Someone was playing possum — or stuffed animal.

Among plush kangaroos, dingoes and Tasmanian devils ready to be bought by parents of antsy children, a live brushtail possum waited in a gift shop at an Australian airport this week.

The wild animal was first noticed by a shopper in the store on Wednesday, retail manager Liam Bloomfield of Hobart Airport in the state of Tasmania said.

«A passenger reported it to …. one of the staff members on shift who couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing,» Bloomfield told The Associated Press. «She then called the (airport) management and said we’ve got a possum in the store.»

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Staff at the airport were able to remove the animal without harming it.

«I’m imaging it saw some of the plush animals that were for sale on the shelf and it decided to make its home with those,» Bloomfield joked of why the possum was hiding with the stuffed toys. «It wanted to blend in.»

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The arrivals area at Hobart Airport in Australia.  (Steve Bell/Getty Images)

«Can you spot the imposter?» the airport wrote in a Facebook post Thursday that showed the possum curled up in a cubby with its stuffed counterparts.

«This cheeky lost possum found a clever hiding place among the Aussie plushies in our retail store,» the airport continued. «Luckily it was safely relocated out of the terminal area and the space was cleaned.»

Passengers boarding a plane at Hobart Airport in Australia.  (William West/AFP via Getty Images)

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Bloomfield said the possum not only found a way into the airport but also their hearts.

«We’ll have a little shrine to the possum,» he revealed, according to The Independent. «There will be a nice little photo; once it gets a name, we will put a nice little post in front of the store to make sure it’s remembered.»

Estados Unidos avanza con un arriesgado plan para ocupar con tropas de la estratégica isla iraní de Kharg, la principal estructura y salida del petróleo de la teocracia, para presionar de ese modo a que el régimen libere el movimiento en el estrecho de Ormuz.

El portal Axios cita este viernes a cuatro fuentes, oficiales retirados, que observan con preocupación la operación por los costos para los soldados y además no es claro si Teherán reaccionará como se espera a esa presión.

El presidente Trump no puede poner fin a la guerra, al menos en sus propios términos, hasta que rompa el control que Irán ejerce sobre el tráfico marítimo a través del estrecho. De modo que esta confrontando una disparada de los precios mundiales del carburante y también del gas.

“Sin embargo, una operación para tomar la isla de Kharg, ubicada a 24 kilómetros de la costa y que procesa el 90% de las exportaciones de petróleo crudo de Irán, podría exponer a las tropas estadounidenses directamente al fuego enemigo”, afirma Axios.

La operación se lanzaría después de que el ejército estadounidense haya debilitado aún más la capacidad militar de Irán en torno al estrecho de Ormuz. «Necesitamos aproximadamente un mes para debilitar aún más a los iraníes con ataques, tomar la isla y luego presionarlos para usarla como plataforma de negociación», declaró una fuente con conocimiento de la postura de la Casa Blanca.

De aprobarse, dicha operación requeriría más tropas. Tres unidades de la Infantería de Marina se dirigen a la región. La Casa Blanca y el Pentágono están considerando enviar aún más tropas próximamente, según un funcionario estadounidense.

“´Él quiere que el estrecho de Ormuz esté abierto. Si tiene que tomar la isla de Kharg para lograrlo, lo hará. Si decide realizar una invasión costera, también la realizará. Pero esa decisión aún no se ha tomado”, declaró un alto funcionario del gobierno a Axios.

“Siempre hemos tenido tropas terrestres en conflictos bajo todos los presidentes, incluido Trump. Sé que esto es una obsesión en los medios, y entiendo la política, pero el presidente hará lo correcto», afirmó un segundo alto funcionario, añadiendo que aún no se había tomado ninguna decisión.

Si bien la isla de Kharg es crucial para la industria petrolera iraní, no hay garantía de que su toma convenza a Teherán de firmar la paz en los términos de Trump. Axios consultó al contralmirante (retirado) Mark Montgomery quien valoró que esa misión podría exponer a las tropas estadounidenses a un riesgo innecesario, dado el incierto resultado. «Si tomamos la isla de Kharg, van a cortar el suministro de petróleo en el otro extremo. No es que controlemos su producción petrolera», afirmó.

Montgomery indicó que era más probable que, tras unas dos semanas más de ataques para debilitar las capacidades de Irán, Estados Unidos enviara destructores y aviones al estrecho para escoltar a los petroleros, eliminando así la necesidad de una invasión. Trump originalmente quería poner fin a la guerra antes de su viaje previsto a China a finales de marzo. La crisis en el estrecho lo ha obligado a posponer ese viaje y a prolongar la guerra más de lo previsto.

El viernes pasado, el ejército estadounidense llevó a cabo ataques aéreos masivos contra decenas de objetivos militares en la isla de Kharg. El ataque fue una advertencia para convencer a los iraníes de que reabrieran el estrecho. Pero también fue un paso preparatorio para debilitar las capacidades militares de Irán en la isla y sentar las bases para una posible operación terrestre.

«Podemos tomar la isla cuando queramos. La llamo la pequeña isla que está ahí, totalmente desprotegida. Hemos destruido todo menos los oleoductos. Dejamos los oleoductos porque reconstruirlos les llevaría años», dijo Trump el jueves. Declaró también declaró a los periodistas el jueves que «no desplegaría tropas en ningún sitio», aunque añadió: «Si lo hiciera, desde luego no se lo diría». Otra opción es imponer un bloqueo naval e impedir que los buques cisterna lleguen a la isla.

Una fuente afirmó que incluso se consultó a los abogados del Pentágono para que emitieran opiniones sobre la legalidad de tales posibles medidas. Además de la fuerza expedicionaria de infantería de marina de 2500 efectivos que llegará en los próximos días, otras dos unidades de tamaño similar también se dirigen a la región, consigna Axios.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and his administration are presiding over a city in serious financial straits. 

Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city, is facing a corporate fund budget gap of more than $1 billion, while its 2025 fiscal year is projected to close with a roughly $150 million deficit with about two-fifths of the budget going toward debt service and pension costs.

Johnson said in April the city was «at a crossroads» and had to «essentially do more with less,» while simultaneously slamming the Trump administration for reportedly threatening federal funding, calling it a «different scenario we weren’t under before.»

Austin Berg, executive director of pro-taxpayer research group Illinois Policy Institute, said markets are looking at the true numbers and are «really concerned» about Chicago.

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«And that’s why you see the spreads on Chicago debt getting wider and wider — the structural issues,» he said. 

Berg explained that the situation is akin to someone calling financial advisor Dave Ramsey’s radio show to ask what to do while buried in debt.

«The solution set is always the same: Stop making bad decisions, and you have to put a structure in place to make better decisions,» Berg said.

«So, the bad decisions are things like taking one-time revenues from federal COVID spending and putting it into operations. The bad decisions are borrowing for operations, which this latest bond issue just did. That’s a huge no-no and a red flag for investors.»

Chicago also drew scrutiny over former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s 75-year parking meter lease in 2008, a deal critics say has already allowed the private operator to recoup its investment while leaving the city without that revenue stream for decades.

Berg pointed to a recent analysis he authored accusing Johnson of extending the city’s «pay later» culture, arguing that the mayor’s $830 million 2025 bond deal, which delays principal payments for 20 years, is his version of Richard M. Daley’s parking meter boondoggle.

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He also suggested the city take more seriously a plate of $1 billion in potential efficiencies produced in a taxpayer-funded deep-dive by consulting firm EY, formerly Ernst & Young.

While Chicago spends 40% of its money on debt service, actual services suffer, Berg said, adding is also the only city besides New York that doesn’t require voter approval of new general obligation debt.

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The city lacks a «truly independent» chief financial officer, Berg claimed, saying that the treasurer’s office does not have full auditing authority and that another related agency called COFA is understaffed and lacks resources.

«Voters didn’t decide to have all of that debt. And it’s important for voters to be able to decide because those decisions affect Chicagoans 30 years from now. So, shackling them with these political decisions now is just really unfair,» he said.

Chicago has also come under fire for expenditures on social justice and other efforts while city services continue to lack.

Independent journalist William J. Kelly created a viral moment in January when he questioned Johnson on which type of ICE he should be focused on, immigration officers or snow that inundated the city, as he drove through unplowed streets. 

«Let me just commend the efforts of the city employees that made sure that our streets were plowed. … I do not personally plow streets. … No one was stuck,» Johnson replied.

Berg suggested one outlet for Chicago would be to demand the state of Illinois allow municipalities to declare Chapter 9 bankruptcy, which he said is a rare restriction nationally. He noted he did not want to see Chicago declare bankruptcy but that, without that lever, the city has much less leverage when negotiating with public sector unions for the very liabilities it is drowning in.

The City Council successfully killed Johnson’s proposed «head tax,» a per-employee levy on large corporations, which critics said would have driven out or prevented future business and, thereby, sources of revenue in the city.

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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson addresses a recent City Council meeting. (Terrence James/Getty Images)

The editorial board of the left-leaning Washington Post also slammed Chicago’s straits in a recent op-ed, writing that «it takes a long time to kill a city, and the bigger the city, the longer it takes.»

«Chicago’s ‘public servants’ have done a fine job speeding up the process,» the board wrote, while noting the city had its bond rating downgraded in February by both Kroll and Fitch.

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«The modest tweaks [council] forced [Johnson] to accept in December won’t change the fiscal trajectory,» the paper predicted.

Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.