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 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 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

 

 

international day of peace (13. 819)

Originally declared back in 1981 to occur on the third Tuesday in September, marking the opening session of the United Nations’ General Assembly, then amended from a moveable feast to a fixed date on 2001 when the UNGA was scheduled to begin early, Secretary General Kofi Annan issuing the annual decree on 10. September: “The International Day of Peace started with such a dream. It was proclaimed 20 years ago by the United Nations General Assembly, at the initiative of Costa Rica. This year, at the initiative of Costa Rica and the United Kingdom, the Assembly decided to go one step further. It declared that the International Day of Peace should be a day of global ceasefire and non-violence. This step promises to be more than symbolic. Where respected, it will have practical effect. Where truces are observed, medical and developmental agencies can provide vital services to civilian victims in safety. And even a one-day pause in the fighting gives us something to build on in the work to end conflict. On this International Day of Peace, let us dare to imagine a world free of conflict and violence. And let us seize the opportunity for peace to take hold, day by day, year by year, until every day is a day of peace,” the day prior to assembly’s start on 11. September, preempted by the 9/11 terror attacks just blocks away from UN headquarters. To inaugurate the occasion, the Peace Bell is rung, a bonsho donated to the infra-national body by Japan in 1954, cast from coins and medals contributed by world citizens, melted down and tolled for peace on 21. September, and on 21. March, Earth Day, in hopes of better stewardship of our shared home. Both observances ring a bit hollow right now. The belfry is in the style of a traditional Buddhist blossom temple. Alloy includes bullets, military badges and nine gold pieces given by Pope Pius XII. The foundation which originally proposed the forging of such a symbol presented a replica to San Marino in 2019 in recognition of its history of being the oldest republic in the world and pacifism. Honorary bell-ringers include Margaret Mead, NYC mayor David Dinkins, Aye Aye Thant as well as secretaries-general and presidents of the assemblies.

day one hundred ninety-four (13. 806)

The Trump administration relents on its earlier effort to prevent the Iranian delegation from attending the upcoming UN General Assembly, granting visas to the ombudsmen, though Palestinian attendance is still blocked. Following a fact-finding mission by the United Nations, preliminary evidence suggests that the joint Israeli-US offensive constitutes war crimes with the indiscriminate targeting that lead to civilian death and the destruction of non-military infrastructure. The sweeping sanctions bill against Moscow crafted to pressure countries buying Russian oil lingers on the president’s desk awaiting his signature, whilst Trump harshly criticises the European Union for making Canada an associate member, calling it an act of aggression and threatening more tariffs—Carney in turn says that Canada picks its own partnerships. Petrol and diesel prices soar in Europe. After the Revolutionary Guard attacks a Togolese flagged tanker under US naval escort, Trump weighs “annihilating” his foes. Skirmishes between Saudi and Houthi forces intensify.

day one hundred sixty-nine (13. 726)

Trump says that he already considers the Strait of Hormuz part of the US as the world balks against the America president’s push for all nations to join in on imposing economic sanctions on Iran or face severe consequences—Iran calling it a global “declaration of war” and undermining sovereignty. Trump further requests another meeting with Kim Jong Un though Pyongyang denies that there are any talks of talks scheduled. A special UN rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories condemns the IDF as “most immoral” following the latest killings in the West Bank by violent settlers and the killing of police officers in Gaza. Houthis claim more drone hits on Saudi oil facilities and airports. Though no oil tankers have transited the Persian gulf in days, the US spins a counter-narrative, suggesting either wholesale detachment from reality or shuttling a shadow fleet. The Panama Canal limits traffic due to low water levels caused by El Niño as inland shipping across Europe falters due to drought conditions.   As Canada refuses to acquiesce to all of Trump’s trade demands, the US re-imposes a fifty-percent tariff on exports, Trump opines that Iran is desperate for a deal but not the right deal just yet.

day one-hundred forty-one (13. 649)

Dragged into the next forever war, the UN chief and Chinese government sounds alarm over the situation quickly escalating out of control. After the thirteenth consecutive night of raids on Iran, Trump threatens that a “massive attack” is coming soon plus consequences for the Houthi rebels for blocking the Bab al-Mandab strait. Tehran declares states outside of the Middle East hosting US military in Europe and the UK to be legitimate targets. After consulting with his police force, Mamdani concedes that as mayor, he cannot apprehend the Israeli leader should he visit New York, but expresses hope that the US will enforce the International Criminal Court arrest warrant. Washington says that as part of its nuclear deal, Riyadh must recognise Tel Aviv and establish diplomatic relations.

day one-hundred thirty-eight (13. 641)

Middle Eastern nations are on high alert has hostilities continue to flare, the Revolutionary Guard declaring that Iran is in a state of all out war as US forces strike the southern cities of Shiraz and Tabriz and western Azerbaijan province. Sirens blare across Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar as more ballistics fall. Trump repeats his vow that the deaths of service members will be avenged many times over with secretary of state Rubio accusing Iran, rather obviously, of using its control of the Hormuz as “leverage against the world” whilst calling on other countries to share the burden of protecting global shipping. US fighter jets based in Germany are to be stationed at Israeli air force stations for safety. New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani speculates on the possibility of enforcing a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court—of which the US is not a signatory—should Netanyahu visit for a UN summit in September to the outrage of the American president, saying that the Israeli prime minister will in “no way, shape or form be arrested” and extradited. After a Riyadh-led occupation of the airport of the Yemeni capital of Sanaa to prevent Iran from sending aid to the rebels, the Houthi declare access to the Red Sea cut off to Saudi Arabia. US peacekeeping operations begin in southern Lebanese “pilot zones” as part of the trilateral peace agreement with Tel Aviv. Hamas names new political bureau chief, Khalil al-Hayya.

day one-hundred twenty-two (13. 583)

Without irony, US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz proclaims that Iran is holding the world economy hostage by its violations of the Islamabad MOU, whilst US permanent representative to NATO Matthew Whitaker says that the alliance has moved past operational frictions in the Middle East and is ready to demonstrate and deliver on defence alignment and spending ahead of next week’s summit in Ankara. Iran holds funeral services, a multi-day mass for the country’s leaders killed in strikes on the Khamenei compound at the start of the war at the end of February. Revolutionary Guard troops clash with Kurdish rebels in the far north of the Islamic Republic.

day one-hundred seventeen (13. 561)

US strikes Iranian military facilities after an apparent drone attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz caused the UN to abandon evacuation efforts—Tehran and Washington establish a direct line of communication, a red phone to prevent incidents that could potentially escalate into military conflict. Trump characterised the victories of democratic socialists supported by New York mayor Zohran Mamdani as a win for “ruthless communism” after sabotaging a rare bipartisan bill aimed at addressing the housing crisis at the last second by refusing to attend a signing ceremony after the stage had been set—calling the proposal very “Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren-centric” and affordability was a low priority compared with his voter-suppression legislation he is insisting congress pass, potentially further alienating himself and the GOP from the issues faced by the American public. Lebanon, Israel and the US agree on a trilateral framework to stop the violence at the border as talks continue. Saudi Arabia restarts refinery operations after a four-month pause.

dolus specialis (13. 414)

Having recently learned much more than our previous passing familiarity with the figure of Paul and Essie Robeson and his subsequent erasure from history from a cross-over episode of This American Life from the podcast Our Ancestors Were Messy (I strongly recommend listening), we appreciated this addendum—courtesy of Kottke—in this historic snapshot of good trouble with Robeson leading a delegation of the Civil Rights Congress to indict the US government before the United Nations with the charge of genocide perpetuated after the civil war with Jim Crow policies of segregation and disenfranchisement. A copies of the book-length petition were delivered to UN headquarters in New York as well as Paris, but manoeuvres by the United States, preoccupied with the Cold War, prevented formal debate of charges brought forward or even entertaining public discussion—supporters and signatories of the document were further persecuted and blacklisted, accused of exaggerating racial inequalities in order to advance the cause of communism. The title refers to the application of specific, deliberate intent to destroy a group in whole or in part under the UN’s own definition of the crime against humanity.

day fifty-nine (13. 389)

The US unwilling to continue direct talks, Iranian foreign minister Araghchi met with Putin and his counterpart Lavrov in St Petersburg to pursue a separate peace for the region and reached a preliminary settlement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for maritime traffic, leaving the nuclear question tabled until a later time. Tehran for its part is criticising Washington for its reluctance to engage in dialogue and calls out seizure of Iranian flagged ships and the continued naval blockade as piracy. The UN, whilst welcoming the Russian-Iranian detente, said there was no legal basis for imposing tolls on vessels transiting through the international waterway. As the state visit of Charles and Camilla begins to heal the rift in UK-US relations, allies are still critical of America’s lack of strategic direction and that stalled negotiations benefit no one, America forgetting that about the enemy’s vote and veto. Clashes between Hezbollah and Israel continue in Lebanon.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronopticæ) 

twelve years ago: Worker’ Memorial Day 

thirteen years ago: advances in fusion technology, a trending hairstyle, the Frankonian athem plus a visit to Steinheim by Hanau

fifteen years ago: tornados in Germany 

sixteen years ago: vacationing in Istanbul 

unsg (13. 375)

With auditions for the leadership role only governed by custom and consensus and not specifically enshrined by charter, rotating by region after each five-year term (though the length is also discretionary and upheld by the office-holder, subject to renewal) with Latin America due for the turn and reserved for the middle-powers, by tradition members from the Security Council excluded, few have this session have put themselves forward for the job of United Nations secretary-general, only four candidates compared with the thirteen contenders under consideration during the selection process of 2016. At a time when norms have been proven insufficient to contain imperial ambitions, particularly with the US allowing a magisterial presidency, record numbers of veteran senators and congressional representatives retiring—which whilst not a universal condition, the home-grown breach in ceremony is an export—in response to that power imbalance, the influence of the UN ill-equipped to mediate the divide between world powers, blocked by permanent members who have vetoed stopping the fighting in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran (whom also reserve the right to overturn a nomination by the general assembly for leader), the position appears rather thankless. The frontrunner, Michelle Bachelet, former Chilean president and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is already facing opposition from the American delegation over her gender and purported extremist agenda.

day fifty-one (13. 366)

With the rapidly degrading situation in the Middle East, yesterday merited a post-meridian post-script but we wanted to wait for an update to see how the renewed tensions played out, especially with pending peace talks and the weekend running out of runway. Israel accused Hezbollah of breaching the ceasefire in Beirut, including a deadly attacked on UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, created in 1978 to enforce withdrawal of Israelis from the country, its mandate renewed several times) peacekeepers and, meanwhile in Gaza, whose station has not improved, two UNICEF aid workers by IDF occupying forces. The Revolutionary Guard Corps has reasserted control over the Strait of Hormuz, closing it to commercial traffic with two India tankers taking light arms fire, in response to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports a day after declaring the waterway open. This move likely dashed the hopes of investors and bettors hoping to capitalise on the earlier positive turn for in the markets, besting the US administration at their game of stock manipulation and privileged information. Convening an emergency meeting in the White House situation room, Trump said that unless there was a significant breakthrough in peace negotiations—again not yet scheduled, Iranian deputy foreign minister Saaed Khatibyadeh insisting that a framework must be agreed upon, workable by both sides in the face of America’s unrealistic agenda, before talks can take place—he would resume airstrikes on Iran, bombardments already having killed over thirty-four hundred civilians. Trump went golfing afterwards.

day forty-seven (13. 352)

As the the US announces that it will not extend the pause in sanctioning Iranian oil at sea and the blockade continues of the Persian gulf, Trump hints that negotiations could resume within the next couple of days in Islamabad, urging the Tehran delegation to stay put with JD Vance saying a grand bargain is in the offering which would make the country thrive in return for giving up its nuclear ambitions. European nations are working on an independent plan to open the Strait of Hormuz without the involvement of belligerents. Talks between the Lebanese government and Israel take place on the sidelines as the world roundly condemns the killings of more UN peacekeepers and the targeting of healthcare workers in the Beirut suburbs and over a million residents remain displaced, those remaining fearful that a coup is being stoked for their nation dragged into the conflict.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Great Seattle Windshield Pitting Panic (with sychronopticæ) plus the Gleichschaltung 

 

thirteen years ago: Germany reacts to Russian oppressive and regressive social policies 

 

fourteen years ago: rubbish superpowers plus Olympic demands

 

fifteen years ago: a proposed giant see-saw for Berlin 

 

sixteen years ago: data dressing 

 

seventeen years ago: a slow day for blogging 

incendiary rhetoric (13. 328)

Emboldened and perhaps over-confident by the derring do of rescuing the crew of a downed fighter jet after claiming that they had secured Iranian airspace, after claiming that Tehran’s ability to produce a nuclear weapon had been obliterated in last summer’s targeted strikes and demands that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which was open until the aggression of America and Israel, Trump has been giving the country a preview of what is store short of capitulation hours from now, lamenting that a “whole civilisation will die tonight.”Such a lecture from a nation preparing to celebrate its semiquincentennial—it’s not: from the time that Britain decided to cut its loses in September 1783 to the outbreak of the civil war in April of 1861 is seventy-eight years and from that truce until now is arguably a continuum of one hundred sixty years and change—is not a welcome one for a civilisation of six millennia. Stone Age indeed. Trump goes on to muse: “However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter and less radicalised minds prevail, maybe something revolutionary wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?” Regardless of the outcome, Israel has declared that southern Lebanon is a separate theatre and will continue to persecute action against Hezbollah in the south. During second round of deliberations, Russia and China rejected UN coordinated involvement in taking the vital artery, declaring a protected mandate and Trump has been roundly criticised for telegraphing his intent to commit war crimes, whilst Israel in parallel and ahead of schedule has blown up bridges and railways used by the Revolutionary Guard. En route to Hungary to campaign for Victor Orbán, US vice president JD Vance commented that the American military has tools at their disposal not yet used, prompting speculation by the press that the US may use the nuclear option with the administration forcefully condemning any such interpretation.

day thirty-six (13. 320)

Permanent members of the UN security council France, Russian and China have rejected the Bahraini proposal for military intervention to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as some ships are granted safe passage, including Japanese and French flagged vessels—unclear what negotiations are taking place. Tehran rejects a US request for a forty-eight hour Easter armistice as a rescue mission is underway for the pilot of a crashed advanced F-35 E fighter jet that originated from RAF Lakenheath brought down in Iranian territory by a missile. Following a massive joint US-Israeli airstrike on the campus of Iran‘s premier university, Trump reminds that time is running out on his extended ultimatum, promising that unless shipping lanes are restored ”all hell will rain down on them—glory be to God!“

synchronoptica

one year ago: music from the Meat Department collective (with synchronopticæ), assorted links worth the revisit plus an appreciation of Bob Fosse

thirteen years ago: camouflage for facial identification 

fourteen years ago: taxation treaties plus a solution for the eurozone currency crisis

fifteen years ago: the toll of unemployment 

day thirty-five (13. 319)

As the United Nations security council debates a Bahraini resolution to safeguard commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf, Iran is working with Oman to draft peacetime protocols for a toll scheme and the supervision of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the passage already open for Russian and Filipino tankers. US army chief of staff Randy George was dismissed and forced into immediate retirement, and Trump fires attorney general Pam Bondi, saying she is transitioning to a “much needed and important new job in the private sector” as his cabinet reshuffle continues. The White House accidentally uploads a speech by Trump given to a private audience of guests during an Easter luncheon, admitting his monarchical aspirations, frustrations and impatience, admitting that there is no money left daycare or healthcare subsidies, which should be made a responsibility of state governments.  The video was taken down but not before it was widely circulated. Targeting civilian infrastructure, the US claims responsibility for destroying the largest bridge in Iran following threats days before to bomb the country “back to the stone ages” if no deal is reached, despite ongoing confusion about negotiating parties.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronopticæ), Mars attacks, US tariff rates set by AI plus poor pronunciation

twelve years ago: proto-Putin Verstehers plus spy vs spy

thirteen years ago: the Red Army Faction and the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon 

fourteen years ago: UK debates restrictions on freedom of movement plus justice for those subjected to force labour building railways for the Nazis

 

9x9 (13. 308)

ruina montium: an striking landscape in Spain created by the ancient Romans fracking for gold—via Miss Cellania  

13 ｘ 7 = 28: Abbot and Costello try to meet their sales quota—via MetaFilter 

i’m your hell, i’m your dream—i’m nothing in between: a linguistic and semantic history of the term bitch 

anatoly kolodkin: US waives sanctions to allow Russian tanker to deliver crude oil to Cuba  

coalition of the willing: recalling the legacy Icelandic PM Davíð Oddsson of committing the nation to the unjustified invasion of Iraq in 2003, juxtaposed with contemporary Spain  

cocktail nation: Spy Vibe’s regular segment on swank vintage soundtracks  

lip-filler accent: influencers inform the way we speak—via Nag on the Lake, see also  

gigo: AI is an accelerant for academic fraud, selling papers and citations to pad one’s portfolio  

unoosa: a profile of the director of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs who alerts the world of impending asteroid impacts