Word about town is that gossips are more trusted to help organise social events but less likely to be consulted for their ethics. By “word”, I mean “a workplace study from the University of Leeds business school”, and “about town” means “reported in the Times”.

Gossips unethical? For shame! The insights of this particular study I shall personally table for moral judgment at the next convergence of my neighbourhood girl gang. Gossip, friends, is both a moral mission and our pleasure on the fortnightly-or-so mornings we – 30s to 50s, a rainbow of sexualities and various household compositions – convene at the local cafe, eat toast and information-share.

We mostly drink coffee, but, baby, we spill tea. One of the many benefits of living in a small country town is that the human characters of the social narrative are visible on a near-daily basis. Physical encounters at the chemist, the supermarket, the early-morning pilates class form nodes of an information network more powerful than any digital communication that will ever be invented.

Shakespeare personifies Rumour as a character in Henry IV Part II, “painted full of tongues”, bitterly insisting that “rumour is a pipe, blown by surmises, jealousies, conjectures”. This negative characterisation informs the conclusions of the Leeds university workplace gossip study, where study participants rated gossipers as “less moral and competent” even though the researchers themselves could demonstrate that gossip was the “hallmark of a well-connected individual with an extensive social network”. Anyone arguing that gossipers are incompetent is failing to grasp the investigative skills obliged of the role; a gossip’s reputation only endures for as long as their gossip proves true.

Lest the demonising persist – in the workplace or beyond it – Rumour is warmly invited to spend some time in my cold corner of regional Victoria, southeastern Australia, where gossip has a significant community role to play in social and economic wellbeing, which is why everyone participates in it.

Apocryphal folklore remembers the comeuppance of a dastardly tradesperson when it was observed he was merely parking his van outside clients’ homes while the bulk of his billable hours were spent at his mistress’s house. The relentless scrutiny of close proximity means the businesses of “good people” thrive, and shysters and hypocrites are quickly exposed. On another occasion, a set of precious keys I managed to leave on an intercity train were returned to my home within a day, despite a) being unlabelled and b) me not even realising I had lost them. How could anyone have known they were mine? I can only conclude that I’d been gossiped about.

The workplace, of course, is a society similar to a small town. The Leeds university study’s researchers explain that gossip helps facilitate workplace culture, informing individuals of how to navigate organisational relationships and avoid threats. Connectedness overcomes the isolation that perpetrators rely on to conceal abuse: inquiries into scandals in Britain’s NHS have stated openly that gossip saves lives. In any community, gossipers identify who may be in need of help and consideration but is too shy, too embarrassed – or too vulnerable – to request any. In my town, somehow groceries appear for those going through tough times, anonymous flowers turn up for the heartbroken – and the baker always seems to have “spare doughnuts” since my husband has been unwell.

Is it the fear of losing control of one’s reputation to others that stigmatises gossip? Gossip weaponised to tread on personal sensitivity and harm a reputation was something I bore tearfully at age 11, sobbing to my mother when one of my Year 5 colleagues denounced me as “a flirt”. “If they aren’t talking about you, then you aren’t very interesting,” was superb – if blunt – maternal training in the art of not taking oneself too seriously. It was also fine preparation for life on the internet, where parades of unadmitted ex-friends, rejected dates and former partners can anonymously spread both real gossip and unadulterated nonsense about me, you, and anyone else, all of the time. Why be afraid? Being seen means you get your keys back, while the power move is to embrace the identity your enemies create for you; flirt your little self sick.

Malign or benevolent, gossip’s just broadcasting in its oldest, verbal form. It doesn’t require literacy, priestly interpretation, printing presses, radio towers or a $44bn website, so it’s historically the chosen medium of women, who had no access to these other things. “Gossip” comes from “godsibb”, pertaining roughly to a gathering of godmothers.

But stigmatisation and marginalisation and gendering does not dilute the transformative effect gossip may have on the lives of individuals or the fate of a community. Therein lies the real cause of gossip’s ongoing demonisation – the unbearable reminder, to everyone, that shared information has a power even the powerful can’t control.

The Guardian, UK

Most CEOs I speak with are under extreme pressure from their boards to apply advanced AI in their businesses. It’s no secret that AI has enormous potential and power, yet while AI has been around for decades we are still really in the infancy stages, with rapid evolution. To understand at a deeper level how CEOs should view AI, I asked leaders from Broadcom, Google Fiber, and Calix. They shared three fundamentals CEOs should consider:

1. UNDERSTAND THE RAG MODEL

Right now, AI is still transactional. However, we have already seen shifts indicating AI is becoming experiential. Everyone is talking about generative AI, but what CEOs need to understand is a new variation called the RAG Model, which stands for Retrieval-Augmented Generation. This framework combines traditional databases with generative large language models. Michael Weening, CEO, Calix discussed how this accelerates outcomes for CEOs by mitigating one of the biggest obstacles associated with generative AI.

“These sophisticated systems, which are trained on data from the internet, have been known to provide answers that are unjustified and just plain wrong,” Weening said. “RAG architectures help prevent hallucinations by combining a large language model with business-specific data sources — think databases and documents. This integration helps ensure the AI is operating on the latest, most accurate data and that users can check sources for accuracy — two crucial requirements. CEOs are generally worried by Gen AI, but RAG architectures make it ready for business.”

2. DO NOT EXPECT MIRACLES FROM AI OVERNIGHT

There are so many advances in AI that many applications almost seem like you’re waving a magic wand. For those — like many CEOs — who are not living in the advanced AI world and instead doing their job of running an enterprise, they can be thrown new ideas and use cases which seem relevant. According to John Keib, Chief Technology and Product Officer, GFiber (Google) CEOs need to challenge themselves.

“They need to be able to think of things that they could never do before – exponentially,” Keib said. “It’s about moving from transactional AI to experiential AI, taking disparate data sets and combining them into an outcome, which has a lot more value.”

3. LOCATE THE VALUE

CEOs have learned not to follow the shiny object, and most will not just use technology for technology’s sake – no matter how exciting it is. After interviewing over 1,000 top CEOs, I can say a CEO’s job can be summed up in just six words: “To get from here to there.” And getting there is usually about creating new value that didn’t exist before. Charlie Kawwas, President, Semiconductor Solutions Group, Broadcom cited the potential of AI to provide consumers with better cybersecurity protection.

“Customers would be excited,” Kawwas said. “Because we would be protecting grandma, protecting kids, protecting families. And people would pay more to get a service like that.”

In Summary, the changes AI will usher in will have profound impact on business the economy and society. CEOs can leapfrog competitors and accelerate progress with the right focus ... and perspective.

Forbes

Protesters have blocked Kaduna Road, a highway in Niger State linking Kaduna to Abuja.

This comes three days before the planned 10-day nationwide protest by some groups to demand an improvement in Nigeria’s economic situation.

The protesters carried placards with several inscriptions such as ‘We Are Not Slaves’, ‘Enough is Enough’; ‘Stop Anti-Masses Policies’, ‘Hardship Is Unbearable’ and ‘Fuel Subsidy Must Be Back.’

Monday’s protesters appeared unwilling to wait till Thursday as they chanted anti-government slogans.

The organisers of the nationwide protests want an improvement in the cost of living and a reversal of some government policies, particularly the removal of petrol subsidies.

Nigeria faces its worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. Food prices more than doubled after President Bola Tinubu removed petrol subsidies and floated the naira to allow market forces to determine the value of the Nigerian currency.

The government says the policies are essential and that citizens would later benefit from them.

The government has been working hard to prevent the protests by meeting with traditional rulers, clerics, and other groups.

Security agencies like the police, the army and the State Security Service have also warned that the protests could be hijacked by persons intent on causing violence.

PT

Despite efforts by the government to attract more foreign investors into the oil and gas sector, the nation’s foreign capital investments in the industry nosedived from $720m in 2016 to $3.64m in the entire 2023.

The country also recorded no foreign capital investment in the first quarter of 2024, a report by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

The report indicated that out of the $3.38bn capital importation into Nigeria in the first three months of 2024, the petroleum industry got nothing.

Capital importation is the inflow of foreign capital into a country, typically in the form of investments, loans, or other forms of financial resources.

This can include Foreign Direct Investment, and portfolio investment such as investments in a country’s financial assets like stocks, bonds, and securities.

It can also be in the form of short-term loans, deposits, or other forms of temporary capital inflows.

The petroleum sector’s zero capital importation in Q1 2024 indicates that no foreign capital was invested in the sector during that period, which could potentially impact the sector’s development and growth.

Even as the total capital importation went up by 198.06 per cent to $3.38bn compared to $1.13bn recorded in Q1 2023, the sector that gives the highest revenue to the country attracted no foreign investment within the period under review.

The banking sector recorded the highest inflow with $2.07bn, representing 61.24 per cent of total capital imported in Q1 2024, followed by the trading sector, valued at $494.93m (14.66 per cent), and the production/manufacturing sector with $191.92m (5.68 per cent).

The marketing, consultancy, and construction sectors received inflows valued at $60,000, $300,000, and $610,000, respectively, but the oil and gas sector recorded no investment.

Our correspondent gathered that over the years, foreign capital investments in the petroleum sector have been declining.

In the first quarter of 2023, the petroleum sector recorded $750,000 in capital importation, but nothing was recorded in the second quarter.

The sector got $850,000 in capital importation in the third quarter, while it made $2.04m in the last quarter.

In total, the sector attracted $3.64m as capital importation into Africa’s largest oil-producing country in the whole of 2023.

Our correspondent reports that the petroleum sector recorded $6.37m as capital importation in 2022, this was below what was recorded in just one quarter of 2021.

It was gathered from the NBS that in Q1 2021, the nation gathered a sum of $57.25m as capital importation; $340,000 in Q2 2021; $940,000 in Q3; and $32.31m in Q4. In total, $101m was the capital importation for the year 2021.

Similarly, the NBS revealed that the sector garnered $208m in capital importation in 2014 and $29.76m in 2015.

It peaked in 2016 to as high as $720m. The nation’s oil sector in 2017 saw $331.36m as foreign capital investment. The sector got $133.51m in 2018; $216.23m in 2019 and $53.51m in 2020.

Experts react

A professor, Wumi Iledare, said the sharp drop in foreign capital investment in the oil sector is expected because investors are not convinced that the Petroleum Industry Act has changed the country’s style of doing business.

Iledare said the PIA, which is supposed to create incentives, was implemented wrongly by the previous administration of Muhammadu Buhari. He said the incumbent President Bola Tinubu is yet to look at the errors for possible corrections.

“This is expected. Investors are more concerned about the certainty of doing business in an environment. This also has to do with the way the PIA is being implemented. The PIA is expected to create incentives, but they started the implementation wrongly. That is why the PIA, in my opinion, is not doing what it is expected to do.

“So, what investors see in Nigeria is ‘business as usual’ because of the way the PIA is being implemented; and the new government did not sit down to look at the errors of the past administration in the implementation of the PIA. It continued with the status quo,” Iledare said.

The energy expert called for a separation of roles between the NNPC and the regulators, stressing that the NNPC is supposed to be a player and not a government agency.

“Until you can convince investors that it is not business as usual and you can let them see that the governance is not fluid. If you look at the PIA, there is a separation of roles between NNPC, the regulators, and the Minister of Petroleum who is to drive the policy framework that creates stability in the governance.

“NNPC is not representing the government per se because it is a player in the industry, and if they (investors) see the NNPC as people driving the policy of the industry, then it is going to send the wrong signal. There is supposed to be a clear separation of roles; the NNPC is supposed to be commercial and not necessarily an agency of the Federal Government driving the policy. The regulators should be seen to be fair and not biased towards the government,” he advised.

NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, has repeatedly blamed the lack of investments in the oil and gas sector on the unrelenting activities of oil thieves and vandals.

During a meeting with the  Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, in March, Kyari said, “When we say illegal connections, they are not invisible things, they are big pipes that require some level of expertise to be installed. Some of them are of the same size as the trunk line itself. No one would produce crude oil knowing full well that it is not going to get to the terminal. That is why nobody is putting money into the business. So, you can’t grow production.”

“I believe, personally, that the very purpose of your commission is to curtail economic crimes, and there is no bigger economic crime of this scale anywhere else than what is happening in this area,” the GCEO lamented.

Punch

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, has expressed support for the planned nationwide protest scheduled for August 1.

Obi spoke when he visited Alex Otti, the governor of Abia, at his country home in Nvosi, Isialangwa south LGA.

The former governor of Anambra said hunger and hopelessness among youths are the “sponsors” of the planned protest.

Obi said there is nothing wrong in protesting if it is done within the ambit of the law.

“In the Nigerian constitution, protest is allowed. All I plead for is that those who are protesting should do so within the law and in a civil manner,” Obi said.

“When they talk about sponsors of protest, I say the sponsors are very simple. It is hunger and hopelessness among the youth. We have to listen to what Nigerians are going through.

“Security agents should manage the situation within the law, they should not try to be overbearing.

“It should be done within the law. Protest is allowed everywhere, globally.”

Obi asked the federal government to engage and listen to the protesters, adding that there is nothing wrong in the planned demonstration.

The demonstration, dubbed ’10 Days of Rage’, is to protest against the economic hardship in the country.

The federal and state governments, including President Bola Tinubu, have appealed to the youths to shelve the planned protest.

The Cable

In the face of mounting economic hardship and political frustration, Nigerian youths have taken a courageous stand by organizing nationwide protests scheduled to begin on August 1st. This editorial strongly supports their right to peaceful demonstration and argues that such action is not only justified but necessary for the future of our nation.

The current state of affairs in Nigeria is untenable. With inflation at a 28-year high of 34.2%, millions of citizens are struggling to meet their basic needs. The removal of fuel subsidies and currency devaluation have created immediate and severe hardships for the average Nigerian. It is clear that the government's current approach is insufficient to address the scale of the crisis.

While the federal government has attempted to quell protests through job offers, grants, and a new minimum wage, these measures fall far short of addressing the systemic issues plaguing the country. They appear to be reactive attempts to forestall demonstrations rather than genuine efforts at reform. The Nigerian people deserve more than stopgap solutions and empty promises.

The right to peaceful protest is a fundamental cornerstone of democracy. It is concerning to see security forces and government officials attempting to discourage or suppress these demonstrations. Threats of violence or potential crackdowns are unacceptable and run counter to the principles of a free society. The government should be facilitating safe spaces for citizens to express their grievances, not warning against them.

The demands put forth by protest organizers are reasonable and aimed at improving the lives of all Nigerians. They call for economic relief, electoral reform, transparency in governance, and a more equitable distribution of resources. These are not radical ideas, but rather the basic expectations citizens should have of their government.

It is crucial to remember the lessons of the #EndSARS protests in 2020. The use of force against peaceful demonstrators not only violates human rights but can escalate tensions and lead to further unrest. The government must resist the urge to respond with heavy-handed tactics and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with protest leaders.

To those who argue that protests may be hijacked by criminals or lead to economic disruption, we say this: a functional democracy and competent security apparatus should be able to protect the right to protest while maintaining public order. The fear of potential misuse should never be used to silence legitimate dissent.

In conclusion, we wholeheartedly support the planned protests and the brave Nigerians who are standing up for their rights. These demonstrations represent a critical moment for our democracy and an opportunity for real change. We call on the government to respect the constitutional rights of its citizens, to listen to their grievances, and to work towards substantive reforms that will address the root causes of our country's challenges.

The path forward for Nigeria lies not in suppressing the voices of its people, but in heeding their calls for justice, accountability, and good governance. Let us embrace this moment as a chance to build a stronger, more equitable nation for all Nigerians.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Many depots for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, are currently dry, leading to fuel scarcity and attendant queues in Lagos, Ogun, parts of Abuja, Niger, and some other states across the country.

Black marketers have taken advantage of the situation, selling as high as N1,300 per litre and N1,500 per litre in parts of Lagos and Ogun states.

Long queues started building up at fuel stations in Abuja and Lagos on Friday and have persisted.

On Saturday, while reacting to the long queues and scarcity in some parts of the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited said the tightness in fuel supply and distribution was caused by a hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels.

“The NNPC Ltd wishes to state that the tightness in fuel supply and distribution witnessed in some parts of Lagos and the FCT is as a result of a hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels,” NNPC Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, said.

The company added that it was “working round the clock with all stakeholders to resolve the situation and restore normalcy in the operations.”

However, despite the assurance by the NNPC, the situation worsened as checks by our correspondents nationwide on Sunday showed that there were long queues at several filling stations across major cities.

No loading at Apapa

There was no loading of trucks in the Apapa depots as of Sunday.

A depot operator, who did not want his name in print, told our correspondent that there was no fuel in almost all the depots on Sunday after the little available was supplied on Saturday.

The source confirmed that the depots are dry, saying “supply gets late thereby affecting product load out.”

It was observed on Sunday in Abuja, the capital city that while the few filling stations that dispensed the product sold it at between N660/litre and N800/litre, black marketers took advantage of the scarcity to hike the price to about N1,200/litre, depending on the area of purchase.

This came as oil marketers revealed that they were also queuing up to load petrol, adding that most depots lacked stock to sell.

“We, marketers, too are surprised that we couldn’t get fuel as we used to get at depots. We were worried too; we didn’t know the cause until the NNPC came out with a release on Saturday. Let’s just believe what the NNPC said, that they would arrest the situation,” the National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Hammed Fashola, told one of our correspondents.

“I believe that within this week, everything will be normalised by the time they push products to the depots for marketers to pick from. Ours is to pick from the depots, take it into our stations, and dispense to the public. But for now, most of the depots are dry. The implication of that is that the stations will be dry too. Most of our members have run out of stock. That is the cause of the queues we are experiencing now,” Fashola added.

He noted that marketers were still buying PMS “at a price that is above N700/litre from the private depots.”

“We are not yet getting direct supply from the NNPC as we are supposed to. What we are getting is so small compared to our population. That is why we are forced to go to the third parties, the private depot owners, and they are not helping matters with the kind of price they are putting out there.

“That is why independent marketers sell around N800 or so. Until we address this issue of direct supply, there will be issues. We keep shouting to the NNPC to look at that area properly because something is fundamentally wrong with our distribution channel and until they correct that, we will continue to have this issue of fuel scarcity.”

On his part, the Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, also confirmed that there had been low stock but could not tell when the situation would improve.

“The problem is that the stock is low because there have been some challenges in bringing the product into the country from the vessels. We are all queuing up for products, everybody is looking for the product from the NNPC. Only the NNPC knows when normalcy will be restored. It is the sole supplier,” he stated.

The spokesperson for the NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, did not respond to inquiries on Sunday on when the fuel supply situation would improve up till when this report was filed.

N1,500/litre in Ogun, Lagos

Our correspondents who visited parts of Lagos and Ogun states on Sunday reported that many fuel stations did not open for business while the handful that opened had long queues of vehicles and people buying in jerrycans. Black marketers had a field day selling to impatient motorists at between N1,200 and N1,500 per litre, depending on the location.

A bus driver, Elijah Sunday, who spoke to one of our correspondents at the Ketu motor garage in Lagos, lamented the struggle to get PMS.

“We have been finding it hard to get fuel for the past couple of days and it’s expensive, so, we had to increase the rates,” he said.

A minibus driver plying the Eko Hotel-CMS route in Lagos insisted on N300 instead of N200, citing the fuel scarcity.

Fuel queues were observed at PM Petroleum at Cele Bus Stop along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway. At the North West filling station close to CharlyBoy Bus Stop at Gbagada, Lagos and the NNPC station at Ogudu, there was a long line of vehicles.

At Petrocam, a filling station in Ajao Estate, Lagos fuel sold for N780 per litre.

Our correspondent observed that there was a long queue at the NNPC station along the Cele Expressway, where the pump price was set at N568 per litre.

One of our correspondents gathered on Sunday that a litre of PMS was sold at N1,200 in Ipokia, a border community in Ogun State.

Similar scenarios also played out in some residential areas in Abuja where black marketers sold their fuel at between N1,000/litre and N1,200/litre.

Residents of Idiroko, Ajegunle, Maun, Ijofin, Agosasa, Madoga and other areas in the Ipokia Local Government in Ogun State said they now patronise black marketers, following the ban on fuel supply in border areas.

“You know we have about four filling stations servicing the entire local government area because we are in the border areas. They sell at N870/litre now while black marketers sell at N1,200/litre. That is our punishment for living at the border,” a resident, Sam Adegoke, stated.

Many of the filling stations in the Ogun State capital didn’t sell the product, and some who did, exploited desperate buyers, who paid as much as N1,000 before they had the product sold to them.

Similar case in South-South

In Benin City, the Edo State capital, motorists queued for long hours to purchase fuel at the NNPC mega station on Sapele Road and  NIPCO in the Jattu area in Auchi.

The long queues at the NNPC station are a common occurrence as the product is sold for N591 per litre, the cheapest in the state.

In other stations in Benin, a litre of PMS was sold for between N750 and N800.

Northern black marketers  

In Gombe, fuel sold between N850 and N1,000 across major stations, while black marketers made brisk business, selling for N1,250 per litre as frustrated motorists resorted to buying the product from them following the scarcity.

“You may think that the amount sold by the roadside people (black marketers) is expensive until you are in a fix and you can’t access a filling station with petrol, then you will be left with no option but to patronise them despite the ridiculous amount,” a motorcyclist, Usman Abubakar, told The PUNCH.

Motorists in Jos, the Plateau State capital, expressed concern over the persistent scarcity and high cost of the commodity, saying that the situation had worsened the economic hardship.

Black marketers in parts of Jos sold for N1,300/litre.

A motorist, Philip Gyang, said he had been in the long queue at the NNPC filling station along Dogon Karfi Road for over four hours but couldn’t get the product to buy.

“At the black market I paid N1,300 per litre before joining the queue at the NNPC outlet, where I eventually couldn’t get to buy,” Gyang lamented.

A Jos resident, Margaret John, said the scarcity had further increased the cost of living in the state.

“Can you imagine that I paid N500 from Polo Roundabout to Anguldi, when I was going to the church today (Sunday). When I was returning home, the driver insisted that I paid N700, it’s not funny. People are already complaining about the harsh economic conditions, now the fuel scarcity and high cost are worsening the situation.”

A car owner in Minna, the Niger State capital, said he had abandoned his car at home over fuel scarcity and skyrocketing prices.

“Yes, I have a car but I am not using it now. How many litres of fuel will I buy to be able to come to work? But with two or three litres of fuel, I can come to work on my motorcycle. It is not easy but it is cheaper. This government must act fast, Nigerians are suffering,” a state civil servant, who identified himself simply as Mutum, said.

Also, queues resurfaced in Katsina and Taraba states.

Our correspondents report that Katsina and Jalingo, the capital of Taraba, witnessed long queues in various parts of both cities on Sunday.

A motorist, Mallam Abdulrazakk, said he spent over five hours at the Abukur NNPC mega station, located on the outskirts of Katsina metropolis, without success.

“I was here before 8 am and now it is 1:40 pm and still in the queue, only Allah knows when I will be given fuel today (Sunday). I’m waiting.”

In parts of Yola, the Adamawa State capital, black marketers sold PMS for between N1,000 and N1,200.

“At the black market we buy between N1,000 and N1,200 per litre, so, we need to jack up the fare to enable us to stay in business,” a commercial bus driver said.

Punch

Suspected Boko Haram terrorists have attacked Jakana Police station in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State, killing a policeman and a woman, while carting away arms and ammunition.

According to security sources, the insurgents also set ablaze two patrol vehicles and a motorcycle.

Our correspondent gathered that the attackers, who took the security operatives by surprise, arrived at the police station around 1:00am and engaged in a gun duel with the officers until 3:00 am

“They overpowered them and gained access into the police station and looted arms and ammunition and destroyed 2 patrol vehicles.”

“One of the vehicles belong to the police and the other for the members of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF)” a source said.

Chairman of Konduga Local government, Abbas Ali Abari, confirmed the attack to journalists, promising to provide details as soon as he gets them.

Efforts to speak with the Police Public Relations Officer, Borno State command, Nahun Kenneth, failed as he did not respond to phone calls or text messages.

Jakana, which is situated along Damaturu -Maiduguri expressway, is about 45 kilometers away from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

Daily Trust

Israel cabinet authorizes government to respond to Hezbollah rocket strike

Israel's security cabinet on Sunday authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to decide on the "manner and timing" of a response to a rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 teenagers and children, and which Israel and the United States blamed on Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attack on Majdal Shams on Saturday, the deadliest in Israel or Israeli-annexed territory since Palestinian militant group Hamas' Oct. 7 assault sparked the war in Gaza. That conflict has spread to several fronts and risks spilling into a wider regional conflict.

Israel has vowed retaliation against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Israeli jets hit targets in southern Lebanon during the day on Sunday.

But there were expectations a stronger response could follow the security cabinet meeting convened by Netanyahu in Tel Aviv.

After the meeting ended, Netanyahu's office said the cabinet "authorized the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister to decide on the manner and timing of the response."

The White House on Sunday also blamed Hezbollah for the Majdal Shams strike. "This attack was conducted by Lebanese Hezbollah. It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control," it said in a statement.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, said through her national security adviser that her "support for Israel’s security is ironclad,"

The U.S. said Washington has been in discussions with Israeli and Lebanese counterparts since Saturday's "horrific" attack and that it was working on a diplomatic solution.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington did not want further escalation of the conflict, which has seen daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and Hezbollah along the border.

Britain expressed concern at further escalation while Egypt said the attack could spill "into a comprehensive regional war."

On the ground, thousands of people gathered for funerals in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, territory captured from Syria by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognised by most countries.

Members of the Druze faith, which is related to Islam, Christianity and Judaism, make up more than half the 40,000-strong population of the Golan Heights. Large crowds of mourners, many in traditional high white and red Druze headwear, surrounded the caskets as they were carried through the village.

"A heavy tragedy, a dark day has come to Majdal Shams," said Dolan Abu Saleh, head of the Majdal Shams local council, in comments broadcast on Israeli television.

Hezbollah initially announced it fired rockets at Israeli military sites in the Golan Heights, but said it had "absolutely nothing" to do with the attack on Majdal Shams.

ISRAEL SAYS ROCKET IRANIAN-MADE

However, Israel said the rocket was an Iranian-made missile fired from an area north of the village of Chebaa in southern Lebanon, placing the blame squarely on Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

It was not immediately clear if the children and teenagers killed were Israeli citizens.

"The rocket that murdered our boys and girls was an Iranian rocket and Hezbollah is the only terror organization which has those in its arsenal," Israel's foreign ministry said.

Two security sources told Reuters that Hezbollah was on high alert and had cleared some key sites in both Lebanon's south and the eastern Bekaa Valley in case of an Israeli attack.

Lebanon's Middle East Airlines said it was delaying the arrival of some flights from Sunday night to Monday morning, without stating why.

Israeli forces have been exchanging fire for months with Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon, but both sides have appeared to be avoiding an escalation that could lead to all-out war, potentially dragging in other powers including the United States and Iran.

However, Saturday's strike threatened to tip the standoff into a more dangerous phase. United Nations officials urged maximum restraint from both sides, warning that escalation could "engulf the entire region in a catastrophe beyond belief."

Lebanon has asked the U.S to urge restraint by Israel, Lebanon's foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, told Reuters. Bou Habib said the U.S. had asked Lebanon's government to pass on a message to Hezbollah to show restraint as well.

ALL-OUT WAR FEARED

Iran's foreign ministry warned Israel on Sunday against what it called any new adventure in Lebanon.

Syria's foreign ministry said it held Israel "fully responsible for this dangerous escalation in the region" and said its accusations against Hezbollah were false.

The conflict has forced tens of thousands of people in both Lebanon and Israel to leave their homes. Israeli strikes have killed some 350 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and more than 100 civilians, including medics, children and journalists.

Hezbollah is the most powerful of a network of Iran-backed groups across the Middle East and opened a second front against Israel shortly after Hamas' Oct. 7 assault on Israel.

Druze communities live on both sides of the line between southern Lebanon and northern Israel as well as in the Golan Heights and Syria. While some serve in the Israeli military and identify with Israel, many feel marginalized in Israel and some also reject Israeli citizenship.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine keeps pounding Russia's Kursk region with drones, Russian official says

Kyiv launched more than two dozen drones on the Russian region of Kursk in several waves of attacks that started Saturday night and damaged an oil depot, the acting governor of the region that borders Ukraine said late on Sunday.

At least 13 drones launched from Ukraine were destroyed by Russia's air defence systems late on Sunday, Andrei Smirnov, the governor, said on the Telegram messaging app. That follows 19 drones destroyed over the region during the day, he said.

Smirnov did not say how many drones in total Ukraine launched.

Firefighters were still trying to put out an oil depot fire in the region, sparked by Ukraine's drone attack Saturday night, he added.

He said the attacks caused minor damages to several residential buildings. Russian officials rarely disclose the full extent of damage inflicted by Ukrainian attacks.

Ukraine has been systematically targeting Russian transport, energy and military infrastructure to disrupt the Kremlin's economy and its ability to fund the war, which Russia launched with a full-scale invasion on its smaller neighbour in 2022.

Kyiv also says the drone attacks are in response to Russia's continued bombing of Ukraine.

The governor of the southwestern Russian region of Oryol said early on Monday that a power plant was damaged in the region in a Ukraine-launched drone attack.

At least four drones were also destroyed over the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, the governor of the region said on Telegram.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Strikes on foreign mercs, hunt for HIMARS, and electronic warfare systems: Past week in the Ukraine conflict

The past week in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has seen active hostilities along the front line, with the Russian military reporting new gains in several areas and as well as claimign to have inflicted mass casualties on foreign mercenaries fighting for Kiev. 

Last Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the military had seized the villages of Rozovka and Peschanoye Nizhneye, located in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) and Ukraine’s Kharkov Region respectively. The development signaled the spread of combat to the vicinity of the Ukrainian town of Kupiansk and the Oskol River. The local front line spans roughly along the border between the LPR and Kharkov Region and has remained largely static over the past few weeks. 

On Tuesday, the Russian military reported the liberation of Ivano-Daryevka, a small village located in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic. The settlement is located roughly 8km to the southeast of the Ukrainian-controlled town of Severs, which has long-served as a major stronghold for Kiev’s troops and remains a major obstacle for the potential Russian advance westward.

The most active combat continued to the northwest of the city of the strategic DPR town of Avdeevka, which was liberated by the Russian military in February. Russian troops continued to advance near the town of Ocheretino, with the Ukrainian forces apparently unable to stabilize the situation in the area.

On Saturday, the Russian military reported the liberation of Lozovatovskoye, a tiny settlement located to the north of the village of Progress. The swift advance was marked with two company-sized Ukrainian forces reportedly ending up in tactical encirclement in the trenches between the two villages. 

According to former Ukrainian MP and ex-deputy commander of the notorious neo-Nazi Azov regiment, Igor Mosiychuk, all the commanding officers of the two companies were killed, while the battalion-level command did nothing to fix the situation, only demanding that the soldiers fight to their deaths.

Strikes on foreign ‘instructors’

The week has been marked by new strikes on foreign mercenaries fighting in Ukraine, with up to 90 estimated dead, according to the Russian military. 

The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday said it targeted a building in the Ukrainian town of Dergachi, Kharkov Region, used to house Western “instructors and mercenaries.” The location was hit by a ballistic missile, fired by an Iskander-M system. Footage of the strike shows the building sustained a direct hit and partially collapsed.

Another strike on foreign fighters was conducted by the country’s military on Thursday with a ballistic missile of the same type. The temporary accommodation point housing Ukrainian servicemen with the 151th mechanized brigade and foreign mercenaries was discovered in an industrial area in the city of Kharkov, the ministry said.

Aerial footage shared by the military suggests the missile penetrated the building, exploding inside and leaving a massive hole in its roof. Up to 100 fighters, including 40 foreigners, were killed in the strike, according to Moscow’s estimates.

Logistics strikes

Over the past few weeks, the Russian military repeatedly conducted strikes on the Ukrainian military’s rear, striking units in redeployment, as well as destroying railway hubs and bridges close to the front line to disrupt Kiev’s logistics.

Last Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported striking two military trains at a railway station near the town of Barvenkovo, located near the border between Ukraine’s Kharkov Region and Russia’s DPR. Each train consisted of at least 20 flatbed cars and carried multiple pieces of military hardware.

Infrared footage of the strike shows a ballistic missile fired by an Iskander-M system hitting one of the trains, with multiple fires observed on the ground after the hit. The missile was closely followed by another one hitting the second train.

According to Moscow’s estimates, up to 240 Ukrainian servicemen were killed or injured in the strike, with more than 60 pieces of military hardware destroyed. Ten Canadian-made Roshel Senator armored personnel carriers (APCs) and 14 US-made International MaxxPro mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles (MRAPs) were destroyed on the flatbeds.

Another video circulating online shows a missile strike on the bridge across the Oskol River located in the town of Kupiansk-Uzlovoy, Kharkov Region. The bridge had been hit by the Russian military at least twice this year, but apparently was repaired. The structure was likely hit by an air-to-surface Kh-38 missile, sustaining heavy damage, footage indicates.

Hunt for US-supplied HIMARS launchers

Over the past week, the Russian military reported the destruction of several US-supplied HIMARS launchers, which have long been priority targets for Moscow. Though the long-range multiple rocket launchers have been touted by Ukraine as the ultimate tool to strike high-value assets, the systems have been widely used by Kiev for the indiscriminate shelling of civilian infrastructure. 

On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported the destruction of a HIMARS and its crew in the village of Novopetrovka in Ukraine’s Nikolayev Region. The system was tracked by a surveillance drone to a hangar used as a staging point, with the location promptly hit by a ballistic missile fired by an Iskander-M system. The strike obliterated the hangar, with secondary detonation and a bushfire observed at the site, footage shared by the military shows. 

The destruction of another HIMARS was reported by the Defense Ministry on Friday. The vehicle, as well as other pieces of military equipment, was discovered concealed in an industrial area located in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Kramatorsk, DPR. The hangar used to station the equipment was struck by an Iskander-M missile, the military said.

Infrared footage shared by the military shows a major explosion and a massive column of fire and smoke emitting from the hangar. Apart from the HIMARS, five Soviet-era BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers, five tanks, and up to ten other armored vehicles were destroyed in the strike, according to Moscow’s estimates.

Disrupting Kiev’s electronic warfare capabilities

The Russian military has continued its efforts to strike Ukrainian electronic warfare and early warning systems, such as active jammers, radars, passive detectors, and other equipment. The continuous hunt for the systems enables the Russian forces to operate more effectively, hampering Kiev’s capabilities to intercept or evade incoming projectiles of various types. 

On Monday, a video purporting to show the destruction of a US-supplied Ukrainian AN/TPQ-50 artillery radar surfaced online. The system was reportedly found near the town of Kupiansk, Kharkov Region, and hit by a Russian Lancet-family loitering munition.

Another video that emerged online this week shows a Lancet striking a Ukrainian homegrown Plastun electronic warfare support station. The sensor was found deployed in a wooded area, with a Starlink satellite terminal seen nearby. The hardware was hit by the kamikaze drone and apparently destroyed, footage suggests.

A Ukrainian Nota electronic jammer station also fell victim to a Lancet kamikaze drone it was supposed to deter. Surveillance drone footage circulating online shows the system concealed in a wooded area with only its antennas protruding from the shrubbery. 

The Lancet apparently scored a direct hit on the system, with open flames seen at the location after the strike, footage shows. 

Reuters/RT