This is as serious as it gets. Let’s survey the chessboard—from micro to macro.

Vovan and Lexus, Russian telephone pranksters known for their trolling of politicians from around the world, have struck again, targeting U.S. special representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams to find out more about the U.S.-backed effort to unseat that country’s legitimate government. Sputnik got ahold of the full audio from the talks.

The developments come after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claimed in an interview with ABC News on Monday that the United States is trying to “fabricate a crisis” to start a war in South America.

Photographs and video clips posted online on June 8 show blinding spots of light over the northern Syrian city of Raqqa. The pictures, distributed by the Amaq News Agency, which is linked to Daesh, and activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, show puffs of white light and smoke, which are signs of white phosphorous.