The Late Night Pour: The Other Strait
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| THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2026 · DAY 195 |
| The Late Night Pour |
The Other Strait
Day 195.
Ansarallah has taken Mocha.
Saudi-backed PLC forces are falling back toward Dhubab, on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Houthi forces have also reached the Hanish Islands.
This isn’t another drone strike. It’s a territorial defeat for the Saudi-backed government.
And the timing could hardly be worse.
Hormuz is already badly constrained. Saudi Arabia’s alternative is to move oil west to the Red Sea. Now the force it spent a decade trying to destroy is advancing toward the southern exit of that sea.
Saudi Arabia bombed Yemen for years. The United States armed it. The Houthis survived.
Now they’re advancing, Saudi cities are again being struck, and Riyadh is watching the war move toward a chokepoint it can’t afford to lose.
Iran is supposed to be isolated.
Instead, the conflict is spreading outward from Iran into the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the Red Sea.
Washington may still have overwhelming military power.
But power and control aren’t the same thing.
Right now, control is getting harder to find.
Seven Ships Through Hormuz; Oil Settles Above $107
Only seven commodity vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, down from 11 Wednesday and barely half the 10-day average of 15, according to preliminary Kpler tracking. Before the war roughly 125 large commercial vessels crossed daily. Brent settled at $107.63 and WTI at $102.48, both up more than 6%, as traders priced a Gulf shipping squeeze that now has a second front forming at Bab el-Mandeb.
| War: Day 195 · began Feb 28 |
| Hormuz transits Thursday: 7 · 10-day average 15 |
| Prewar large-vessel traffic: about 125/day |
| Brent: $107.63 · WTI: $102.48 · Thursday settlement |
| Mocha: captured by Ansarallah/Houthi forces Thursday |
| Jordan strike: 1 A-10 badly hit · about 8 F-15s lightly damaged |
| Patriot interceptors: about 30 fired in the Jordan defense |
Ansarallah Takes Mocha; PLC Forces Fall Back Toward the Strait
Ansarallah/Houthi forces captured Mocha, reached the Hanish Islands and pushed Saudi-backed Yemeni forces south toward Dhubab, directly on Bab el-Mandeb opposite Perim Island. Yemeni government sources told Reuters that control of Dhubab and Perim would be key to the chokepoint. The Houthis say ordinary international shipping remains safe, while Saudi vessels remain under their announced blockade.
Iran’s Jordan Strike Damaged Nine U.S. Aircraft
A U.S. official told Reuters that Iran’s strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base left an A-10 missing a wing and lightly damaged roughly eight F-15s that were returned to service. U.S. forces fired about 30 Patriot interceptors defending the base. The official put the war-wide U.S. toll at 18 service members killed and more than 800 injured; Reuters reported no new casualty count tied specifically to this strike.
Xi, Putin and Pezeshkian Land in Delhi for a Summit About Two Wars
The BRICS summit opens Saturday at Bharat Mandapam with 11 member states and outreach guests from Belarus to Uganda, and with Iran’s president arriving from a country under naval blockade. The New Delhi Declaration has to clear consensus among governments that don’t agree on either war, which is the part worth watching.
A Shopping-Center Car Park Is Hit Again; Zelenskyy Lands in Calgary
Russia sent 149 drones overnight and Ukraine downed 128, with damage logged at 13 locations; three people were killed and 14 hurt, one of them a teenager, at a Sumy car park, with more wounded in Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih and Khmelnytskyi. Zelenskyy arrived in Canada on Sep 9 for defence, energy and trade talks with Mark Carney through Sep 12, and Ukrainian special forces said they struck gas condensate plants at Novy Urengoy and Purovsky, some 3,000 km inside Russia.
Missouri Is Back on the 2022 Map; Its Secretary of State Was Held in Contempt
The U.S. Supreme Court blocked a federal judge’s order requiring Missouri to use its Republican-drawn 2025 congressional map, putting the state back on course to use the 2022 districts. Hours later, Missouri’s Supreme Court found Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in contempt for directing election officials to use the barred map; he purged the contempt by reversing that instruction.
Darnold’s Hip Is a Muscle Injury; Julio Finishes Texas
Mike Macdonald said testing showed Sam Darnold’s hip joint is intact and the injury is muscular, though Seattle still hasn’t set a return date. At T-Mobile Park, Julio Rodríguez’s three-run seventh-inning homer erased a 3-0 deficit and gave the Mariners a 4-3 win over Texas, two of three in the series. Seattle is 69-78.
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