Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have captured a strategic island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The move threatens Saudi oil exports through a key commercial lane. And Saudi Arabia said it shut down a major oil pipeline as a precaution after it came under attack.

It's been nearly 25 years since the start of the U.S- led invasion of Afghanistan. NPR returns to Kabul to see how Afghans, now back under Taliban rule, are coping with the legacy of that 20 year war.

Many Iranians lost their jobs because of the war and the U.S. blockade. Now some are even losing their backup jobs as sanctions tighten.

For decades, the U.S. and Canadian auto supply chains have been tightly woven together. The trade war is threatening to unravel a complex system.

A Houthi advance along Yemen's Red Sea coast could help push gas prices up even more as the Iran-backed group also launches attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities.

The activists were sentenced to about 5 to 7 years in prison in a case widely seen as a barometer of the city's eroding freedoms as Beijing clamps down on dissent.

The rebel group took over Yemen's port of Mokha, an area vital to controlling shipping through the Red Sea, Houthi and Yemeni officials said. Mokha is about 50 miles from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

As the U.S. war with Iran drags on, Iranians face increasing layoffs and a rising unemployment rate.

The European climate service Copernicus said the Earth just sweltered through its hottest month on record in August. Scientists said the heat surge is mostly due to human-caused climate change.

NPR accompanies UN peacekeepers behind Israeli lines as Israel expands its occupation of South Lebanon following a U.S.-brokered ceasefire.