Moscow put a German carnival artist on trial for making fun of Putin. His response? Three new Putin floats rolling through Dusseldorf at the Rose Monday carnival.
One shows Putin impaling a tiny jester โ who strikes back with a cardboard clapper.
Another has Putin steering an AfD drone. The third: Putin and Trump eating Europe together.
"It is only made of cardboard, it can't kill," said Jacques Tilly, who faces up to 10 years in Russian prison.
He called it "a propaganda trial of a totalitarian regime" and says the verdict is probably already decided: "many, many years in a labor camp."
Other carnival satire targets included German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Jeffrey Epstein as a papier-mache devil, and Trump harassing the Statue of Liberty.
๐ https://t.co/aPBp8iLyvn
BREAKING: The U.S. is now directly posturing for a large-scale attack, with intense Air Force activity across the Middle East and particularly near southern Iran.
At least seven U.S. aerial refueling tankers are operating over the Persian Gulf, while an MQ-4C Triton conducted a reconnaissance flight just hours ago. Iranian media is also reporting unidentified fighter jets over Bandar Abbas, though the claim has not been independently verified.
The activity comes directly after Iranโs Central Military Command warned it had intelligence indicating possible renewed U.S. strikes and threatened retaliation against American bases and interests across the region.
Tankers are surging. Reconnaissance aircraft are active. Unknown jets are reportedly over southern Iran. Tehran is warning of an attack.
NEW: Yemeni government-aligned forces are reportedly repelling Houthi attempts to advance on several fronts in southwestern Yemen on September 13. The current fighting between the Houthis and government forces takes place three days after the Houthis seized a significant stretch of Red Sea coastline near the Bab al Mandeb.
The Houthis do not appear to have made any significant advances towards Ras al Ara or further into Lahij Governorate since September 12. Forces affiliated with the internationally recognized Yemeni government, including the Southern Giants Brigades and Homeland Shield Forces, appear to be repelling Houthi attempts to advance east.
The Houthis are also attempting to advance along multiple axes through mountainous territory in Waziyah and Shamayatan districts. ROYG forces have repelled several Houthi attempts to seize villages in these districts, according to local media. Houthi control over this terrain could reinforce Houthi positions along the coast while also contributing to the Houthi effort to isolate the city of Taiz.
The Houthis have also continued to bombard Taiz City with missiles and artillery, including through significant pressure on the cityโs eastern flank. Government forces briefly closed the cityโs eastern entrance after Houthi artillery damaged it. Houthi reinforcements from Ibb are reportedly moving towards al Hawban, east of the Taiz.
A Houthi projectile damaged several buildings in al Tuwal, near the Saudi-Yemeni border, on September 13. The attack is part of the broader Houthi effort to raise political and economic costs for Saudi Arabia by targeting oil infrastructure and military positions in Saudi territory. Consolidated Houthi positions along the southern Red Sea coastline could also improve Houthi capabilities to pressure Saudi Arabia by more effectively enforcing their blockade on Saudi ports and vessels.
ISW-CTP will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as events warrant.
Iranian forces struck another ship as it transited the US-secured lane in the Strait of Hormuz tonight -UKMTO
Locals reported multiple explosions coming from the Strait tonight.
The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. officials have linked high resolution satellite imagery obtained by Iran from Chinese entities to the July 17 Iranian missile strike on Muwaffaq al Salti Air Base in Jordan that killed three U.S. troops and wounded several others. The below video from Muwaffaq al Salti Air Base first surfaced within hours of the attack.
The officials did not identify the Chinese entities or allege that the Chinese government was directly involved. They say Iran obtained imagery both before and after the attack, and that the finding is the clearest evidence so far of Chinese support having lethal consequences for U.S. forces. China has rejected the allegations and demanded proof.
The report also says that U.S. officials are also concerned Chinese assistance could be helping Iran track American naval forces. That concern comes as Iran's ability to target moving U.S. warships has appeared to improve during recent attacks.
The Trump administration has previously sanctioned Chinese satellite companies over imagery it said could be used to target U.S. forces. The latest finding comes ahead of a planned Sept. 24 meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Source: https://t.co/JPqjuSWPdd
Trump abandoned Saudi Arabia, refusing it help in the fight against the Houthis
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called Trump twice and asked him to join the strikes against the Houthis, but the White House refused.
At the moment, the United States is providing only intelligence support and does not want to enter a direct conflict.
Previously, Saudi Arabia believed it could handle the Houthis on its own, but the situation has changed sharply.
The Houthis, with Iranian support, are conducting a determined offensive against government forces, aiming to capture all of Yemen and, above all, the strategically important access to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The Yemeni army is fleeing and is not putting up serious resistance to the Houthis.
Oil has risen to its highest level since May, and the Kremlin is already rubbing its hands with satisfaction.
๐ซCLAIM: Iranโs Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed in a recent statement that strikes by U.S. forces to prevent the IRGC from placing mines in the Strait of Hormuz were an โact of aggression.โ This claim is absolutely FALSE.
โ FACT: U.S. forces took limited, precise action against IRGC minelaying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz. In essence, Iran created the threat and the U.S. military eliminated it to protect civilian mariners, commercial shipping, and the free flow of global commerce.
The Prime Minister of Ukraine has acknowledged that an ammo depot exploded near Kiev.
โ"The terrible tragedy in Vishneve [where a missile depot recently exploded] has not served as a lesson," commented Koretsky, referring to the explosions with detonations near the Zhytomyr highway.
โช๏ธThe Prime Minister of Ukraine called the repetition of the same mistakes in the fifth year of the full-scale war "criminal negligence" and demanded that law enforcement agencies take immediate action and strictly punish all those responsible.
โช๏ธRescue workers, police, bomb disposal experts, and emergency services are continuing to work at the scene.
โช๏ธNew videos of the massive fire at the exploded depot near Kiev are emerging.
MORE: Iran is facing an acute fuel crisis, which has been exacerbated by the US naval blockade. ๐งต(1/3)
The lack of trade during the war has also led to shortages in foreign currency and basic goods, causing hyperinflation, all of which have reduced Iraniansโ purchasing power and deteriorated Iranโs economic conditions.
๐ท๐บ Vladimir Putin:
ABD geรงmiลte en aฤฤฑr askerรฎ mรผdahalelerini, kendi topraklarฤฑndan binlerce kilometre uzakta ve Birleลmiล Milletler Gรผvenlik Konseyi'nden herhangi bir yetki almadan gerรงekleลtirdi. Yugoslavya'yฤฑ hangi gerekรงeyle bombaladฤฑlar? Yugoslavya nerede, ABD nerede? Bir Avrupa baลkentini vurma hakkฤฑnฤฑ onlara kim verdi? Kendileri karar verdiler, mรผttefikleri de peลlerinden gitti. Uluslararasฤฑ hukuk anlayฤฑลlarฤฑ bundan ibaretti.
Irak'ฤฑ iลgal etme gerekรงeleri neydi? Kitle imha silahlarฤฑ. รlkeye girdiler, Irak'ฤฑ yฤฑkฤฑma sรผrรผklediler, uluslararasฤฑ terรถrizmin yayฤฑlmasฤฑ iรงin uygun bir ortam yarattฤฑlar ve ardฤฑndan, โฤฐstihbaratฤฑmฤฑz bizi yanฤฑlttฤฑ.โ dediler. Bir รผlkeyi yerle bir ettikten sonra bunun bir hata olduฤunu sรถylediฤinizi dรผลรผnรผn: Ortada kitle imha silahฤฑ yokmuล.
Peki Suriye'ye nasฤฑl girdiler? Birleลmiล Milletler Gรผvenlik Konseyi bunlarฤฑn herhangi birine yetki verdi mi? ฤฐstediklerini yaptฤฑlar. Ancak Ukrayna'da yaลananlar bizim iรงin binlerce kilometre uzakta deฤil; doฤrudan kapฤฑmฤฑzฤฑn dibinde. ลunu anlamalarฤฑ gerekiyor: Bizim artฤฑk geri รงekilebileceฤimiz baลka bir yer yok.
Days before the start of large-scale combat operations against Iran in late February, President Trump summoned his Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to the Oval Office in order to ask her if a war with Iran would work and successfully topple the Islamic Regime, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Gabbard outlined running assessments from the U.S. intelligence community, telling Trump that killing Iranโs supreme leader would likely usher in a more hard-line regime open to acquiring nuclear weapons, while the IRGC would rush to close the Strait of Hormuz, destabilizing the global energy market, and strike U.S. forces and partners across the Middle East.
The UK Ministry of Defense has discovered that the Royal Navyโs new fleet of spy drones, being operated by elements of the Royal Marines since March, have been secretly transmitting information from the droneโs primary camera to China, according to an investigation from The Telegraph.
Components of the camera on the K3 Scout, a 27-foot-long multirole uncrewed surface vessel (drone boat) built by Kraken Technology in the United Kingdom, were produced in and secretly transmitting data to a device in China. An investigation into the drones revealed that the cameras were transmitting โheartbeat communicationsโ โ data to confirm they were online and functioning normally โ to an IP address in China.
๐จ The Supreme Court has issued its judgment in the birthright citizenship case. The Court held that children born in the U.S. to parents present unlawfully or temporarily are citizens at birth.
Despite President Trump's announcement, the United States did not seek rehearing.
1/ President Alexander Lukashenko's unscheduled two-day meeting with Vladimir Putin is attracting interest and speculation from Russian commentators. Unusually, there has been no official comment about what was discussed, nor even a photo of the two leaders meeting. โฌ๏ธ
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐-๐๐๐๐๐๐
The Institute for the Study of War reports that IRGC Commander Major General Ahmad Vahidi and his inner circle have ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ over not only Iranโs military response but its ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง-๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ as well.
This confirms what the world watched in real time: Foreign Minister Araghchi announced the Strait was open, and ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ขโ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ก๐ฎ๐ญ, fired on oil tankers, and called Araghchi an โidiotโ on state media.
The diplomats have been sidelined. The IRGC is running the show. And ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ขโ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐โis now the one making calls on war and peace.
๐๐ซ๐๐งโ๐ฌ โ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐๐งโ ๐ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ง๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ค. ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐จ๐๐โ๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ซ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ.
๐๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ @๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐๐ต๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐ฅ๐บ๐ฐ๐ง๐๐ข๐ณ
โChina is very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz. I am doing it for them, also - And the World. This situation will never happen again. They have agreed not to send weapons to Iranโฆโ - President Donald J. Trump
๐ฒ๐พ Malaysia just seized two tankers caught doing illegal ship-to-ship oil transfers in the Malacca Strait, the same waters where Russian and Iranian crude quietly changes hands out of sight.
The U.S. blockades Hormuz. Malaysia cleans up the backdoor.
The shadow fleet is having a very bad week.