@apnews: US approves visas for top Iranian leaders to attend UN high-level meeting. The move is unusual due to the more than six-month-long conflict between Iran and the United States and no sign that agreements to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or return to talks on Iran’s nuclear program are close. It also comes as Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have stepped up attacks on Saudi infrastructure and shipping in the Red Sea, another major maritime route in the region where impediments have helped drive a surge in global oil prices.