The briefing for Monday, September 14.

Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have captured the strategic islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish in the southern Red Sea, government and Houthi officials said Monday. The takeover strengthens the rebels' grip on a major maritime shipping route and comes as Saudi-backed government forces attempted to regroup and reclaim territory over the weekend following the Houthis' rapid advances around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The islands, located 160 kilometers north of Bab el-Mandeb, were taken after hundreds of government-allied forces withdrew, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. The gains follow last week's Houthi seizure of the port city of Mokha and the island of Mayun inside the strait itself, advances that have brought rebel forces within 20 miles of the U.S. military base in Djibouti. The fighting is pushing Yemen back into full-scale civil war after a truce that had largely held for three years.

The escalation threatens Saudi crude oil shipments that have relied on the Red Sea route as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been attacking shipping since the war began. China's Foreign Ministry called Houthi attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure "unacceptable" and urged restraint from all sides. Iran, meanwhile, said Saudi Arabia pushed to postpone an Oman-hosted meeting on the Strait of Hormuz, though Tehran said a separate bilateral agreement with Oman on the strait has been finalized.

The combined pressure on both major Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz shipping lanes threatens to further squeeze global oil supplies and prices, potentially handing Iran additional leverage in its ongoing war with the United States.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Monday that Russian drone strikes near the Ukraine-Poland border will drive the alliance to increase support for Kyiv and bolster its own eastern defenses. Rutte called Sunday's strikes on trains near NATO territory a sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin's "growing desperation" and intent to "sow fear and terror."

Polish officials pledged increased security along the border after two drone strikes landed within kilometers of Polish territory, including one near a train station minutes after a diplomatic delegation featuring former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had passed through. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that Moscow appears set to intensify its campaign against Ukraine's borders with European countries, citing intelligence reports, including a CIA briefing, suggesting Russia may target border points and escalate sabotage operations inside Europe.

Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said the army recovered a suspected Russian military drone from the Baltic Sea, while Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk described the strikes as a serious escalation that could presage a sharp intensification of hybrid warfare against NATO members. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the strikes were "clearly meant to scare Western countries from supporting Ukraine." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Russian forces are operating "across the entire territory of Ukraine" and will continue to do so.

The strikes mark one of the most direct tests yet of NATO's eastern flank since the war began, raising the stakes for allied unity as Poland consults partners on a potential joint response.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C. late Sunday ordered the U.S. Postal Service not to implement President Trump's executive order limiting mail balloting, adding a second legal obstacle to the administration's push to rewrite election rules before the midterms. U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols, a Trump nominee, issued the preliminary injunction just as the Supreme Court is separately considering the administration's appeal of a similar freeze issued by a Boston judge.

Nichols wrote that without an injunction, there was an increased risk that a significant number of otherwise valid mail-in ballots would not be counted in the upcoming elections. The new Postal Service rules, stemming from an executive order Trump issued in August, would require pre-approval of ballot envelope designs and force states to upload voter identities into an as-yet-inactive online portal. Election officials say the timeline makes implementation before the midterms impossible.

Mail ballots are already being distributed in Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin, with more states set to follow this week. A whistleblower report warned Congress that millions of voters could be disenfranchised if the rule took effect, and the postal workers' union has objected to being tasked with verifying voter eligibility. Trump has long targeted mail voting, falsely blaming it for his 2020 loss despite using the method himself.

With dueling rulings from judges nominated by presidents of both parties, the dispute appears headed back to the Supreme Court, which had earlier lifted a previous injunction on procedural grounds before the rule was formally issued.

President Trump has agreed to a stringent ethics proposal as part of a sweeping cryptocurrency bill facing a pivotal Senate vote Tuesday, according to three of the bill's Republican authors. The concession, which followed weeks of pressure from senators in both parties, requires Trump to place significant crypto holdings in a blind trust or divest them, and allows state attorneys general — not just the Justice Department — to enforce the law.

The bill initially barred federally elected officials and their spouses from issuing digital assets, a provision aimed at Trump's meme coin and first lady Melania Trump's token. But Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., pushed for tougher language, warning that without state-level enforcement power, Democrats could not trust a Trump-appointed attorney general to police the president's own conflicts. A senior GOP aide said Trump agreed to roughly 80% of that proposal.

The stakes are high for Trump personally: he reported more than $500 million in revenue last year from World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture launched by his sons, part of more than $1.4 billion in total crypto-related income. The new provision could force divestment from such ventures once holdings cross a certain threshold.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., the bill's lead author, argued a vote against the measure amounts to a vote against imposing tough restrictions on politicians' crypto investments. The outcome could determine whether Washington formally legitimizes the crypto industry or whether a frustrated sector ramps up campaign spending ahead of the midterms.

European leaders gathered in Rovaniemi, Finland, Monday for a two-day summit addressing growing competition in the Arctic, where warming temperatures are opening shipping routes, nations are competing for natural resources, and a Russian military buildup is raising security concerns. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen were among those attending the European Arctic Summit.

The meeting follows Norway's seizure of a Russian vessel earlier this month near the Svalbard archipelago at Ukraine's request, a move that drew condemnation from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the Arctic is "very important" for European security and prosperity, calling for a "common understanding" among allies. A think tank, the Centres for European Policy Network, noted the summit unfolds against an unusually dynamic backdrop that includes China's growing Arctic trade and Hormuz-related shipping disruptions.

The gathering serves as a preview of a revamped EU Arctic policy expected this autumn that will place security at its center for the first time. It also comes as the bloc navigates Trump's continued interest in acquiring Greenland, a Danish territory whose government opposes U.S. designs on the island; the EU recently offered Greenland 200 million euros in climate and infrastructure support.

Separately, Finland announced it is joining France's "forward deterrence" program, which would extend France's nuclear arsenal toward European defense — the tenth country to join, alongside Britain, Germany and other Nordic states.