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Houthis complete takeover of Yemen's Red Sea coastline, seizing final islands at Bab el-Mandeb Strait
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement seized the remaining Red Sea islands dividing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Friday, September 11, 2026, including Perim Island, after government forces withdrew — completing a week-long offensive that has captured the entire Yemeni coastline along the strategic waterway. The offensive, which began September 3 in Taiz governorate and expanded to the port city of Mocha on September 10, has cost more than 500 lives and displaced roughly 46,000 people, according to the UN's migration agency. Bab el-Mandeb is the southern gateway between the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, and analysts warned that Houthi control there, combined with Iran's ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, now puts roughly a third of the world's seaborne trade under hostile influence.
Read more →Lead Story
Houthis complete takeover of Yemen's Red Sea coastline, seizing final islands at Bab el-Mandeb Strait
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement seized the remaining Red Sea islands dividing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Friday, September 11, 2026, including Perim Island, after government forces withdrew — completing a week-long offensive that has captured the entire Yemeni coastline along the strategic waterway. The offensive, which began September 3 in Taiz governorate and expanded to the port city of Mocha on September 10, has cost more than 500 lives and displaced roughly 46,000 people, according to the UN's migration agency. Bab el-Mandeb is the southern gateway between the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, and analysts warned that Houthi control there, combined with Iran's ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, now puts roughly a third of the world's seaborne trade under hostile influence.
Oil nears $110 a barrel as Houthi takeover of Red Sea strait deepens global energy shock
Brent crude briefly touched $109.97 a barrel on Friday, September 11, 2026, its highest level in months, before easing back to around $105, as the Houthi seizure of Yemen's Red Sea coastline and Iran's ongoing disruption of the Strait of Hormuz rattled energy markets. US diesel prices remained above $6 a gallon, and traffic through Hormuz fell to just seven vessels on Thursday, down from 18 two days earlier, as tanker attacks escalated. Both Brent and US benchmark WTI, trading near $100, were on track for weekly gains of more than 9% — their sharpest rise in months — as Saudi Arabia's oil exports to Asia, which rely heavily on the Bab el-Mandeb route, faced mounting disruption risk.
Read more →Oil nears $110 a barrel as Houthi takeover of Red Sea strait deepens global energy shock
Brent crude briefly touched $109.97 a barrel on Friday, September 11, 2026, its highest level in months, before easing back to around $105, as the Houthi seizure of Yemen's Red Sea coastline and Iran's ongoing disruption of the Strait of Hormuz rattled energy markets. US diesel prices remained above $6 a gallon, and traffic through Hormuz fell to just seven vessels on Thursday, down from 18 two days earlier, as tanker attacks escalated. Both Brent and US benchmark WTI, trading near $100, were on track for weekly gains of more than 9% — their sharpest rise in months — as Saudi Arabia's oil exports to Asia, which rely heavily on the Bab el-Mandeb route, faced mounting disruption risk.
Trump says he has no regrets about starting the Iran war, would 'do exactly as I did'
In an interview broadcast Thursday, September 10, 2026, President Donald Trump said he does not regret launching the war against Iran despite its potential toll on November's midterm elections. 'I don't believe in the word "regret." You can always question yourself a little bit. If I had it to do again, I would do exactly as I did,' Trump said, dismissing suggestions that the seven-month conflict had demoralized his supporters and insisting they were 'very proud' that he was preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He repeated his prediction that the war would end shortly after the midterms, even as the US ramps up economic pressure on Tehran through new banking and oil sanctions.
Read more →Trump says he has no regrets about starting the Iran war, would 'do exactly as I did'
In an interview broadcast Thursday, September 10, 2026, President Donald Trump said he does not regret launching the war against Iran despite its potential toll on November's midterm elections. 'I don't believe in the word "regret." You can always question yourself a little bit. If I had it to do again, I would do exactly as I did,' Trump said, dismissing suggestions that the seven-month conflict had demoralized his supporters and insisting they were 'very proud' that he was preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He repeated his prediction that the war would end shortly after the midterms, even as the US ramps up economic pressure on Tehran through new banking and oil sanctions.
Russian missile and drone strike hits Odesa apartment building, injuring 12
Russian cruise missiles fired from the Black Sea and attack drones struck the Ukrainian port city of Odesa overnight into Saturday, September 12, 2026, hitting a multi-story residential building and destroying at least four or five floors. Ukraine's Air Force reported the missiles approaching from the sea at around 05:30 local time. Twelve people were injured and taken to hospital; no deaths were reported in the city from the strike. The attack came as Russia carried out 78 airstrikes and 1,875 shellings across Ukraine over the preceding day, according to Ukrainian military reports, and followed a separate drone strike a day earlier on the Pavlohrad shopping center that killed four people.
Read more →Russian missile and drone strike hits Odesa apartment building, injuring 12
Russian cruise missiles fired from the Black Sea and attack drones struck the Ukrainian port city of Odesa overnight into Saturday, September 12, 2026, hitting a multi-story residential building and destroying at least four or five floors. Ukraine's Air Force reported the missiles approaching from the sea at around 05:30 local time. Twelve people were injured and taken to hospital; no deaths were reported in the city from the strike. The attack came as Russia carried out 78 airstrikes and 1,875 shellings across Ukraine over the preceding day, according to Ukrainian military reports, and followed a separate drone strike a day earlier on the Pavlohrad shopping center that killed four people.
US Supreme Court again blocks Missouri's GOP-drawn congressional map ahead of midterms
The US Supreme Court on Thursday, September 10, 2026, temporarily blocked Missouri from using a newly drawn congressional map that favors Republicans in November's midterm elections, ruling in an unsigned order with no noted dissents that Secretary of State Denny Hoskins must instead use the state's 2022 district lines. The order halts a federal district judge's ruling that the new map could take effect, which had directly conflicted with a Missouri Supreme Court decision ordering a reversion to the old lines. The GOP-drawn map, part of a nationwide Trump-backed redistricting push, targeted the seat of longtime Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and could have shifted Missouri's US House delegation from 6-2 to 7-1 in Republicans' favor.
Read more →US Supreme Court again blocks Missouri's GOP-drawn congressional map ahead of midterms
The US Supreme Court on Thursday, September 10, 2026, temporarily blocked Missouri from using a newly drawn congressional map that favors Republicans in November's midterm elections, ruling in an unsigned order with no noted dissents that Secretary of State Denny Hoskins must instead use the state's 2022 district lines. The order halts a federal district judge's ruling that the new map could take effect, which had directly conflicted with a Missouri Supreme Court decision ordering a reversion to the old lines. The GOP-drawn map, part of a nationwide Trump-backed redistricting push, targeted the seat of longtime Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and could have shifted Missouri's US House delegation from 6-2 to 7-1 in Republicans' favor.