The Iran-backed Houthis reportedly advanced to Yemen’s strategic Perim Island on Friday, delivering a major boost to the militant group’s push to take control of one of the world’s most important shipping choke points.

The capture of Perim Island, which was reported by several news agencies, citing multiple Yemeni government sources, comes just one day after the Houthis seized Yemen’s port city of Mokha on the Red Sea coast. CNBC could not independently confirm the report.

The rapid ground offensive is seen as a severe setback to Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni forces it backs and puts Iran and its proxies on course to exercise control over two critically important oil choke points on either side of the Arabian Peninsula: the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Strait of Hormuz.

Perim Island is a small and rocky area of land that divides the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a waterway that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and to global markets.

There are concerns that the Houthis’ advance toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could have significant ramifications for global trade, particularly if the militant group ratchets up threats or attacks on Red Sea shipping.

The Houthi advance prompted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to personally press President Donald Trump for U.S. military intervention, MS NOW reported later Friday, according to a person familiar with the conversations.

The crown prince spoke with Trump twice Thursday and urged him to strike the Iranian-backed group as it closed in on the Bab el-Mandeb. Trump declined, saying the U.S. does not plan to widen its regional military campaign to include the Houthis, according to the person, who was granted anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the conversations. Axios first reported the calls.

A senior administration official told CNBC the U.S. remains focused on protecting core national security interests, including freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, “while empowering our regional partners to take the lead in managing and resolving regional security challenges.”

The official added that the U.S. is “in continuous dialogue with Saudi Arabia.”

The capture of Mokha marked a “major blow” to Saudi Arabia as it raises the possibility of the group exerting a tighter grip on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, according to Hamish Kinnear, principal Middle East and North Africa analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.

Mokha is situated about 75 kilometers (46 miles) north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

“The Houthis were already threatening Saudi shipping from previous positions, but their capture of Mocha opens up the possibility of further advances towards the Bab el-Mandeb coastline and a tighter grip on the chokepoint,” Kinnear said in a research note.

As the war continues, Kinnear said both Tehran and Washington believe time is on their side, making a new truce unlikely for now.

“Oil and gas prices, and more specifically refined products such as diesel, will continue to tick upwards while that remains the case – even if US convoys and Strait of Hormuz export alternatives cushion the price impact,” Kinnear said.

The strategic importance of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait has grown significantly since the start of the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran in late February, with the waterway emerging as an alternative route for crude moving toward Asia.

What next for oil prices?

Oil prices traded sharply lower on Friday, but both major benchmarks could still end the week above $100 per barrel for the first time since mid-May.

International benchmark Brent crude

The resilience of the oil market is being tested by a clearer recognition of the mounting threat to regional supply, strategists at ING said, with energy market participants seen repricing both the duration and severity of the conflict.

Even as flows continue through the Strait of Hormuz, ING’s strategists said flows remain well below prewar levels, underlining how fragile the situation has become.

“Saudi energy infrastructure and crude oil exports from the Red Sea are increasingly at risk, with the Houthis in Yemen targeting Saudi Arabia,” ING’s Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey said in a research note published Friday.

“As the Houthis have taken control of the Red Sea port of Mokha in Yemen, recent events increase the threat to shipping around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait,” they added.

— Luke Fountain contributed to this report.

A range of equity market bubble indicators suggest that while the S&P 500’s rally still has room to run this year, its medium-term prospects appear poor given the market’s frothy conditions, according to Capital Economics. “Most indicators suggest the AI equity boom is nearing an end,” Capital Economics’ senior market economist James Reilly said Thursday in a note. Capital has maintained a more bullish stance than most on the stock market since mid-2023, reflecting a view that AI will be a transformative technology. Its year-end 2026 S&P 500 forecast has consistently been above consensus. However, the firm has also maintained that the AI-driven rally is a bubble that will eventually burst. To assess and spot a late-stage market bubble, Reilly examines eight indicators including valuations, earnings, index concentration, equity issuance, and foreign interest in U.S. equities. Some of these measures are already at or near levels that preceded previous stock market peaks. The analysis reveals that while market variables such as earnings expectations appear consistent with a market top, others like volatility and leverage look slightly less alarming. Earnings stand out as the most significant warning sign. Expectations for S&P 500 earnings growth are at levels seen only at the peak of the dot-com bubble, while long-term EPS growth forecasts have surged to a record high. According to Reilly, the heavy concentration of this expected growth in the tech sector means that any signs of weakness in tech firms’ earnings will weigh heavily on the index. Other indicators are also flashing warning signs. Index concentration is near dot-com-era extremes, net equity issuance has turned positive, and foreign ownership of U.S. stocks is at a record high. Reilly noted that another wave of IPOs and share sales could be particularly significant, as similar issuance booms have historically coincided with market peaks. “Based on past performance, this suggests that the end of the bubble is just months away, rather than years,” he said. Measures of leverage are not yet alarming compared to other factors, though the analyst warns they are heading in a “concerning direction.” While volatility metrics appear consistent with a mid-stage bubble, Reilly notes that constituent-level volatility isn’t as extreme as it was near the end of the dotcom boom. “While we continue to believe that the S&P 500 will rally from around 7,650 now to 8,250 by end-2026, we ultimately forecast it to fall back to 6,500 by end-2027,” he wrote. These assumptions would equate to an 8% upside this year and a 21% decline in 2027.

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The hit comedy series South Park has revealed it will be rebranded as South America ahead of launching its 29th season on September 16.

Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone explained that, “Motivated by the courage and patriotism of Apple and Google, we are renaming South Park to SOUTH AMERICA. We especially want to thank our parent company Paramount—a Skydance Capitulation.”

Their announcement follows President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America amid a trade dispute with Canada, a change Canadian officials have refused to acknowledge.

Apple and Google subsequently updated their mapping services, displaying “Lake America” to U.S. users while Canadian users still see “Lake Ontario.”

This action came a day after Trump posted AI‑generated messages on Truth Social proposing that New Mexico be called “New America.”

Last year Trump issued an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, prompting worldwide criticism.

The series earned an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program for its episode “Sermon on the Mount,” which debuted last year and satirizes Trump’s presidency.

The reference to a “Skydance Capitulation” follows the $8 billion merger of Paramount with Skydance, a deal cleared by the Federal Communications Commission after Paramount settled a $16 million lawsuit filed by Trump.

Trump claimed that an interview with then‑candidate Kamala Harris, broadcast on CBS’s “60 Minutes” in 2024, was deceptively edited.

In July 2025, Paramount’s subsidiary CBS News announced it would cancel Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” for financial reasons, shortly after Colbert accused Paramount of paying Trump a “big fat bribe.” The series’ final episode aired in May.

Neither Paramount nor the White House have yet responded to requests for comment.