There was heavy security deployment at the Presidential Election Petition Court and other flash points and dark spots in Abuja on Tuesday ahead of the delivery of the judgment on the election petitions challenging the election of President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday (today).

This was as the supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party standard bearer, Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, and President Tinubu awaited the verdict with earnest expectations.

In preparation for the judgment, scores of armed riot policemen, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and other security operatives in plainclothes were deployed at strategic locations in the Federal Capital Territory in a bid to prevent a breach of law and order that might arise after the judgment.

The judgment will be delivered by the Chairman of the tribunal, Haruna Tsammani, assisted by other members of the panel-Stephen Adah, Monsurat Bolaji-Yusuf, Moses Ugo, and Abba Mohammed.

The proceedings will be held at the Court of Appeal, Three Arms zone, Abuja.

Chief Registrar, Court of Appeal headquarters, Umar Bangari, had disclosed in a statement on Monday that the tribunal verdict will be delivered on Wednesday and aired live on television stations.

This, he noted, was to promote transparency and openness and for Nigerians to watch the proceeding.

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, had on March 1 declared Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress as the president-elect after polling 8.8 million to defeat the PDP standard bearer, Atiku, who scored 6.9 million, the LP candidate, Obi, who polled 6.1 million and 15 other candidates.

However, five of the 18 political parties that participated in the elections challenged the outcome of the polls.

Besides the PDP and the LP, other aggrieved parties included the Action Alliance, Action People’s Party, and the Allied Peoples Movement.

The major contenders-Atiku and Obi asked the tribunal to nullify the ex-Lagos governor’s victory in the February 25 presidential election.

Ahead of the proceedings, the authorities Monday carried out heavy deployments of security personnel across the FCT.

At about 6.50 pm, truckloads of policemen were brought to the Court of Appeal, and the police vehicles were used to barricade the court entrance while several policemen were also patrolling the city in vehicles.

A police team was seen taking instructions from their superiors shortly after they were brought to the court premises.

A court worker noted that in the memo sent to the staff informing them not to come to work on Wednesday, it was stated that there would be a heavy presence of security operatives around the court premises.

The official said, “Part of the reason workers were told not to come tomorrow (today) was that there would be a heavy presence of security operatives in strategic locations at the court premise.’’

Our correspondent gathered that lawyers and litigants may be frisked before entering the courtroom while access to the premises would be tightly controlled.

Scores of agents were seen at strategic locations in the Three Arms Zone, Julius Berger, Area One, Wuse, and other parts of the city.

Police patrol vehicles were also seen moving around along the Federal Secretariat, Muhammadu Buhari Way, and Ladoke Akintola Boulevard.

Meanwhile, all major roads leading to the Court of Appeal would be also barricaded by the police before the court proceedings commence, it was gathered.

A senior security source revealed that the acting Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, had ordered all police commands and formations across the country to secure all major hotspots under their jurisdictions to ensure that there was no breakdown of law and order.

It was further learnt that the police made both covert deployments of operatives and equipment across the nation, especially in Abuja and Lagos State.

The authorities were said to be concerned about a possible eruption of protests which may be instigated by disgruntled political elements.

“Everyone is concerned. The police, military, DSS, and others are concerned. There’s an ongoing strike, and the PEPT judgment is expected to be delivered tomorrow (Wednesday), which puts a lot of pressure on all security agencies.

“This is because some politicians and groups may want to use the opportunity to sponsor protests or cause violence if the PEPT judgment doesn’t favour them or their choice candidate,” a senior officer said.

In preparation for the possible aftermath of the judgment, the police said they had put in place all necessary deployments and security measures.

The force also disclosed that its officers and men were fully prepared to maintain order and enforce the laws while respecting the rights and freedoms of all citizens.

The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumiyiwa Adejobi in a statement on Tuesday cautioned “mischief makers and political gladiators to be cautious in their actions and statements.”

The NPF further noted that it would not condone activities capable of inciting violence or causing a descent into anarchy, adding that all citizens must embrace peace and maintain calm, regardless of their political affiliations, to ensure a peaceful and secure environment.

Adejobi said, “In its bid to fortify security architecture and forestall any breakdown of law and order across the country as a result of the forthcoming Presidential Election Petition Tribunal Judgment scheduled to be passed on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, the Nigeria Police Force has strengthened its deployment across the length and breadth of Nigeria.

‘’The Police wish to reiterate the commitment to ensuring the safety of lives and property before, during, and after the judgment. The NPF has diligently emplaced all necessary deployments and security measures during this critical period as officers and men are fully prepared to maintain order and enforce laws while respecting the rights and freedoms of all citizens.

“Furthermore, the NPF strongly cautions all individuals, including mischief makers and political gladiators, to be cautious in their actions and statements as the Force will not condone activities capable of inciting violence or causing a descent into anarchy.

‘’It is imperative for all citizens to embrace peace and maintain calm, regardless of their political affiliations, to ensure a peaceful and secure environment. The Nigeria Police Force is dedicated to its duty of protecting and serving the Nigerian people and is committed to carrying out these roles with professionalism, impartiality, and utmost dedication. Together, we can ensure a peaceful and secure environment for all during this period.”

Punch

Former governor of Ekiti state, Kayode Fayemi, says democracy in the country is not working despite the end of the military administration in 1999.

This is as Fayemi said the protest that trailed the fuel subsidy removal during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012 was due to political interests.

He spoke Tuesday in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at a national dialogue organised to celebrate the 60th birthday of Udenta Udenta, founding national secretary of Alliance for Democracy (AD).

In January 2012, President Goodluck Jonathan announced the removal of fuel subsidy, causing a significant increase in the pump price of petrol, from N65 per litre to N141.

This decision ignited widespread protests across major cities in Nigeria, known as ‘Occupy Nigeria.’

After more than a week of protests, the government adjusted the petrol price to N97 and later reduced it to N87.

While speaking at the event, the ex-governor criticised the “winner-takes-all” nature of Nigeria’s democracy stating that the nation’s current challenges could not be effectively addressed without adopting proportional representation, where election rewards are distributed among contestants based on their share of the vote.

“Today, I read former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s interview in TheCable saying our liberal democracy is not working and we need to revisit it, and I agree with him. We must move from the political alternatives. I think we are almost on a dead end of that.”

“What we need is alternative politics, and my own notion of alternative politics is that you can’t have 35 per cent of the vote and take 100 per cent. It won’t work! We must look at proportional representation so that the party that is said to have won 21 per cent of the votes will have 21 per cent of the government. Adversary politics bring division and enmity,” he said.

He also acknowledged that all major political parties in Nigeria, including the PDP, APC, and Labour Party, had previously included the removal of subsidy in their manifestos.

However, he emphasized that the actual implementation of the policy in 2012 was driven by political considerations rather than a genuine commitment to the policy itself.

“All political parties in the country agreed and they even put in their manifesto that subsidy must be removed. We all said subsidy must be removed. But we in ACN at the time, in 2012, we knew the truth sir, but it was all politics.

“That is why we must ensure that everybody is a crucial stakeholder by stopping all these. Let the manifesto of PDP, APC and Labour Party be put on the table and select all those who will pilot the programme from all parties.”

Among those at the event were Jonathan, former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili; and former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka.

Daily Trust

Activities across different sectors have been grounded as a result of the ongoing strike of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

The NLC had last Friday declared two-day warning strike over current hardship caused by removal of petrol subsidy.

Minister of Labour, Simon Lalong, had called for a meeting to resolve issues raised by the union, but while the Trade Union Congress (TUC) attended the meeting, NLC shunned it and directed affiliate unions, including the National Union of Air Transport Employees, Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals, National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, among others stakeholders in the aviation sector to join the strike.

National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institution Employees (NUBIFIE) also directed bank staff to stay off duties for the next two days.

Our correspondents reports that banks in different parts of Kaduna State shut down in compliance with the two-day warning strike. Stranded customers were seen in front of many banks. But in Delta, there was partial compliance in branches of Union, Keystone, Paralex Banks as customers were secretly attended to.

In Jigawa, the state secretariat Dutse, local government secretariat, federal government secretariat, Federal University Dutse, among others were shut.

There were also less activities on the streets of Dutse as almost 50 percent of the people who usually move around remained indoors.

In an interview with the NLC secretary in Jigawa, Abubakar Yushe’u, said they took to the street and enlightened people about the strike.

The NLC secretary said they were not against the government rather advise the government to do the needful in addressing the hardship.

“We are not against the subsidy removal, rather against the current hardship it has brought, government has to find lasting solution to the hardship,” he said.

He said this is a two days warning strike after two weeks if the government did not take any action on this the labour would go to indefinite strike.

In Edo, the strike paralyzed activities at the state Secretariats, Central Hospital, courts and other private and public places.

Speaking with journalists while enforcing compliance with other affiliate union members, NLC state chairman, Odion Olaye, said the strike is total in the state.

“The two days warning strike commenced today. You can see things for yourself. We are in the state secretariat of the ministry and we have shut it down. State High Court has been shut down , Central Hospital, Coca cola, Guinness , 7Up, among others.

According to him, all government parastatals had been shut down, including the transport sector.

Olaye said that the NLC doesn’t need the support of the TUC to be able to send signal to the federal government and effect the needed change as it has the numerical strengthen to do that.

“TUC, we don’t even count on them. They only have eight unions while NLC has 42 unions and so we are working with that and all the areas that are supposed to be shut down have been shut down and anyone that does not comply with the strike action, a proper action will be taken against them,” he said.

Our reporter who visited the state secretariat observed  workers in clusters discussing why the tribunal could not deliver judgement on a House of Representative constituency dispute.

The tribunal had earlier fixed Tuesday for judgement.

Daily Trust

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the appointment of Sam Olumekun as its new national commissioner and chairman of the information and voter education committee.

The electoral body announced Olumekun’s assumption of office on Tuesday in a statement issued in Abuja.

Olumekun’s appointment marked the end of Festus Okoye’s five-year tenure as INEC’s national commissioner for information and voter education.

Okoye’s tenure, which began on July 25, 2018, as representative of the south-east geopolitical zone in the commission, came to an end on July 24, 2023.

According to  Section 155(1)(c) of the constitution, national commissioners of INEC hold a five-year tenure and are eligible for a second term of five years. 

However, Okoye’s tenure was not renewed by President Bola Tinubu.

The process of appointing a new INEC chairman and commissioners involves nomination by the president, ratification by the council of state, and confirmation by the senate.

As of September 2022, Olumekun was the INEC national commissioner in charge of the election and party monitoring committee.

In his new role, he will oversee public awareness, voter education, and the dissemination of information about electoral matters and INEC.

The Cable

Soap maker PZ Cussons said on Tuesday it has offered to buy out minority shareholders of PZ Cussons Nigeria (PZCN) and aims to de-list the business from the Nigerian stock exchange amid "foreign exchange challenges" in the country.

"The group believes the offer to be attractive for the minority shareholders of PZCN, particularly given the recent macroeconomic developments and foreign exchange challenges," the company said in a statement.

Inflation in Africa's largest economy, which has been in double digits since 2016, rose to its highest level in nearly two decades in July at 24.08% against 22.79% in June after the country scrapped a popular but costly subsidy on petrol and devalued the currency.

The Manchester-based company said in June that the devaluation of Nigeria's naira currency would adversely impact its profit next year.

PZ Cussons' offer to the PZCN board is to acquire minority shareholders' 26.73% stake for 22.8 million pounds ($28.7 million). The group said the funding for the transaction is expected to come from existing naira cash balances.

Last month, GlaxoSmithKline Nigeria said it plans to stop doing business after evaluating the options for moving to a third-party distribution model for its drugs and consumer healthcare goods.

($1 = 0.7933 pounds)

Reuters

Niger’s ruling junta said discussions are under way that are expected to result in the rapid withdrawal of French troops, after the West African country ended a military cooperation agreement with its former colonial ruler.

“The government has already revoked the deals that allow for the French troops to operate on our territory,” Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine told reporters in the capital, Niamey, on Monday. “They’re here illegally. Talks are underway, which should allow for a swift withdrawal.”

Ties between Niger and France have frayed since soldiers seized control of the country on July 26 and ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. The junta on Aug. 3 gave France a month to pull its 1,500 troops out, becoming the third West African nation to sever defense links that were forged to combat a decade-long Islamist insurgency in the Sahel.

Talks are currently underway, a French defense ministry aide said, without specifying the nature of the discussions. France has so far refused to recognize the junta’s authority to request the withdrawal of its troops or its ambassador.

There have been nine coups in sub-Saharan Africa in the past three years, creating a belt of countries stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea that are more friendly with Russia than with the West.

Military leader Abdourahamane Tiani said on Aug. 17 that regional sanctions against Niger and backed by France are part of “a plan to dismantle our country.” France has demanded Bazoum be returned to office and said it supports efforts by the Economic Community of West African States to overturn the coup.

The regional bloc has said it would use all means necessary, including force as a last resort, to restore constitutional order in Niger. Zeine played down the threat, saying that military action isn’t backed by all of the bloc’s members.

“Out of the 15 Ecowas members, maybe three or four are behind a military intervention,” Zeine said. “All the dispositions are in place and we’re ready to defend ourselves if it comes to it.”

Economic and financial sanctions imposed by the bloc following the coup should be lifted soon, Zeine said, after visiting Nigeria for talks with Ecowas mediators over the weekend.

Niger’s neighbors closed land and air borders, froze the nation’s assets at the regional bank and cut access to the regional bond market, among other steps aimed at compelling the junta to reinstate Bazoum. Nigeria, Niger’s southern neighbor, ratcheted up pressure on the military government by cutting its electricity supply to the country.

Last month, Niger gave the French ambassador 48 hours to leave the country, a deadline that France ignored, pushing Niger to revoke Ambassador Sylvain Itte’s diplomatic status and instruct police to expel the envoy.

“As far as the ambassador’s concerned, I think there’s nothing more to be done,” Zeine said. “His behavior was inappropriate for a diplomat.”

French troops withdrew from neighboring Mali after a 2020 coup in the former colony and the deployment of the Wagner Group, a Kremlin-linked Russian private military company. It left Burkina Faso earlier this year after falling out with the military leadership.

Bloomberg

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine's defence systems engaged in repelling air attack over Kyiv - Ukraine's military

Ukraine's air defence systems were engaged early on Wednesday in repelling a Russian air attack on Kyiv, the capital's military administration said on the Telegram messaging app.

Reuters' witnesses heard several blasts which sounded like air defence systems being deployed.

All of Ukraine was under air raid alerts as of 0550 a.m. (0250 GMT).

** Ukrainian intercepts show Russian soldiers’ anger at losses, disarray

Ukraine’s counteroffensive was in its second month when Andrey, a Russian soldier, called his wife to say his unit was taking heavy casualties. They were so badly equipped, he said, it felt like the Soviet forces in World War Two.

“They are fucking us up,” Andrey said by telephone on July 12, comparing the onslaught to the worst moments of Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union. “No fucking ammunition, nothing ... Shall we use our fingers as bayonets?”

The conversation was one excerpt from 17 phone calls placed by Russian soldiers fighting in the south and east of Ukraine that were intercepted in the first two weeks of July by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the country’s main intelligence agency.

The expletive-laden intercepts, shared with Reuters by a Ukrainian intelligence source, provide a rare - albeit partial - glimpse into the conditions of some Russian soldiers as Kyiv prosecuted a major counteroffensive, which started in early June, two military analysts told Reuters.

While Russia has so far largely stemmed Ukraine’s military campaign and made some modest territorial gains of its own in places, the soldiers in the intercepts complain that their units have suffered from heavy losses, a lack of munitions, proper training and equipment, as well as poor morale.

Both Russia and Ukraine treat their losses as state secret. Ukraine has acknowledged that its efforts to recapture territory have been hindered by vast Russian minefields and well-prepared defensive lines. It has liberated a string of villages but retaken no major settlements so far and the frontline has remained largely unchanged, frustrating Kyiv’s Western allies.

Reuters was unable to determine how representative the intercepts are of the conditions in Russia’s armed forces. The Ukrainian intelligence source said they illustrated the challenges facing Russian soldiers but did not elaborate on how the recordings were selected.

Neil Melvin, director of International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a defence and security think tank headquartered in London, said the calls appeared to confirm some Russian forces were thrown into defensive operations with little preparation and were sustaining high casualties, sowing tensions between soldiers and commanders.

Russia’s Defence Ministry did not respond to requests for comment for this story. In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the military had to learn from and fix the problems it had experienced in Ukraine, promising to provide the army with whatever it needed. Reuters reported this month that Russia has doubled its defence spending target this year to more than $100 billion – a third of all public expenditure.

The SBU said in a statement it was constantly monitoring the situation in occupied parts of Ukraine, including via telephone intercepts, but it did not provide any further details.

“Turned it to crumbs”

The source provided what the SBU said were the names, telephone numbers and, in most cases, the units of 15 soldiers speaking in the intercepts. Reuters verified that the mobile numbers provided were registered in the names of the enlisted men or their relatives but calls either went unanswered or the phones were turned off.

Reuters is only using excerpts from some of the 10 soldiers whose identity it was able to verify using messaging accounts or social media in their names, which in some cases contained photographs of them in military uniforms.

The news agency is not disclosing the full names of the soldiers as it was not able to obtain their comments about the excerpts. In three cases, the soldiers’ wives confirmed their husbands were at the front in messages to Reuters but declined to comment further. One cited Russian secrecy laws.

In the excerpts, several soldiers used profane language to describe Russian units that had taken heavy casualties and had been unable to retrieve their wounded. One said his detachment had managed to advance but at a high price.

“That’s it. There is no second battalion left. They fucking turned it to crumbs,” Maxim, a soldier from the Siberian region of Irkutsk, told his wife Anna by phone on July 3.

He said the battalion - a unit that usually comprises around 500 troops - had been on the Lyman front in the northeast, one of three areas where the Ukrainian General Staff were reporting heavy fighting and Russian counter-attacks at the time.

British intelligence has said Russia has made some local advances around Lyman and Kupiansk in recent weeks.

The SBU said Maxim served in Russia’s 52nd Regiment. Reuters was unable to verify that affiliation or establish which second battalion he was referring to. The regiment could not be reached for comment.

According to an assessment by the U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency leaked online in April, Russia had 35,500-43,000 troops killed in action during the conflict, compared to roughly 15,500-17,500 for Ukraine. Russia says U.S. estimates of its losses are far too high - and propaganda.

Maxim referred to his dead comrades as “cargo 200”, a term that originated during the Soviet Union’s 1979-89 war in Afghanistan as a military codeword for the zinc coffins used to transport home the bodies of dead Russian soldiers.

Often shortened to “200”, it is still widely used in both Russia and Ukraine to describe slain soldiers, while “Cargo 300” denotes the wounded.

“Basically, they couldn’t even retrieve the (cargo) 300s. The 300s became 200s,” Maxim said, meaning that the wounded soldiers had been left on the battlefield and died.

‘Everyone is scared’

Following months of fierce Ukrainian resistance on the battlefield, Putin in September announced a “partial” mobilisation of hundreds of thousands of reservists to replenish the ranks. He later acknowledged in a speech to defence chiefs in December that it had been dogged by “certain problems.”

Reuters traced one soldier back to the day he was mobilised into the Russian army on Sept. 29. His mother Elena posted a photograph online of her and her son in uniform on social media with the caption: “They took him today”.

About nine months later, the soldier, Alexei, was on the phone to his mother from Ukraine, talking graphically about battlefield losses.

“They were torn apart. They’re lying there: they can’t even collect some of them. They’re already rotten - eaten by worms,” he told her on July 12. Elena replied: “Really?”

“Just imagine, thrown on the front line with no equipment, nothing,” he told his mother. She did not respond to Reuters’s requests for comment by phone and on social media.

Alexei said that mobilised troops like him were being sent to the front line, despite public assurances by Putin that they would not be, and said they were not being provided with proper equipment to fight.

The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The SBU intercept said Alexei was located in Russian trenches around the occupied city of Rubizhne in Ukraine’s eastern region of Luhansk. Reuters was unable to verify that information or to determine the unit he belonged to.

Alexei derided his superiors and the army high command for concealing troop losses from Putin. “Everything is covered up,” he said.

“Everyone’s scared... They’re sending mobilised troops to the front line,” he added. “In the end, the generals couldn’t care less.”

Russian officials have said there are no current plans for a new wave of mobilisation and it is focused on recruiting professional soldiers. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said in July that 185,000 new recruits had joined the army as professional contract soldiers since the start of the year.

A fourth soldier, also named Andrey, told his wife on July 5 about problems retrieving wounded and dead troops from the battlefield as well as heavy casualties sustained by a Russian company.

The SBU intercept said the soldier was the deputy commander of a fighting vehicle. Reuters was unable to identify his unit or the company.

“The guys got fucked up yesterday. The whole ninth company was turned to rubbish - that’s 72 people. There’s 17 guys left.”

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine used cluster munitions against civilians – Human Rights Watch

The Ukrainian military used cluster munitions to shell the city of Izyum and caused civilian deaths, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday. The attack happened months before the US provided Kiev with additional cluster shells, overruling the objections of many NATO members.

“We figured this out after the Russians left and our investigators went there to look into the war crimes and atrocities that were committed – and they saw remnants of cluster munitions everywhere,” HRW’s Mary Wareham told RIA Novosti. “After finding out the direction from which the fire came, they established that they had been used by Ukrainian forces.”

The 2022 annual Cluster Munition Monitor report, published by HRW this week, notes that the group had first reported on the attack in July, but that the Ukrainian Defense Ministry officially denied ever using such munitions in or around Izyum. 

The city commands a key strategic position in Kharkov Region and was held by Russian forces between May 2022 and late September, when they withdrew due to a Ukrainian attack further north. In addition to the attacks documented by HRW investigators, the Ukrainian military had used cluster munitions against the area throughout 2022, the report noted, citing the UN’s Independent Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine. 

Wareham pointed out that HRW had detailed testimonies about civilians who were killed or wounded by cluster bombs.

A HRW report from January also included information about the Ukrainian use of cluster munitions, as well as the targeting of Izyum by ‘Butterfly’anti-personnel mines, which killed 11 civilians and wounded around 50, including five children. HRW said that the Russian military informed the civilians about the danger of the mines, citing testimonials from around 100 local residents.

“Cluster munitions are abhorrent weapons that are globally banned because they cause both immediate and long-term civilian harm and suffering,” Wareham said while announcing the annual report. “It’s unconscionable that civilians are still dying from cluster munition attacks 15 years after these weapons were outlawed.”

Ukraine, Russia, and the US are not party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), which has sought to ban this type of ordnance, citing its toll on civilians. Earlier this year, Washington rejected objections from several NATO allies who are party to the CMM and sent Kiev 155mm artillery shells loaded with dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM). 

Some US outlets have reported that the Pentagon receives detailed reportsfrom Ukraine about when and where its DPICM ordnance is used. Russia has documented multiple instances of their use against civilians in Donetsk. 

** Kiev lost 66,000 people in past three months, fails to achieve goals — Shoigu

Ukrainian forces have lost more than 66,000 people and 7,600 units of weaponry since the start of the so-called counteroffensive, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said in a conference call with ministry staff.

He stated that the Ukrainian military failed to achieve its goals in all areas. The minister also reviewed the results of the recent Army-2023 conference, plans to replenish transport and long-range aircraft and training given to military cadets in the use of drones. Below are the highlights of the minister’s speech, as compiled by TASS.

Failure of Kiev’s 'counteroffensive'

Ukraine's armed forces have lost more than 66,000 people and 7,600 weaponry units since the beginning of their so-called counteroffensive. (In early August, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Kiev had lost more than 43,000 people and about 5,000 weaponry units - TASS.)

"In no area did the Armed Forces of Ukraine achieve their goals. <...> Trying to hide the failure of the offensive, Ukrainian militants attack civilian facilities and pass these terrorist attacks off as military victories."

The most tense situation has developed in the Zaporozhye area where "the enemy has committed into battle its strategic reserve brigades, whose personnel have been trained under the guidance of Western instructors." In the Kupyansk and Kremenaya areas, Russian troops significantly improved their positions.

Army-2023 conference results

The Army-2023 forum that was held in August "once again proved that even in the conditions of sanctions it remains a relevant platform for countries ready to build equitable partnership relations in the military-technical realm." The event was attended by military delegations from 83 countries and representatives of six international organizations.

During the conference, 20 government contracts worth more than 400 billion rubles were signed (a year earlier, 36 contracts worth 525 billion rubles were signed - TASS).

The concurrent Moscow Conference on International Security brought together 800 delegates from 76 countries, including 26 defense ministers. "The conference affirmed Russia's high authority on the international stage and demonstrated the failure of the efforts by the collective West to isolate it."

Aircraft

The Russian Armed Forces are to receive six Il-76MD-90A military transport aircraft and four modernized Tu-160M strategic bombers this year.

The Russian Defense Ministry will consider "opportunities for further development of military transport aviation," which has transported almost 376,000 people and over 2,700 units of equipment since the beginning of the special military operation.

Education and heating

The number of students and cadets in the Defense Ministry’s higher education institutions has exceeded 60,000 people, pre-college students 17,000. "Enrollment in 2023 significantly exceeded that of last year."

"Curricula have been revised to reflect the experience of the special military operation. Particular attention is paid to practical training, simulations, issues of organization and support of combat operations, the use of weapons, military and special equipment, including new models."

Cadets and students of Suvorov Military Colleges, for example, will take courses on the use of drones, and pre-college students and cadets will take part in command post exercises.

The Defense Ministry has already turned on the heating in its facilities across five Russian regions. In general, preparatory work "has been completed in full," and in the Far North "fuel reserve standards have been met."

Reuters/RT/Tass

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has teased an interview with Larry Sinclair, a man whose 2008 allegations of having sex and smoking crack with Barack Obama were shrugged off by US media outlets as the then-senator cruised toward victory in that year’s presidential election.

Carlson posted a social media promo showing snippets from the interview on Tuesday, indicating that the full conversation will be released on Wednesday evening. The one-minute clip on X (formerly Twitter) garnered about 4 million views within just one hour of being posted.

Sinclair said he was introduced to Obama outside a Chicago bar in November 1999 and had no idea that he was an Illinois state senator. He said he twice had sexual relations with Obama, and the two men used cocaine together. He claimed that Obama purchased cocaine on his behalf, and he watched the future president smoke crack in his limousine.

Sinclair detailed his allegations during a briefing at the National Press Club in 2008 and in a book published in 2009. He claimed in the book that Obama also had a gay affair with the choir director at his church and that the man was murdered in December 2007, while the then-senator was running for president.

Asked why the Washington press corps showed no interest in telling his story, even as US voters were assessing Obama and the other 2008 presidential candidates, Sinclair told Carlson, “It would be a story if the media really cared about telling people the truth.” Carlson claimed in an interview last week that the media didn’t run with the story because the Obama campaign threatened to refuse them access to the candidate. “The amount of lying in the media about it was unbelievable,” he said. “This happens all the time up and down government.”

Carlson noted that Sinclair signed an affidavit and took a lie detector test to give more credence to his accusations. However, his credibility was undermined by the fact that he served prison time in the 1980s for financial crimes, including forging checks. Sinclair ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Cocoa, Florida, in 2018.

There has been a spate of reports in recent weeks regarding Obama’s sexuality. His half-brother in Kenya, Malik Obama, posted a Twitter message in July claiming that the former president is “definitely gay.” The post, which was reported by several media outlets, came in response to a letter in which Barack Obama denounced the banning of controversial books in public libraries, including graphic material illustrating gay sexual acts.

Last month, multiple media outlets reported on a recently resurfaced letter that Obama, then a 20-year-old college student, wrote to an ex-girlfriend. “In regard to homosexuality, I must say that I believe this is an attempt to remove oneself from the present, a refusal perhaps to perpetuate the endless farce of earthly life,” he said in the 1982 letter. “You see, I make love to men daily, but in the imagination.”

Obama married his wife, Michelle, in 1992. The couple has two daughters, who were born in 1998 and 2001, respectively.

Russia Today

Fat has had quite the parley in dietary discussion spaces – the low-fat movement starting in the 1980s told us we should eliminate fat, while high-fat diets like keto tell us the opposite. 

How do you know where the answers lie? The reality is, fat is engrained in American diets. It’s in the oil we use in the pan, the fish we cook, the vegetables we eat (think avocado). It’s also an essential part of a healthy diet and is crucial for energy, cell function, hormone production and nutrient absorption.

What are the healthiest fats?

Not all fats are created equal, says registered dietitian Chris Mohr, but overall fat is essential to our diet. According to Mohr, the “healthiest” fat is one we need but often don’t get enough of – omega-3s.

Omega 3s are polyunsaturated fats that are essential nutrients, meaning our bodies don’t make them on their own. But according to a study based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 68% of adults and over 95% of children consume less than the recommended amount.

Omega-3s are most commonly found in fish, although you can also get them from dark leafy greens, flaxseeds, hempseeds and walnuts. Omega-6s, another type of polyunsaturated fat, are also essential, but Mohr says we don’t have trouble getting those into our diet because they’re found in many cooking oils, nut butters and eggs. 

Ideally, Mohr says, you’re getting a balance of fat sources. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, fat should make up between 20-35% of our daily caloric intake, with less than 10% of that coming from saturated fats. The guidelines also say to avoid trans fats, which are known to increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.

“Too much of some types of fat may not be best for us, while others are fantastic,” Mohr says. "There’s some nuance in terms of not just quantity but also the quality of the fat we’re eating.”

There are four major types of fats – trans fats, saturated fats and two types of unsaturated fats:

What are the benefits of omega-3?

Omega-3 fatty acids support heart health and may also help lower the riskof cancer, cognitive disease and eye disease. According to Mohr, a lack of omega-3s can present itself in the form of dry skin and brittle hair. Studies have also shown a connection to mood – omega-3s have anti-inflammatory properties that may alleviate depression.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends at least 8 ounces of seafood per week for adults consuming a 2,000-calorie diet. Pregnant or breastfeeding individuals are advised to consume between 8 and 12 ounces of low-mercury fish per week for developmental benefits for the baby. One serving is about 4 ounces of fish.

Fish is the most common source of omega-3s – salmon and tuna are tried-and-true favorites, but Mohr recommends trying out herring, sardines and anchovies too. You can also get some from leafy vegetables, vegetable oils, nuts, flax seeds and flaxseed oil. 

For those who don’t consume enough fish, Mohr recommends looking into omega-3 supplements that are at least 500 milligrams. For non-fish eaters, check out an algae oil supplement, which is where even the fish get their omega-3 content.

Is saturated fat bad?

Much of the public’s knowledge about saturated fat is that it increases low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (“bad cholesterol”) and the likelihood of heart disease. But some recent studies challenge current guidelines and suggest there is less of a link between saturated fat and increased risk of cardiovascular disease than previously thought. 

According to Mohr, saturated fat is “one piece of the puzzle” when it comes to cardiovascular disease risk. Often when people are told to reduce saturated fat in their diets, they instead increase their intake of refined carbohydrates like added sugars, Mohr says. This may lower LDL, Mohr says, but will also lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ("good" cholesterol) and raise triglycerides. It may be healthier to replace saturated fat with unsaturated fat in the diet rather than just focusing on reducing saturated fat. 

The takeaway then, he says, is to focus most of your fat intake on monounsaturated and polyunsaturated and replace saturated fat intake with unsaturated fats when you can. 

“Fats are essential, we just need to be wary of what we’re eating, how much we’re eating,” Mohr says.

USA Today

As a business professor, I have studied organizations that range in size from startups with just a few employees to huge multinationals that employ tens of thousands of people.

In the course of my research, I have seen an irony play out time after time: Small companies almost always yearn to be more "grown up" and professional, while mature companies wish they could be more youthful and freewheeling again. 

Management consultants have benefited mightily from this, as they help small companies scale up by professionalizing them and as they suggest ways for lumbering behemoths to become more agile.

But if such an outcome is inevitable, why can't more organizations prepare for it and find a happy medium between the two extremes as they grow? 

In my previous article I noted that most founders of fast-growing startups are unwilling to introduce the systems and processes they need to sustain their businesses.

As I pointed out in a Harvard Business Review article I co-wrote called "Startups That Last," founders "often develop strategies opportunistically, lacking a frame of reference because they are starting from scratch and they take a similar ad hoc approach to building their organizations. When they eschew order and discipline, however, they pay a steep price: Chaotic operations and unpredictable performance."

As I explained in the article, founders must introduce four main elements if they are to avoid descending into chaos and improve their chances of long-term success: 

1. Hire specialists. An "all-hands-on-deck" approach may work in the very beginning, but as an organization expands, functional experts in areas such as sales, HR and marketing are necessary.
2. Install management structures. Without more delegation of management, decisions end up in a bottleneck at the very top.
3. Add planning and forecasting capabilities. Improvisational decision-making can work well at first, but analyzing data and setting performance goals is key as a company matures.
4. Reinforce cultural values. As an organization becomes more complex and far-flung, founders must make a concerted effort to ensure that all employees are aware of its unifying purpose.

Initially, when I spelled out these requirements, I thought I had done my job. But then I started hearing from founders who had introduced these structures.

"You're not telling the whole story, Ranjay," they said. Yes, they had done all the things I outlined in the article and yes, they had been necessary, they told me.  "But we killed something in the process, and now we want it back," they lamented.

And I always asked them: "What is it?"  

They would say things like: "We miss the old days," "We used to be like a family," and "We used to have so much fun." I knew the issue went deeper than this, though and I sensed that further investigation would reveal something important.

So I spent nine months conducting  more than 200 interviews at more than a dozen small, fast-growth companies that had succeeded in introducing systems, structures and processes.

Presenting my findings in a 2019 Harvard Business Review article, I wrote: "There's an essential intangible something in start-ups – an energy, a soul... It inspires people to contribute their talent, money and enthusiasm and fosters a sense of deep connection and mutual purpose. As long as this spirit persists, engagement is high and startups remain agile and innovative, spurring growth, But when it vanishes, ventures can falter and everyone perceives the loss."

In my article, titled "The Soul of a Startup," I explained that companies needed to focus on three crucial factors in order to recapture their original entrepreneurial spirit. 

They are: 

1. Customer connection.  I found that businesses were more likely to thrive if "founders and employees intimately understood the perspectives and needs of the people to whom their products and services were targeted and felt personally connected in a way that unleashed their energy and creativity."
2. Employee experience. Employees who felt that they had both "voice" and "choice" were most likely to help a company retain its original startup essence. In other words, employees could tell that their opinions mattered and that they had a certain amount of discretion to make their own decisions.
3. Business intent. The most successful companies stayed true to their original reason for being. "Many ventures define their mission or business core, but the intent I uncovered went further, taking on an almost existential significance," I wrote.

I described how companies including Warby Parker, Netflix, BlackRock and Starbucks managed to keep their entrepreneurial spirit alive – or help restore it when it was waning – while still building and adhering to the internal structures that needed to be developed as they matured. 

As I wrote: "So often entrepreneurs, consultants and scholars like myself emphasize the need to implement structure and systems as a business grows, missing the importance of preserving its spirit. We can and should focus on both. With effort and determination, leaders can nurture and protect what's right and true in their organizations."

Inc