day two hundred thirty (13. 919)

Lula da Silva wins an unprecedented fourth term in Brazil’s presidential run-off against Bolsonaro’s son, his opponent refuses to concede. Serbia leader Aleksandar Vučić ousted by student movement, ending his twelve year reign. Israeli shells Gaza and southern Lebanon. Netanyahu warns that Iran may try to interfere with Tuesday’s elections. Trump calls off the attack on Iran as all non-essential staff are evacuated from Saudi Arabia. Tehran calls America’s quagmire the consequence of grave miscalculations from which the country must reverse to extricate itself. Republican representatives panic as they prepare for heavy losses in the mid terms.  Trump attempts to negate Alaskan ballots, saying voters do not know the meaning of incumbent.  Russian attacks on Kramatorsk intensify as Russia lobs super sonic drones.

sterbesurkunde (13. 918)

In the hopes of silencing conspiracy theories that had circulated since 1945 and would so for decades afterwards, on this day in 1956 the district court (Amtsgericht) of Berchtesgaden, with jurisdiction as the Führer’s home of record, declared Hitler officially dead. Following the capture of the Reich Chancellery during the Battle of Berlin, the Red Army secured the remains of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun and directed the NKVD (НКВД, the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs, the secret police and intelligence agency later responsible for carrying out the Great Purge) to carry out a comprehensive post-mortem. Fritz Echtmann, dental assistant, identified dentures and implants as belong to the deceased and collected testimony from other witnesses to the suicide.
At first publishing the details of this fact finding mission and initially sharing it with American counterparts, on orders from Josef Stalin, Soviet commander-in-chief Georgi Zhukov retracted the statements and launched a disinformation campaign, disappearing Echtmann and others present behind the Iron Curtain. In order to disabuse allies from the apparent confusion, MI5 conducted its own investigation, finding Hitler’s last will and testament, marriage certificate and generally corroborating the factual account, though doubts lingered due to the continued detention of important witnesses. The USSR was motivated to maintain these conspiracies in order to justify harsh crackdowns on those within their sphere of influence and suppress democratic reform through the legend of a useful boogeyman. Following their release and repatriation to West Germany, their narratives helped strengthen the case for remit of Hitler’s estate and assets to the state of Bavaria and the municipality of Linz—however, despite all this, the deliberate Soviet obfuscation fuelled alternative narratives well into the 1990s, championed by American tabloids positing notions that the couple were alive and well in Argentina or Colombia or Albania, only dispelled—mostly—with the collapse of the Soviet Union and release of the archives detailing the burial and reinterment of the remains of Hitler and Braun nine times in various locations in Berlin and Magdeburg before cremating them in 1970 with only a few fragments remaining, dentures and some pieces of skull as forensic evidence, with ashes scattered in a tributary of the Elbe.

day two hundred twenty nine (13. 914)

Former US presidents and contenders offered counter-messaging to Trump’s late appeals for GOP campaigns including the Bushes tossing their support to the Democratic candidates in races in Texas and Hilary Clinton describing the American president’s renovations to the White House “looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.” Meanwhile, Trump hints at either a massive attack to “finish the job” or reaching a deal with Tehran, presumably to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, by Sunday. Hundreds of thousands of protesters rally in France amid heightened security and police presence. IDF conducts raids of West Bank towns, subjecting dozens of Palestinian residents to field interrogation and unwarranted detention with demolition of buildings in Hebron. The battle for control of Taiz intensifies as the Muslim world strongly condemns the Houthis for targeting the holy sites of Mecca and Medina in their assault against Saudi Arabia for backing the Yemeni government forces. As many outposts in the region have been abandoned already, the US issues more warnings regarding the safety of personnel assigned overseas and Russia denies reports of having evacuated nuclear scientists from the facilities at Bushehr. Moscow and Kyiv agree to a one-city ceasefire in Oleshky at the bidding of the Pope though Melania “Be Best” Trump tries to take credit, whilst the capital continues to sustain heavy bombardment.

day two hundred twenty six (13. 905)

Meeting with Putin in Moscow, US special envoy lauds the Russian leader as a great humanitarian as talks to end the conflict in Ukraine take place in the background, the EU hinting that Kyiv might cede the Donbass region in exchange for full integration and NATO membership, unverified that such a deal might be in the offing, it is certainly better than the unconditional surrender that the Trump regime has be pushing for months, Ukraine having originally given up its navy and nuclear warheads at the urging of Washington negotiators. Reports emerge that the Starshield throttling was intentional and at the direction of Elon Musk. Russia signals it is ready to reengage in peace talks—to the exclusion of Europe. Iranian foreign minister Araghchi reiterates that whilst Tehran is committed to finding a dignified diplomatic resolution to the war that the US and Israel started, the Islamic Republic will also defend itself without compromise. The Revolutionary Guard announce a new weapon in the Father of All Bombs meant to counter rumbling that Trump is drawing up plans to destroy energy infrastructure with MOABs. Netanyahu issues new threats against the Supreme Leader at a graduation ceremony for military cadets.

no puppet, no puppet—you’re the puppet (13. 899)

On this day a decade ago, during the third and final debate, in response to candidate Donald Trump’s assertion that the Russian leader has no respect for his rival and Democratic nominee, Hilary Clinton shot back: “That’s because [Putin would] rather have a puppet as president of the United States. You encouraged espionage against our people. You are willing to spout the Putin line, sign up for his wish list, break up NATO—do whatever he wants to do. You continue to get help from him because he has a clear favourite in this race.” Clinton sought to blunt the fallout of the hacked cache of emails from the Democratic National committee posted online by Wikileaks—disclosing donors’ financial information and showing the party actively undermining the campaign of Bernie Sanders in favour of the former first lady, senator and Secretary of State, a theft that seventeen intelligence agencies concluded that was likely carried out at the behest of Moscow, though Trump rejected that US spy services knew who was behind it, repeating a line from the first presidential debate that it was probably some “four hundred pound hacker” in a basement somewhere that was responsible. The publications, released in separate tranches, also eventually included the controversial raw version of the Steele dossier, the unfinished political opposition report, of kompromat that the Russian government had on Trump.

synchronoptica 

one year ago: a selection of French horror movies (with synchronoptica), largest gold nugget discovered (1872) plus Stop Making Sense (1984)

two years ago: the Cin script, the British India Ocean Territory and the loss of its top-level domain plus images of passengers going through a car-wash

three years ago: Pomp & Circumstance (1901) 

four years ago:  St Frithuswith, Take on Me plus assorted links worth revisiting

five years ago: more links to enjoy

six years ago: font founder Ed Benguiat plus the Hochrhönstrasse

seven years ago: a coffee substitute,  Europe’s long distance walking trails, lizard people, the maps of Alexander von Humboldt, an unusual session of Parliament plus a corner office

eight years ago: more grammatical non-errors

day two hundred twenty four (13. 898)

Trump maintains that Moscow is “doing very little—if anything” to help Iran militarily. Tehran, ahead of Israeli elections, claims Netanyahu seeks to expand fighting in the region in a campaign message that scolds America and the broader world for complaining about energy prices. Retreating from five month highs marginally, the cost per barrel of diesel falls after Washington pauses sanctions on Russian exports but the stunt fails to make a dent in the price at the pump, unclear if Russia can even deliver and afford to divert from the war effort in Ukraine. Trump accuses Zelenskyy of prolonging the conflict for political gain. Fighting in Yemen rages as Houthis move to capture Taiz and air raid sirens blare across Saudi Arabia and the Egyptian parliament votes on whether to join on the side of Riyadh. Macron urges the press to make a distinction between protesters and vandals as more than twenty four hundred are arrested in France as rallies spread to Spain and Portugal over high living costs.

day two hundred twenty three (13. 893)

The US sanctions Cuban banks for financial dealings with Iran—the US secretary of state also defending the pause on the embargo for Russian diesel, arguing it will offer global price relief. Tehran denies it is behind the Houthi insurgency in Yemen and attacks on Riyadh and has repeatedly offered to mediate talks with Saudi Arabia as a reconnaissance helicopter is downed in Najran and drones strike eastern provinces. Ahead of Monday’s independence referendum, a major fire breaks out at a military base in Alberta as Carney accuses Washington of trying to break Canada. A series of drone attacks on ships in the Black Sea bring war closer to NATO coastlines. Protests continue across France with looting and arson and thousands of arrest as students demonstrate against quality of educational opportunities, cost of living, the historic town hall of Limoges set ablaze. Ukraine hits oil facilities in the port of St Petersburg as Russia continues to target bridges and roads in Kyiv.

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 seventeen (13. 878)

Shrugging off resounding criticism over his diesel deal with Russia—which is only for about two days worth of consumption—by allies and even members of his own party, Trump elevates his stab in the back for Zelenskyy, threatening to stop intelligence sharing with Ukraine if they don’t stop destroying Russian refineries and suggesting that the country needs a leadership change. At a campaign rally in Tennessee—in what should be a GOP stronghold but has come into play with the disastrous administration—the American president tells the crowd, ”I could say the dumbest thing and you would still clap,“ to thunderous applause. The original MoU having expired on Monday, negotiations between Washington and Tehran remain deadlocked, Trump falsely claiming that direct talks are occurring with the Revolutionary Guards regarding surrender. Hurricane Isaias batters the US gulf coast, leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity and threatening to severely disrupt US petroleum production in the corridor corresponding to the cone of predictably.

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 sixteen (13. 870)

South African jurist who fought apartheid and called out Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Navi Pillay, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Saudi Arabia suspends commercial air traffic following deadly attacks on the capital’s airport by Houthi rebels as forces vie for control of the Yemen. The Revolutionary Guard strike more tankers attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz. Hurricane Isaias intensifies en route to US gulf coast. Former German Chancellor Gerhardt Schröder attends Putin’s birthday party as the scope of the treachery at the BND is still unfolding.  Secretary of war Hegseth announces that the execution by firing squad of the former US army major who killed thirteen fellow soldiers in 2019 will be live-streamed for the public. Trump reverses his earlier calls to bomb Iran before the midterms, the American president now saying he will wait until after the elections.

day two hundred fourteen (13. 864)

The second largest oil refinery in Venezuela catches fire. Ukrainian drones disable a large petroleum processing facility in Sochi.  Amid intense fighting and both sides vie for control of the Yemeni highlands, Houthi rebels target several Saudi-Aramco oil fields. Whilst oil flows have nearly recovered to pre-war levels, exports falter as attacks on tankers in the Persian Gulf continue and the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed. Crude prices again climb over a hundred dollars per barrel. Despite the flagging bond market and the self-imposed energy shock, the US stock market, buoyed up only by a buying frenzy in AI-related technologies, reaches all time highs. The dismantled US Centres for Disease Control, under the leadership of RFK Jr, is monitoring the Russian plague risk as two hundred individuals in Siberia quarantine.

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 ten (13. 852)

Hegseth announces that US troops will get a day off to call their in the upcoming midterms—federal workers are granted up to three hours of administrative leave (down from four hours) whilst the rest of the voting public do not receive any allowance to exercise their democratic right. Pressure mounts for another referendum in the UK to annul Brexit and rejoin the EU as polls reveal over half of voters of all political persuasion support reentry into the single market. Russian airstrikes on bridges in Kyiv causes traffic chaos, whilst Putin attempts to convince the world that NATO is about to impose a blockade on Kaliningrad. Students in Paris riot over planned cuts to the education budget. Pope Leo puts out a missive in Latin as a withering takedown of AI. El Niño causes massive flooding in Thailand, the waters not receding and turning the streets of Bangkok into stagnant lakes, with speculation that the weather formation may mean there is no hurricane season in the Atlantic this year. More tankers are attached in the Strait of Hormuz. Revolutionary Guards spokesperson says that Tehran’s weapons-building capacities are fully restored and have reached maturity, in accordance with operational requirements, whilst the South Pars gasfield achieves peak production. Market analyst recognise Trump’s pressuring of G7 members to release strategic diesel reserves as a mere delay tactic which may provide temporary, nominal relief (if at all) and fails to address underlying structural problems and further erodes consumer confidence. IDF continues to terrorise Gaza, the West Bank and neighbours in southern Lebanon.

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.