Oil prices back up as U.S. and Iran trade threats to expand 7-month war

New Updates   15m ago Yemen warns U. N. that Houthi rebels' moves on key strait threaten global economy Yemen's internationally recognized government pressed world leaders anew Thursday for help defeating the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, saying that their new perch along one of the world's busiest waterways presents an international economic risk. The Houthis - who have controlled Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and much of the country's north for over a decade - stormed down Yemen's coast this month and seized the crucial port city of Mokha and key Red Sea islands. That gives them better surveillance of ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, at the sea's southern end. About 12% of the world's trade usually passes through the waterway. The rebels have declared a blockade on Saudi shipping. While asserting there's no other threat to commercial shipping on the Red Sea, they have warned other nations not to get involved. But the vice president of the internationally recognized government council urged world leaders at the U. General Assembly not to trust the Houthis' assurances - and to see a bigger picture in the strife around the strait. "The Houthi militias' use of the safety of navigation as a tool for blackmail threatens not only Yemen. It is taking hostage the entire global economy," said the vice president, Abdullah Abdulkader al Alimi-Bawzer. Arguing that protecting the strait "is the responsibility of every economy that depends on secure supply chains, energy security and freedom of navigation," he urged the international community to keep weapons and technology from getting into the rebels' hands.    PM Commander rejected plans to rebase farther from Iran before deadly drone strike, sources say The dozens of U. S. troops bombarded a small Kuwaiti port in the opening days of the Iran war could have relocated to safer positions in western Saudi Arabia, multiple sources told CBS News, but those plans were rejected 's commanding general despite intelligence warning of a potential attack on their post. About one week before the launch of Operation Epic Fury, most American soldiers and Air Force personnel stationed in Kuwait were moved to Jordan and Saudi Arabia — farther away from Iranian missile range. At least two options were scouted, planned and presented to the leadership of the 103rd Sustainment Command, the Army Reserve unit that ran logistics for U. Central Command: one was Logistical Support Area Jenkins, a U. S. military base near the southwest port city of Yanbu, and another was Prince Sultan Air Force Base, just southeast of the Saudi capital city Riyadh.