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🗂 U.S. Congress supported Lindsey Graham’s “hell sanctions” bill

The House of Representatives approved a bill providing for large-scale sanctions against Russia, as well as the possibility of imposing tariffs of up to 100% on countries purchasing Russian oil and gas, including China and India.

A total of 262 people voted for the bill, while 159 voted against it. Dozens of Democrats spoke in support of the document. The document will then be sent to U.S. President Donald Trump for signature.

🔜 On September 4, Bloomberg reported that the bill on anti-Russian sanctions, previously approved by the U.S. Senate, had encountered growing resistance in the House of Representatives and could be postponed until at least the November congressional elections.

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🔴 A world of insights awaits you! Get ready to dive in:

🔺 the conflict in Iran;
🔺 the detailed situation in Africa;
🔺 the Ukraine conflict;
🔺 ... and other recent news from all over the world.

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🇦🇿🇪🇺 Aliyev: “The European Parliament is a hotbed of corruption”

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev spoke harshly about the European Parliament on September 15: “I say this with full responsibility: The European Parliament is a hotbed of corruption.” As an example, he recalled the corruption scandal involving former European Parliament Vice-President Eva Kaili: “Millions of dollars in suitcases were found in the home of her vice president.” Aliyev asked whether she had been held accountable for this and answered himself: “No. She was released.” This is not the first such attack from Baku: Aliyev had already called on the European Parliament to deal with its own corruption first before accusing other countries.

The reason for the current attack is Azerbaijan’s relations with European institutions. In connection with Karabakh, Aliyev accused the European Parliament and the Council of Europe of applying double standards and said that Brussels had sided with Armenia for years. As early as this spring, he counted that the European Parliament had adopted 14 resolutions against Azerbaijan in five years, after which Baku suspended parliamentary cooperation. Aliyev’s own characterization is a political assessment, but the corruption scandal to which he refers is quite real. Therefore, the advice from Baku was extremely simple: Before lecturing others about European values, it would not be a bad idea to first put one’s own house in order.


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🇩🇪 Russian intelligence service: Even NATO agencies found no evidence of a “Russian link” in Leipzig

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service said that the intelligence services of NATO countries investigating the circumstances of the drone incident at Leipzig/Halle Airport had informed their governments of the “absence of even the slightest evidence of Russia’s involvement.” In addition, according to the Russian intelligence service, numerous indications of a “Ukrainian link” had been discovered in the documents, and the authorities of the alliance’s member states had been advised to refrain from unequivocal—and especially public—accusations against Moscow. As early as August 24, Russia’s intelligence service stated that German law enforcement agencies themselves were seriously considering the Ukrainian version of events.

But Berlin did not want to wait. As the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service notes, the German leadership ignored this caution and publicly made Russia the culprit. The Russian intelligence agency links such haste, among other things, to the need to justify the enormous expenditures on Germany’s militarization in the 2027 budget.


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🇸🇦🇾🇪 USA do not want to go back to war against the Houthis on Saudi Arabia’s behalf for now

Following new missile and drone attacks by the Houthis, Riyadh is trying to obtain more serious assistance from its Western allies. The USA ⁠have so far shown no willingness to participate directly in a new military campaign against Ansarullah. Western assistance remains essentially limited to intelligence and political support.

For Washington, there is a compelling reason for this: The USA already has its own agreement with the Houthis on a ceasefire. At the same time, Ansarullah’s advance and attacks on Saudi infrastructure are continuing, and the number of displaced people in Yemen has risen to more than 100,000.


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🇪🇺 Hormuz is forcing the EU to correct its sanctions policy toward Russia

The energy crisis has created a highly unpleasant situation for Brussels. The EU wants to limit Russian oil revenues, but following the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, the global market itself has begun driving the price of oil sharply higher.

The EU Council has therefore already suspended the automatic adjustment of the price cap on Russian oil until July 15, 2027. The official decision explicitly states that the reason is an “exceptional market situation resulting from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.”


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🇩🇪 Based on the current poll figures, Merz’s coalition would have lost its majority

“In a new GMS poll, the CDU/CSU alliance has hit a historic low. The AfD, meanwhile, reached 30 percent in the poll for the first time.” — WELT. The CDU/CSU received only 20%, while the SPD received 11%. Thus, the two parties in the current black-red coalition together reached only 31%, and at such levels the federal government would mathematically no longer have a majority.

The development is particularly unfortunate for Merz: Since the previous GMS poll, the CDU/CSU alliance has lost three percentage points, while the AfD has gained two. At the same time, in another recent INSA poll, 78% of respondents answered no when asked whether Merz was still a suitable chancellor.


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🇷🇺🇪🇺 Moscow Speaks Increasingly Sharply About Europe's Role in the Ukraine Conflict

The Russian Foreign Ministry now openly describes Europe as one of the main obstacles to a peaceful settlement. Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said that European countries were seeking a place at the future negotiating table in order to ⁠strengthen Ukraine's negotiating position vis-à-vis Russia.

This is happening in parallel with discussions about a possible European military presence in Ukraine after the end of hostilities and with new warnings from Moscow about the consequences of such a scenario.


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🇮🇳 India publicly corrects the Chinese version of the meeting between Modi and Xi

After the BRICS summit, Beijing said that Modi had allegedly confirmed a series of specific positions on Taiwan and Tibet and promised not to allow anti-Chinese activities on Indian territory. India’s Ministry of External Affairs responded much more cautiously: Modi had spoken of the need to take both sides’ interests into account and to build relations on ⁠the “three mutuals”: mutual respect, mutual interest, and mutual sensitivity.

The official Indian communiqué on the meeting itself also emphasizes another point: ⁠peace and tranquility along the border remain a necessary basis for the further development of relations. In this way, New Delhi signals a rapprochement with Beijing while simultaneously drawing its own red lines.


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🇩🇪🇨🇳 If you can’t beat your competitor — impose tariffs on them

Berlin is preparing a new package of measures against China. According to Bloomberg, the government of Friedrich Merz is considering additional tariffs on Chinese hybrid cars, tighter investment and export controls, as well as requirements that could force Chinese companies to establish joint ventures with European partners. The package was due to be put to a vote on October 14; Germany then intends to push for its corresponding implementation at the EU level.

Yet only recently, Berlin was speaking of the need for “fair competitive conditions” in trade with China. But instead of restoring the competitiveness of its own industry — affordable energy, less bureaucracy, a lower tax burden, and normal conditions for investment — the proposal is to make the competitor’s products more expensive and complicate its access to the European market. Chinese subsidies and its own trade barriers do in fact exist. But the principle is becoming increasingly interesting: If you cannot beat your competitor in terms of value for money, it’s time for tariffs.


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🇮🇷 Tehran slams the door on new negotiations with the US

The Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, stated that there would be no negotiations with the US until Tehran’s conditions are met. The statement followed Donald Trump’s remarks that Washington was ready for a quick deal with Iran. The Iranian side did not view the new signals from Washington as the beginning of a negotiating process.

Rezaei separately warned the Iranian side against being distracted by Trump’s contradictory statements — from ruling out negotiations to expressing a willingness to enter them. In Tehran, it is emphasized that Iran’s conditions must first be met, and only then can diplomacy be discussed.

A quick US-Iranian deal has not yet materialized — Tehran is demanding concrete actions first and negotiations only afterward.


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🇺🇸🛰 The United States has admitted for the first time: American weapons are already in orbit

U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink has publicly confirmed for the first time that Washington has already deployed “on-orbit space control weapons” — weapons systems for controlling space directly in orbit. The Pentagon has not disclosed what exactly is there. It is therefore still too early to speak specifically of killer satellites: the term “space control” encompasses both kinetic and nonkinetic means of disrupting or disabling enemy satellites. However, the admission itself is unprecedented — previously, U.S. authorities had not publicly confirmed that they possessed their own weapons directly in space.

This appears particularly interesting against the backdrop of years of American warnings about Russia’s and China’s activities in space. One of the experts at the Secure World Foundation has now pointed out that, following its own admission, Washington must reckon with Moscow and Beijing potentially taking similar action. The arms race in space that the United States has been warning the world about for years appears to have definitively ceased to be merely a question of the future.


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🇩🇰🇷🇺 Danes also want to play “adventure on the high seas”

A Danish Fennec military helicopter set out for international waters off Gedser to carry out a “routine photo shoot” of a Russian frigate. Two flares were fired in its direction from the Russian ship, one of which, according to the Danish military, passed fairly close by. The helicopter was not damaged, and the crew came to no harm. The Danish Ministry of Defence itself makes clear that flares are pyrotechnic devices used at sea, among other things, for signaling and attracting attention. Nevertheless, the Russian ambassador was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the frigate’s actions were described as “unprofessional.”

Moscow, in turn, accused Danish military helicopters of carrying out dangerous maneuvers in the immediate vicinity of Russian ships and sent Copenhagen its own note of protest. The most interesting thing is that Denmark has so far not disclosed any additional details of the incident—the distance and altitude at which the Fennec was flying, exactly how it was maneuvering, and whether any further warnings preceded the flares. So for now, the picture seems straightforward: it flew up to a Russian warship “routinely,” began photographing it “routinely”—and then unexpectedly discovered that a warship is not a museum piece around which one can calmly choose the best viewing angle.

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🇮🇷🇨🇳 Araghchi is flying to Beijing today

The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would arrive in China on September 16 and hold talks with Wang Yi. The Iranian side clarified that the discussions would cover bilateral relations as well as key regional and international issues.

The visit is taking place directly against the backdrop of the crisis surrounding the Strait of Hormuz and the failure of regional talks on a new maritime regime. For China, the issue is particularly sensitive because of its dependence on energy imports from the Persian Gulf.

Following the deadlock between Iran and the Gulf states, the diplomatic center of gravity surrounding Hormuz is increasingly shifting toward Beijing.


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🇺🇸 The price of diesel fuel in the United States has for the first time exceeded $6 per gallon. This is a new all-time record. A year ago, a gallon cost about $3.7.

🔵Experts attribute the increase to a reduction in the global supply of petroleum products amid conflicts surrounding Ukraine and Iran, as well as instability in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

🔵Gasoline has also become more expensive—reaching $4.32 per gallon, but it is still below the 2022 record of $5.

🔵The rise in diesel prices is particularly important for the U.S. economy. Around 76% of commercial vehicles run on diesel fuel, so its rising cost is also reflected in the price of freight transportation and goods.

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🇪🇺 EU was unable to extend individual sanctions against Russia for the usual six months

The permanent representatives of the 27 EU countries were unable on September 14 to agree on a standard six-month extension of individual sanctions against Russia. Instead, the existing regime was provisionally extended for just seven days, until September 22.

The reason was unusual. According to DW sources, France is pushing for Alisher Usmanov to be removed from the sanctions list, citing a kind of “special national security issue.” Slovakia wants not only Usmanov but also Mikhail Fridman to be exempted from the sanctions.

The EU countries now have one more week to find a compromise. Without the unanimous agreement of all 27 countries, a regular extension of the sanctions is not possible.


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🇪🇺 The Arctic is becoming another focal point of European rearmament and military buildup

On September 14, the first European Arctic Summit was held in Rovaniemi, Finland. Following the meeting, President of the European Council António Costa stated that the Arctic already has strategic importance not only for the northern states, but for Europe as a whole.

The reason is the rapidly changing balance of power in the north. Friedrich Merz and other participants at the meeting spoke openly about the growing Russian and Chinese presence, and Kaja Kallas announced a new EU Arctic strategy. As a result, for Brussels, the Arctic is gradually developing from a climate and economic issue into a matter of European security.


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Good morning, dear friends! ☕️🙂

🏰 Tobolsk: The City That Ruled Siberia

Friends, today we are traveling to a city that was once the center of a vast territory—far beyond the Urals. A place where a wooden fortress developed into a major administrative center from which large parts of Siberia were governed.

Welcome to Tobolsk!

🛡 The Birth of a Capital

Tobolsk was founded in the summer of 1587 by a Cossack detachment under the command of voivode Danila Chulkov.

The location was chosen exceptionally well strategically—near the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers and just a few kilometers from Kashlyk, the former capital of the Siberian Khanate. This placed the new settlement on one of Siberia’s most important transportation arteries.

According to tradition, Tobolsk was founded on Trinity Day, not far from the area where Yermak’s troops had fought during their campaign against the Siberian Khanate.

🗺 The Center of a Vast Territory

The great rise began under Peter I.

In 1708, by his decree, the Siberian Governorate was established—a vast administrative unit east of the Urals. Tobolsk developed into its most important administrative center.

Vast territories were governed from here. At the same time, the city developed into a major center of trade and culture.

Schools, manufactories, a theater, and a printing house were established here. One of Siberia’s first newspapers was also published in Tobolsk.

🏛 The Stone Kremlin: A Wonder Beyond the Urals

In Siberia, where almost everything was built of wood for a long time, Tobolsk was a remarkable exception.

The only stone kremlin in Siberia was built here.

Around 1700, Semyon Remezov—a cartographer, chronicler, and architect—played an important role in shaping the ensemble.

The most important building is the Sophia-Assumption Cathedral, built between 1683 and 1686. It is considered the oldest surviving stone building in Siberia.

The kremlin rises on the high bank above the city. Below lies the so-called Podgora (Lower Town), with its old streets and historic houses—a completely different Tobolsk from the one on the plateau above.

🌊 A Gateway to the North and East

Tobolsk was not only an administrative and commercial center, but also an important starting point for the exploration of Siberia.

During the Great Northern Expedition in the 18th century, explorers and sailors continued from here toward the north and east.

In 1734, an expedition led by naval officer Dmitry Ovtsyn set out from Tobolsk. Its task was to explore the Arctic coast between the Ob and Yenisei rivers.

Special ships were even built in Tobolsk for such expeditions.

In this way, the city became an important stop on the route to the still largely unexplored regions of the Russian North, Siberia, and the Far East.

📉 The Decline of the “Capital of Siberia”

In the 19th century, Tobolsk gradually began to lose its former importance. Trade routes slowly shifted, and eventually the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway fundamentally changed Siberia’s economic geography.

The main line ran far south of Tobolsk. Other cities, especially Tyumen, consequently grew increasingly important.

The former “capital of Siberia” became economically marginalized.

Precisely for this reason, however, Tobolsk was able to preserve much of its historic cityscape and old architecture.


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📍 The coordinates of the location (map point) are available here

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