The briefing for Wednesday, September 9.

The US military said it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday after Iran fired missiles at a Navy warship for the second time in days. Iran retaliated by launching missiles toward US targets in Jordan; Jordan's military said it intercepted 18 of 20 incoming missiles, with the remaining two landing in unpopulated areas and no casualties reported. Iran's Revolutionary Guard also claimed it struck two US vessels and eight oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, according to state media.

The tit-for-tat strikes come more than six months into the war between the US, Israel and Iran, and mark the second time in days the US has hit Iranian tankers, following a similar strike on three vessels Saturday. Brent crude, the international benchmark, surpassed $100 a barrel Wednesday for the first time since July, when a prior ceasefire collapsed, briefly touching $100.72. US gasoline prices jumped 7 cents overnight to $4.22 a gallon, more than a dollar higher than a year ago, while diesel hit an all-time high of $5.94, according to AAA.

The Trump administration paired the military action with new sanctions Tuesday targeting more than two dozen Iranian airlines and cargo providers as part of its 'Operation Economic Outcast' campaign to isolate Tehran financially. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US response would remain consistent: 'Iran continues to try to hit US naval ships. And, for every time they do that... they're going to lose tankers.' Separately, Yemen's Houthi movement attacked Saudi energy facilities Tuesday, injuring 73 people and briefly halting operations, adding further pressure on global supply.

Rising energy costs pose a direct political problem for President Trump and Republicans ahead of November's midterms, with gas and diesel prices climbing well above year-ago levels. The escalation also raises the risk of a wider regional war, as both the US and Iran seek control over the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil once passed before the conflict began.

The Trump administration issued executive orders Tuesday banning imports of most Canadian alcoholic beverages, some dairy products and motorcycles, effective September 29. The move came hours after Canada's retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion in US goods took effect, a response to the 50% US tariffs imposed on Canadian goods last month. The White House said Canada is 'discriminating' against American businesses by restricting US products while sparing similar goods from other countries.

Trump also directed the General Services Administration to bar Canadian products from large federal contracts until Canada offers 'full and fair reciprocity.' Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, addressing the nation, said the country's pivot away from reliance on the US 'will come at a cost' but described it as necessary so 'no country can hold us hostage.' Trade expert Deborah Elms told the BBC the ban's immediate impact looks 'modest,' affecting roughly $1 billion in goods, though it could hit hard for individual Canadian exporters.

The dispute marks a sharp deterioration in one of the world's closest bilateral relationships, compounded by Trump's repeated suggestions that Canada become the 51st US state. No new trade talks have been scheduled since negotiations broke down in late August, and analysts say the harsh language in Tuesday's proclamations makes a near-term deal unlikely. Business owners on both sides of the border have warned of rising prices and falling customer traffic as the trade war drags on.

Missouri's congressional districts were thrown into confusion Tuesday after competing court rulings left it unclear which map will govern November's election. The Missouri Supreme Court had ruled last week that a new Trump-backed map could not be used because opponents gathered enough petition signatures to force a statewide referendum on it; the US Supreme Court declined to intervene, leaving that ruling in place. Minutes later, however, a federal judge in Missouri, Trump appointee Stephen Clark, issued a temporary restraining order requiring the state to use the new Republican-drawn map instead.

The new districts were already used in the August primary, with winners certified by election officials, but which map applies in November remains unresolved. Missouri's Republican attorney general said the state would comply with the federal order, and the secretary of state called it a win that 'halts a full-on constitutional crisis.' Opponents, including the group People Not Politicians, argue the state's top court cannot be overruled by a single federal judge and have asked the state Supreme Court to hold the secretary of state in contempt; arguments are scheduled for Thursday.

Judge Clark wrote that switching maps between the primary and general election would 'wreak havoc on the fairness and orderliness' of the vote and cause 'widespread voter confusion.' Missouri is currently represented by six Republicans and two Democrats under the old 2022 map. Federal law requires overseas and military absentee ballots to begin mailing by September 19, leaving a narrow window for the legal fight to resolve before ballots must go out.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said this week that North Korea has constructed a new two-story uranium enrichment building at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, capable of housing up to 28 centrifuge cascades. A report published by the agency late last month also found Pyongyang has begun operating an expanded annex at a separate enrichment site near Kangson, close to the capital. IAEA Director Rafael Grossi called the findings a cause for 'serious concern,' noting the agency has had no inspectors inside North Korea since being expelled in 2009 and relies on satellite imagery for its assessments.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the Yongbyon facility in June, according to the IAEA report, praising the country's 'greatly expanded production capacity.' Experts say the secrecy surrounding North Korea's program complicates efforts to track or contain it. 'Beyond Yongbyon, we know that other facilities exist,' Oxford lecturer Edward Howell told the BBC, adding that 'we should expect there to be more concealed production sites.'

The findings point to continued expansion of North Korea's nuclear infrastructure despite years of UN sanctions, which Grossi said the country's actions clearly violate. Kim has overseen a record pace of missile testing since 2017, including numerous intercontinental ballistic missile launches, even as the country remains one of the world's poorest.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz clashed directly with AfD leader Alice Weidel in the Bundestag this week, days after the far-right party won nearly 44% of the vote in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, more than doubling support for Merz's conservatives, whose vote share was roughly halved. Merz called the AfD a 'destructive force' and said its 'remigration' policy targeting foreign-born workers would amount to 'ethnic cleansing' in Germany's skilled trades, noting one in six skilled workers has a migration background. Weidel countered that voters had shown Merz's coalition to be 'a total failure.'

The session grew disorderly enough that Bundestag President Julia Klöckner threatened to expel lawmakers, telling AfD members, 'We are not on a football pitch.' The AfD fell three seats short of an outright majority in Saxony-Anhalt and has floated a coalition with the left-wing populist BSW; no far-right party has governed a German state since World War Two. President Trump praised the AfD's showing, calling it 'a really big night' tied to what he described as Germany's 'absolutely horrible immigration rules.'

Merz has called the result 'seismic,' and it raises fresh questions about whether Germany's postwar political 'firewall' against cooperating with the far right can hold as the AfD continues to gain ground nationally.

A new report from the Washington-based Tech Transparency Project found that Meta ran 332 paid ads containing AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery across Facebook and Instagram over the past 10 months, including 84 in India. The report comes two months after the Indian government ordered Meta to remove all such content following a BBC Eye investigation. Notably, 78 of the India-based ads ran after that government order and after Meta met with Indian officials on the issue; more than a dozen ads reportedly stayed live even after TTP flagged them directly to the company.

The ads reportedly manipulated real photos of children, including one of a European royal family member, using AI to depict graphic sexual acts, according to TTP. Meta said in a statement that it does not 'tolerate nudify apps or any kind of child exploitation, whether real or AI-generated,' and that it reports apparent exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Child advocate Bhuwan Ribhu, whose group Just Rights for Children has petitioned India's Supreme Court, said that reporting to a US-based center is insufficient under Indian law, which requires reporting to domestic law enforcement.

The findings highlight a persistent enforcement gap even after direct government intervention and public scrutiny, raising broader questions about tech platforms' ability — or willingness — to stop AI-generated child exploitation content at scale.