While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Sept 12, 2026
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Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea delivering a televised statement in Sana'a, Yemen, on Sept 11.
PHOTO: EPA
Yemen’s Houthis cement hold on shipping corridor
The Iran-backed Houthis seized control of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast and captured three strategic islands on Sept 11, in a lightning offensive that cemented their hold on a vital shipping corridor linking Europe and Asia.
The developments are likely to deepen the Middle East war’s impact on international commerce, as Saudi Arabia shut down an oil pipeline following attacks, and after months of Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Following a week-long offensive that has left hundreds dead, government officials said the Houthis seized the Yemeni side of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the southern gateway to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
A local official with Yemen’s Saudi-backed government said on Sept 11 that the Houthis had “completed their takeover of the Bab al-Mandab area and Mayyun Island”.
Oil pipeline hit by drones launched from Iraq, says Saudi
PHOTO: REUTERS
Saudi Arabia on Sept 11 said drones launched from Iraq hit the East–West pipeline and led to its closure.
The foreign ministry condemned “the targeting of the East–West pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions by several drones coming from Iraq, which caused human injuries and damage”.
“The pipeline was stopped as a precaution, and the attacks resulted in some injuries,” an energy ministry official told the SPA news agency earlier.
North Korea fires projectile towards sea, says South Korea
PHOTO: AFP
North Korea fired an unidentified projectile towards the Sea of Japan on Sept 12, South Korea‘s defence ministry said.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the launch towards the body of water that Koreans call the East Sea, but it gave no details.
The North fired a barrage of missiles into the sea on Aug 20 even after an overture from US President Donald Trump, who said he planned to meet this year with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
UK lawmakers throw out Bill to legalise assisted dying
PHOTO: EPA
British MPs on Sept 11 rejected a Bill to legalise assisted dying in a knife-edge vote and blow to campaigners in favour of the controversial procedure that is legal in a host of countries including Canada and Switzerland.
Plans to legalise assisted dying have had a long, emotional and ultimately stalled passage through Parliament, with protesters on both sides of the debate regularly demonstrating in Westminster.
Lawmakers in the House of Commons had taken the historic step to back a separate but identical Bill legalising the practice for some terminally ill adults in 2025, before that was scuppered in the unelected upper House of Lords.
Doctors held after music star dies during plasma treatment
PHOTO: GIORGOS MAZONAKIS/FACEBOOK
Two doctors have been placed under arrest in Greece after a prominent music star died during a blood cleaning treatment, raising questions about private clinic licences in the country.
Giorgos Mazonakis, 54, died of cardiac arrest on Sept 9 during a plasma exchange appointment, a treatment used to remove harmful elements from the bloodstream.
Originally employed to treat disorders such as multiple sclerosis, plasma exchange has increasingly been used as an anti-ageing and longevity treatment.
