day two hundred twenty two (13. 889)

Fresh out of lung surgery, Pope Leo calls Vladimir Putin to appeal for the people trapped in the Russian occupied city of Oleshky to allow for humanitarian aid and evacuation. EU leaders meet in Brussels to come up with a workable budget and pledge more support for Ukraine. Zelenskyy confirms that the Starshield defensive arm of Starlink services are partially restored but not fully up to speed, demurring on reporters’ questions whether the Ukrainian leader is being ill-used as a scapegoat by Trump over the upcoming election. The Revolutionary Guard has re-mined the Strait of Hormuz with a super tanker exploding. More US senators demand action over illegal West Bank settlements as a UN reports cites the death of over three hundred fifty children and the continued suffering of eight hundred thousand Gazan residents since last year’s ceasefire. White House press secretary Katie Zachariah fired after five days on the job after inflating her credentials.  Trump signs an EO exempting Russia from sanction legislation, the package passed in honour of Lindsey Graham over the summer.  Saudi-led forces hold off Houthis from taking Taiz, claiming to have destroyed two of their missile launchers whilst the rebel group continues to shell the Yanbu in the Red Sea region of the kingdom.

day two hundred twenty one (13. 886)

Having ruled out further military attacks on Iran until after the 03 November elections, Trump tells a press gaggle that he has ruled out using a nuclear bomb on the Islamic Republic or committing ground troops—though deployments to the region increase. The president also tells reporters that the joint Israeli-US coalition may have gone too far in killing Iran’s leaders. Saudis and Houthis clash, each side intercepting the other’s drones with heavy shelling in the government capital of Aden. Chinese foreign ministry tells Israeli to open up Gaza immediately and reverse settlement policy in the West Bank. US secretary of state pressures Lebanon to confiscate weapons from Hezbollah. After ending sanctions on Russian diesel, the American president suggests he will unfreeze assets. Ukraine declares that the US is no longer an ally, vowing to destroy Moscow’s oil infrastructure, as Musk blames Trump for the slow-down of telemetry.

day two hundred twenty (13. 884)

Following more dementia-laced claims, Trump posts that drilling will soon begin in our Greenland. Increasing surveillance and sinking more ships, Tehran vows to keep fighting until the US concedes to their conditions. The UN issues more warnings of a food crisis as as plans to allow shipments of fertiliser through the Strait of Hormuz stall. Houthi rebels are positioned to take the city of Taiz as residents caught in the crossfire of the civil war experience deteriorating conditions. After raids on her home, the Trump administration seeks to strip congressional representative Ilhan Omar of her citizenship and deport her. Russian attacks leave hundreds of thousands without power in Kyiv and Ukrainian forces find their military response hampered over throttling Starlink access. Israel blocks the construction of key base to house one hundred fifty international troops for Trump’s Board of Peace in Gaza.

day two hundred nineteen (13. 882)

As Trump issues apologetics for China and Russia over helping Iran, Kyiv sustains blows from Moscow without the usual pre-warnings from NATO. Houthi rebels report attacks in Sanaa on Yemeni petroleum infrastructure from Saudi-led forces—more airports and oil installations came under fire as the US leans on Ankara for protection. After a Bulgarian tanker was sunk in the Black Sea by a Russian submarine drone, Sophia recalls its ambassador.

day two hundred eighteen (18. 880)

Ignoring Trump“s unilateral truce (which the American president admits to fabricating) on energy infrastructure, Russian immediately strikes nuclear facilities at Kharkiv and Ukraine continues to lob missiles and drones at Russian oil fields and refineries. Kyiv also targets Yandex data centres, reportedly blunting disinformation bots’ activity with noticeably less campaign engineering than usual. Houthi rebels shut down Saudi airspace again and Iran, reputedly, disables Qatari natural gas exports. Ship-spotting suggests that Moscow is buying diesel from Tehran and selling it to America.

day two hundred sixteen (13. 875)

Predictably Trump and Israel denounce the Nobel Committee’s selection of a civil rights lawyer for the Peace Prize, the American president imposing more sanctions on the International Criminal Court—hoping to blunt the justices’ ability to go after US and Israeli war criminals as it is revealed that the American ambassador in Jerusalem has been actively covering up the extent of death and violence in the West Bank. Meanwhile, unconscionably, Trump announces the lifting of all sanctions on Russian diesel, authorising the sale, delivery, offloading and importation through April 2027. Arranging the deal with Putin (allied with Iran), Trump is desperate to bring prices down just before the mid-term elections and betrays Ukraine by opening up this revenue stream for Moscow to allow them to keep prosecuting the war. Europe condemns normalising trade with the pariah nation and Kyiv responds to this development with continued bombings on Russian refineries, bringing into doubt whether Russian can deliver on the tonnage of oil that Trump speaks off—having earlier blamed Zelenskyy for the supply shortage and now hoping to make his lie ring true. Flooding the market may well backfire, after convincing European allies to dip into their statutory reserves that went no where, NATO members may use this opportunity to replenish their emergency supplies, as well as China, whose largess prevented a worse energy shock. It may also cause an imbalance with jet fuel and the lower profit margins in a global market may dissuade oil producers from ramping up production. At a campaign rally in Syracuse, the American president claims that resolutions are “moving along at a rapid speed” and pledges to “win or settle” the conflicts in Iran and in Ukraine soon. A Saudi-led coalition engages in a major offensive against Houthi forces in Yemen. Iran continues to fire on tankers and the US naval blockade has rerouted ships from the Persian Gulf.

synchronoptica

one year ago:  Nobel Peace Prize goes to Venezuelan opposition candidate (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth the revisit

two years ago: a visit to Himmelpfort and Fürstenberg

three years ago: an episode in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war 

four years ago: AI movie posters plus conjuring Swedish nonsense words

five years ago:  more links to enjoy plus Upstairs, Downstairs (1971)

six years ago: revolutionary China, happy birthday to the Candy Bomber, the moon Triton, the role of sharks in vaccines plus coin-op convenience

seven years ago: Dunbar Number, guerilla advertising plus more on noise pollution

eight years ago: more on Osaka’s Expo’70 plus a shopping cart that gauges one’s mood

 

day two hundred fifteen (13. 866)

Israel forces the closure of the UK consulate in occupied East Jerusalem over sanction threats directed at illegal settlements in the West Bank. Hurricane Isaiah takes a quarter of oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico off-line. Tankers, including those cleaving to the route off the coasts of Oman and Qatar, come under fire, slowing maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a trickle again. Fighting rages between Yemeni regulars and rebels as Houthis launch deadly strikes at Saudi airports. Newly obtained footage reveals the extent of damage sustained to US bases across the Middle East as troops posture towards abandonment and retreat. Despite issuing new demands, including the possibility of compromise of nuclear enrichment, the American president declares he has no interest in making a deal with Tehran and orders the military to prepare to resume hostilities imminently.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth the revisit (with synchronoptica) plus cartoonist Rein Raamat

two years ago: boating on the Röblinsee 

three years ago: spiralling landscapes, vintage text book cover art plus LEGO art

four years ago: the cast of Star Trek in an energy company advert plus Saint Reparata

five years ago:  your daily demon: Raum, Baghdad’s House of Wisdom plus a bi-directional typeface

six years ago: more links to enjoy, Les Misérables (1985), poorly drawn animals plus Trump requires wildlife conservationist organisations to celebrate America’s hunting heritage

seven years ago: visualising Wikipedia updates in real time, Trump abruptly withdraws from the Syria-Turkish border, Call Me By Your Monet, The Million Eyes of Sumuru plus discouraging frivolous lawsuits in the Middle Ages

eight years ago: the degrading web plus calling attention to the problem of space junk

 

day two hundred thirteen (13. 860)

Canadien separatist party wins provincial elections in Quebec—promising another referendum on leaving the nation, but not whilst Trump remains in office. The internationally recognised government of Yemen claims gains in counteroffensive with the Houthis, retaking the port city of Mocha. Washington issues further warnings to foreign financial institutions doing business with Tehran, saying they may be subject to sanctions without notice. Garnering strong denouncement from the state’s governor, Trump intimates that Iran could “take out Los Angeles or San Diego,” maintaining that the pain at the pump is a small price to pay to ensure that the Islamic Republic never obtains a nuclear warhead. At the same rally in Nebraska, the American president brings auto-pen Natalie Harp on stage to sign an impromptu executive order rescinding the federal excise tax on so called red-dyed diesel and allowing any one to purchase it, whereas beforehand, it was the reserve for agriculture. Whilst this manoeuvre may temporarily lower prices by the 24¢ per gallon that government taxes, it does nothing to increase supply or address delivery shortfalls, and perhaps worse than doing nothing, it could create shortages for farmers who use the off-road formulation (it is normal fuel, just coloured to differentiate it from non-tax exempt sales and not at all related to that bizarre hoax a decade ago involving “red mercury” in hopes to extract the mythical substance from antique Singer sewing machines in hopes of miniaturising atomic weapons) during harvest season, stripping the Department of Transportation of revenue for highway maintenance and perhaps increasing prices overall with new demand pressure. Despite the weak US dollar, the euro looses value as contagion fears spread over the French bond market. IDF storms Bethlehem and demolishes homes in East Jerusalem.

synchronoptica

one year ago: US television networks decline request to pre-empt programming to carry a presidential speech from Ford (with synchronoptica) plus aura farming

two years ago: more adventures on the Mecklinburgischer Seeplate 

three years ago: touring the Mainschliefe plus island universes

four years ago: more research in the paranormal plus a 1975 McDonaldland mascot specification manual

five years ago: more streamlined designs,  a unique underpass plus a beloved Soviet cartoon character

 

six years ago: Trump emerges recovered from COVID, fascist nihilism, assorted links to revisit plus the first exoplanet confirmed (1995)

seven years ago: German-American Day

 

eight years ago: more fascist nihilism plus Carter debates Ford (1976)

 

day two hundred twelve (13. 858)

The Revolutionary Guard command claims that US forces in the Persian Gulf have retreated to a distance of a thousand kilometres from Iran’s borders and that the amount of oil transiting the Strait of Hormuz under American naval escort is negligible, pledging that the water will remain closed until Washington satisfies the pre-conditions it agreed to. Israeli developers have diverted water from Palestinian farmers in the West Bank for a tourist attraction called “Herod’s Pools.” The head of the Yemeni government in Aden announces major escalation in fighting Houthi rebels to wrest back control of Bab al-Mandeb. US pulls out B-2 bombers stationed RAF Fairford following arrests in foiled terror plot. The US is closely monitoring a suspected case of the pneumonic plague after the death of a technician in a Siberian research laboratory, fearing a genetically modified strain of the bacteria has escaped containment and prompting travel restrictions. Brazil heads to a presidential run off with polling between challenger Flávio Bolsonaro and incumbent Lula too close to call. A Kelvin Wave caused by El Niño conditions creeps towards southern California and Alaska, expected to raise coastal sea-levels by half-a-metre with a single crest and trough.

synchronoptica

one year ago: graphic designer Mikro Ilić (with synchronotpica) plus assorted links worth the revisit

two years ago: circumambulation plus a houseboat on the Havel

three years ago: a hike through the vineyards of Escherndorf 

four years ago: the tarot of Austin Osman Spare, the world’s mass transit systems plus Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1996)

five years ago: more links to enjoy plus Tubular Bells

 

six years ago: Civilisation comes to American audiences (1970), Athens’ underground, the blessed Rosario Longo, a glass model of the coronavirus, IKEA’s back catalogue plus apologies in good standing

seven years ago: late Thursdays in Germany, more links to check out plus more poetic graffiti

 

eight years ago: an outstanding collection of vintage travel posters, legislating Scotland on maps plus more memorable fonts

 

 

day two hundred eleven (13. 857)

Daytime strikes continue on the Ukrainian capital and another bridge is hit as German chancellor Merz meets with Zelenskyy in Kyiv, a day after Moscow issued a warning that diplomats and foreign nationals face “mortal danger” if they decide to come to Ukraine. Zelenskyy has pledged to step up targeting of Russian energy infrastructure and to avoid civilian casualties, despite this apparent shift in aggression. Houthi rebels hit a Saudi Aramco petroleum facility outside of Riyadh—violent exchanges between the rebels and the internationally recognised government are escalating, the Houthis holding Sanaa whilst the exiled Yemeni federation holds Aden. Tehran’s chief negotiator, talks continuing through intermediaries after Trump rejected out of hand Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week, says that the era of “wasted time and” the US “dictating demands is over” and Washington must fulfil the seven conditions agreed upon in the Islamabad deal from June, reflected in the MoU.

day two hundred nine (13. 850)

According to Trump, European countries, at his bidding, agree to release a “massive amount” of diesel reserves as fuel prices continue to soar worldwide, the American president blaming Ukraine for the supply shortage. EU stockpiles dwarf those of the US (as do China’s) because the bloc requires members maintain a ninety-day emergency contingency, and the energy shock was blunted by Beijing’s decision to tap its reserves rather than buying on the open market and further tightening the stocks and driving up prices even further. The reasons behind this magnanimity remain unclear but EU should at minimum leverage their decision with a demand for ending tariffs or be consulted before casting the world into chaos—or perhaps it’s just like the potash from Belarus deal.  Houthi rebels clash with Yemeni forces in Sanaa as the struggle for control of the country escalates. Iraq is granted an exemption to US sanctions on Iranian air carriers and allowed to administer a limited number of flights between Najaf and Tehran. The supreme court of Israel unanimously overturns the earlier decision by the country’s central elections commission to exclude Arabic parties from the upcoming parliamentary vote.

day two hundred eight (13. 847)

The USS Roosevelt and the Makin Island force with two thousand Marines leaves port in San Diego and heads to the Middle East. Attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a super-tanker is in flames after being struck by an unknown projectile. Israeli settlers in the West Bank steal the olive harvest under the protection of IDF troops. Houthis destroy a power distribution station in Medina and another refinery facility—drawing criticism from the region for bringing the fight to Islam’s holy sites. On the eve of enacting the ban on diesel exports, Trump demands that Europe draw more emergency reserves, adding Iran must act “proper and smart” or they won’t be around very long. Moscow adds that its offer to hold the Islamic Republic’s stockpiles of enriched uranium still stands.

day two hundred seven (13. 844)

During a Hispanic Heritage Month ceremony at the White House (I thought they weren’t doing woke any more), acknowledging the departure of the last US troops from Iraq, Trump issues another ultimatum to Iran to either make a deal or be blown up. Baghdad declares a four day national holiday to celebrate its liberation. Meanwhile, announcing cuts to the ranks, secretary of war Hegseth says that American might has crippled the Islamic Republic. The conflict still deadlocked, Tehran receives a counterproposal for reopening the Strait of Hormuz through diplomatic channels. Iran rejects UK narrative linking them to the foiled plot to attack a RAF Fairford, host to American fighter jet. A hijacker attempts to down an Israel bound flight from Dubai. More tankers receive fire in the Persian Gulf. Houthis target a major Saudi petroleum refinery.

day two hundred five (13. 839)

Iran denies a role in the apparent plot to bomb an airbase in England. Indirect talks between Washington and Tehran continue in New York via Qatari mediators with both sides rejecting reports of compromise—Iran not pausing its nuclear programme and the US not offering sanction relief. The Supreme Leader issues a statement reasserting that Iran is the sole custodian of the Strait of Hormuz. A comprehensive framework for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon stalls at the American department of state, whilst US senator Bernie Sanders calls for an end of military aid to Israel following the state banned Arab parties from elections, disenfranchising Palestinians and leaving them not representation in the Knesset. Netanyahu holds secret meetings with the United Arab Emirates. Russia strikes Ukraine Academy of Sciences as ten-thousand North Korean troops prepare to mobilise. Ebola cases surpass eight thousand in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Europe braces for the next energy shock as fuel prices continue to climb and the US diesel export ban looms. OpenAI scraps the release of its latest frontier model over safety concerns.

day two hundred four (13. 837)

Israeli attacks on Gaza intensify as settlers again storm the Al-Aqsa mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem. Trump’s Board of Peace excludes UNRWA from participation in any future rebuilding plans for Palestine, fulfilling a long-standing demand from Tel Aviv as the country’s far-right finance minister calls for all out war in the West Bank. Following Trump’s rejection of Tehran’s roadmap to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in seven days if Washington honours their promises and continues negotiations in good faith and awaiting reports from intermediaries rather than the American president’s verdict for an official response, Iran is securing alternative overland trade routes with Türkiye and through the Caspian Sea on its northern border. Renewed military action seems a distinct possibility, an inevitably as the US naval blockade of Iranian ports continue and the Islamic Republic claim the seizure of an American autonomous submarine. Five individuals are apprehended plotting a suspected terror attack on RAF Fairford, which hosts US airforce bombers engaged with attacking Iran—Tehran already citing third-country cooperatives as legitimate targets.

day two hundred three (13. 833)

Though smacking somewhat of appeasement, Denmark’s placating of Trump’s ego with the signing ceremony of the Greenland treaty by granting the American president the arrangement that the US has always had since 1951—it is more masterful than at first glance, with one clause, easy to overlook—that it only remains valid if the US remains a member, albeit an unreliable one at present, in the NATO alliance. Reportedly Trump rejects the Iranian offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the US honours the conditions of the MoU, signed by Trump’s own hand at the Élysée Palace back in June, announcing bombing will likely resume in November. We think at least that is what he is saying as, despite a federal injunction against stripping CNN’s and other news outlets White House credentials, Trump is ignoring the order and his statement was unprofessionally captured by an aide under whirling helicopter blades, other agencies in the press pool refusing to cover the president in solidarity. Declaring Iranian airspace closed and diverting all civilian flights, the US is hopeful that Operation Economic Outcast will further squeeze the Islamic Republic into further concessions, and personally benefitting from the chaos jointly with Israel through markets manipulation and stock-flipping to the tune of a couple of billion dollars, the corrupt regime is not motivated for a swift end to the conflict. Rumours circulate in the US military regarding a possible to deployment to the Caribbean and presumably the invasion and annexation of Cuba, emerging just after Trump hosts Xi in Washington—suggesting that action on Taiwan might be imminent and one might be cover for another. We don’t suspect, however, that Trump could keep quiet about such a conspiracy. Denied by the courts his efforts to curtail voting-by-mail—though judges allow the sharing of registries with ICE and DHS to track down non-existent, non-citizen voter—we wonder what the October Surprise will be ahead of elections. To avoid War Powers Act limitations, Trump has already downgraded Iran to a forever conflict, Venezuela went too swiftly, but a hot war with Havana might, in the estimation of the administration qualify as a national emergency to suspend voting. Trump likes to cite Ukraine’s skipped elections, ignoring the fact that it is in their constitution, whilst the US has no such provisions. All of this is just speculation on the internet but in this dumb timeline, we wouldn’t be surprised if in the situation room, someone whispers to Trump, “Mister president, the Germans are on to us.” The US approves a four hundred million dollar weapons package for Ukraine, though no Patriot missiles for the batteries it has been licensed to build, and destroys another Russian oil refinery in Krasnodar, ignoring Trump’s earlier call for a ceasefire on agriculture and petroleum infrastructure.

day two hundred two (13. 830)

Tusk offers financial incentives to Trump to expand American military presence in Poland. Pezeshkian offers to dilute its stockpiles of enriched uranium and allow international inspectors into Iran if the US returns to the conditions of the MoU, Tehran presenting a seven-day roadmap to reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Clashes continue between the Saudis and Houthis. Israel bulldozes more villages in southern Lebanon. The US continues to mull an export ban on diesel fuel. German Bundestag agrees to cut fuel taxes.

day two hundred one (13. 827)

France pledges to send fighters to Saudi Arabia to help repel Houthi rebels as other members of the alliance, Türkiye and Pakistan, join for an emergency military planning meeting . US sanctions on the entire industry force Iran to cancel some international flights. Tehran’s hardliners express anger and disappointment with Araqchi over meeting directly with Witkoff to layout terms for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz while Pezeshkian says Iran wants America to return to the MoU before the midterm elections. Thousands of demonstrators protest the arrival of Netanyahu and the Israeli delegation in New York, calling for his arrest as a war criminal, causing the prime minister to fly home directly after his short speech to the UN. A judge orders that banned news outlets’ access to the White House to be restored as Trump hosts Xi for a lavish state dinner with tech CEOs.

day one hundred ninety-nine (13. 820)

As expected, previewed per a social media post, Trump’s remarks for the UNGA focused less on international issues and touted his domestic record of tremendous winning—tax cuts, the stock market buoyed by his manipulation, immigration enforcement—briefly making the rounds concerning the joint US-Israeli war of aggression on Iran, justifying it as a long ignored threat and promising to “drive them into Hell” if they don’t capitulate and make a deal, the continuing war Ukraine, pledging it will end, “I think, more quickly than people understand,” defending his actions in Latin America including his kidnapping of Nicólas Maduro and laying claim to Venezuela’s oil wealth, attacks on boats in the Caribbean, securing the border with Mexico and crippling embargo on Cuba (prompting the delegation to leave the floor in protest), his agreement with Denmark on Greenland (the signing ceremony follows shortly after his campaign speech), and the hemispheric bombast concluding with a rejection of “globalist scheme” to control AI with an impromptu and unbidden pitch to call the technology “super intelligence.” Trump declined to join former presidents at the quarter-century observance of the anniversary of 9/11 in NewYork City because he was told he could not make a campaign speech, and we wonder why he was given such a platform at the United Nations. The American president’s unquenchable thirst for attention which left several events without live-, mainstream coverage out of journalistic solidarity after banning three news outlets (wire-services pledging not to post pictures or footage until after midnight, hence the file photo of rants from 2018) from the White House acknowledges the presence of CNN cameras during his lengthy tirade, protesting that the network said that wouldn’t be covering him. The reporter responds that, “The United Nations allowed us in, sir.” He really takes the oxygen out of the room. Macron follows as significant sidebars proceed.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica) plus Trump in talks with the Taliban

two years ago: Bilbo Baggins’ birthday, St Mauritius, first contact plus a presidential assassination attempt (1975)

three years ago: more links to enjoy plus a compact galactic grouping

four years ago: MERS-CoV (2012),  the premier of West Wing (1999), Putin addresses the public and announces a draft plus an early Hobbit computer game

five years ago: assorted links to revisit plus Fiddler on the Roof (1964)

six years ago: Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in state, the last day of summer, even more links plus dazzling skylines made of dot-stickers

seven years ago: exploring the Messel Pit plus a highly idiosyncratic language

eight years ago: rehabilitating coral ecosystems with electricity, an AI makes college course catalogues, typhoon naming conventions plus an M-class exoplanet

 

 

day one hundred ninety-eight (13. 818)

Lawmakers is Iran draft legislation to pull the country out of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty whilst issuing stark warnings to the US following Trump’s prognosis of options available for ending the conflict are either total obliteration, economic rot or reaching a deal that suggest a fresh wave of military strikes. Tehran promises to retaliate “without limitations,” the Revolutionary Guard saying that the USA lacks the courage and resolve to defeat the Islamic Republic and the world will be “astounded” by Iran’s new weapons. Just as the White House East Wing renovations and the ballroom were a cover for an apocalypse grade bunker, the American president reveals that he plans for his triumphal arch in the capital to host a den of snipers and drones—ostensibly for defensive purposes but likely to quell riots. Trump sanctions the entire staff AfD secures a bald majority in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern but has no options of forming a state government. IDF carry out strikes in Lebanon’s Tyre district and enter Syria. European jet fuel imports fall by half with serious shortages expected.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica), American Idiot plus a banger from Earth, Wind & Fire

two years ago: Weird Al parodies Bob Dylan with palindromes plus more gerrymandering 

three year ago: grieving the loss of dark skies 

four years ago:  Ba-Dee-Ya, Martin Luther’s German translation of the Bible, more on the US Space Force plus a collection of manhole covers

five years ago: an advertisement for Ivermectin 

six years ago:  the Order of the Smile, The Hobbit (1937), the legacy of colonial goods stores, alternative chess plus wide-scale money laundering

seven years ago: The Far Side returns plus more Earth, Wind and Fire

eight years ago: assorted links to revisit, a sexy Handmaiden costume for Halloween plus Dial-a-Song