/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 13:41

🚢 Global shipping rules are collapsing, say maritime nations

The rules governing global shipping are breaking down, the world’s largest maritime nations have warned, disrupted by wars and a growing shadow fleet that operates beyond western oversight.

The shipping industry has for decades been protected by laws that ensure free navigation and the neutrality of commercial vessels, but the collapse of those principles is posing a severe risk to global trade, according to a group of 18 shipping superpowers.

“Without maritime trade, supply chains would fragment and the global economy as we know it would come to a sudden halt,” the group said in a statement published on Tuesday.

The battle to control the Strait of Hormuz, the Covid-19 pandemic and the shadow fleet created as a result of US, EU and UK sanctions are not “episodic shocks” but “signals of a structural shift in the operating environment of global trade”, said the Consultative Shipping Group, whose members represent more than a fifth of global trade by tonnage.

The statement is the first public intervention from the CSG since it was established more than 60 years ago. The group’s members include Greece, Singapore, Denmark, Japan, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands and South Korea.

“Shipping routes are increasingly instruments of leverage and risk,” the CSG warned, adding that recent events show how “fragile” the system of maritime trade can be.

Brian Wessel, director-general of the Danish Maritime Authority, which chairs the CSG, told the FT the seafaring nations made this rare statement because of deepening concerns about the fragmentation of the maritime sector and the undermining of standards set by the International Maritime Organization, the UN body that regulates the shipping industry.

“For decades, we have built global trade on the assumption that ships can move freely across borders. That assumption is now under pressure,” he said.

“The global level playing field [and] the global regulations that we’ve made for many, many years in the IMO have been taken for granted,” he added.

Because of their role in global trade, vessels have become an increasingly prominent target and pawn in geopolitical machinations.

Russia, Ukraine, the US and Iran have all hit civilian shipping targets during conflicts this year, while the vulnerability of maritime chokepoints has been underscored by Iran’s efforts to try to establish a fee-paying regime in the strait.

https://unwall.app/www.ft.com/content/c6517e52-b855-487c-8408-7071936cf3b0?syn-25a6b1a6=1

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 13:19

🇺🇸 Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works advanced projects division has shared all new information about its stealthy Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) type drone design named Vectis, which it first unveiled a year ago. One of the most intriguing details is the true nature of its air inlet configuration, pointing to the premium on survivability the Skunk Works has placed on its CCA offering, especially when compared to other CCA designs.

Vectis has a far more exotic, deeply recessed “submerged” top-mounted air intake than was originally disclosed when Vectis first came out of the shadows. This further underscores the heavy emphasis Skunk Works says it has been placing on its CCA’s ability to stay undetected and live to fight another day. Vectis is also the first tailless CCA design we have seen from a U.S. manufacturer.

Check out the Skunk Works’ new Vectis video below, and read more about the design here:

🔗 https://www.twz.com/news-features/everything-we-just-learned-about-the-vectis-collaborative-combat-aircraft-from-the-skunk-works

🔗 @thewarzonewire

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 12:48

🇺🇸⛽️ The US diesel crack spread (i.e., refining margin) is now sitting above $111/bbl (vs Brent), the highest level on record.

The industrial workhorse fuel is currently trading at roughly $220/bbl, more than double the price of prompt crude futures.

@CIG_telegram

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 12:21

🇪🇷🇦🇪🇮🇱⚡- "The UAE is pursuing port imperialism across Africa. The UAE has port facilities everywhere in the region, and African countries have to ask why. Is it just for economics? No.

We didn’t want [UAE's] DP World [in Eritrea]. We do not want any foreign power to have a hub in Eritrea.

We have to ask why Israel is running to control the Horn of Africa? Why do they need a base in Somaliland? The UAE and Israel have already converged on Somaliland. [Ethiopian Prime Minister] Abiy Ahmed has a two-waters strategy like Israel. Only for him it is from the Nile River to the Red Sea [referring to Israel's expansionist policies from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River].

We decided we didn’t want their [Israeli] embassy here. We are not antagonistic to Israel, but we just decided we didn’t want any relations," - Osman Saleh, Eritrea's Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Note, UAE's DP World and AD Ports have stakes in ports in Egypt, Tanzania, Somaliland, and Puntland.

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 04:49

🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🚷 Everyone Can See the Problem in Texas | The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters

Carl, Harry, and Stelios discuss Texan demographics.

Clip from The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters #1506

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYpgu22F3IQ

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 04:08

🇺🇸🛢⚡️- "The next 24 hours will see staggering increases at the pump for both gasoline & diesel. Fuel margins have yet to catch up with previous wholesale hikes. Watch for huge increases in Great Lakes and Rocky Mountain states in particular." - Gulf Oil Chief Energy Advisor Tom Kloza.

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 01:09

⚡🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia has loaded 8.7 million barrels of crude oil today (2026-09-15) at its east coast terminals according to satellite imagery.

@medmannews

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 01:02

🇺🇸 🇷🇺 🇨🇳 USTR data compiled by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee shows countries that’d be subject to tariffs under the Senate-passed Russia sanctions bill

China tops all 3 categories: crude oil imports, natural gas imports, sanctions evasion

NATO allies Hungary/Turkey on list

📎 Andrew Desiderio

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 00:44

📢 🇺🇸 🇿🇦 Marco Rubio on X: As POTUS has made clear, the South African people are being failed by a government that is destroying its economy through an obsessive pursuit of racial grievance against the Afrikaner minority. The South African government has consistently failed to adequately address rural crime, violent and dehumanizing rhetoric, and race-based discriminatory policies against Afrikaners and other minority populations.

Today, I’m announcing a new visa restriction policy targeting foreign nationals who enact or enable policies that promote race-based discrimination, incite violence, or enable land confiscation without compensation in South Africa. Those responsible for these injustices have no place in the United States.

https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesman/2026/09/announcement-of-new-visa-restriction-policy-targeting-foreign-nationals-involved-in-race-based-discrimination/

📎 Secretary Marco Rubio

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 00:36

🇾🇪🇸🇦⚡- Saudi / Yemeni airstrikes against Murad, southwest Yemen.

The attacks yet again confirm Ansarullah's control over the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb.

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 00:36

🇾🇪🇸🇦⚡- Saudi / Yemeni airstrikes on al-Jinan, northwest Ta'izz direction, southern Yemen.

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

15 September 2026 23:19

—❗️🇾🇪/🇸🇦 Yemen latest map update, Bab Al-Mandab front:

Ansarallah forces continue to slowly advance, capturing the eastern peaks of Jabal Kahboob and engaging in fierce clashes in Al-Mashbak and Uqbah Al-Mansourah.

Mokha, Dhubab and Murad are firmly under Houthi control and no effective counterattacks have taken place since the areas were liberated.

@Middle_East_Spectator

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

15 September 2026 23:06

🇾🇪⚡- Ansarullah have gone on the offensive and have begun attacking Sharira in an attempt to advance towards Jabal Jirdad - southwest Ta'izz countryside.

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

15 September 2026 23:06

🇾🇪⚡️- BREAKING: Ansarullah has planted mines in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a Yemeni military source tells Al Arabiya.

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

15 September 2026 23:06

🇾🇪⚡- Clashes are ongoing between the Giant Brigades, pro-PLC, and the Ansarullah forces in the Kahbub mountains area, currently in grey-zone - Aden direction, southern Yemen.

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 13:27

🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷 According to the WSJ, the U.S. fired 60-70 Patriot interceptors a dozen THAAD rockets to intercept 20 Iranian missiles launched in the latest Iranian attack on Jordan.

Standard practice for Patriot batteries is to launch 2 to 3 interceptors for an incoming missile.

Iran scored a number of hits on U.S. bases in Jordan damaging a wide array of equipment.

@CIG_telegram

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 12:55

🇩🇪⛽️🗳 German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, is scrambling to get the prices of diesel and gasoline lower and save his party from a crushing defeat at the hands of the AfD in the East-German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Diesel in Germany sells on average for ~2.3 EURs/liter or ~$10/gallon.

@CIG_telegram

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 12:29

🇺🇸⛽️ The White House is reportedly considering to ban the export of diesel to try and save the GOP from a crushing defeat at the Midterms.

The U.S. is the world's largest diesel fuel exporter. Russia is the world's 2nd biggest diesel exporter. Russia has already banned the export of diesel until the end of 2026 as a result of a EU-sponsored Ukrainian drone campaign against Russia's oil refineries.

The U.S. banning the export of the fuel would cripple the economies of Japan and the EU and accelerate the deindustrialization process both are going through. Japanese and EU central banks may end up dumping USTs in order to save their currencies and retain some form of economic stability.

@CIG_telegram

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 12:08

🇾🇪🇪🇷 - In 2016, the UAE established a military base at Eritrea's Assab Airport (at 13.07976, 42.6385). The base was used to launch its Yemeni Southern Transitional Council project, which began on the Island of Socotra, and was used to attack Ansarullah positions within the Aden-Ta'izz-Ad Dali triangle.

Later that year, Abu Dhabi requested a second 'secret' base on Eritrea's Dahlak Island, right in the middle of the Red Sea. The exact location of the base was supposed to be here: 15.75158, 39.97345. Asmara rejected the request, and its Foreign Ministry would several years later admit the UAE planned to use the 'secret' base with Israel to effectively control one of the world's most important waterways. Which indicates the UAE and Israel had strong relations well over four years before the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020.

Ironically, just a year later, the UAE would begin the construction of a 'secret' military base with the assistance of Tareq Salah's forces on Yemen's Mayun Island (at 12.66661, 43.40925). The location of the base was vital, sitting right at the mouth of the Red Sea. Tareq Saleh, commander of the National Resistance Forces, was propped up by the Emirati state for one reason only, to combat al-Islah Party's influence in the Ta'izz region (which at the time, the rest of the Arab Gulf countries believed were backed by Qatar). It has long been believed that Israel had access to the Mayun Airbase, and were present at times on the base as well.

Relations between Eritrea and the UAE have since cooled considerably. Asmara revoked Emirati access to its military infrastructure and later joined Sudan in suspending agreements involving UAE's port giant DP World. Years later, Abiy Ahmed would win the elections in Ethiopia, and, backed by the UAE and Israel, eyes the Assab region.

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 04:26

👮‍♂️ 🇺🇸 🇷🇺 Members Of Russian Intelligence Services Network Charged With Conspiring To Finance Terrorism And Commit Murder For Hire In The United States

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, Attorney General for the United States, Todd Blanche, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, John A. Eisenberg, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Kash Patel, Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, James C. Barnacle, Jr., and Assistant Director in Charge of the Washington Field Office of the FBI, Darren B. Cox, announced today the unsealing of charges against five individuals working for the intelligence services of the Russian Federation to conduct attacks and murders around the world, including in the United States. As detailed in the unsealed indictment, the network is alleged to have, among other things, paid and attempted to pay individuals within the United States and elsewhere to conduct pre-operational surveillance and carry out targeted killings, and commissioned associates to commit and attempted to commit acts of terrorism against civilian and military infrastructure in European countries that are aligned, or perceived to be aligned, with Ukraine. The defendants remain at large.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/members-russian-intelligence-services-network-charged-conspiring-finance-terrorism-and

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 01:59

🕊 🇬🇷 🚷 Ilias Kasidiaris, ex leader and MP of Greek patriotic party Golden Dawn, was released from prison today. He will now return to politics. He is very loved by Greek people, and not only by them.

📎 Radio Genoa

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 01:09

🇺🇸 🇮🇱 🇬🇧 Randy Fine on X:

The UK spent years demanding Israel be carved up.

Now they’re talking about breaking up their own country.

I say: From the river to the sea, let Scotland, Wales, and Ireland be free!

If that logic is good enough for the Jewish state, it’s good enough for them.

📎 Congressman Randy Fine

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 00:59

🗳 🇺🇸 🇷🇺 The House has cleared a major procedural hurdle to advance the Senate-passed massive Russian sanctions bill, 214-211.

A full vote is expected soon.

📎 OSINTtechnical

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 00:36

🇾🇪🇸🇦⚡- Several airstrikes on Dhubab, Ansarullah-controlled southwest Yemen.

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

16 September 2026 00:36

🇾🇪🇸🇦⚡- Saudi / Yemeni attacks on al-Mocha, al-Wazi'iyah, and al-Mafraq, southwest Yemen.

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

15 September 2026 23:47

—❗️🇾🇪/🇸🇦 BREAKING: Initial reports that the Southern Giants Brigades (PLC) have started to withdraw from several positions in south-western Lahij Governorate, after Ansarallah managed to break through the defensive lines at Jabal Kahboob

@Middle_East_Spectator

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

15 September 2026 23:12

—❗️🇾🇪 NEW: There is a sudden wave of reports that Ansarallah have placed mines in the Bab Al-Mandab waterway

It should be noted that this is completely false. It was was first claimed at th UN Security Council by the ‘legitimate’ Saudi-backed Yemeni government about an hour ago, in an effort to increase international support for fighting against the Houthis.

Ansarallah have explicitly stated in recent days that maritime traffic in Bab Al-Mandab and the Red Sea will continue as normal, with the exception of Saudi shipping.

@Middle_East_Spectator

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

15 September 2026 23:06

🇮🇷⚡️- Explosion heard in the Strait of Hormuz.

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

15 September 2026 23:06

🇾🇪⚡- Initial reports: Muhammad Sharaf Adla, Deputy Director of the Office of Ansarullah's Chief Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, was killed in an airstrike in the al-Mocha area, southwest Yemen.

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

15 September 2026 21:25

💵 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 The Trump administration is preparing a $2.8 billion sale of 40,000 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, the largest single sale of conventional explosive ordnance from the US in modern history, with 20,000 MK-84s, 20,000 BLU-117s and 20,000 I-2000 penetrator warheads, paid for with US taxpayer dollars, per a US official to WaPo.

The package eclipses the $2.04 billion sale in 2025 that completely bypassed congressional review. Israel opened the war alongside the US in February and has not struck Iran since June, and Iran's missile bases and launch sites are tunneled into rock, the class of target the I-2000 penetrator exists for.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/09/15/trump-preparing-send-massive-shipment-2000-pound-bombs-israel/

https://archive.ph/vPqLp

📎 The Hormuz Letter