day two hundred (13. 823)

Whilst acknowledging that Iranian leadership did meet with Washington through Qatari and Pakistani intermediaries on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Tehran maintains it did not compromise on any of its demands. Pezeshkian delivers a defiant message—calling his country a “victim of terrorism” from the US and Israel, the American delegation storming out during the Iranian president’s address after holding up pictures of students killed in the Minab school attack. Argentina’s Milei slams the United Nations’ critical stance against Israel over Palestine, calling it a useless organisation filled with “useless parasites” and claiming their condemnation condones the genocide of Christians in Africa and reiterates that the Falklands are Argentine, stating that self-determination does not apply for a population implanted by an occupying power. Trump’s Board of Peace tries to signal progress and update the international community its recovery plans for Gaza. Syrian president al-Sharaa, taking the podium, lashes out at Tel Aviv over the expansion of the Golan Heights occupied territory and continuing attacks along the buffer zone, administered by the UN, prompting Israel to reassert its claim to the annexed land seized in the 1967 war. Meanwhile, Trump is hosting Xi in Washington and talking AI and trade, according to US secretary of state, Ukraine and Russia are interested in a limited ceasefire with respect to grain and petrol, whilst Trump imposes a ban on diesel fuel in hope of lowering sky-rocketing prices, the move unlikely to bring about relief at home and more pain for those downstream. Trump also formally invites Putin to the G20 in December to be held at his golf course outside of Miami. Greenland has already said its peace.  Zelenskyy has yet to enter the conversation.

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-seven (13. 815)

Ukraine bombards Moscow with hundreds of drone strikes on the final day of its elections for the Duma, angered that ballots were sent to illegally annexed territories. It is day one thousand six hundred seventy for that conflict. Two weeks after AfD strong results in Saxon-Anhalt, Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern go to the polls with the chancellorship of Friedrich Merz hanging in the balance. Through Qatari and Pakistani mediators, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei conveys its conditions for resuming talks with Washington (only for reopening the Strait of Hormuz), demands including the unfreezing of Iranian assets, lifting the naval blockade and an immediate end to fighting on all fronts, to include Lebanon. Saudi forces attempt to repel Houthi attacks on the capital. Tehran rebuffs claims by US treasury secretary Scott Bessent that the sanctions of Operation Economic Outcast are working and that Iranians are queuing for hours for petrol, calling his propaganda baseless lies and projection as American filling stations report shortages, all time high prices and airlines cut marginal domestic routes. Bucking concerns that accelerated deployment of the technology could kill us all, Trump pledges to create an “AI Force” and appoint an artificial intelligence czar, whilst also proposing to rename it Eloquent Intelligence.

day one hundred ninety-two (13. 795)

Trump claims that Ukraine and Moscow have agreed to refrain from striking each other’s energy infrastructure—Zelenskyy contradicts this truce. The American president, harking back to phrases used months earlier asserts that Tehran wants to make a deal quickly and badly, adding he will determine whether or not the USA will choose to engage, “the concept of which we are open to.” Iran denies it had any role in the destruction of a key Saudi pipeline, connecting the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf overland through Riyadh and conveying five percent of the world’s oil supply. Trump’s supreme court rules against restrictions on mail-in voting ahead of the midterm elections. Canada becomes an affiliate member of the European Union in terms of trade with talks of greater integration on the table.

day one hundred ninety-one (13. 791)

Trump blames Ukraine for high diesel prices and demands that Zelenskyy stop bombing Russian refineries. Putin rules out meeting with Kyiv during the G20 as a Russian drone strikes a passenger train two kilometres from the Polish border, as another train carrying Boris Johnson and other EU officials passes going the opposite direction. Houthis take Yemeni government strongholds of Taiz and Marib. Israel unveils its plans to split the occupied West Bank, sever East Jerusalem from the rest of the territory and the cohesion needed for a future state. Tehran and Muscat postpone talks with gulf states regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as traffic again slows to a trickle, until a time more conducive of negotiation presents itself. Tel Aviv threatens to revoke filmmakers’ citizenship over Gaza documentary as the American president dismisses calls for an AI pause from tech leaders.

day one hundred ninety (13. 789)

As deadly Russian strikes hit all corners of Ukraine, Zelenskyy offers to meet with Putin at the upcoming G20 conference to be held in Miami. Moscow disinters the remains of a fourteenth century sainted warrior prince Dmitry Donskoi, who expelled Mongol-Tartar forces from western Russian, and distributes the relics to all corners of the country to boost the war effort. Iraq seizes an Iranian drone launching platform used to disable the Saudi East-West pipeline. The US navy attacks an Iranian commercial vessel near Qeshm Island, killing one crew member. Yemeni government forces exchange fire with the Houthi in attempt to wrest back control of the Bab al-Mandeb chokepoint in the Red Sea, the rebels having taken the strategically important island of Perim. A parliamentary spokesperson says that the Islamic Republic will withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and revise the doctrine for its programme accordingly. Tehran and Muscat reach agreement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz but there will be no action taken until the US proves that it will comply with the terms of the MOU. Visiting the taoiseach, Trump advocates for a united Ireland.  The IDF continues to shell southern Lebanon. A documentary on Israel’s use if artificial intelligence to target Palestinians in Gaza receives a twenty-five minute long at its debut at the Venice Film Festival. Anthropic restricts Iran’s use of Claude under the aegis of Operation Economic Outcast, saying it used the chatbot to spread propaganda and spy on dissidents.

day one hundred eighty-six (13. 776)

Maritime drone wars between Russian and Ukraine disrupt Black Sea shipping. Immediately following the departure of US special envoys from the capital, Moscow orders heavy strikes on Kyiv. The US and Iran exchange fire over the Strait of Hormuz and the plan for the shipping corridor again disintegrates and tankers are sunk, sending oil prices over one hundred dollars per barrel. The Revolutionary Guard claiming hits on America naval destroyers and bases in Jordan after the destruction of eight of its commercial vessels. All member states of the EU issue condemnation of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

day one hundred eighty-four (13. 771)

Iran announces a restricted zone surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, still settling in for a long war despite sustaining heavy attacks from the Americans, saying the era of proportional response is over. Tehran lifts its ban on social media use by government officials to allow them to address the people directly and refute the narrative of the Trump administration. EU sanctions North Korean reeducation camps where Russia sends kidnapped Ukrainian children. Though Kyiv calls for new trilateral talks after Kushner and Witkoff‘s audience with Putin, former ambassadors do not see any purchase for a breakthrough. Trump contemplates renaming the state of New Mexico to New America. IDF bombards southern Lebanon as Palestinian farmers fight settler saboteurs to save crops in Hebron. AfD wins in Saxon-Anhalt fall short of majority and cannot form a government without coalition support.

day one hundred eighty-three (13. 769)

With economic indicators like the better than expected jobs numbers and crippling inflation pointing to a need to increase interest rates, Trump (sporting a new coif apparently) threatens his newly minted chair of the Federal Reserve that if he does not comply and reduce rates, the American president will embargo countries that have a trade surplus with the US and suspend all economic activity—as an alternative to the reciprocal tariffs declared unlawful. The US fires upon at least six tankers headed towards Iranian ports—confirming by the numbers its new tit-for-tat policy of striking an Iranian affiliated ship for every commercial vessel or US asset targeted by Tehran, the Revolutionary Guard attacking a US naval warship enforcing the blockade. Netanyahu orders the IDF to bomb Qatar, labeling it a hostile state. Special envoys Kushner and Witkoff, despite their terrible track records, hold a late night meeting with Putin to discuss ending the war with Ukraine—in time for the midterms. AfD is poised to take over state government of Saxon-Anhalt as more suspected acts of sabotage against Germany‘s power grid are narrowly thwarted by authorities—Russian agents are thought to be behind the attacks. The US justice department pauses cooperation with the government of Canada.

day one hundred eighty-two (13. 767)

The Norwegian Sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, announces it will divest itself of US treasury holdings as the American debt crisis presents as a more and more likely scenario. Diesel in the States surpasses the brief previous record high after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian strikes hit Ukrainian security services headquarters in Kyiv—prompting Washington to dispatch its favoured fail-sons, Kushner and Witkoff, to Moscow to de-escalate the situation and propose a peace deal. Sea drone warfare intensifies in the Black Sea. After expropriating Venezuela’s oil, Trump returns to the Donroe Doctrine of hemispheric dominance, resuming attacks on fishing boats with chatter about an assault on Cuba. Argentina sanctions oil production in the Falklands, proposing a Hong Kong-style handover of the UK territory. The Pentagon subjects fifty staff members to polygraph tests over supposed leaks concerning the progress of the war in Iran. Seventeen tankers assemble on the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz to attempt passage under US naval escort. The American president repeats the threat from July to strike Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain (Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La) the site of the heavily damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility. The administration is pressuring Turkish banks to join Operation Economic Outcast, insisting this request is not a judgment on the NATO ally.

day one hundred eighty-one (13. 765)

US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick retracts his statement that no Americans have been killed in the Iran war, acknowledging that eighteen US service members have died in the line of duty. Vice president JD Vance announces that an investigation will take place over the deaths of individuals at a wedding party in the village of Kuhestak killed by a US airstrike but remains skeptical of Iranian claims. Further, Vance adds that talks will not resume until attacks on ships stop. Though not openly engaged with Tehran militarily, Israeli prime minister Netanyahu says that overthrowing leadership remains the main objective six months into the joint-US war of choice against the Islamic Republic and that that goal is within reach—at the same time accusing the opposition political party as traitors seeking to topple their own government—not as strong as Trump calling journalists “treasonous scum” for questioning US military readiness. Through the threat of drone attacks, Ukraine is dominating Russian airspace and causing severe disruptions to civilian plane traffic.

day one hundred seventy-eight (13. 758)

Trump vows hard strike on Iran following first exchange of fire in a month after US military personnel in Jordan come under assault in retaliation for strikes on sea-mining operations on Larak island. IDF soldiers advance towards Damascus. At the invitation of treasury secretary Scott Bessent and the American president, the Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov attends the G20 hosted in Asheville, North Carolina, marking the first time since the start of the war on Ukraine that the pariah state had been given a seat at the table of the economic summit. Siluanov was not allowed to take part in the tradition group photo and instead posed with Bessent alone at the insistence of the other finance ministers. Separately, Putin reportedly expresses fear he will be defenestrated should he fail to win his war.

day one hundred seventy-six (13. 752)

With overtures for the annexation of Greenland unabated, Iceland prepares to vote on a referendum to restart the accession process for EU membership. Though not as consequential as the US decision to not support continued British control of the Suez Canal which ended the Empire, the Trump administration is threatening to withdraw support for UK sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) if Prime Minister Burnham does not increase defence spending, presumably with the purchase of US weapons systems. Trump’s friendship with with Argentine president Javier Milei probably has more to do with than actual plans to take claim the archipelago for America—probably, but the announcement which cites the need for a review of allies’ commitment to NATO coincides Russian threat to the UK for providing weapons to Ukraine. Ottawa neighbourhood Central Park, whose streets are named after NYC attractions and personalities, to rename one designated in honour of the real estate developer twenty-five years ago Taco Avenue. Violent settlers besiege locals in the West Bank town of Qusra and an Israel drone attacks a hospital in Gaza.

day one hundred seventy-three (13. 738)

Trump’s CIA director mysteriously appears in Moscow. In a limited ruling, the US Supreme Court allows the administration to curb use of mail-in ballots ahead of the mid-terms. Oman and Iran outline their plan to restore safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz whilst the American president claims the waterway is fully demined as his economic warfare unfurls, chief Iranian trade partner China (the only other nation to refuse Trump’s deals) strongly denouncing the threat of secondary sanctions. Canada, not demurring from their own trade war—attacked and not of the their choosing—compiles a list of targeted tariffs to match dollar-for-dollar US designed to apply pressure to MAGA majority regions in hopes of swaying GOP dominated districts to rethink their tacit support for these policies, deferring on energy exports for the time being cognisant that a tariff is a tax domestically and not wanting, like Iran’s politically savvy restraint—or Ukraine pausing attacks on the Russian capital during the US intelligence chief’s visit (the only reason why the secret flight is known about), to too quickly expend sympathy and solidarity.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica), the burial site of Richard III plus another executive order from Trump

two years ago: more links to enjoy plus a visit to Hermannsfeld  

three years ago: the quandary of creation plus the Great Moon Hoax (1835) 

four years ago: colour television in Germany plus even more links

five years ago: Rashomon (1950), Saint Genès, a fictionalised rivalry, assorted links worth the revisit plus a complete cheese presentation guide

six years ago: Voyager I leaves the Solar System (2012), more links to enjoy, standards for casks and barrels plus a Downing Street double

day one hundred seventy (13. 729)

Iran doubles the bounty on US soldiers for women who kill or capture them un the event of a ground invasion. NATO is said to be exploring options to ensure freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. As countries around the world shrug off Trump call for solidarity and economic warfare, the American president, cryptically and confusedly, suggests that the US military could be enlisted—somehow—to offset loses in the bond markets, global skepticism in the future solvency in the country that makes it more expensive to finance its debt, possibly intimating that the armed forces could become mercenaries for hire for third-party conflicts. The US only other option for leverage against Iran, having painted itself into a corner, would be to sanction Chinese banks and small, independent “teapot” refineries that import Iranian oil, but ahead of Xi’s planned state visit to the US, it does not seem like a palatable course of action—strong-arming has gotten them nowhere. France pledges delivery of air interceptors to Ukraine after deadly waves of Russian attacks. Canada hits America with a retaliatory tariffs as trade war escalates. Washington removes Syria from its list of states sponsoring terrorism after fifty years following a congressional review and hints that Damascus might play along with the embargo against Tehran.

day one hundred sixty-eight (13. 724)

Iran‘s deputy minister for foreign affairs calls out Washington on Trump’s naming his next defeat, scrambling to marshal his ill-treated allies to join against the Islamic Republic, whose military has been already destroyed numerous times reportedly and whose economy has sustained the full American arsenal of sanctions, threatening to unleash economic “D-Day“ on any country that engages in trade or commercial activity with Tehran—specifically bullying Seoul into submission by hinting at abandoning them to North Korea.

China also rejects this strategy as the Caspian corridor emerges as a new lifeline between Russia and Iran. US public debt has surpassed forty trillion dollars. Carrier group the USS George Washington arrives in the Persian Gulf to relieve the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Somali pirates captured an oil tanker transiting the Red Sea and have redirected the ship to the Horn of Africa. Dozens are killed in air strikes in Kyiv as Ukraine faces munitions shortages.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: the evolution of a logo (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links to revisit  

 

two years ago: cellular pathology plus vice president Nelson Rockefeller 

 

three years ago: Wattstax (1965), Greta Thunberg’s first school strike for the climate (2018) plus more links to enjoy

four years ago: touring a working mine 

five years ago: Davy Jones becomes David Bowie (1965), more miniatures from Tatsuya Tanaka plus even more links

six years ago: posting to the trot, self-appointed supervisors, an attempted coup in the Soviet Union (1991) plus ravens leaving the Tower of London

day one-hundred fifty-four (13. 693)

After a series of intense bombardments of Kyiv, Ukraine hits back with more attacks on Wildberries fulfilment centres and petroleum refineries deep inside Russia, confounding its ability to finance its war. US secretary of state Rubio and UK foreign minister Milliband emphasised their shared commitment to open shipping channels and preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Houthis stage a violent coup against the recognised Yemeni government as the movement announces expanded military operations. The Strait of Hormuz is reported of the verge of being reopened as Tehran and Muscat agree upon the coordinates of the route for the transit chokepoint. Whilst Trump, excluded from the negotiation process maintains that he would much rather reach a deal with Iran rather than resume the US offensive, Netanyahu, ahead of elections, hints at unilateral action to prolong and undoubted escalate this costly and illegal joint undertaking.

synchronoptica 

one year ago: the Vostok 2 mission (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth the revisit

two years ago: a 1963 surf-rock banger, chess notation plus presidential candidate Kamala Harris introduces running-mate Tim Walz

three years ago: Stay by Lisa Loeb (1994) plus born this day in 1911, Lucille Ball 

four years ago: the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire (1806) plus more links to enjoy 

five years ago: Klaus Nomi, Ghanaian heraldic standards plus Olympic trivia

six years ago: Trieste street photography, anime Spongebob plus caveat scriptor

day one-hundred fifty-one (13. 686)

In retaliation for strikes on cargo ships in the Caspian, Iran says it was ready to attack Ukraine but reconsidered and called off the strikes. Despite having just walked back his latest threats to allow for negotiations that Tehran denies were even on the table, Trump says that the Islamic Republic now has its last chance to make a deal or surrender and face total “decapitation”—again. Iran reiterates its refusal to negotiate under duress and the blockade of its ports against the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding, repeating it is only in talks with Oman over the administration of the Strait of Hormuz. The Trump White House makes a deal with defence contractors to restock the dwindling supplies of Patriot and THAAD missiles.

day one-hundred forty-eight (13. 678)

Kyiv is pummelled by Russia raids as Ukraine awaits promised permission from the US to produce their own Patriot air defence batteries, America expressing some reluctance now over releasing the licenses. As rhetoric intensifies, both Washington and Tehran threaten to attack vital infrastructure in gulf nations hosting America bases, oil fields, refineries and commercial assets and bridges, highways and power plants in the Islamic Republic, the latter in Trump’s sites speaking during a cabinet meeting called at Camp David, the US president whilst admitting Iran did have a few missiles left, was militarily defeated: “All you can do is keep winning, and the eventually something will happen.” Houthi rebels deny accusations that they plan to place tolls on passage to the Red Sea, insisting that the Bab el-Mandab strait will remain free. The Revolutionary Guard disables more tankers attempting to cross the Hormuz as US naval forces hold the blockade on Iranian ports. Fifty thousand migrants in the span of twenty four hours attempt to enter the exclave of Ceuta through Morocco as the EU moves to suspend member Spain from the Schengen free-movement zone to control immigration.

day one-hundred forty-six (13. 669)

Following an impassioned appeal by Zelenskyy, who was in Washington for the funeral of Lindsey Graham (as was Netanyahu), the US senate passes landmark sanctions on Russia. American and Saudi forces launch strikes against Iranian affiliated targets in Iraq. Ukraine hits more Russian bound Iranian cargo ships in the Caspian Sea, calling them indirect combatants. China is accused of supplying Iran with shoulder fired missile launchers. US Central Command announces joint AI working group in partnership with the UAE, the task force called Talon Synapse aimed at integrating artificial intelligence in military applications and cyber security. Negotiations still stalled with Trump claiming some “good” talks, the US president threatens Tehran with a fresh wave of strikes on civilian infrastructure if no deal is reached.