WORLD ROUNDUPTrump Loses the Other Strait | Gulf Tankers Are Running Out of Ways to Export Oil | Al-Qaeda Regroups in Afghanistan, and more

Trump Loses the Other Strait  (Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic)
The Houthi advance is bad news for the U.S., and even worse news for Saudi Arabia.

A Visa Dispute Is Threatening a U.S.-Brazil Effort to Fight Crime  (Ana Ionova and Edward Wong, New York Times)
Officials say the Trump administration is blocking some of Brazil’s efforts to expand cooperation on fighting transnational crime.

Gulf Tankers Are Running Out of Ways to Export Oil: ‘These Waters Aren’t Safe’  (Lisa Friedman, Jenny Gross, and Rebecca F. Elliott, New York Times)
Ship operators already faced severe risks in navigating the region, and now the danger is higher as Houthi militias assert control in the Red Sea.

Oil Routes in Peril as Attacks Shut Saudi Pipeline and Houthis Threaten Key Waterway  (Rachel Chason, Evan Halper, Suzan Haidamous, Mohamad El Chamaa and Karen DeYoung, Washington Post)
“This is the first day that Iran really started winning the war,” a Yemeni official said of Houthi territorial gains that give Tehran leverage over a second major waterway.

Al-Qaeda Regroups in Afghanistan, 25 Years after 9/11  (Greg Miller, Washington Post)
The terror organization and its offshoots have set up at least eight training sites over the past three years, taking advantage of the Taliban’s return to power.

Discarding an Old Map and Seeing Africa with Fresh Eyes  (Howard W. French, Foreign Policy)
The continent offers solutions to some of the West’s most vexing problems.

Israel’s Soft Power Is Its Hard Power  (Anchal Vohra, Foreign Policy)
The Israeli government’s greatest source of diplomatic influence is the popularity of its military equipment.

The Good News: Few Muslims Want to Subvert European Democracy  (Economist)
The bad news: there is no easy way to counter those who do.