CIA Director Makes Rare Moscow Visit Amid Ukraine War and Iran Tensions

CIA Director Makes Rare Moscow Visit Amid Ukraine War and Iran Tensions

Emmitt Barry

 CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced trip to Moscow on Tuesday for meetings with Russian officials, according to U.S. media reports, marking one of the most sensitive known contacts between Washington and Moscow since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

CBS News and Axios first reported Ratcliffe’s visit, while DW and Reuters said the talks came after flight-tracking data showed a U.S. military transport plane arriving at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport from Latvia before departing hours later. Neither the CIA nor the Kremlin offered details on the purpose of the trip, and Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had no information about the aircraft’s arrival.

The visit appears to be the first known trip by a CIA director to Russia since William Burns met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in November 2021, just months before Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine.

The timing is striking. U.S.-brokered efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war have slowed, while both Russia and Ukraine have intensified attacks beyond traditional battlefield targets. At the same time, Washington is increasing pressure on Iran, a close Russian partner, warning countries to cut business ties with Tehran or risk secondary sanctions.

Reuters reported that Russia and Iran maintain deep military, economic, and diplomatic ties, including Tehran’s supply of drones for Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Ukrainian officials have also accused Moscow of helping Iran with drone technology and intelligence support, allegations Russia denies.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Ratcliffe’s trip came as Washington is watching Russia’s military posture in Ukraine and broader attempts to test NATO’s resolve. The official reason for the Moscow visit has not been disclosed, but the rare intelligence-channel contact suggests Washington and Moscow may be using backdoor diplomacy at a dangerous moment on multiple fronts.

For now, the public record is limited: the CIA chief went to Moscow, the meetings were undisclosed, and both capitals are saying little. But in a season of war, sanctions, and shifting alliances, silence itself may speak loudly.

Functional Unemployment in USA Reaches New High

Functional Unemployment in USA Reaches New High

Martin Armstrong

The government claims unemployment stands at 4.1%, yet a new analysis cited by CBS News found that 24.9% of American workers were functionally unemployed in July. Functional unemployment includes those who cannot find employment, people forced into part-time work because full-time jobs are unavailable, and workers earning less than $26,000 annually before taxes. Washington can call these people employed, but try paying rent, food, insurance, utilities, transportation, and medical expenses on barely $2,000 per month before the government takes its share.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is not measuring whether people are prospering or even surviving. If you worked as little as one hour during the survey period, you can be classified as “employed.” If you have searched for months, become discouraged, and finally stop looking, the government simply removes you from the labor force. You did not find a job and your circumstances did not improve, but you cease to exist statistically. Politicians then point to the lower unemployment rate and claim their policies are working.

Functional unemployment has now risen for four consecutive months while workforce participation has moved lower. Employers reportedly eliminated 23,000 jobs in July, consumer prices rose 3.4% year over year, and wages increased only 3.2%. Therefore, the average worker lost purchasing power even after receiving a nominal raise. This is why people become angry when politicians lecture them about a strong economy. The statistics say they are employed, inflation is under control, and everything is wonderful, yet the paycheck no longer covers the monthly bills.

This is how the political establishment disguises economic decline. Inflation statistics do not reflect the actual cost of maintaining a household, GDP rises when government borrows and spends money it does not have, and unemployment declines when people surrender and stop searching for work. Every major statistic has been constructed to make government appear competent while the standard of living steadily deteriorates. They measure whether money changed hands, not whether society became wealthier.

Americans have been forced to replace income with debt. They have depleted savings, increased credit-card balances, postponed major purchases, and begun cutting necessities because discretionary spending was already eliminated. Consumer spending may represent roughly two-thirds of the economy, but consumers cannot continue spending indefinitely when prices rise faster than wages and employment becomes increasingly unstable. Credit can postpone the reckoning, but it cannot replace real economic growth.

Functional unemployment explains why Washington can proclaim prosperity while millions of Americans feel trapped in a personal recession. The economy has produced millions of positions that satisfy the government’s definition of employment but cannot provide an independent life. The political class counts the number of people receiving paychecks while refusing to ask what those paychecks can actually buy. That is poverty disguised by statistics.

Grain Crisis: Russia & Ukraine Ports Shut, Farmers Leave Crops in Fields

Grain Crisis: Russia & Ukraine Ports Shut, Farmers Leave Crops in Fields

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Grain shipments from both Russia and Ukraine have stopped as attacks continue on Black Sea ports and vessels.

Farmers now face a severe crisis: unable to sell the harvest, many lack the cash to finish harvesting, let alone plant the next winter crop. Grain is being left in the fields.

This is a catastrophic failure in the global food supply.

The coming irrelevancy of the Strait of Hormuz

The coming irrelevancy of the Strait of Hormuz

Hanne Nabintu Herland

The geopolitical landscape of the Middle East is experiencing a historic transformation marked by the intentional erosion of the Strait of Hormuz's strategic significance. It also signifies an aggressive economic isolation of Iran and a shift away from British control of the international naval trade.

On Aug. 19, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social"the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country. This will be economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale … any country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face tremendous economic consequences. Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies – It all needs to stop now. You know who you are."

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently pointed out that the Strait of Hormuz as a geopolitical choke point and vulnerable maritime route is rapidly diminishing.

"The strait is never going back to the way it was," Bessent said."What we are going to see over the next two years is that the strait is going to become irrelevant."

"The economic isolation that Bessent spoke of is the final phase of a strategy that he's been carrying out since March 2025," Susan Kokinda points out at Promethean Action. The economic sanctions target Iranian financial networks, including crypto wallets and international assets. This "isolate and strangle" strategy also aims to defund Iran's regional proxies without the need for direct military confrontation.

The campaign involves alternative oil production and transport routes and a renewed focus on nuclear energy to achieve energy independence. The Gulf states' expanding oil production beyond OPEC quotas, U.S. engagement in Venezuelan oil production, and new pipelines bypassing the strait together, signal a deliberate effort to decentralize and secure energy flows. It also enhances the sovereignty of Gulf producers. This regionalism contrasts sharply with past external impositions rooted in the Cold War era of a steady flow of Middle East conflicts, Kokinda highlights.

Iran has lost significant control over the Strait of Hormuz, writes CNN. Over 80% of liquids that have passed the strait over the past two weeks have done so via the Omani route, the remaining liquids have been "dark" transits, passing in the dark without transponders. In addition, over 6 million barrels are diverted via existing pipelines, and more are being built.Combined oil transits now total around 15 million barrels per day, before the war it was around 20 million barrels.

Israel's next front? The PA's covert buildup of a 60000-strong army

Israel's next front? The PA's covert buildup of a 60000-strong army

Shirit Avitan Cohen

Open-source intelligence gathered by the Behind the Scenes OSINT Cell reveals the Palestinian Authority (PA) has stockpiled significant weaponry and resources for a potential all-out war. 

The documented arsenal includes anti-tank weapons and widespread use of RPG-7 launchers during training exercises and military parades in Jericho. The National Security Battalions have heavily utilized PKM heavy machine guns – chain-driven weapons with a 7.62 millimeter (0.3 inches) caliber – to generate continuous, devastating firepower. Operatives have also converted standard M16, M4, and AK-47 assault rifles into long-range sniper rifles equipped with telescopic sights for pinpoint accuracy from a distance.

Palestinian forces possess armored vehicles and vast quantities of explosives, directly violating the Oslo Accords (the 1990s peace agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, which established the PA). The treaties explicitly prohibit these forces from manufacturing or holding offensive explosive materials. However, this 60,000-strong Palestinian police force now operates effectively as a small army equipped with advanced weaponry and heavy armor.

The OSINT researchers warn this structural overhaul and massive weapons procurement have shifted the Palestinian Authority's operational doctrine, creating a major strategic threat to Israel. The Police Academy and the Jericho training center have upgraded their curriculums to match rigorous infantry warfare standards. This newly implemented training features hot breaching tactics and complex urban warfare scenarios.

Palestinian Authority officer courses now include detailed studies of Israeli community and military base defense systems. The trainees learn specific methods to breach and overcome these security arrays. While security coordination persists at the uppermost leadership echelons, the rank-and-file field operatives are undergoing rapid radicalization.

Graduates returning from training programs in Pakistan and Russia have openly adopted jihadist rhetoric, declaring, "Israel's wall will be destroyed." By 2024, data showed the direct involvement of roughly 78 police officers and commanders in terrorist attacks against Israelis over a three-year period. This statistic highlights a direct pipeline of military knowledge and state-issued weapons flowing into actual terrorism.

Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs recently published a comprehensive study on this escalating threat. He notes the Palestinian Authority no longer conceals its transition into a de facto military force. The leadership frequently boasts about this transformation on official television broadcasts and proudly highlights the operations of the "Palestinian army." One recent video even featured a senior official giving an interview against a backdrop displaying the organization's new title, "The General Military Training Commission (GMTC)."

The latest officers' course concluded with a final exercise involving grueling long-distance marches and a simulated vehicle interception. Palestinian Authority soldiers practiced forcefully extracting occupants from cars, mirroring the chilling hostage-taking footage from October 7. Hirsch's research indicates that while many Palestinian Authority security personnel train in local facilities, others receive advanced instruction from foreign hostile entities.

The HaKol HaYehudi news outlet revealed in May 2024 that numerous Palestinian security officers had completed full-scale military training at Pakistan's national military academy. Their curriculum covered armored warfare and artillery drills, alongside specialized instruction in firing shoulder-launched missiles, operating heavy machine guns, advanced sniping, and paratrooper drops.

The prospect of these forces turning their weapons against Israel threatens millions of residents living in the country's densely populated center. Hirsch points out that the terrorist cells responsible for the October 7 massacre traveled as far as Ofakim (a southern Israeli city), which sits 22 kilometers (14 miles) from the Gaza border. In contrast, millions of Israelis live at much closer ranges to the borders of Judea and Samaria.

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