Chokepoints tighten on Middle East oil
Today is Sunday, September 13, 2026
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- Good morning, and welcome to Hark News. Here's what the world got up to while you slept. First, the weather in New York. A high of 78 and a low of 69, with cloudy skies.
- Yemen's Houthi militia seized Perim Island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, tightening control over a critical maritime gateway just as a drone strike from Iraq forced Saudi Arabia to shut down a primary cross-country pipeline.
- All four living former presidents gathered in Manhattan to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, while President Trump delivered remarks at the Pentagon justifying military action in Iran.
- Consumer prices climbed 3.4% annually in August, driven by a 27.4% surge in gasoline tied to conflict with Iran. The stubborn numbers pushed market expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate increase next week to 90%, presenting a sharp political headache for newly seated Fed chair Kevin Warsh.
- Ben Shelton defeated Frances Tiafoe in four sets to become the first Black American man to reach a US Open final since Arthur Ashe in 1972.
- Anthropic released an eight-month security report showing hostile foreign actors using its Claude models to target American naval assets, guide rocket systems in Yemen, and design pathogens.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially declared the country's largest recorded cyclosporiasis outbreak over after sickening nearly 13,000 people across 21 states since May.
- Sleeping with ambient light from televisions or streetlamps can reshape heart muscle and weaken contractions over time, according to a decade-long study of over 11,000 adults.
- Atlantic Industrial Coatings admitted that improper application and design blunders caused the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool's liner to peel, debunking claims of public vandalism. Even so, the Interior Department maintains that outside interference degraded the coating on the iconic National Mall landmark.
- Stephen Woytek stepped down as political director for Republican Senator Jon Husted's campaign after inquiries revealed he used photos of Nazi soldiers online and curated playlists celebrating Rhodesia.
- Vice President JD Vance dominated conversation among conservative insiders at this week's Republican midterm convention in Dallas, solidifying his stature as the party's heir apparent.
- Conservative legal icon J. Michael Luttig warned that House Republicans could trigger a constitutional standoff this January by replacing the House clerk to block newly elected Democrats from being seated.
- The Postal Service rejected a batch of mail-in ballots in Leon County, Florida, because the return text sat 0.014 inches too close to the return address.
- The Department of Justice sent formal warning letters to election officials across at least 30 states, placing them under active investigation regarding voter records from 2024.
- Financial disclosure forms show Donald Trump gave $45,000 personal cash bonuses to top White House aides, including Natalie Harp, representing nearly a third of their annual government salaries.
- With Social Security trust funds facing depletion, several Republican lawmakers are quietly breaking party orthodoxy to support raising the payroll tax cap on higher earners.
- Nazira Haji Zada, a 47-year-old Texas resident and Afghan national, agreed to leave the country in the first case heard by the Alien Terrorist Removal Court since its 1996 creation.
- OpenAI is gearing up for an initial public offering, but there's friction on the path to Wall Street. According to Bloomberg, the firm is reportedly open to tapping the brakes on artificial intelligence development if competitors agree, while former staff continue raising alarms over safety.
- The McClatchy newspaper chain eliminated over 90 union editorial positions across 17 regional publications, hitting the Miami Herald, Charlotte Observer, and Kansas City Star especially hard.
- Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formed a media production studio called Hope & Hard Work alongside his longtime chief of staff, Katie Telford. The company is developing adaptations of Canadian fiction, following a post-office entertainment path previously carved by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
- Municipalities and state boards are increasingly requiring real estate brokerages to explicitly disclose when marketing photographs are digitally altered using artificial intelligence. The measures target misleading virtual staging practices that distort room layouts, material finishes, or structural conditions for prospective homebuyers shopping online.
- The 20th Solheim Cup match in Virginia is using player rivalries and network broadcasts to convert surging interest in women's sports into permanent commercial power.
- Princess Diana's famous revenge dress is heading to the auction block in New York, offering collectors a chance to acquire one of the most iconic fashion garments of the 20th century.
- And before you go, a little extra from The New York Times. Yesterday's pangram was chickadee. The answer: chickadee
- And that's your world for today. The full stories and the links are waiting in the app. Tap through, bookmark what matters, and share what's worth sharing. And if you want to see what stuck, take today's quiz in the app: five quick questions. And if Hark is making your mornings a little better, share it with a friend. It's the best way to help us grow. I'll see you again tomorrow morning. Until then, have a great day.