now claims that they own, that they have a right to control, an international waterway... That's an unacceptable thing that they're trying to normalise," Rubio told reporters during a visit to Rome.