OpenAI announced its new, more powerful GPT-4 Turbo artificial intelligence model Monday during its first in-person event, and revealed a new option that will let users create custom versions of its viral ChatGPT chatbot. It's also cutting prices on the fees that companies and developers pay to run its software.

OpenAI's announcements show that one of the hottest companies in tech is rapidly evolving its offerings in an effort to stay ahead of rivals like Anthropic, Google and Meta in the AI arms race. ChatGPT, which broke records as the fastest-growing consumer app in history months after its launch, now has about 100 million weekly active users, OpenAI said Monday. More than 92% of Fortune 500 companies use the platform, up from 80% in August, and they span across industries like financial services, legal applications and education, OpenAI CTO Mira Murati told reporters Monday.

The event also included a surprise appearance by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

"The systems that are needed as you aggressively push forward on your road map require us to be on the top of our game, and we intend fully to commit ourselves fully to making sure you all... have not only the best systems for training and inference, but also the most compute," Nadella told OpenAI CEO Sam Altman while onstage together. He added, "That's the way we're going to make progress."

Earlier this year, Microsoft's expanded investment in OpenAI — an additional $10 billion — made it the biggest AI investment of the year, according to PitchBook, and in April, the startup reportedly closed a $300 million share sale at a valuation between $27 billion and $29 billion, with investments from firms such as Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. As recently as last month, OpenAI was reportedly in talks to close a deal that would lead to an $80 billion valuation.

In his speech Monday, Altman said the day's announcements came from conversations with developers about their needs over the past year. And when it comes to GPT-5, Altman told reporters, "We want to do it, but we don't have a timeline."

Here's what OpenAI announced Monday:

GPT-4 Turbo

GPT-4 Turbo is the latest AI model, and it now provides answers with context up to April 2023. Prior versions were cut off at January 2022. For example, if you asked GPT-4 who won the Super Bowl in February 2022, it wouldn't have been able to tell you. GPT-4 Turbo can.

"We are just as annoyed as all of you, probably more, that GPT's knowledge about the world ended in 2021," Altman said in a speech Monday.

It also accepts a lot more input. While earlier versions limited you to about 3,000 words, the GPT-4 Turbo accepts inputs of up to 300 pages in length. It means you could ask it to summarize entire books.

GPT-4 also supports DALL-E 3 AI-generated images and text-to-speech. It also has six preset voices to choose from, so you can choose to hear the answer to a query in a variety of different voices.

OpenAI said GPT-4 Turbo is available in preview for developers now and will be released to all in the coming weeks.

OpenAI said it's also cutting the prices for developers. "GPT-4 Turbo input tokens are 3x cheaper than GPT-4 at $0.01 and output tokens are 2x cheaper at $0.03," the company said, which means companies and developers should save more when running lots of information through the AI models.

Personalized chatbots

Personalized chatbot builder

OpenAI

Until now, ChatGPT's enterprise and business offerings were the only way people could upload their own data to train and customize the chatbot for particular industries and use cases. Now it's adding the option for anyone to create custom chatbots.

AI "agents" are one of the buzziest uses of the technology recently, with many startups vying to offer the kind of personalized AI tools that consumers may already be familiar with via pop culture representations, such as Tony Stark's J.A.R.V.I.S. in Marvel movies, or Pam in Disney Channel's Smart House.

"Anyone can easily build their own GPT—no coding is required," the company wrote in a release. "You can make them for yourself, just for your company's internal use, or for everyone. Creating one is as easy as starting a conversation, giving it instructions and extra knowledge, and picking what it can do, like searching the web, making images or analyzing data."

More than two million developers building their own tools using ChatGPT's API will also be able to customize the chatbot, meaning consumers will likely see personalized AI chatbots popping up in many more places, including apps and websites they use regularly.

Open AI's version of the App Store

Now that users and developers can launch their own, personalized AI chatbots, OpenAI is introducing a new revenue driver for the company: Its own version of the app store.

The GPT Store allows people who create their own GPTs to make them available for public download, and in the coming months, OpenAI said people will be able to earn money based on their creation's usage numbers.

"Once in the store, GPTs become searchable and may climb the leaderboards," the company wrote in a release. "We will also spotlight the most useful and delightful GPTs we come across in categories like productivity, education, and 'just for fun.'"

As for revenue share for people who create custom chatbots featured in the store, the company will start with "just sharing a part of the subscription revenue overall," Altman told reporters Monday. Right now, the company is planning to base the payout on active users plus category bonuses, and may support subscriptions for specific GPTs later.

"What OpenAI is really in the business of selling is intelligence -- and that, and intelligent agents, is really where it will trend over time," Altman told reporters.

New all-in-one image-generation, browsing and summarization

Until Monday, ChatGPT users had to hop between different apps and websites to use all of OpenAI's tools, which contributed to a slightly higher learning curve. On Monday, the company announced it has streamlined its AI tools into one place: Using ChatGPT now offers image generation via DALL-E, browsing, data analysis, document upload and PDF search. Before now, Anthropic's Claude was the only competitor chatbot to allow PDF search.

 

CNBC

Optimism and pessimism are hard to deal with.

Pessimism is vital for survival, and it helps us prepare for risks before they arrive. But optimism is equally essential. The belief that things can — and will be — better even when the evidence is murky is one of the most essential parts of everything from a sound relationship to making a long-term investment.

Optimism and pessimism seem like conflicting mindsets, so it’s more common for people to prefer one or the other.

But in my book, “Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes,” I write about why knowing how to balance the two has always been — and always will be — one of life’s most important skills.

Successful people find a balance between pessimism and optimism

Bill Gates is a great example of how effective this hidden skill is. From the day he started Microsoft, he insisted on always having enough cash in the bank to keep the company alive for 12 months with no revenue coming in.

In 1995, he was asked by Charlie Rose why he kept so much cash on hand. Things change so fast in technology that the next year’s business wasn’t guaranteed, he said — “including Microsoft’s.”

In 2007, he reflected: “I was always worried because people who worked for me were older than me and had kids, and I always thought, ‘What if we don’t get paid? Will I be able to meet the payroll?’”

Here, optimism and confidence is mixed with heavy pessimism. What Gates seems to get is that you can only be an optimist in the long run if you’re pessimistic enough to survive the short run.

Why you should strive to be a ‘rational optimist’

An important thing to recognize here is that optimism and pessimism exist on a spectrum.

At one end, you have the pure optimists. They think everything is great, will always be great, and see all negativity as a character flaw. Part is rooted in the ego: they’re so confident in themselves they can’t fathom anything going wrong.

At the other end, you have pure pessimists. They think everything is terrible, will always be terrible, and see all positivity as a character flaw. Part is rooted in the ego: they have so little confidence in themselves they can’t fathom anything going right. They’re the polar opposite of the pure optimist, and just as detached from reality.

In the middle is the sweet spot, what I call the rational optimist: those who acknowledge that history is a constant chain of problems and disappointments and setbacks, but who remain optimistic because they know that setbacks don’t prevent eventual progress.

They sound like hypocrites and flip-floppers, but often they’re just looking further ahead than other people.

So the trick in any field — from finance to careers to relationships — is being able to survive the short-run problems so you can stick around long enough to enjoy long-term growth.

Save like a pessimist and invest like an optimist.

Plan like a pessimist and dream like an optimist.

Those can seem like conflicting skills. And they are. It’s intuitive to think you should either be an optimist or pessimist. It’s hard to realize that there’s a time and place for both, and that the two can — and should — coexist.

But it’s what you see in almost every successful long-term endeavor.

** Morgan Housel is a money expert and the author of “The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed and Happiness” and “Same As Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes.” A partner at The Collaborative Fundand former Wall Street Journal contributor, he is a two-time winner of the Best in Business Award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. Follow him on Twitter @morganhousel.

 

CNBC

PRESS RELEASE

Full text of Peter Obi’s reaction to Supreme Court verdict:

1. Fellow countrymen and women. Gentlemen of the Media, Good day and welcome to this press conference. Kindly permit me to make some brief remarks on the recent ruling of the Supreme Court, the highest court in Nigeria.

2. About a fortnight ago, I was traveling abroad on a prior scheduled engagement when I received the notice that the Supreme Court would give judgment on Thursday 26th October 2023 on our challenge of the ruling of the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC). That judgment has since been delivered as scheduled. The leadership of the Labour Party has already pronounced its position on the judgment.

3. As someone who has previously benefited from the rulings of the Supreme Court on electoral matters, I have, after a period of deep and sober reflection, decided to personally and formally react to the recent judgment as most Nigerians have. Because we are confronted with very weighty issues of national interest, I will speak forthrightly. As students young lads at CKC, Onitsha, we were taught values and admonished to always; “choose the harder right, instead of the easier wrong.”

4. Setting legal issues aside, the Supreme Court exhibited a disturbing aversion to public opinion just as it abandoned its responsibility as a court of law and policy. It is, therefore, with great dismay that I observe that the Court’s decision contradicts the overwhelming evidence of election rigging, false claim of a technical glitch, substantial non-compliance with rules set by INEC itself as well as matters of perjury, identity theft, and forgery that have been brought to light in the course of this election matter. These were hefty allegations that should not to be treated with levity. More appalling, the Supreme Court judgment willfully condoned breaches of the Constitution relative to established qualifications and parameters for candidates in presidential elections. With this counter-intuitive judgment, the Supreme Court has transferred a heavy moral burden from the courtrooms to our national conscience. Our young democracy is ultimately the main victim and casualty of the courtroom drama.

5. Without equivocation, this judgment amounts to a total breach of the confidence the Nigerian people have in our judiciary. To that extent, it is a show of unreasonable force against the very Nigerian people from whom the power of the Constitution derives. This Supreme Court ruling may represent the state of the law in 2023 but not the present demand for substantive justice. The judgment mixed principles and precepts. Indeed, the rationale and premise of the Supreme Court judgment, have become clearer in the light of the deep revealing and troubling valedictory remarks by the retired Justice, Musa Dattijo Muhammad, (JSC) on Friday 27th October 2023.

6. In disagreeing very strongly with the ruling of both the Presidential Petitions Court (PEPC) and the Supreme Court on the outcome of the 25th February 2023 Presidential election as declared by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as democrats who believe in the rule of law, we recognize that the Supreme Court is the end stage of the quest for legal closure to the matter. As a party and as candidates, Datti and I have now exhausted all legal and constitutional remedies available to us. However, this end is only another beginning in our quest for the vindication of the hope of the common man for a better country. After all, sovereignty belongs to the people! If only for historical purposes, it behooves us to place our disagreement with and deep reservations about this judgment on public record.

7. We have long been aware of how weak national institutions have negatively affected our democracy. This year 2023 has been quite remarkable and revealing. INEC has displayed incompetence in the conduct of its statutory duty. The judiciary has largely acted in defiance of constitutional tenets, precedents, and established ground rules. Political expediency has preceded judicial responsibility. A mechanical application of technicalities has superseded the pursuit of justice and fairness. Both INEC and the Supreme Court as the referees, respectively shifted the goalposts in the middle of the game.

8. Where the value and import of the recent Supreme Court ruling ends is where our commitment to a New Nigeria begins. Our mission and mandate remain unchanged. From the very onset, our mission has been more about enthroning a new Nigeria. It is a new nation where things work, where the country is led from its present waste and consumption orientation to a production-driven economy. Our commitment is to a nation anchored on the principles of prudent management of resources to quickly pull millions out of multidimensional poverty, ensuring transparency and accountability in the equitable distribution of opportunities, resources, and privileges. In the new Nigeria, we aim to address all unmet needs by showing compassion for all those left behind by the present system.

9. Going forward, we in the Labour Party and the Obidient Movement are now effectively in opposition. We are glad that the nation has heard us loud and clear. We shall now expand the confines of our message of hope to the rest of the country. We shall meet the people in the places where they feel pain and answer their needs for hope. At marketplaces, motor parks, town halls, board rooms, and university and college campuses, we’ll carry and deliver the message of a new Nigeria. As stake holders and elected Labour Party officials, we shall remain loyal to our manifesto. We will continue to canvas for good governance and focus on issues that promote national interest, unity, and cohesion. We will continue to give primacy to our Constitution, the rule of law, and the protection of ordered liberties. We will offer the checks and balances required in a functional democracy and vie robustly in forthcoming elections to elect those who share our vision of a new Nigeria.

10. Given our present national circumstances, there is a compelling need for a strong political opposition. We shall, therefore, remain in opposition, especially because of the policies and the governance modalities that we in the Labour Party campaigned for, especially reducing the cost of governance, moving the nation from consumption to production, reducing inflation, ending insecurity, promoting the rule of law, guaranteeing the responsibility to protect, and stabilizing the Nigerian currency; are clearly not the priorities of the present administration nor is it interested in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

11. If there is one thing that has immensely gladdened my heart in the course of the struggle of the past 18 months, it is the passionate desire of our people, especially our young people from across ethnic and religious divides, to construct a new and restructured Nigeria that will work for all Nigerians. That goal remains my guiding light and abiding inspiration.

12. Finally, I thank all Nigerians who believed in what is now only a revolution postponed. We deeply appreciate the unalloyed non-partisan moral support millions of youth and ordinary Nigerians across ethnic, religious, and geopolitical divides have continued to give to Baba-Ahmed and I.

13. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Nigerians who have supported this mission from the onset. We salute the leadership and members of the Labour Party, the Obidient Movement, the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Nigerians in the Diaspora, Support Groups, and all people of goodwill who worked diligently and hoped for the realization of the beginnings of a New Nigeria in this election cycle.

14. Nigerians who supported our cause have done so out of patriotism and their sincere conviction that our nation requires and deserves dedicated and visionary leaders who will lead Nigeria toward a brighter future. The energy and dedication of Nigerian Youths and the Obedient Movement have been simply amazing. I appreciate and salute them! I want to assure them that this is not the end of our journey; but in fact, the beginning. Nigeria heard you. The world has taken note and will not forget so easily. We shall endure, persist, until we get to our destination because a new Nigeria is our destination. A destination not an event.

15. We thank, in a special way, our legal team. We also thank our elder States-Men, whose wise counsel were immeasurable. To them, we wish to state unequivocally that this judicial outcome – an obvious misrepresentation of substantial justice – has by no means foreclosed the realization of a new Nigeria that is Possible.

16. On a personal note, I take personal pride and express gratitude to those who share our vision; and who have also exhibited rare courage to challenge the nefarious system, the genuineness of individuals’ identities and their defining and qualifying particulars up to the highest extent allowed by law. Nigeria holds out hope of infinite possibilities leading to our desirable greatness. I remain consistent in my belief in the possibility of a new Nigeria built on character competence, capacity, compassion, integrity, and respect for the rule of law based on justice and fairness.

17. God bless us all. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Signed:

Peter Gregory Obi, Presidential Candidate of Labour Party.

Obi –Datti Campaign Organization Office Abuja, FCT.

Monday 6th November 2023.

PRESS RELEASE

Labour Party Presidential candidate in the last election, Peter Obi, addressed a press conference, just like Atiku Abubakar, where he cast aspersions on the Supreme Court and the Independent National Electoral Commission for not declaring him the winner of the February 25, 2023 election.

We are at a loss as to how the copy-cat Obi and his faction of Labour Party convinced themselves they won an election in which they came a distant third.

The grand delusion that made Obi believe he could have won a national election where he ran the most hateful, divisive and polarising campaign that pitched Christians against Muslims and one ethnic group against the other in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society like Nigeria should be a matter for deeper examination.

At the press conference where he tried, in vain, to gaslight Nigerians with false claims and innuendos, Obi contradicted himself. Here was a beneficiary of judicial pronouncements in the past now castigating the same court because its judgment did not go his way.

Obi claimed the Supreme Court justices didn't consider public opinion in delivering what has been applauded as a most profound judgement in an election appeal where the Labour Party candidate presented the most watery and unreasonable petition before any court in the history of electoral cases in Nigeria.

He made false allegations of rigging and other electoral malpractices yet could not produce any evidence to back up his claims at both the court of first instance and at the apex court. In a failed effort to mobilise and retain the support of his supporters, Obi gave them a forlorn hope that he won the election and would prove it before the courts. Throughout the trial, his lawyers didn't present any alternative results different from the results INEC uploaded on the IReV portal and the ones signed by all party agents from the 176,000 polling units.

We wonder how the Labour Party candidate expected  the courts to do justice on the basis of rumours, lies and false narratives by sponsored partisans and fanatical members of his Obidient Movement.

We expected the Labour Party candidate to know that the Supreme Court or any other court does not give judgment based on public opinion and mob sentiments. Judicial pronouncements are based on evidence, precedents and the rule of law.

Having admitted that the Supreme Court ruling brought an end to litigation and any challenge to the bona-fide of President Bola Tinubu as the validly elected leader of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Obi should have congratulated Tinubu for his victory and pledged his support, in the spirit of statesmanship.

But instead, he brought up extraneous matters that he thought the apex court should have considered to declare him the winner. In our view, the drowning Obi, just like Atiku, was merely attempting to hold on to a straw in raking up new allegations, which exist only in his imagination and that of his hordes of supporters.

Our admonition to Obi is to find another worthwhile vocation to engage his time henceforth, having been rejected by majority of Nigerians who didn't consider him qualified to lead our country.

Nigerians rejected Obi and his demagoguery at the poll because he posed  present and future danger to the peace, progress and stability of our country.

Obi’s antecedents as Governor of Anambra for eight years didn't inspire any confidence as someone capable of running a country like Nigeria. No tangible records of achievement in the state he governed recommended him for the Presidency of Nigeria.

If Obi truly believes in Nigeria, the time to prove it is now when all men and women of goodwill are rallying support for Tinubu in his determination to lead a new era of prosperity, inclusive governance and economic growth in Nigeria.

Finally, we welcome Obi and his party to play the role of the opposition and start preparing for another shot at the presidency in 2027.

We hope by then he would campaign on issues and not whip up religious and ethnic sentiments as he did in the last campaign.

Bayo Onanuga

Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy

November 6, 2023

The naira crashed against the dollar on Monday, falling to 1,030/$ on the average in the parallel market, losing the momentum it gathered last week.

This represents a N80 loss or a 8.42 per cent decline of the local currency compared to the N950 it closed the week at last Friday.

This is also the first time the naira is falling since the Central Bank of Nigeria began to clear some of its FX backlog last week.

Currency traders, also known as Bureaux De Change operators, told our correspondent that the naira was trading at between N990 to N1,030/$.

A trader who gave his name as Awolu said, “The dollar is N995 if you want to sell. If you want to buy from me, it is N1,020.” Another trader, Kadri, added, “The dollar is N960 if you want to sell. If you want to buy, it is N990.”

According to the President of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadabe, the dollar has gained against the naira because people who had bought it at a higher price are resisting its fall following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s move last week.

Last week, the apex bank commenced payment of outstanding matured FX forwards owed to various banks.

This was meant to boost liquidity in the foreign exchange market following weeks of the naira falling to record lows. According to the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, the amount of overdue forward payments was about $6.7bn.

This move quickly led to the appreciation of the naira with the naira gaining about N220 after closing the week at N950/dollar at the parallel market. The naira has now seemingly lost this momentum.

Confirming the closing price of the dollar, Gwadabe said, “In the afternoon, it was N1,015 and N1,020/$. It closed at N1,030/$.”

He highlighted, “Speculators are always looking at elements of sustainability. Once they sense that it (the injection) is not continuous, they begin to react. They begin to react. It is the reaction of the market we are witnessing. Also, there is resistance. There are people that bought at a higher price that this does not favour. People are not willing to take further losses.

“The only way we can continue to achieve the rate is by continuing to send confidence to the market. Tell the market that another window is opening, and boost liquidity. The parallel market is where the retail end is. And as of now, there is no information as to how liquidity will come into that sector. All we have is that BDCs will be included to advance the official foreign exchange market. We cannot wait in the FX market.”

Also, the naira declined by 3.6 per cent at the official market to close at N809.02 to the dollar on Monday from N780.23/$ on Friday according to details on FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange.

 

Punch

• Business Insider Africa presents 5 worst cities to live in Africa.
• Cities such as Lagos (Nigeria) and Algiers (Algeria) have gained ground, with some improvements in their healthcare and education systems.
• The list is courtesy of Economist Intelligence Unit.

Africa is a continent of remarkable diversity, and its cities are a testament to it. Each city has its unique mix of culture, history, and opportunities. However, in certain pockets of this varied landscape, daily life is marred by challenges arising from ongoing political instability, economic hardships, and a shortage of basic services.

The Economist Intelligence Unit in its report "The Global Liveability Index 2023," featured the world's top 10 most liveable cities and the 10 cities considered the least liveable.

This report evaluates the livability of cities worldwide based on a combination of five key factors: stability (crime and conflict levels), healthcare (availability and quality), environmental/cultural factors (climate, religious restrictions, food, and drinks), education (availability and quality), and infrastructure (roads, public transport, water, housing, energy, and telecommunications quality).

According to the report, African cities such as Lagos (Nigeria) and Algiers (Algeria) have gained ground, with some improvements in their healthcare and education systems.

Although corruption continues to be an issue, some additional public funding has been made available for infrastructure and public services, which have also benefited from the decline in Covid cases.

However, among the ten cities with the lowest liveability rankings, half of them are located in Africa. Below are the liveability rating for these African cities::

1. Tripoli, Libya is ranked as the least liveable city in Africa.

• Rank: 172
• Rating: 40.1
• Stability: 30.0
• Healthcare: 45.8
• Culture and Environment: 37.5
• Education: 58.3
• Infrastructure: 41.1

2. Algiers, Algeria

• Rank: 171
• Rating: 42.0
• Stability: 35.0
• Healthcare: 50.0
• Culture and Environment: 45.4
• Education: 58.3
• Infrastructure: 30.4

3. Lagos, Nigeria

• Rank: 170
• Rating: 42.2
• Stability: 25.0
• Healthcare: 37.5
• Culture and Environment: 54.4
• Education: 41.7
• Infrastructure: 53.6

4. Harare, Zimbabwe

• Rank: 166
• Rating: 43.8
• Stability: 40.0
• Healthcare: 29.2
• Culture and Environment: 56.7
• Education: 66.7
• Infrastructure: 35.7

5. Douala, Cameroon

• Rank: 164
• Rating: 46.4
• Stability: 60.0
• Healthcare: 29.2
• Culture and Environment: 51.2
• Education: 41.7
• Infrastructure: 42.9

 

Business Insider

Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says two men died in the fire outbreak that gutted a section of the Canadian high commission in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

Isa also confirmed that a diesel tank explosion was responsible for the fire incident.

Nkechi Isa, FEMA spokesperson, made the confirmation in a statement Monday evening.

Earlier, it was unclear what had started the fire at the Canadian high commission building.

However, there were reports that there was an explosion at the commission’s power-generating plant.

According to Isa, the diesel tank exploded around 10:45 a.m. in the commission’s generator house when two MIKANO generators were being serviced by a five-man team from JMD company.

“One of the generators was said to be working, while the other one was being serviced when a tank containing 2,000 litres of diesel in the generator house exploded,” Isa said.

“Two of the personnel servicing the generator died from the explosion while two others survived with severe burns and were taken to the Trauma Centre at the National Hospital, Abuja.”

The FEMA spokesperson added that the FCT fire service was able to contain the fire around 12.30 p.m. while ambulances from the ministry of defence, federal fire service, and FEMA were on standby.

Mohammed Sabo, acting FEMA director-general, called for caution while handling petroleum products with the onset of the dry season.

Sabo asked residents to always use the 112 emergency toll-free number in the event of any disaster or emergency.

 

The Cable

At least 15 rice farmers were killed and several others feared abducted in Borno state after suspected Boko Haram insurgents attacked three villages, a local farmers' leader said on Monday.

The attack occurred in the villages of Koshebe, Karkut, and Bulabulin in the Mafa local government area in the state, about 15 kilometres from the capital Maiduguri, Mohammed Haruna, secretary of the Zabarmari Rice Farmers Association, told Reuters.

Borno state police spokesperson did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on the attack, which happened on Sunday.

Haruna said the Islamists stormed the villages on motorcycles and attacked the farmers who were harvesting crops from their rice fields.

"They did not use guns to kill them, instead they used cutlasses and knives to stab them to death, while others were beheaded," Haruna said.

He said 15 farmers were confirmed killed in the attack, adding that some managed to escape. The number of those missing is still unknown.

The attack is the latest in a series of assaults by Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria. The group has been waging a 14-year insurgency in the region aimed at establishing an Islamic caliphate there.

At least 40 people were killed in the northeastern Yobe state last week, the first major Boko Haram attack in the state in 18 months.

Last week, federal lawmakers approved a supplementary budget that includes provisions for defence and security.

President Bola Tinubu has yet to outline how he plans to tackle insurgency in the north and widespread insecurity across the country.

 

Reuters

Israeli forces cut off north Gaza to isolate Hamas as advance on urban center looms

The Israeli army severed northern Gaza from the rest of the besieged territory and pounded it with airstrikes Monday, preparing for expected ground battles with Hamas militants in Gaza’s largest city and an even bloodier phase of the month-old war.

Already, the Palestinian death toll surpassed 10,000, the Health Ministry of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said Monday. The ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. About 1,400 people in Israel have died, mostly civilians killed in the Oct. 7 incursion by Hamas that started the war.

The war has quickly become the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence since Israel’s establishment 75 years ago, with no end in sight as Israel vows to remove Hamas from power and crush its military capabilities.

Casualties are likely to rise sharply as the war turns to close urban combat. Troops are expected to enter Gaza City soon, Israeli media reported, and Palestinian militants who have had years to prepare are likely to fight street by street, launching ambushes from a vast network of tunnels.

“We’re closing in on them,” said Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman. “We’ve completed our encirclement, separating Hamas strongholds in the north from the south.”

BOMBARDMENT IN NORTH GAZA

Several hundred thousand people are believed to remain in the north in the assault’s path. The military says a one-way corridor for residents of Gaza City and surrounding areas to flee south remains available. But many are afraid to use the route, part of which is held by Israeli troops.

In recent days, airstrikes have hit U.N. facilities where thousands are sheltering, as well as hospitals, which have been overwhelmed by wounded and running low on power and supplies.

A strike early Monday hit the roof of Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, killing a number of displaced people sheltering on its top floor and destroying solar panels, said Mohamed Zaqout, general manager of all hospitals in Gaza. The panels have been helping keep power on in the facility, which has been reduced to using one generator because of lack of fuel.

The strike came in what witnesses said was one of the heaviest nights of bombardment yet in northern Gaza. Israel said it struck 450 targets overnight, killing a number of Hamas military commanders. Israel blames civilian casualties on Hamas, accusing the militants of operating in residential neighborhoods.

The overnight barrages crushed homes, burying unknown numbers of people underneath, in the Shati refugee camp, a densely built-up district on the Mediterranean coast adjacent to central Gaza City, Palestinians who fled south Monday reported.

Ghassan Abu Sitta, a surgeon at Shifa Hospital, told The Associated Press the hospital buildings shook all night from the bombardment “and we started getting the bodies and the wounded. It was horrendous.”

The military released videos that it said showed its ground troops uncovering Hamas rocket launchers in a youth center and near a mosque in northern Gaza. It did not provide the precise locations where the videos were filmed, and the images did not include any visible landmarks, so The Associated Press could not independently confirm the videos.

Around 70% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have fled their homes since the war began. Food, medicine, fuel and water are running low, and U.N.-run schools-turned-shelters are beyond capacity. Many people are sleeping on the streets outside.

Mobile phone and internet service went down overnight, the third territory-wide outage since the start of the war, but was gradually restored on Monday.

NO SIGN OF HEADWAY ON PAUSE

U.S. President Joe Biden raised the need for humanitarian pauses directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a call Monday, but there was no agreement reached, the White House said.

So far, Israel has rejected U.S. suggestions for a pause, aimed at facilitating humanitarian aid deliveries and the release of some of the estimated 240 hostages seized by Hamas in its raid. Israel has also dismissed calls for a broader cease-fire from Arab countries.

After days of intense diplomacy around the Middle East, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up his tour of the region Monday. He said efforts to secure a pause, negotiate the hostages’ release and plan for a post-Hamas Gaza were still “a work in progress” without pointing to any concrete achievements.

The war has also stoked wider tensions, with Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group trading fire along the border. In another sign of growing unrest, a Palestinian man stabbed two members of Israel’s paramilitary Border Police in east Jerusalem before being shot dead, according to police and an AP reporter at the scene. Police said one of the officers, a 20-year-old woman, was later pronounced dead.

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces shot to death four Palestinian men in a vehicle in the city of Tulkarem, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The military said two of the men were high-ranking militants.

Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with Gaza and the West Bank, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for a future state. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized by most of the international community; it considers the entire city its capital.

In northern Gaza, a Jordanian military cargo plane air-dropped medical aid to a field hospital, King Abdullah II said early Monday. It appeared to be the first such airdrop of the war, raising the possibility of another avenue for aid delivery besides Egypt’s Rafah crossing.

Over 450 trucks carrying aid have been allowed to enter Gaza from Egypt since Oct. 21. But humanitarian workers say the aid is far short of mounting needs.

The crossing was closed on Saturday and Sunday because of a dispute among Israel, Egypt and Hamas. But it reopened Monday and seven Palestinian patients were evacuated to Egypt, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

FLEEING SOUTH

Some 800,000 people have heeded Israeli military orders to flee to southern Gaza. But continued Israeli strikes in central and southern Gaza — the purported safe zone — killed dozens of people on Sunday.

After another strike Monday, in the southern town of Khan Younis, men dug through the rubble with sledgehammers and their bare hands. A young boy caked in dust screamed as he was rolled onto a stretcher and carried away. At least two people were killed, according to an AP reporter at the scene.

Earlier Monday, Palestinians held a mass funeral for 66 people laid out on the ground outside a hospital morgue in the central town of Deir al-Balah. A man with bandages wrapped around his head placed his hand on a child’s body and wept.

The Health Ministry said that 10,022 people have been killed in Gaza, including over 4,100 children and 2,600 women. More than 2,300 people are missing and believed to be buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings, the ministry said.

The Israeli army said 30 Israeli troops have been killed since the ground offensive began over a week ago. Hamas and other militants have continued firing rockets into Israel, disrupting daily life even as most are intercepted or fall in open areas. Tens of thousands of Israelis have evacuated from communities near the volatile borders with Gaza and Lebanon.

 

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine's Zelenskiy dismisses talk of wartime election as irresponsible

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed as irresponsible any notion of holding an election in wartime as talks have heated up recently whether Kyiv should be voting when under Russia's assault.

Calling for unity to avoid pointless political discussion, Zelenskiy's comments appeared to rule out any suggestion Ukraine should hold a vote to demonstrate its democratic credentials remain in good order.

While the martial law declared in the country at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 prohibits authorities from holding elections, there has been increased debate at home and abroad about a potential poll in March 2024.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said it was critical to concentrate on the military challenges facing Ukraine as it tries to push out Russian forces occupying nearly one-fifth of its land more than 20 months after launching their invasion.

"We all understand that now, in wartime, when there are many challenges, it is utterly irresponsible to engage in topics related to an election in such a frivolous manner," he said.

"We need to recognise that this is a time for defence, a time for battle, upon which the fate of the state and its people depend... I believe that elections are not appropriate at this time."

In peacetime, Ukraine would had held parliamentary elections in October and the first round of presidential vote in early spring 2024.

U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and some other Western officials have urged Kyiv to stage an election to show it can hold free and fair vote while at war.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said at the weekend the president was weighing the pros and cons of a wartime poll.

Zelenskiy himself had previously said he would be prepared to hold the vote if Ukraine secured the assistance it needed - and if election were deemed necessary.

WESTERN IMPATIENCE

While Zelenskiy's ratings soared after the start of the Russian invasion, there have growing signs of impatience with the Ukrainian leader among some of Kyiv's western allies.

There is also the appearance of a rift in the country's leadership after the Ukraine's top commander signalled the war had come to a static stage, an interpretation which Zelenskiy vehemently denied over the weekend.

On Monday, Zelenskiy said that if it proved necessary to end divisive talk, there were state structures "capable of making those decisions and providing all the necessary answers to society."

He also said it was vital the state's institutions were fully behind the war effort "and not on paving stones or street repairs".

The country, he said, had to concentrate "far more on defence...particularly at the regional level," and called for efforts to ensure there was no recurrence of a Russian strike at the weekend on a Ukrainian brigade in which military officials said 19 soldiers were killed.

Zelenskiy had earlier said the attack in southern Zaporizhzhia region was "a tragedy that could have been avoided". Ukrainian media reported the soldiers were killed during an awards ceremony on Friday, although full circumstances remained unclear.

 

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

'World didn’t agree to anti-Russia sanctions' – India

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has described sanctions against Russia imposed by the West as “levers” that advanced economies have at their disposal “based on mechanisms, powers and tools built over many years.” 

“They use these levers when it suits them,” he said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera during last week’s visit to Rome. “It's not that they go to the United Nations to seek legitimacy; they do it when they think their interests are at stake. Many parts of the world do not accept the concept of sanctions in the same way. It is done as if the whole world agreed on sanctions. It’s not really like that.”

When asked why emerging countries bring up the “double standards” of the West when it comes to the Ukraine conflict or the war between Israel and Gaza, the foreign minister replied that this sentiment had a lot to do with its Eurocentric attitude toward global affairs.

“A lot of it comes from the fact that, in the past, when there were problems in other parts of the world, European countries essentially thought it wasn’t their place to worry about it. As long as Europe was safe and nothing threatened the European way of life, others could take care of it. Then, when something happens in Europe, European countries want international expressions of solidarity,” he said.

India has abstained from all resolutions moved against Russia in the United Nations (UN) since it launched its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. New Delhi has also increased the purchase of Russian crude oil and continued buying weapons from Moscow. 

India’s trade volume with Russia has soared in recent months, with turnover for goods in January-August already surpassing the total for the previous year. According to data from the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry, total trade between the two countries in the first eight months of the year reached nearly $44 billion. 

Jaishankar’s comments come days after he asserted that New Delhi had acted in its “best interests” when it decided to continue buying oil from Russia in spite of pressure from the West. 

Speaking at an event in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, last week, the foreign minister said New Delhi’s “strong stance on our right to buy oil from Russia” had received a lot of attention. “Had we not exercised that option, think about what a difference it would have made to you, think how much higher your petroleum prices would have been, think how much inflation would have gone up in this country,” he told the audience.

Upon being asked by the Italian outlet to comment on Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s recent remark that there is “fatigue” over the Ukraine conflict, Jaishankar recalled Indian PM Narendra Modi telling Russian President Vladimir Putin that “today is no time for war” in Uzbekistan last year. 

“An ordinary person would say that, at some point, people have to sit at a table and talk,” Jaishankar noted, adding that India is “always ready” to lend a hand.

 

Russia Today