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

You don’t consider yourself as someone particularly smart.

You haven’t invented anything, you’re not a philosopher…in fact, your grades are just so-so!

But why do some people tell you that you’re clever? Well, there’s a chance you’re actually smart but you just don’t know it.

Want to know for sure?

Here are 10 traits that you might secretly be a smart person.

1) You’ve got a potty mouth

People like to assume that if you curse, you’re someone with a small vocabulary, a shallow mind, and are nothing more than a boor.

Those who have no issues saying “f*ck” or “What a load of shite!” are more likely to be creative, open-minded, and honest.

If you cuss like a sailor, you probably don’t waste your mental energy trying to censor every word just so that you can sound polite.

2) You’re always asking questions

It doesn’t matter whether the question is serious or trivial—you’re just naturally curious that some people even find you annoying.

But what can you do? 

You’re just the kind of person to wonder why the sky is blue. And why everyone’s using miles and feet when kilometers and centimeters are more sensible.

You also ask why people hate certain things—like, say, pineapple on pizza, and spiders— and if there’s any real justification for that hate.

And most important of all is that you always ask whether you’re actually right or not.

Smart people always want to know more, while everyone else would be content not questioning the world around them at all.

3) You have no problem changing your mind

When something comes up that challenges your old beliefs, you don’t dig your heels and insist that you were right.

Maybe you were mistaken about the history of France or the age of the solar system, or maybe you had misunderstood a quote you’ve been repeating all your life.

It doesn’t have to be science and history. 

You’re also willing to change your mind about everything else in your day-to-day life—from which brand of soap to use to how you store your food.

Sometimes it’s no big deal to change your mind on something. Sometimes it can uproot everything you’ve believed so far and crushes your ego to dust.

You take the effort to try nonetheless to admit it when you’re wrong and then change your mind.

4) You’re witty and hilarious

Humor is another thing most people don’t associate with intelligence. 

If anything, people tend to assume that smart people are gloomy, nerdy, and socially awkward.

But humor actually requires a lot of smarts to pull off quite well.

You need to think on the spot, know how to read the room, set up the mood, and then drop your joke at the right time—all of this while still engaging with the people around you.

Even better, in fact, if you make your own jokes, too.

All of this requires a sharp, perceptive mind. So if people tell you you’re funny, you’re actually smarter than you think.

5) You like noticing and analyzing patterns

When people talk of smart people, they usually say things like “they know a lot of things!” and “they’re good at solving puzzles!”

Underappreciated is the fact that smart people are very good at noticing patterns, even ones that are so vague that they take weeks, even years to figure out.

For example, Einstein noticed that physics affected everything equally, and so tried to understand why there appeared to be exceptions.

As for you, you get excited when you’re learning about how certain things keep happening, or how certain people keep doing the same things.

You might think “Well, isn’t that a normal thing to do?”

Trust me—some people won’t even notice patterns even if it’s being pointed out to them.

So if you notice patterns and you love connecting the dots, you’re probably smarter than the average person.

6) You don’t associate wealth or academics with intelligence

The dullest tools in the shed would see someone slam the car door on their leg and they’ll happily declare “masterful gambit, sir!”

All it takes is for that person to be someone obscenely wealthy or decorated in academic achievements like straight As and a Magna Cum Laude.

But you don’t think this way. You find it silly, if anything.

Schools are only good at measuring certain kinds of intelligence after all. Besides, there are so many smart and successful people who never finished school.

And wealth? Meh, you know so many smart people who are earning minimum wage and so many wealthy people who talk nonsense.

7) You’re good at simplifying things

Einstein once said “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

And the reverse is true—if you can explain it simply, that just means you’re smart about the particular topic.

People like to think that smart people make the people around them feel dumb, and a lot of smart people actually struggle to make complicated knowledge easy to understand.

Only someone who is incredibly smart can grasp something so thoroughly that they can break it down for ordinary people. 

They’re able to let other people understand even if they likely don’t have the full context for the given topic.

And this is something that you can do.

You somehow just have a knack for making things easy for others to digest and comprehend, no matter how complicated the topic may be.

8) You have impostor syndrome

Most people would think that being called smart would be an amazing compliment. But you feel awkward when people say this to you.

It makes you uncomfortable when someone calls you “smart” or gives you too much praise for something you did.

Chances are that you suffer from impostor syndrome (like a lot of smart people) and don’t believe you deserve the praise. 

Charles Bukowski said, “The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.”

The fact that you don’t feel comfortable being called smart is often a sign that you’re much smarter than you think you are!

9) You listen more than you speak

Whether you’re discussing with someone at a conference, watching TV, or arguing with someone online, you’re the kind of person who spends a lot of time listening and thinking.

You don’t immediately hit back with a retort or interrupt people while they’re still speaking. 

You don’t drop your commentary on the stuff on TV before you finish watching everything. 

You don’t immediately type up a reply the moment the other person has sent theirs.

Instead, you take the time to listen and give the new information you’re given enough time to marinate. 

You try to understand what was being portrayed or discussed, and then to figure out whether you’re on the same page before you think of your response.

Sure, all this listening might slow you down, but you’d rather move in the right direction than just blabber nonstop.

10) You can entertain a thought while disagreeing with it

You don’t have to agree with something for you to understand it. You might think that ice does not belong on beer, for example, but still try to understand why someone would like it and try not to judge those who think differently from you too harshly.

Or you might disagree with people who say that the supernatural is real, but at the same time tolerate people who think that way and understand why they hold those beliefs.

When talking with people, you’re willing to hear them out and to try to understand their perspectives even when they differ from or even contradict yours.

Last words

There are many different ways to be “smart”, and there’s no guarantee that you excel at every single way there is to be smart.

HackSpirit

The devaluation of the naira has increased Nigeria’s debt profile by N20.6trn trillion in five months.

A data analysis by Daily Trust indicates that the new borrowing plans by the federal government will see the total debt level hit N89.2 trillion before the end of the year.

If shared to Nigeria’s 213 million people, each citizen will be owing N418,779 to the outside world.

The country’s total debt, both domestic and external, was $113.4 billion or N87.4 trillion as of June 30, according to a data sourced from the website of the Debt Management Office (DMO).

The amount is three times the size of the country’s debt in 2005 when the Paris Club forgave $18bn of that amount.

Central Bank of Nigeria’s official exchange rate of US$1 to N770.38 as of June 30 was used in converting the external debt to naira by the DMO.

The domestic debt includes the N22.7 trillion Ways and Means Advances at the CBN for which the approval of the National Assembly (NASS) to securitize it was received in May 2023.

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, had, last month, at the World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings in Marrakech, Morroco, announced a plan by the government to obtain $1.5 billion in budget support from the World Bank.

This would, if granted, push the country’s debt stock to $114.9bn or N89.2trn, using the official exchange rate of N776.4/dollar.

This excludes the new plan to borrow $7.8bn and €100m which the president on Wednesday requested the Senate to approve as part of the 2022 – 2024

A ‘what if’ analysis of the debt profile indicates that if the exchange rate had remained at N461 to $1, according to the Nigerian Exchange Rate Archive by the CBN on May 30,  Nigeria’s debt stock would have been only N57.6 trillion.

Following the devaluation of the portion of the debt owed to external creditors which is denominated in United States dollars, the total debt stock increased by N20.6 trillion as a result of the depreciation of about N315 per dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market  (NAFEM) window from May 30th to date.

Analysis of debt

As of June, Nigeria’s external debt was $43.1bn; and domestic debt, $70.3 bn.

A total of $20.7bn is owed to multi-lateral organisations; $5.5bn is bilateral; $15.6bn is commercial (Euro bonds); $931m is a promissory note (non-interest notes issued to settle arrears of federal contractors) and $300m, syndicated loans.

The federal government’s portion of the external debt of $43.1bn is $38.8bn, accounting for 90 percent of the debt; while the 36 states and the FCT account for $4.3bn accounting for 10 percent of the debt stock.

The most indebted state, from the breakdown of the $4.3bn debt stock, is Lagos with $1.2bn followed by Kaduna ($569m), Edo ($258m), Bauchi ($170m) and Cross River ($153m).

The least indebted states in the index are Borno ($18m), Taraba and Yobe with $21m each, Jigawa ($26m), Benue ($29m) and Plateau ($31m).

New debt stock a threat-DMO

The Debt Management Office (DMO), in its recent report, titled, ‘Market Access Country-Debt Sustainability Analysis (MAC-DSA)’ for 2022, said  Nigeria’s debt service-to-revenue ratio in 2023 was 73.5 percent, describing it as unsustainable and a threat.

The MAC-DSA is a template used to analyse debt levels to determine future debt sustainability.

The DMO said the results of last year’s MAC-DSA showed that the total public debt-to-GDP ratio was projected to jump to 37.1 percent in 2023, relative to 23.4 percent as of September 2022.

Also in a recent report, KPMG said Nigeria’s debt service to revenue ratio might exceed 100 percent in 2023.

In its macroeconomic snapshot, the professional services firm raised concerns over Nigeria’s risk of sliding into critical debt servicing problems unless urgent actions were explored to significantly raise revenue. In 2022, Nigeria’s debt service-to-revenue ratio was 80.6 percent — a figure far above World Bank’s suggested 22.5 percent for low-income countries like Nigeria.

‘With FGN revenue to GDP ratio of 4.49% as of December 2022, Nigeria’s debt service to revenue ratio may surpass 100% in 2023, which will limit the fiscal space and the government’s ability to pay for its operations and functions, unless urgent measures are taken to build revenue,” KPMG said.

It advised the government to establish well-thought-out guidelines and frameworks for borrowing, focusing on sustainable debt management and giving investments that produce long-term economic returns top priority.

Meanwhile, last Thursday, the CBN began clearing the backlog of foreign exchange obligations estimated at about $7bn.

This intervention had seen the naira appreciate at the parallel on Friday evening as the dollar exchanged for below N950 from the N1,150 it was earlier in the morning same day.

Daily Trust

Scarcity of Liquefied Petroleum Gas also known as cooking gas has hit Lagos and some other states in the country.

The other affected states, according to findings by our correspondents are: Katsina, Sokoto, Delta, Kaduna and Kano.

The rise in price of the commodity has been noticed since late last month, causing a continuous rise in prices.

Market survey carried out by The PUNCH over the weekend, revealed that 12.5kg of cooking gas now sells for between N13,500 and N14,000 at the black market.

Some of the traders told our correspondents that gas plant owners now sell to them at between N1100-N1200 per 1kg as they could not access enough quantity.

As of June, the price of 12.5kg was around N8,700. In September price rose to N10,200, and as of Saturday, price had again risen to between N13,500-N14,000.

In a chat with President, the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, Oladapo Olatunbosun on Sunday, The PUNCH learnt that there is currently not enough cooking gas in Lagos state.

Our correspondent in Katsina also reported scarcity of cooking gas in the state.

According to findings, the scarcity was first observed about two weeks ago as several small retailers complained of non-availability. Investigation has also shown that a kilogram of cooking gas goes for nothing less than N1,400 in the state. No official reason had been given for the scarcity.

Scarcity of cooking gas has also been noticed in Sokoto metropolis in the last few days, leading to prices being increased indiscriminately.

Our correspondent in Kaduna reported that residents were spotted carrying their cylinders in search of the commodity as of Sunday. Findings showed that a retail price of 5 kilogram went for N5,500.

In the neighbouring Kano state, our correspondent disclosed that the resurfacing of scarcity of cooking was noticed, as residents are engaging in panic buying of the commodity.

Following the scarcity, marketers have jacked up prices as one kilogram of cooking gas is now being sold at N850 in some filling stations while others sold it between N900 and N950 per kilogram. Long queues of buyers are now common feature at most of filling stations dispensing the commodity.

At other outlets (black market) the price is between N1,110 per kilo and N1,200 per kg.

In Delta State, investigations by our correspondent in Warri and Effurun show that the price of cooking gas has shot up to N1,100 per kg as of Sunday, 5th November, 2023.

The commodity was selling at N800 per kg in October in the twin cities.

When questioned on the rationale for the price increase, a popular gas dealer in Warri identified as Igho, could not explain the cause.

In Abuja, a resident of Karu, in AMAC Area Council of Abuja, Roy, told our correspondent that while there was no scarcity of cooking gas in his vicinity, his experience was a mix of liquefied gas and pure gas, which no longer lasted as long as it used to.

“So for me, the problem I’m having is it liquefies. So insted of having the normal gas, you end up with like seventy percent gas, and thirty percent liquid that’s inside the cylinder, for whatever you buy.

So initially we were not even aware, until we noticed that when we shake the cylinder, it’s always leaving the liquefied part under. So it ends within like two or three weeks before the normal period when it should last”, he said.

Another resident, Sandra, told our correspondent that there was no scarcity of cooking gas, but noted that it had become expensive.

“I bought gas today at Abacha road in Mararaba. 12.5kg for N13,500. I wouldn’t say there is scarcity, just that it has become expensive”, she said.

Agreeing, another Kubwa resident, Cecilia, said, “It’s not scarce in my area, there’s just a price increase. I bought last Wednesday at N1,000 per Kg. Plus it doesn’t last as long as it used to”.

Punch investigation in Kwara, however showed that the commodity is available in most of the filling stations.

A dealer operating an outlet at Gaa Odota in Ilorin identified as chief Sunday Oladele told our correspondent that gas was available at his outlet adding that a kilogram was being sold at N1,200.

 “Cooking gas is available in Kwara state. I have it in my outlet which I sell at N1,200 per kg. We have not experienced scarcity in Kwara. There is also gas at Ogbomoso in Oyo state where I have another outlet and it is being sold at N1,100 per kg.

The Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited currently supplies the market 70 per cent of the cooking gas being consumed in-country, according to Olatunbosun.

There are claims that Nigeria had the fastest growing LPG sector in the world with a projected LPG market size of $10bn, as the annual per capita consumption of LPG had risen from 1.8kilogramme in 2015 to 5kg in 2021. According to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, domestic consumption of cooking gas exceeded 1 million MT in 2020. It said the consumption rate made 2020 the first year in the nation’s history when LPG consumption reached the 1 million MT thresholds.

Punch

No fewer than 22 persons have been killed in Chito and Tyo Akosu communities of Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State, following a rival gang fight and attack on a drinking spot. 

It was gathered from sources in the area that the gang supremacy fight, which erupted, weekend, in Chito Community between the notorious criminal armed groups, known as ‘Chain Gang’ and ‘Full Fire’, left about 15 persons dead, while several others sustained gunshot wounds. 

One of the sources said that the killings at Tyo Akosu settlement was perpetrated by armed men, who stormed a drinking spot in the village and opened fire on unsuspecting customers at the bar. 

He said he could not readily confirm if the attack at Tyo Akosu was an extension of the Chito fight, but noted that the suspicion among the locals was that the supremacy fight was fast spreading in the communities of the council.

One of the sources explained that “It all started on Friday afternoon, during a fight for supremacy between kingpins of crime in Ukum council. They are known as Chain and Full Fire gangs, with their operational base located in the council.

“Both groups are looking for each others’ necks. Full Fire employed the services of another banditry group to help kill the Chain gang, which got wind of the plan and laid ambush for them. 

“They opened fire and killed all of them. Some persons claimed that 10 pereons were killed in the bloody fight while others said they counted 15 bodies. 

“”But it was an internal fight for supremacy among gangs and not a communal crisis. In fact, the locals ran away because they feared for their lives. They feared that in the course of the reprisal, they might be affected despite being innocent.” 

It was gathered that after the Chito bloody fight on Friday evening, a gang of armed men Saturday evening stormed the drinking spot at Tor Akosu village and opened fire on the customers at the bar, killing seven persons and injurying several others. 

He said: “Though we cannot say for sure that it was an extention of the supremacy fight but we cannot rule it out because we cannot tell who belongs to whatever groups anymore. 

“Ukum has become something else, we are all living in fear as we speak because we cannot tell who is who among our local boys,” he said. 

Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Catherine Anene said she was yet to receive information on the incidents.

Vanguard

US President Joe Biden would likely lose a rematch against his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, if the election were held now, according to polls from the New York Times/Siena College and CBS/YouGov published on Sunday.  

The New York Times poll showed Trump leading Biden significantly in five of the six critical ‘swing states,’ holding an 11-point lead in Nevada and smaller margins across Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Only Wisconsin favored Biden – and only by a two-point margin. 

Two thirds of respondents said the US was moving in the wrong direction, and a majority across all demographics claimed Biden’s policies had personally hurt them. Nearly three quarters (71%) said the president was too old to serve effectively – including more than half of his own supporters – while 62% said he lacked the mental acuity for the job. 

Close to six in ten (59%) likely voters trusted Trump over Biden on the economy – rated as the most important issue of the 2024 election by a majority of respondents – and the preference for Trump held true across all education and income levels, ages, and genders.  

Just 2% of respondents – and less than 1% of those under 30 – claimed the economy was 'excellent', potentially explaining Biden’s flagging support among young voters, who overwhelmingly chose him in 2020 but favored him by just one point over Trump in Sunday’s poll.  

The CBS poll put Trump ahead of Biden by three points, echoing the NYT’s findings that voters are pinning their economic hopes on the Republican. Nearly half (45%) of those polled said they’d be better off financially if Trump returned to the White House, compared to just 18% predicting a rosy economic future under Biden, though a majority (51%) expected both candidates’ policies to favor the wealthy over the working and middle classes. At the same time, 48% expected to be financially worse off if Biden won a second term, while 32% felt the same about Trump. 

Trump was also seen as less belligerent. Nearly half (47%) of the respondents thought he would increase peace and stability in the world, compared to just 31% who felt the same about Biden. While 39% of likely voters still believed Trump would increase the odds of the US entering another war, nearly half (49%) expected Biden to do so. 

Voters’ own preferences were overwhelmingly for avoiding foreign wars, with 72% of respondents agreeing the US should “try to stay out of other countries’ affairs” and just 35% prioritizing the projection of military power over the promotion of American ideals as a foreign policy goal. Still, a slim majority supported sending military aid to both Israel (55%) and Ukraine (53%).

RT

Elon Musk revealed his own artificial intelligence bot to challenge ChatGPT, claiming the prototype is already superior to ChatGPT 3.5 across several benchmarks.

Dubbed Grok, it’s the first product of Musk’s xAI company and is now in testing with a limited group of US users. Grok is being developed with data from Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, and is thus better informed on the latest developments than alternative bots with static datasets, the company’s website said. It’s also designed to answer “with a bit of wit and has a rebellious streak,” according to the announcement.

Earlier this year, Musk was among the signatories of a petition calling for a pause in advancing AI models in order to allow for the development of shared safety protocols.

“I signed that letter knowing it was futile,” the billionaire owner of X and Tesla Inc. chief executive officer posted on Sunday. “I just wanted to be on the record as recommending a pause.”

US President Joe Biden just signed an executive order for AI oversight, aimed at setting standards for security and privacy protections, while tech leaders and academics debated the technology’s risks at the UK’s AI Safety Summit last week.

Grok is the product of two months of development, the xAI announcement said, and will be made available to all X Premium+ users after it exits the testing stage. Musk has spoken of his ambition to build X beyond its base as a social platform into a do-everything app akin to Tencent Holding Ltd.’s WeChat in China. Grok would be an essential part of developing that — while xAI is a separate company, it says it intends to work closely with X, Tesla and other businesses.

Bloomberg

Gaza has lost telecom contact again, while Israel's military says it has surrounded Gaza City

Gaza lost communications Sunday in its third total outage of the Israel-Hamas war, while Israel’s military said it encircled Gaza City and divided the besieged coastal strip into two.

“Today there is north Gaza and south Gaza,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters, calling it a “significant stage” in Israel’s war against the Hamas militant group ruling the enclave. Israeli media reported troops were expected to enter Gaza City within 48 hours. Strong explosions were seen in northern Gaza after nightfall.

The “collapse in connectivity” across Gaza, reported by internet access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and confirmed by Palestinian telecom company Paltel, made it even more complicated to convey details of the new stage of the military offensive.

“We have lost communication with the vast majority of the UNRWA team members,” U.N. Palestinian refugee agency spokesperson Juliette Touma told The Associated Press. The first Gaza outage lasted 36 hours and the second one for a few hours.

Earlier Sunday, Israeli warplanes struck two refugee camps, killing at least 53 people and wounding dozens in central Gaza, the zone where Israel’s military had urged Palestinian civilians to seek refuge, health officials said. Israel said it would press on with its offensive to crush Hamas, despite U.S. appeals for even brief pauses to get aid to desperate civilians.

Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said more than 9,700 Palestinians have been killed in nearly a month of war in Gaza, more than 4,000 of them children and minors. That toll likely will rise as Israeli troops advance into dense, urban neighborhoods.

Airstrikes hit the Maghazi refugee camp, killing at least 40 people and wounding 34 others, the Health Ministry said. An AP reporter at a nearby hospital saw eight dead children, including a baby, brought in after the strike. A surviving child was led down the corridor, her clothes caked in dust.

Arafat Abu Mashaia, who lives in the camp, said the Israeli airstrike flattened several multistory homes where people forced out of other parts of Gaza were sheltering.

“It was a true massacre,” he said. “All here are peaceful people. I challenge anyone who says there were resistance (fighters) here.”

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Another airstrike hit a house near a school at the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. Staff at Al-Aqsa Hospital told the AP at least 13 people were killed. The camp was struck on Thursday as well.

Despite appeals and overseas protests, Israel has continued its bombardment across Gaza, saying it is targeting Hamas and accusing the militant of using civilians as human shields. Critics say Israel’s strikes are often disproportionate, considering the large number of civilians killed.

On the ground, Israeli forces in Gaza have reported finding stashes of weapons, at times including explosives, suicide drones and missiles. The Israeli military said 29 of its soldiers have died during the ground operation.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, a day after meeting Arab foreign ministers in Jordan.

Abbas, who has had no authority in Gaza since Hamas took over in 2007, said the Palestinian Authority would only assume control of Gaza as part of a “comprehensive political solution” establishing an independent state that includes the West Bank and east Jerusalem — lands Israel seized in the 1967 war.

His remarks seemed to further narrow the already slim options for who would govern Gaza if Israel topples Hamas. The last peace talks with Israel broke down more than a decade ago, and Israel’s government is dominated by opponents of Palestinian statehood.

Blinken later visited Iraq to meet with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani about the need to prevent the conflict from spreading, and about efforts to increase the flow of aid to Gaza, which Blinken called “grossly insufficient” at about 100 truckloads a day.

A Jordanian military cargo plane air-dropped medical aid to a field hospital in northern Gaza, King Abdullah II said on social media early Monday. This appeared to be the first aid delivered by Jordan, a key U.S. ally that has a peace deal with Israel.

Earlier in his tour, Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who on Sunday reiterated that “there will be no cease-fire without the return of our abductees.”

Arab leaders have called for an immediate cease-fire. But Blinken said that “would simply leave Hamas in place, able to regroup and repeat what it did on Oct. 7,” when it stormed into southern Israel from Gaza, triggering the war.

Swaths of residential neighborhoods in northern Gaza have been leveled in airstrikes. The U.N. office for humanitarian affairs says more than half the remaining residents, estimated at around 300,000, are sheltering in U.N.-run facilities. The U.N. said Sunday that 88 staff members from its Palestinian refugees agency have been reported killed — “the highest number of United Nations fatalities ever recorded in a single conflict.”

Israeli planes again dropped leaflets urging people to head south during a four-hour window Sunday. Crowds walked down Gaza’s main north-south highway carrying baggage or pets and pushing wheelchairs. Others led donkey carts.

One man said they walked 500 meters (yards) with their hands raised while passing Israeli troops. Another described seeing bodies along the road. “The children saw tanks for the first time. Oh world, have mercy on us,” said one Palestinian man who declined to give his name.

Israel’s military said a one-way corridor would continue for residents to flee to southern Gaza.

The U.N. said about 1.5 million people in Gaza, or 70% of the population, have fled their homes. Food, water and the fuel needed for generators that power hospitals are running out. No fuel has come for nearly one month, the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency said.

The war has stoked wider tensions, with Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group trading fire along the border.

Four civilians were killed by an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon on Sunday evening, including three children, a local civil defense official and state-run media reported. The Israeli military said it had attacked Hezbollah targets in response to anti-tank fire that killed an Israeli civilian. Hezbollah said it fired Grad rockets from southern Lebanon into Israel in response.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, at least two Palestinians were killed during an Israeli arrest raid in Abu Dis, just outside of Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The military said a militant who had set up an armed cell and fired at Israeli forces was killed.

At least 150 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the start of the war.

Many Israelis have called for Netanyahu to resign and for the return of roughly 240 hostages held by Hamas. Some families are traveling abroad to try to make sure the hostages aren’t forgotten.

Netanyahu has refused to take responsibility for the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 people. Ongoing Palestinian rocket fire has forced tens of thousands of people in Israel to leave their homes.

In another reflection of widespread anger, a junior government minister, Amihai Eliyahu, suggested in a radio interview that Israel could drop an atomic bomb on Gaza. He later called the remarks “metaphorical.” Netanyahu suspended Eliyahu from cabinet meetings, a move with no practical effect.

The U.S. military on Sunday acknowledged positioning a nuclear weapon-capable Ohio-class submarine in the Middle East, although it’s unclear if it’s armed with nuclear ballistic missiles. Several Ohio-class submarines instead carry cruise missiles and the capability to deploy with special operations forces.

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Five injured, arts museum damaged in Russian strikes on Odesa, Ukraine officials say

Five people were injured in Odesa and one of the city's principal art galleries was damaged in Russian strikes late on Sunday, Ukrainian officials in the Black Sea port said.

"On November 6, the Odesa National Art Museum turns 124 years old," Oleh Kiper, governor of the Odesa region, of which the Odesa city is the administrative centre, said on the Telegram messaging app. "On the eve of November 6, the Russians 'congratulated' our architectural monument with a missile that hit nearby."

The walls of the building were damaged, some windows and glass were broken, he said.

The museum, in one of the oldest palaces of Odesa, housed before the war more than 10,000 pieces of art, including paintings by some of the best-known Russian and Ukrainian artists of late 19th and early 20th century.

The Odesa city council published a video showing blown out windows and debris inside what it said was the Odesa National Art Museum, where paintings hang on walls.

"The situation is under control, but everything will have to be examined thoroughly so that we are sure that everything is fine," Odesa Mayor Henadii Trukhanov told the Suspilne media outlet.

On the street near the museum, the attack left a several-meter hole. According to the city authorities, one person was injured there.

Kiper said that all five of the injured, from throughout the city, were hospitalised.

** Near Donetsk front line, Ukraine artillery crew face intensifying fire

In Ukraine's war-ravaged Donetsk region, soldiers dug in near the front line described how Russian artillery had intensified significantly in recent weeks, but said it remains below peaks seen a year ago as both sides struggle to advance.

With the sound of outgoing and incoming artillery crashing in the distance around him, one of three artillerymen operating a Hiatsynt howitzer, 22-year-old Vitaliy, said he had felt the increase after coming back from leave last month.

"Probably about a month ago, that's when you started feeling it everywhere," Vitaliy said.

Reuters was asked not to reveal their exact location or name their brigade due to the recent outbreak of intense fighting on their part of the frontline.

All three crew members operating the howitzer, captured from Russia last year and still showing a "Made in Russia" tag on its tyres, said they had noticed the increase.

However, the crew of the Hiatsynt, as well as other Ukrainian soldiers on different parts of the front, told Reuters that the longer-term trend has been a significant decrease in Russian artillery shelling from a year ago.

The crew's commander, a straight-talking, gold-toothed 45-year-old named Oleksandr, said they could only guess where Russia had sourced the additional shells.

"I don't know where these shells are coming from, but they are flying in," he said, gesturing in the direction of several recent craters near his position.

The intelligence service of South Korea said on Wednesday that its neighbour North Korea has supplied over a million shells to Russia since August.

Moscow and Pyongyang have denied that arms are being transferred from the North for use in Russia's war against Ukraine.

"The fact that, if true, they received quite a few shells from (North) Korea, we definitely feel it," said Vitaliy.

Despite the increase, there has been very little movement in the front lines.

"The war became more positional than before, everybody stands on their positions, there's no movement," said Volodymyr, 43. "Neither we advance anywhere, nor do they."

** Zelenskiy pushes US for more aid, invites Trump to Ukraine

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on the U.S. to provide more funding to help his forces counter Russia, and invited former U.S. President Donald Trump to fly in to see the scale of the conflict for himself.

Zelenskiy said American soldiers could eventually be pulled into a greater European conflict with Russia if Washington did not step up support.

"If Russia will kill all of us, they will attack NATO countries and you will send your sons and daughters [to fight]," Zelenskiy said according to a transcript of an interview with NBC's 'Meet the Press' airing on Sunday.

U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has pressed the U.S. Congress to pass a $106 billion supplemental spending bill, with the bulk of the money going to bolster Ukraine's defenses and the remainder split among Israel, the Indo-Pacific and border enforcement.

The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives has instead put forward its own funding plan. It passed a bill last week to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel, but did not include any increase in aid for Ukraine.

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, majority leader of the Democratic-controlled Senate, said he would not bring the House bill to a vote and Biden has vowed to veto it.

In the interview that aired on Sunday, Zelenskiy invited former U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, to visit Ukraine and see the fallout of the conflict initiated by Russia's President Vladimir Putin in February 2022.

Trump, who is seeking reelection in 2024 and is the leading candidate for his party's presidential nomination, has been sharply critical of U.S. support for Kyiv and has said he could end the war in 24 hours if reelected.

"If he can come here, I will need ... 24 minutes to explain to President Trump that he can't manage this war," Zelenskiy said. "He can’t bring peace because of Putin."

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Western leaders know Ukrainians steal their money – Kremlin

Western countries have come to realize that Ukrainian officials are using the funds they receive from their supporters to line their own pockets, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has said.  

In an interview with Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin released on Sunday, Peskov claimed that Western leaders “understand that a certain part of the money they give to Ukraine is, simply put, stolen,” adding that this reality is recognized by US policymakers at various levels.   

According to Peskov, when confronted with rampant corruption in Ukraine, American lawmakers “have to explain to their constituents why there is no proper mechanism [to oversee] the fund disbursement [and] why they turn a blind eye to this” while debating further aid packages.  

He went on to add that both the US and Kiev’s backers in Europe are “getting tired of the Ukrainian topic, the Kiev regime, and the burden that they have put on their shoulders,” referring to the massive military and financial assistance Ukraine receives from the West.   

“Even such extremely powerful economies as the United States can’t do this indefinitely. They have a lot of problems of their own… At some point, all this will become an excessive burden that they can no longer bear,” he stressed.  

Peskov’s comments come after Politico reported in early October that the administration of US President Joe Biden was “far more worried about corruption in Ukraine than they publicly admit.” A sensitive document cited by the magazine stressed that the widespread graft in Ukraine could force Western allies to abandon Kiev in its fight with Russia.  

The Politico article was echoed by a CNN report, which was released around the same time, alleging that US officials were pushing Kiev to do more to fight corruption, with a State Department diplomatic note compiled this summer linking anti-graft efforts to continued direct budget support.  

Meanwhile, the Biden administration’s request for Congress to approve a new security package, which included more than $60 billion for Ukraine, met with strong opposition from the Republicans. Some GOP lawmakers called on the president for more accountability and to clarify what he thinks the endgame in the conflict would look like.

** Russian Armed Forces intercept 9 HIMARS shells, shoot down 43 Ukrainian drones

The Russian Armed Forces intercepted 9 HIMARS missiles and shot down 43 Ukrainian drones over the past 24 hours, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

"Nine HIMARS missiles were intercepted by air defense systems during the day. In addition, 43 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down in the areas of the settlements of Tavolzhanka in the Kharkov region, Verkhnekamenka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Kyryllovka, Yalynskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Sladkaya Balka, Novofedorovka and Pshenichnoye in the Zaporozhye region," the ministry said.

The Russian Armed Forces struck an arsenal of missiles and ammunition of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Chernigov region, the ministry reported. "An arsenal of missile weapons and ammunition of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was hit in the area of the settlement of Priluki in the Chernigov region. A command and observation post was hit in the area of the settlement of Serebryanka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the ministry said.

The losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces per day in the Donetsk direction reached up to 140 military personnel, a Leopard tank and two armored vehicles. "In the Donetsk direction, units of the Southern Group of Forces, in cooperation with aviation and artillery, defeated the manpower and equipment of the 42nd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of the settlements of Kurdyumovka and Kleshcheevka of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Enemy losses in this direction amounted to up to 140 military personnel, a Leopard tank, two armored combat vehicles, three cars," the ministry said.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine also lost more than 55 personnel in the South Donetsk direction. "In the South Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok group of forces, in collaboration with army aviation and artillery, repelled an attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ 102nd territorial defense brigade in the area of the settlement of Marfopol, Zaporozhye region," the ministry said.

Reuters/RT/Tass