September 11, 2026 11:13 PM

Twenty-five years after September 11, Americans reflect on attack that changed a nation

Americans marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on Friday with sorrow and somber reflection, honoring the nearly 3,000 people killed when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field in a shocking attack that reverberates to this day. In New York, family members of the victims, many carrying pictures of their loved ones, joined Vice President JD Vance and four former U.S. presidents at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan. The ceremony b...

September 12, 2026 1:11 AM

Yemen’s Houthis reach strategic island at mouth of vital shipping lane

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis reached the strategic island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Friday, four Yemeni government sources told Reuters, moving to tighten their grip on a vital global shipping route in the widening Middle East war. Earlier, two sources from the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised Yemeni government said its forces had pulled out of Perim and that the Houthis had also taken the mainland Red Sea coastal town of Dhubab, which faces the island. If the Houthis gai...

September 11, 2026 10:54 PM

Saudi crown prince sought US military help from Trump with Houthis, sources say

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sought assistance from President Donald Trump on Thursday to help fight Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, as the Houthis stepped up their threat to the Red Sea. Trump held at least two phone conversations with the Saudi leader on Thursday, sources said. In the end, Washington told Riyadh that it was not willing to take direct military action for now but would help with intelligence sharing and targeting, the...

September 11, 2026 1:02 AM

Trump administration proposes waiving grace period for H-1B holders after job loss

The Trump administration has proposed eliminating a 60-day grace period that allows certain immigrants, including skilled workers on H-1B visas, to stay in the United States and find a new sponsor after losing their job, according to a government notice posted online Thursday. Under the planned rule change, published in the Federal Register by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, those with H-1B and certain other temporary work visas would have to leave the country as soon as their employm...

September 10, 2026 1:12 AM

Trump attributes state election win of Germany’s far-right to immigration

U.S. President Donald Trump attributed the win of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in a state election to immigration rules and regulations that he cast as "horrible". The AfD, bolstered by public angst over the scale of mass immigration, surged into first place on Sunday in the election in Saxony-Anhalt, the first time a far-right party has come within reach of power at the state level since World War Two. Trump has long accused various European countries including Germ...

September 9, 2026 9:23 PM

Sharp escalation in US-Iran Conflict, Oil Markets and Shipping under pressure

The US-Iran conflict has seen sharp escalation since yesterday, with both sides reporting attacks on military infrastructure and commercial shipping vessels. The recent attacks are perhaps the biggest on shipping vessels since the beginning of the conflict. US CENTCOM had said it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday, after Iranian forces attempted to strike a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles. The US identified the 5 Iranian vessels as Kaviz, Charminar, Horizon 1, Riesco and Dery...

September 9, 2026 12:54 AM

Iran-backed Houthis attack four Saudi cities in expansion of Middle East war

Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthis attacked four cities in the south of U.S. ally Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, wounding more than 70 people and setting oil installations ablaze in what appeared to be a major expansion of the six-month-old Middle East war. The Houthis, who control most of Yemen's populated areas including the capital, said they had launched a broad operation deep into Saudi territory. They used drones and missiles to strike a Saudi airbase in the southern city of Khamis Mushait as well a...

September 7, 2026 10:39 PM

Iran warns US energy assets in Gulf are vulnerable after latest clashes

Iran threatened on Monday to retaliate against any new U.S. attacks on its assets, warning that energy infrastructure across the Gulf, including U.S. oil and gas interests, was vulnerable. "Strike our assets and you get struck," Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said after U.S. and Iranian strikes on shipping at the weekend that pushed oil prices up near six-week highs on Monday. The latest threat underscores the risks of further escalation after the sides traded blows again at...

August 26, 2026 12:17 PM

Gulf ship traffic via Strait of Hormuz hovers below 10-day average, data shows

Five commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, little changed from a day earlier but well below the 10-day average of 15, preliminary shipping data showed on Wednesday. Two tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas and one tanker carrying bitumen exited the Gulf via the strait, while two empty product tankers entered the waterway from the Gulf of Oman, initial data from shiptracker Kpler showed at 0408 GMT. On Monday, four commodity vessels transited the waterway, the data sho...

August 26, 2026 11:55 AM

Explainer: What are H-1B visas for skilled workers and what changes loom?

U.S. employers seeking to hire skilled foreign workers can use the federal government's H-1B visa program for a fee, allowing tech and other professionals from abroad to work in the United States for a few years. U.S. President Donald Trump, who has pursued a broad immigration crackdown since taking office last year, has lambasted the program and wants to permanently raise the fee from between $2,000 and $5,000 to more than $100,000. Despite criticism that some companies use the visas to hire ...