As if buying a home isn't hard enough, there can be a pretty steep learning curve once you start actually living in it. Recently, u/Cheirogaleidae asked people on Reddit to share ways people have damaged their homes through sheer ignorance, and the replies are pretty wild. Here's what they had to say:

1. "Not paying attention to wooden things that need periodic painting. Porch posts, door trim, fences, etc. If you don't keep up with it, it rots. Then you have to replace porch posts, door trim, fences, etc. I had no idea until things rotted."

"My wood deck rotted when I didn't keep up with paint/stain. Once I rebuilt it, I painted the banisters and railings and stained/sealed the floor boards. Repeat every three years or so.

Unprotected wood rots. Even pressure treated."

—u/meowmobile999

2. "Flushing 'flushable' wipes."

—u/sousvideandsmoke

3. "I was a new homeowner at 26. I grilled too close to the plastic siding of my house and warped it."

—u/iamtheemoose

"I’ve seen people catch their house on fire doing this because they don’t ever clean their gas grill and they are too close to their wood siding. Don’t put your grill against the house, ever."

—u/thebimpo

"My friends lit their roof on fire doing this exact thing."

—u/echo_birch

4. "Brick is meant to breathe. Painting it can trap moisture inside your walls."

—u/jo-z

"Stopping up the weep holes is also bad. I had to explain that those openings in our walls were put there deliberately; no, we will not be mortaring them."

—u/pocapractica

5. "Husband’s coworker hired someone to remove a tree from his backyard. They quoted him $600 to do it. Dude was not insured or licensed. Near as we can tell, it was just a dude who owned a chainsaw."

"The tree fell on the house, damaged part of the roof, siding, and took out the electricity. His insurance wouldn’t cover it because the dude who did it was just a dude. Took four days to get the electricity fixed. The dude who took down the tree 'felt really bad' about the damage he caused, so is going to fix it all himself.

Husband’s coworker had owned the house less than a month."

—u/jezebelleacid

6. "Forgot to take a hose off of the spigot before the first freeze of winter."

—u/sudifirjfhfjvicodke

"Oh yeah. My husband did that and we got a surprise waterfall in our basement the next year when he turned the hose on."

—u/criticismturbulent54

7. "Furnace filters. Replace them more often than you think you need. Don’t run ultra high MERV ratings. You need airflow over your indoor coil for the system to work well."

—u/69stangrestomod

"Just bought a house that had renters for over three years. They had not changed the furnace filter since moving in. It was BAD. The worst I've seen, and I'm not sure how the AC or furnace were still operational. I immediately called in a duct cleaner, who sucked out a very large carton of dirt and hair and bugs and drywall dust, and told me this was worse than the average house he sees. He even opened the furnace and air handler in my crawl space and cleaned it out with a shop vac.

I've now got a Merv 8 carbon filter in there, and peace of mind that most of the funk the gross renters oozed into the ducts is gone. The house smells better now."

—u/loanslinger

8. "I was this dummy. My toilet started running. Intermittently at first but then more frequently. I kept putting it off. Then I had three major surgeries back to back and put off looking at the bills until they were due at the end of the month. My water bill was somewhere around $550 dollars. It is normally $50!"

"Then, because I'd put off looking at it until the end of the month and the water bill invoices for the month before that, I hadn't caught it in time. So when the next month's bill arrived it was $650ish!

It was just one piece inside the tank that needed to be swapped out. A $10 part that literally took four minutes. It cost me over $1k just because I kept putting off looking at a toilet that had started running."

—u/mountainhighonlife

9. "Putting egg shells down your drain/garbage disposal. Tons of people do it. It can create a cement and clog your drain."

"A plumber told my wife that decades ago so we never did it. I figured there's no harm in not doing it so better safe than sorry. Then some friends of ours had plumbing problems. Lucky for them, the point of compaction was above an unfinished room so it was easy to get to. He cut out a section of PVC pipe and it was like a chunk of cement inside. All caused from egg shells."

—u/captainawesome06

10. "Previous homeowners bricked over the only (tiny) access point to the crawlspace. It's been super fun trying to fix copper plumbing lines they ran under the house, up an exterior wall to the second floor laundry. Every winter they freeze a few times. There's supposedly a heating line on them but I expect it's no longer working."

"I'm using next weekend to pull out the floor in the back stairwell to create a new access point so I can get under and see what's happening. I dread going into the crawlspace. I've been here for seven years and I have no idea what to expect."

—u/invisiblesoulmate

11. "Not paying attention to termites invading his garage. The framing was so chewed up that the only thing keeping it standing was the outside stucco. And he won't take advice on it."

—u/greginvalley

12. "Forgetting to clean the condensation line on my HVAC. During a hot streak in the summer, the condensation line got clogged. Water slowly leaked out of the HVAC (it was in a utility closet so I have no idea how long it was leaking). The water leaked under the drywall to the adjacent room and ruined all of the flooring."

—u/randmness
13. "I only learned recently about the filter in the dishwasher and I’m so grossed out."

—u/freshouttapatience

"I was probably the first person to clean that and my in-wall AC filter in my old apartment. The AC had to be replaced because of so much mold. The dishwasher was gross but after that and a proper dishwasher cleaner cycle, it was glorious to use again!"

—u/newsghost

"I swear to god I learn about a new filter or drain in my home every week and want to cry."

—u/mrsharris2019

14. "I once left a bottle of toilet bowl cleaner on the laminate countertop. It leaked and permanently etched the countertop."

—u/esqueezeme-

"I did something similar. We have hard water and it was leaving residue on our marble vanity top. I soaked some paper towels in vinegar and left it around the edges of the sink where the discoloration was. That stripped the sealant or whatever off and now it's etched or whatever I did to it. Sigh."

—u/amidormi

15. "A customer replaced the ballcock in his second floor toilet and then went out of town. A neighbor called the police the next day when water started coming out the front door. Always call a licensed plumber."

—u/five-and-dimer
16. "Ignoring very basic maintenance like clearing debris causing water to pool on roofs. And ignoring caulking around windows. My aunt and uncle had a beautiful Spanish mission style house from the 1920s. And it was in really good condition when they bought it. Roughly 20-25 years later, the only thing in halfway decent condition were the wood floors."

"Roof was shot and actively leaking in multiple rooms. Causing plaster ceilings to just fall. Exterior walls were destroyed. Framing was completely destroyed, and again plaster just falling off he walls.

The house stood in great condition for over 70 years. And through minor neglect, fell apart in the last 20."

—u/sparky_zell

17. "The first 10 years we owned our house, we rarely (maybe never, I can't recall) got our gutters cleaned. We didn't see the value in it. Eventually, we had to replace an entire bay window and the surrounding wall. I think it cost $10-15k twenty years ago."

"The clogged gutter above the bay window structure didn't direct rainwater to the downspout, and it just poured down over the front. It poured on to the roof of the bay, got behind it, we were clueless (both worked long hours), and eventually we learned the structure rotted."

—u/ilikeplantsnow

18. "Friend decided to finish his basement. Built his stud wall on the ground and tipped it up to place, then discovered it was an inch or two taller then it should have been."

"Instead of taking it down and cutting it to size, he managed to force it into place by essentially jacking up a section of his first floor. Upstairs, tile grout began to crack and come up, doors didn’t shut or latch properly, and you could see new gaps between the baseboards and flooring."

—u/mr_midwestern
19. "Probably the biggest one I see a lot as an insurance agent is people not trimming trees over their roof. Usually the company has something to say about it, and it's not just because you want to avoid having a giant limb fall onto your roof during a storm, but also because the falling leaves or pine needles will make short work of your roof by encouraging moss, rot, and whatever else to propagate."

"I've told clients if they won't trim the trees, they'll want to get up there once or twice a year with a roof rake or broom, so it's easier to just take down the limbs and be safe."

—u/kevymetal87
20. "Oh pick me! I had a wash sink next to my washing machine. Had NO idea that the washing machine actually drained into the sink. Left a pile of rags in the sink and flooded the whole basement. I would like to say this was isolated, but I went on to do it two more times. The shop vac was my friend."

—u/[deleted]
21. "Moved to Texas around a year ago. Learned the hard way that during the dry, hot months you are supposed to water your foundation to help the clay-like soil settle in and around it. Wtf, I have to water my house?"

—u/hotsaltynutz
22. "Our sump pump was working when we moved in, but about nine months later we had a week of heavy spring rains. I realized I hadn't heard the sump pump making noise for awhile so I went into the garage to check the three foot crawlspace we never use which runs the length of our entire house."

"I kid you not — we had a two foot deep swimming pool under our home. We spent $7k on getting the water pumped out, mold mitigation, getting a vapor barrier installed, and replacing the sump pump with one that has an alarm. The old sump pump was the cheapest one our plumber had ever seen. Would've been nice if our home inspector had bothered to mention it."

—u/vlascia
23. "Our newly purchased (one year) home nearly killed me this year. A pocket of leaked natural gas had floated into and sat in our nearby bedroom from the kitchen after I made a whole bunch of stuff for dinner with the gas oven and stove."

"Check for gas leaks regularly!!! The detectors are less than $20 on Amazon."

—u/acrobaticrutabagas

24. And finally, "My daughter looked at a house for sale where the owners poured unused tile grout down the tub drain. Totally clogged. Did NOT buy that one."

—u/key-helicopter-12

Buzzfeed

The Omnivision OVM6948 CameraCubeChip® holds the record for the world’s smallest commercially available camera. It measures 0.65 mm x 0.65 mm, with a z‑height of just 1.158 mm.

Developed by Omnivision, a global technology company specializing in innovative advanced digital imaging, analog, and touch & display solutions for multiple applications across several industries, the CameraCubeChip® is based on the tiny OVM6948 sensor, which claimed the Guinness Record for the world’s smallest commercially available image sensor. It can be mounted on various medical instruments, including disposable guidewires, endoscopes, and catheters with diameters as small as 1.0 mm. Its impressively small size makes it perfect for use within the body’s narrowest blood vessels for neuro, ophthalmic, ENT, cardiac, spinal, urology, gynecology, and arthroscopy procedures.

Despite its tiny body, the OVM6948 CameraCubeChip® offers a high 200 x 200, or 40 KPixel backside-illuminated resolution, producing high-quality images of some of the most sensitive areas in the human body. It is also the world’s only chip-on-tip camera with backside illumination which delivers better low-light performance to help reduce LED heat.

According to the Omnivision website, due to the sensor’s low power consumption, less heat is generated at the distal tip of the endoscope, improving patient comfort and thus permitting longer-duration procedures.

The world’s smallest camera has a wide 120-degree field of view and an extended focus range of 3 mm to 30 mm. It can shoot video at up to 30 frames per second, and its analog output can transmit over 4 meters with minimal noise.

Oddity Central

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it will boost liquidity in the foreign exchange (FX) market by intervening “from time to time”.

The apex bank, in a statement issued on Thursday, said that as market liquidity improves, the interventions will “gradually decrease”.

CBN also announced lifting of the ban on 43 items previously restricted from accessing forex.

The decision comes amid high levels of volatility experienced in the FX market following the unification of all trading windows into the investors’ and exporters’ (I&E) window — the official FX market.

On Wednesday, the naira fell to a new all-time low, trading at N1,045 to the dollar in the street markets. The depreciation was sustained at the official market at N776.

In the statement, signed by Isa AbdulMumin, CBN’s director of corporate communications, the regulator pledged to continue to promote orderliness and professional conduct by all participants in the foreign exchange market to ensure market forces determine exchange rates on a willing buyer, willing seller principle.

“The CBN reiterates that the prevailing Foreign Exchange (FX) rates should be referenced from platforms such as the CBN website, FMDQ, and other recognised or appointed trading systems to promote price discovery, transparency, and credibility in the FX rates,” the statement reads.

“As part of its responsibility to ensure price stability, the CBN will boost liquidity in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market by interventions from time to time.

“As market liquidity improves, these CBN interventions will gradually decrease.

“Importers of all the 43 items previously restricted by the 2015 Circular referenced TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/010 and its addendums are now allowed to purchase foreign exchange in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.

“The CBN is committed to accelerating efforts to clear the FX backlog with existing participants and will continue dialogue with stakeholders to address the issue.”

The apex bank said it has set the attainment of a single FX market as one of its goals.

The bank added that consultation is ongoing with market participants to achieve the goal.

Meanwhile, in 2015, the CBN restricted 43 items from accessing FX from I&E window.

Some of the affected items include rice, cement, margarine, palm kernel, palm oil products, vegetable oils, meat and processed meat products, vegetables and processed vegetable products, poultry, tomatoes/tomato paste, soap, cosmetics, toothpicks, and head pans.

The lifting of the ban means that importers of these items can now freely purchase forex from the official window at ‘cheaper rates’.

The Cable

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Ola Olukoyede as the executive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Olukoyode’s appointment, pending confirmation by the senate, was announced on Thursday in a statement by Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to the president on media and publicity.

Olukoyede is not new to the agency. He served as the commission’s secretary between 2018 and 2023.

He also served as chief of staff to Ibrahim Magu, ex-EFCC chair, between 2016 and 2018.

LAWYER AND PASTOR

Olukoyede was born on October 14, 1969 in Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti state. He attended Lagos State University, University of Lagos, Institute of Arbitration ICC – Paris, France, and the University of Harvard (Kennedy School of Executive Education). He is a lawyer with over 22 years of experience as a regulatory compliance consultant and specialist in fraud management and corporate intelligence.

In 2008, he established Global Compliance GRC, governance, risk and legal consulting outfit, where he managed as an attorney for investigation and civil litigations of fraud and corruption in international aid projects.

He worked at Ecodev Investment, a finance and investment company, for about five years before moving to Legal Research and Corporate Development Projects (LRCDP Consulting).

In 2008, he established his law firm, Ola Olukoyede & Co, from where he joined the EFCC.

He was a member of the Fraud Advisory Panel, in the United Kingdom, and also a member of the federal government technical committee on the repositioning of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).

The 54-year-old is a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).

FIRST SOUTHERNER TO HEAD EFCC

All EFCC chairpersons before Olukoyode — Nuhu Ribadu, Farida Waziri, Ibrahim Lamorde, Ibrahim Magu and Abdulrasheed Bawa — were northern Muslims, which makes him the first southerner and Christian, a pastor at that, to lead the agency.

Even Magu, Abdulkarim Chukkol, and Mohammed Umar, who served in acting capacities, were northerners and Muslims.

‘SUSPENSION’ AND QUALIFICATION SAGA

In July 2021, Olukoyode was said to have been suspended alongside 21 directors of the commission during Magu’s probe.

When news that he was set to be appointed EFCC chairman began making the rounds, there were claims that he was not qualified to head the agency over his suspension and working experience with the commission.

Section 2(3) of the EFCC Act demands that the chairman of the commission “must be a serving or retired member of any government security or law enforcement agency not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police or equivalent; possess not less than 15 years experience.”

On Wednesday, Tony Idoko, his lawyer, said Olukoyode was suspended as part of administrative protocol and not because of any wrongdoing.

Idoko also said that Olukoyede’s credentials surpass the “15 years cognate experience” needed to qualify for the commission’s chairmanship position.

In the statement announcing the appointment, Ngelale also said Olukoyede has “extensive experience in the operations of the EFCC, having previously served as chief of staff to the executive chairman (2016-2018) and secretary to the commission (2018-2023)”.

“As such, he fulfills the statutory requirement for appointment as chairman of the EFCC,” the statement reads.

The Cable

President Bola Tinubu has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the appeal by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, challenging his election during the February 25 election for abuse of court process.

In his reply, Tinubu’s lawyers led by Wole Olanipekun asked the apex court to dismiss Atiku’s appeal for lacking in merit and bona fide, adding that he had only sought reliefs targeted at the president without canvassing issues that would benefit them in their final written address.

“The logical conclusion from this approbative and reprobative posture of the appellants is that deep down in their hearts, they are convinced that the respondent won the election, but have decided to embark on this voyage of abuse of court process,” he said.

“Everything put together or summarised, this appeal is a further demonstration of the abusive nature to which the appellants have subjected court processes. The Supreme Court is urged to dismiss it.”

Atiku had in his appeal asked the apex court to overturn the judgment of the Presidential Election Petitions Court for being perverse in its conclusion that he failed to prove the allegations of irregularities, malpractices, non-compliance with the electoral laws and guidelines.

Besides, Atiku had filed fresh evidence alleging forgery of the academic diploma of Tinubu from the Chicago State University to assert that he was not qualified to contest the election under Section 137 of the Nigerian Constitution.

Daily Trust

Officials from the London Academy Business School and the University of Sunderland are currently seeking approval from the National Universities Commission to run degree programmes in Nigeria.

A delegation from the University of Sunderland, led by Derek Watson, confirmed this after a meeting with the acting Executive Secretary of the NUC, Chris Maiyaki, in Abuja, according to a statement released on Thursday.

According to the statement, Watson, an associate professor from the Faculty of Business Law and Tourism, was quoted to have said, “The meeting with the Executive Secretary was very productive, the University of Sunderland has over 30 years of experience.

“We were the first UK university to market. What we have agreed on today is the criticality of following the compliance procedures. In addition to that, we would source credible academics to deliver our programmes from LABS who are qualified teachers and also practising consultants. The student will get the same experience as those students studying in England.”

President/Director of Studies, London Academy Business School, Larry Jones-Esan, explained that the visit to NUC was to get the nod to run programmes in Nigeria.

He said, “The meeting with the NUC today is for us to get the recognition that we are allowed to run the Sunderland courses in Nigeria; so, we do not need the NUC accreditation, what we need is recognition, that is very important because if we run any courses in Nigeria without them recognising it, that degree is useless and they cannot do NYSC, so we do not want that to be the case.

“So, what we have done is that we bring those people in and come in myself as the CEO of the London Academy Business School, make sure that we have them aware of what we are doing.”

Jones-Esan described the partnership between the two institutions as important, having seen an opportunity in Nigeria.

“If two million people apply for university admissions every year in Nigeria and only 700,000 are getting a place, that is a problem and that is a challenge and they want to solve that problem and we think we have come at the right time,” he said.

Punch

Israel’s military directed the evacuation of northern Gaza, a region that is home to 1.1 million people, within 24 hours Friday, a U.N. spokesman said, as Israel presses its war to eradicate the Hamas militant group after its deadly attack.

The order could signal an impending ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed such an appeal. On Thursday it said that while it was preparing, no decision has been made.

The order, delivered to the U.N., comes as Israel presses an offensive against Hamas militants. U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric called the order “impossible” without “devastating humanitarian consequences.”

A UN official says that the United Nation is trying to get clarity from Israeli officials at the senior most political level.

“It’s completely unprecedent,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Panicked rumors of an evacuation had begun to spread in north Gaza, home to almost half the population of the territory, in the early morning Friday.

A ground offensive in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas and where the population is densely packed into a sliver of land only 40 kilometers (25 miles) long, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting.

Hamas’ assault Saturday and smaller attacks since have killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers — a toll unseen in Israel for decades — and the ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza, according to authorities on both sides. Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead in Gaza are Hamas members. Thousands have been wounded on both sides.

As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday put two Syrian international airports out of service.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “crush” Hamas after the militants stormed into the country’s south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including killings of children in their homes and young people at a music festival.

Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza.

The number of people forced from their homes by Israel’s airstrikes soared 25% in a day, reaching 423,000 out of a population of 2.3 million, the U.N. said Thursday. Most crowded into U.N.-run schools.

Earlier, the Israeli military pulverized the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said its complete siege of the territory — which has left Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine — would remain in place until Hamas militants free some 150 hostages taken during their grisly weekend incursion.

A visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with shipments of U.S. weapons, offered a powerful green light to Israel to drive ahead with its retaliation in Gaza after Hamas’ deadly attack on civilians and soldiers, even as international aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis. Israel has halted deliveries of basic necessities and electricity to Gaza’s 2.3 million people and prevented entry of supplies from Egypt.

“Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home,” Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said on social media.

Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters Thursday that forces “are preparing for a ground maneuver” should political leaders order one.

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Fierce fighting rages around Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine

Russian and Ukrainian forces fought fierce battles around the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka on Thursday after Moscow launched one of its biggest military offensives in months.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces were holding their ground on the third day of battle, but municipal officials said the Russian attacks were relentless.

Kyiv says Moscow has redirected many soldiers and large amounts of equipment to the Avdiivka area, showing it can hit back over four months into a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the east and south that has encountered stiff Russian resistance.

"Avdiivka. We are holding our ground. It is Ukrainian courage and unity that will determine how this war will end," Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram messaging app alongside photos of Ukrainian troops and of Avdiivka's entrance sign.

Ukrainian Special Operations Forces said Kyiv's troops had "foiled the plans of the crazed enemy, repelled all attacks and held their positions".

Vitaliy Barabash, head of the city military administration, told Ukrainian television: "The enemy does not stop storming, they come from all directions."

Avdiivka is home to a big coking plant in the southwest of the Donetsk region and lies just northwest of the Russian-held city of Donetsk.

It has become a symbol of resistance, holding out against Russian troops who invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and helping ensure Moscow has been unable to gain full control of the region even though it says it has annexed it.

Ukrainian forces had been defending Avdiivka since long before last year's full-scale invasion, holding the line against Russian-backed militants who took control of territory in east Ukraine in 2014 after Russian forces seized Crimea.

Just over 1,600 residents out of a pre-war population of 32,000 remain in Avdiivka, but constant shelling rules out an organised evacuation, Barabash said.

LARGE OFFENSIVE

The attack on Avdiivka is one of the few big offensives Moscow has launched in months as its troops focus on holding back Kyiv's counteroffensive, which has made slow progress through vast Russian minefields and heavily fortified trenches.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had inflicted damage on Ukrainian forces in areas including Avdiivka but gave few details.

Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesperson for Ukraine's southern group of forces, said Russia saw Avdiivka as an opportunity to win a significant victory and "turn the tide of fighting".

"Today the capture or encirclement of Avdiivka is probably the most it can achieve at this stage," he said.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an American non-profit research group and think-tank, said geolocated footage showed Russia had advanced in some villages southwest and northwest of Avdiivka this week.

But encircling Avdiivka was likely to require more forces than Russia has committed to its offensive, it said.

Andriy Yermak, the head of the president's office, said Russia's attacks appeared designed to draw Ukrainian soldiers from fighting on other fronts, though he did not mention Avdiivka specifically.

Russia has also intensified air strikes on Danube River ports in the southern Odesa region in recent weeks, attacking Kyiv's main route for food exports since Moscow quit a deal allowing shipments via the Black Sea in July.

In the latest overnight attacks, a military spokesperson said a grain storage facility had been hit in the Odesa region. She said some grain had been damaged but did not say how much.

In other fighting, Ukraine said it had thwarted an attempt overnight by a Russian eight-member saboteur group to cross its northeastern border in the Sumy region.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian forces wipe out Ukrainian electronic warfare station, ammo depot in Kherson area

Russian forces destroyed an electronic warfare station and an ammunition depot of the Ukrainian army in the Kherson area, eliminating roughly 50 enemy troops over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Thursday.

"The following targets were destroyed: an electronic warfare station and an ammunition depot near the town of Berislav in the Kherson Region," the ministry said in a statement.

The Ukrainian military lost as many as 50 personnel, 11 motor vehicles and a D-30 howitzer in the Kherson area over the past 24 hours as a result of damage inflicted on the enemy by firepower, the ministry said.

Russian forces repulse seven Ukrainian counterattacks in Kupyansk area over past day

Russian forces repulsed seven Ukrainian army counterattacks in the Kupyansk area over the past day, the ministry reported.

"In the Kupyansk direction, units of the western battlegroup supported by aircraft, artillery and heavy flamethrower fires repulsed in their active operations seven counterattacks by assault groups of the Ukrainian army’s 4th tank, 14th, 32nd and 115th mechanized brigades in areas near the settlements of Sinkovka and Ivanovka in the Kharkov Region and Makeyevka in the Lugansk People’s Republic," the ministry said.

Russian forces also inflicted damage on manpower and military hardware of the Ukrainian army’s 14th mechanized and 103rd territorial defense brigades near the town of Kupyansk and the settlement of Berestovoye in the Kharkov Region, the ministry added.

Russian forces destroy 105 Ukrainian troops in Kupyansk area over past day

Russian forces destroyed roughly 105 Ukrainian troops in the Kupyansk area over the past day, the ministry reported.

"As many as 105 Ukrainian personnel, a tank, two motor vehicles, a Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery system, a US-manufactured M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzer and a D-30 gun were destroyed," the ministry said.

Reuters/RT

This is the moment the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu always feared with great anxiety. Yet when Hamas launched a deadly attack on Southern Israeli border towns in the early hours of October 7, Bibi and Israel’s elite security forces were unprepared. 

In a bizarre fabrication intended to complete Bibi’s humiliation a few days into the war, social media claimed, falsely, that an antisemitic crow had given the victory to the Palestinians in a mystic moment of avian fury.

The truth is more nuanced and complicated. After over five decades of bloody conflicts, the Israeli-Palestinian war has not produced winners or losers. Only a cycle of senseless violence that appears totally avoidable to everyone except the combatants and those who occasionally use them for their proxy war.

The current war, which Hamas claimed was to avenge Israeli attacks on the Al Aqsa Mosque, is one of the bloodiest in a long time, but will not produce a result different from all the rest.

Bibi’s war? 

In the popular imagination, no thanks to the Israeli left-wing press, Bibi is a warmonger. The popular view is that he will make war even when peace would cost him nothing, to gratify his anti-Palestinian obsession and deflect from his ruthless control of power and domestic woes. An omen of his just desserts was summed up by the video of a crow tearing up an Israeli flag from a pole on a building in the occupied territories. It didn’t matter that it was an old video which had gone viral nearly six months before the recent outbreak of hostilities. All is fair in war.

Bibi can hardly escape some responsibility for the present state of affairs in the Middle East. After 35 years of being a part of the Israeli political establishment and 16 years as Prime Minister, it is fair to say that if he genuinely wanted a different outcome in Israeli-Palestine relations, there would be no need for the parable of the crow to achieve one. 

Within the first four days, the current conflict claimed over 1,500 lives on both sides, with thousands more injured or displaced, and communities leveled in the most brutal ways. In figures that seem very conservative, the UN reports that about 6,400 Palestinians and 300 Israelis have been killed in the conflict since 2008. And that is discounting casualties in the ongoing clashes.

Anatomy of anger 

But every story has at least two sides. While the world struggles for a ceasefire to bring relief to millions of innocent victims trapped in this conflict and hopefully, drag the parties back to the forlorn two-state road map for peace, those who want Bibi’s head on a platter might also do well to hear his side of the story. 

Perhaps he might never have been prime minister or he might have been a different one if his brother, Yonathan, had not been brutally killed in 1976 in Entebbe when Yonathan led Israeli special forces to rescue mostly Jewish passengers who were taken hostage and their plane hijacked to Uganda by Arab terrorists. Bibi was only 27-years-old then. 

Perhaps he might not have been prime minister or he might have been a different one, if Egypt, Syria and Jordan did not join hands in a single-minded pledge to wipe out Israel in the Six Day War in 1967 or in Yom Kippur six years later. Israel has mended fences with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and a number of other Arab countries since, but one or two old foes in the region have become implacable enemies, too.  

Perhaps Bibi might never have been a prime minister or he might have been a different one altogether, if the Palestinian leadership from Yasser Arafat’s PLO to the current leaders of Hamas were not sworn to the destruction of Israel, at all costs. Sadly, the PLO has either become irrelevant or at best is playing second fiddle to Hamas, while the chaos in Lebanon has given Hezbollah free rein. 

Is it about Gaza? 

If the Israeli occupation of Gaza was its worst crime all these years, then Ariel Sharon’s withdrawal from there in 2005, in defiance of Bibi and other doubters at the time, might have changed the course of that region’s history. Maybe it might even have forestalled Bibi’s emergence as prime minister many years later. Unfortunately, what Bibi said then, that withdrawing to escape terror is inviting terror to chase you, appears to have been proved right. 

Author and syndicated columnist, Jonathan Power, holds a clearly different view, of course. In an article entitled, “Government supporters in Israel are dangerously ignorant of their own history,” he suggests that the same painful memories that radicalised Bibi also radicalised a significant number of five million Palestinians over the years, admonishing those who always talk about the blood libel and the Holocaust not to also forget biblical “genocides” committed by Moses on the journey to the Promised Land or the kindness of Muslim Turks or medieval Spain.

Who owns the land? This is where Bibi’s story gets even more interesting. In his book, Bibi: My story, he accuses an Arab Knesset member of twisting historical facts, in answering the question. 

“The first thousand years or so,” he writes, “are covered in the Bible, and are attested to by archeological and the historical records of other contemporaneous peoples.”

He traces the history of the Jews from Ur in the Chaldeans through Abraham’s burial in a cave he bought in Hebron, to Egypt and from there to the wilderness where the children of Israel received a moral code that would change the world on their journey to the Promised Land. He recalls the conquests by Joshua and how after Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem, David and his siblings in the battle for control split the realm in two.

“The northern kingdom, Israel, is destroyed, its ten tribes lost to history,” Bibi writes. “The southern kingdom, Judea, is conquered and Solomon’s temple destroyed by the Babylonians by whose rivers the exiled Judeans weep as they remembered Zion.”

He then traces the history of the Jews from Roman rule and the destruction of Herod’s Temple in 70 CE to the times of the Byzantines when the Jews were finally reduced to an insignificant minority. “It is not the Jews who usurp the land from the Arabs,” Bibi writes, “but the Arabs who usurp the land from the Jews…the Jews are the original natives; the Arabs the colonialists.”

Lion and the lamb 

This is a story that is hardly told, understood or believed. And perhaps the course of history might also have been completely different if Britain, which maintained control over Palestine under the League of Nations mandate, had implemented the two-state solution instead of dumping the problem at the doorstep of the UN in 1948. 

Anyone familiar with Britain’s legacy of elegantly concealed systematic violence against its colonies which watered the seed of apartheid in South Africa and created the Kashmiri and Cypriot problems, will not waste time blaming that country for the 75-year-old problem in the Middle East. To adapt Max Siollun, the whole object of British occupation was not only to protect the people from themselves, but also to set them against each other.

Yet, the choices made by Palestinians and Israelis over the years have mostly worsened a bad legacy. Blighted as the region may be from its colonial legacy, it cannot be hostage to the hate or personal injuries of its present elite. After the depredations of Covid-19 and the serious supply chain problems caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, the world could use some respite.

Bibi is right to feel that his worst fears about Gaza and the West Bank under the current Hamas leadership and a weakened PLO was confirmed by the recent unprovoked attack of innocent civilians at a peace concert in Israel. 

But his current objective of “wiping out Hamas” even if it succeeds, which is improbable, is not a guarantee that a worse mutation of Hamas will not rise again in Gaza. A stubborn pursuit of his goal might produce in young, innocent Palestinians today the same sentiments that pushed him to the far right. 

The lion and the lamb must find a common ground in their shared, chequered history.

** Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

Over my career, I've tried to time things perfectly with the goal of entering and exiting opportunities at the right time. 

In some instances, my timing was spot on, and in other instances, I stayed too long or left too early. There are so many variables – alignment, when preparation meets opportunity, and plain old chance. 

Great timing is really about being in the right place at the right time, and below are a few things to think about as relates to timing.

The First-Mover Advantage

Being the first to enter a new market can offer a solid competitive edge. You're potentially ahead of everyone and can blaze a path that shapes the landscape in your favor. 

As an individual, you're on the ground floor in a position to get more equity, opportunity, on-the-job training, and exposure at a career-defining organization that could be a rocket ship. 

When you get there first, you have the opportunity to establish yourself and create a substantial professional and commercial lead. 

The Early Adopter

Correspondingly, by virtue of timing you can become an early adopter. Think about the folks at OpenAI or Uber. They were not only first movers, but their timing of embracing emerging technologies and methodologies positioned them ahead of the pack. 

When you combine first-mover advantage, early adoption, and (being operationally excellent), it makes the bet more viable – as applied both to career choices and entrepreneurship, it can pay dividends.

I've worked with people who were early Meta, Uber, and Google – their careers have soared. I've also worked with founders who've created multiple companies and have seen dramatic opportunities unlock before them because they got there early.  

The pattern I've noticed from working up close with these folks is they have great timing and an innate ability to see what others haven't. They know when to join and, in most instances, when to exit.

Leaving Too Early

One of the most common pitfalls folks face is leaving a company prematurely. It's necessary to strike a balance between recognizing a dead-end situation and the temerity to weather the storm. 

A hasty departure might mean missing out on potential growth, valuable learning experiences, or a bull market. The thing about timing is it shouldn't be knee-jerk. It should be painstakingly deliberate.

Staying Too Long

Head starts are helpful, but leads can be lost – whether a founder or an early-stage employee, staying too long can hinder personal and professional growth. I've seen early employees who steadily moved up the ladder but ended up staying beyond their shelf life. 

It's not that they weren't good but it was no longer a fit – the company changed and so did they. When you begin to see the skills or products undervalued or as obsolete, or how they could be leveraged elsewhere, start planning your exit.

Founders aren't immune from staying too long. They've built the company from scratch, pitched investors, raised several rounds of funds, and introduced products that had a market fit. 

They may be a great founder at the earlier stages, but when a company gets to a certain size founders need to consider whether new leaders are needed to take the company where it needs to go. When a founder doesn't realize this, they hurt the entire enterprise with their presence. 

It takes a great deal of maturity to know when to exit, and that requires constant introspection. When you find yourself stagnating or not adding value the way you once did, it's time to assess whether your continued presence serves your goals. 

Exiting

The decision to exit a business or role shouldn't be taken lightly – there's the competitive landscape, market demand, and even your own capabilities when considering an exit. Similarly, knowing when to exit a business involves understanding the market, and assessing the upsides and downsides.

Balancing Factors  

Timing is a balancing act that represents the totality of reasons why one might choose to start or join a company – impact, market, mission, values or to add value, compensation/benefits, reputation, role/scope, culture, the challenge, opportunity to work with a key team/leader, to deliver a project/program/product, purpose, etc. 

Create a rubric of your why, assign a value to weight each goal, and constantly calibrate to ensure that you're honoring what you set out to do. With each of your goals having a weighted value, you can better ensure that they continually align.

It's about maximizing moments so you can take full advantage before the window closes. Ultimately, in both career and entrepreneurship, timing is a critical factor. Recognizing when the door of opportunity opens or when it's time to leave can be the difference between success and stagnation. 

Inc