Boarding announcements were not an issue when I used to commute in Lagos by danfo, the ubiquitous yellow buses, or molue, the mass-transit lorries, which were improvised for public transportation.

The conductors often had a melodious and entertaining way of calling passengers that was enjoyable to hear. They called out in a drawl, accompanying each announcement with a warning for passengers to board with their change in hand or risk a “forced marriage,” which meant giving a fixed sum, usually a bank note, to two or more passengers to share at disembarkation.

Flying is a luxury – or should be – with no room for bus conductors and their outrageous threats of forced passenger marriages. But vehicle conductors across the country might be surprised to know that, however lowly their jobs, there are several areas where they do far better than their cousins at airports across the country, who, for want of a better description, carry the elegant titles of flight announcers, when quite frankly, they perform the job of conductors.

A conductor’s life

There is no intention to deride or demean, please. Conductors, whether at the motor park, opera, or the airport, provide the vital link that helps us understand and enjoy the moment, as we make a rite of passage.

But that vital function is threatened at many airports nationwide, even among crew announcers onboard several flights. I could have missed a recent flight from Asaba to Abuja because I wasn’t sure what the announcer said: “This is a broaden hannouncement on Flight PA7861 from Hum, Hum, Hum, to Ham, Ham, Ham…all persongers on this flight should phulease proceed to the gate to broad…a phust departure call phulease…”

I didn’t understand. The babble was neither British, American, nor trans-Atlantic. It was not even Ingili-Igbo(a variety of standard British English mixed with Igbo phonemes) as Chief Zebruddaya Okorigwe-Nwogbo alias 4.30 might have called it in the New Masquerade. It was indecipherable. But I noticed some passengers rushing to line up or scampering in different directions. I stayed put, waiting for a second, hopefully clearer announcement. It was the same thing.

Accra bound?

I looked at my colleague with whom I was travelling and asked, “Did you hear what the announcer said?” “I think she said something like it’s a flight to Accra,” he responded. “No way,” I replied. “You mean that flights now depart from the Asaba Airport to Accra? And see the number of passengers lining up.”

Time was ticking. We hurried to the line, which is often the typical response when there’s no airline staff in sight, where a passenger smiled a knowing smile and told us it was a flight to Abuja, not Accra. At that time, something that sounded like the final boarding announcement had been made.

I had experienced a similar thing on my outbound trip from Abuja, where the flight announcer seemed more concerned about how her fake imitation of an Oyinbo accent than the clarity of what she was saying. I got up twice to ask at the desk.

Suupri…suupri…suupri

The second time, the announcer who faked an Oyinbo accent told me in plain, audible language that my flight had not been announced. “Is it impossible to announce as you have just told me, Ma?” I asked. She smiled and adjusted the PAS: “This is a boreding announcement on Flight PA74862 from suupri, suupri, suupri, to ham, ham, ham…all persongers on this flight should phulease proceed to the boreding gate…a phust departure call phulease…”

I gave up.

Sometimes, the noise in the departure lounge can make things worse. At other times, the lack of coordination and/or the poor sound quality of the PAS can also compound the problem. There’s hardly such a thing as a level key. The volume is too high, too low or a garbled screeching static sound. As for the tone of voice, that’s something else altogether.

What was that, pilot?

It happens onboard, too. For aerophobics like me, a pilot’s calming voice before departure, midflight, or shortly before landing has a huge calming effect. Often, however, you’ll have to strain to hear. There’s such a deafening noise in the inflight PAS that it’s difficult to decipher what even the pilot says, whether it will be fair weather, or you should brace up for a bumpy ride. On this last trip to Asaba, it wasn’t very different, but it was the attendant who had me cracking a rib.

From her appearance, she seems a full-blooded Nigerian woman, likely from the Southeast. As we neared landing, she unleashed a torrent of fake accents. She concluded by welcoming passengers to “Asaaabhaaa,”pronounced like a JJC would say Asaba, with enough drawl of the “Icheku” variety (the Nigerian TV drama series based on the foibles of the colonial courtroom) to spice the miserly inflight passengers’ lunchbox. Where did she acquire that accent from?

Oyinbo blues

I might be a latecomer to this flourishing business of phonemical jiggery pokery. Farooq Kperogi flagged it in an article two years ago, entitled “Fake Accents on Nigerian Airplanes and Airports,” in which he narrated how an Oyinbo man approached a passenger to interpret what the flight announcer said. It was his second article on the subject in seven years.

Although recent aviation concerns have focused more on air traffic control staffing shortages, technology and flight delays, it would be interesting to see statistics on how indecipherable announcements may have contributed to passenger misery, including perhaps, missed flights.

It wouldn’t be a big issue if the humour of Oyinbowannabes were all there was to it. It would, in fact, be a good source of entertainment when flights are delayed, as they frequently are. But passengers who bank on in-flight announcers who use them to practice phonology risk missing their flights.

Lessons from the motor park

In many parts of the world, airports are enhancing the quality of announcements. Tools like PAXGuide, for instance, can monitor every announcement, including who made it and when. Instead of terminal-wide announcements, announcements can be targeted and localised to specific gates, while automation through display boards and technological upgrades can also help to improve the passenger’s experience.

There’s also something that airports, with a bit of humility, can learn from the motor parks. I’m serious about this. The conductors in the motor parks hardly ever pretend to be someone they’re not or borrow a language they’re uncomfortable with. Apart from the points suggested, is it also possible for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to authorise using pidgin English (perhaps the most widely spoken language across the country), as the second language for flight announcers at least for domestic routes?

It would take a truly wayward flight announcer to nasalise pidgin English and not sound ridiculous in his or her own ears.

** Ishiekwene is Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the book, Writing for Media and Monetising It.

Melissa Rudy

Arun Sanyal, M.D., director of the VCU Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health, discusses the clinical trial involving 800 participants, in which a weekly dose of semaglutide was effective at treating fatty liver disease.

As cases of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) are on the rise, experts are warning of the hidden dangers associated with some common medications and supplements.

Statistics show that DILI, also known as toxic hepatitis or hepatotoxicity — which is known to be a significant cause of acute liver failure — has been growing in Western countries since the 1960s.

Around one-fifth of the total population who are prescribed medications will experience DILI, according to recent research published in the journal Toxicology Reports.

Potential triggers of liver injury include herbal products, dietary supplements and medications, the study found.

Those with pre-existing liver conditions and nutritional deficiencies are at a higher risk, as are pregnant women.

How drugs can harm the liver

One of the liver’s main functions is to break down substances taken orally, including supplements and medications, according to the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG).

For some people, the process of metabolizing these substances can be slower, increasing the risk of liver damage.

Even medications that have been tested for safety and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can potentially cause liver injury in rare cases, stated the ACG.

Common symptoms of liver disease include nausea, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, generalized itching, dark urine and jaundice, although some people may notice no signs, per the above source.

Most common medications that cause DILI

The recent study in Toxicology Reports identified several drugs that are most likely to cause liver injury.

• Paracetamol (acetaminophen), a common over-the-counter pain reliever
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which are often used to treat headaches, fever and chronic inflammatory disorders
• Aspirin, a common over-the-counter medication used as a fever-reducer, pain reliever and blood thinner
• Nimesulide, an NSAID used to relieve pain and reduce fever
• Methotrexate, an antimetabolite medication that is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, lymphoma, leukemia and other cancers
• Corticosteroids, which are used to treat conditions involving inflammation or overactive immune systems
• Isoniazid, a first-line treatment for tuberculosis
• Tetracyclines, a class of antibiotics that treat multiple types of bacterial infections
• Halothane, which is used as a general anaesthetic during surgical procedures

Supplements linked to liver damage

Medications aren’t the only agents that can cause drug-induced liver injuries.

Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, spoke with Fox News Digital about the risks of herbal and dietary supplements (HDS) affecting the liver.

"The biggest problem with herbal supplements is that the amount you are taking of active chemicals isn’t strictly regulated, so you don’t know exactly what you are getting," he said. 

"And since several of the supplements are metabolized through the liver, there is now an increasing incidence of liver toxicity in users."

Cases of DILI linked to herbal or dietary supplements have nearly tripled between 2004 and 2014, according to a 2024 study published in JAMA Network Open.

The researchers identified the following most commonly used botanical products known for potential liver toxicity.

• Turmeric, a common spice added to foods
• Green tea
• Ashwagandha, an herb used for stress and anxiety
• Garcinia cambogia, a popular weight-loss supplement
• Red yeast rice, which is said to help lower cholesterol levels
• Black cohosh, a dietary supplement used to relieve menopause symptoms

It is estimated that at least 15.6 million U.S. adults have used at least one of these six botanical products within the past 30 days.

"The most commonly implicated botanical products in the DILIN (Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network) include turmeric, kratom, green tea extract and Garcinia cambogia, with potentially severe and even fatal liver injury," the study stated.

Drug-induced liver injury caused by HDS can be severe or even fatal, leading to death or liver transplantation, the researchers noted.

Fox News’ Siegel also warned against the potential liver-related risks of some of these named supplements.

"Turmeric is a natural anti-inflammatory and may be useful in small doses, but can be toxic in large doses," he cautioned.

"Garcinia cambogia is very popular, especially as a weight-loss agent, but there is no real evidence that it actually works, and there is no reason to take it, especially with the new GLP-1 drugs."

While red yeast rice has cholesterol-lowering statin-type properties, Siegel cautioned that the amount of active chemicals isn’t as strictly regulated as approved medications.

"I find it useful in some patients who are reluctant to start statins and are looking for a more natural alternative, but I must strictly monitor the amount taken and the effect on the liver," he said.

Regarding green tea, Siegel noted that it does have antioxidant properties and can be useful to consume as a beverage (though it has a lot of caffeine) — "but there is no reason whatsoever to take more of it in an extract, where it can be toxic."

The FDA states on its website that it does regulate dietary supplement products and dietary ingredients, but under "a different set of regulations than those covering ‘conventional’ foods and drug products."

"Manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients are prohibited from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded," the agency says. "That means that these firms are responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of their products before marketing to ensure that they meet all the requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as amended by DSHEA and FDA regulations."

Fox News Digital reached out to several researchers and the FDA regarding the rise in drug- and HSD-related liver injury.

Melissa Rudy is senior health editor and a member of the lifestyle team at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Fox News

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has sharply criticised the administration of President Bola Tinubu, declaring that two years into his tenure, Nigerians have experienced widespread hardship and suffering without any tangible benefits.

In a comprehensive review of the administration’s performance, NLC President Joe Ajaero lamented what he described as a lack of meaningful progress since Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023.

“President Tinubu came into office promising bold reforms to steer Nigeria toward economic recovery and prosperity. Yet, two years on, the only thing bold is the level of hardship inflicted on ordinary Nigerians by his policies,” Ajaero said.

Unfulfilled Promises, Worsening Realities

Ajaero criticised Tinubu’s economic agenda, accusing it of recycling discredited neoliberal policies that have historically failed to deliver results. He pointed to the abrupt removal of the petrol subsidy, which saw fuel prices soar from N187 to over N900 per litre, triggering inflation and further eroding the purchasing power of Nigerian workers.

“The subsidy removal was touted as a sacrifice for development. But instead of progress, Nigerians have seen nothing but food insecurity, shuttered businesses, and unbearable transport costs,” he said.

The union also condemned the government’s floating of the naira, which they argue has led to currency instability, increased the cost of imports, and devastated local industries.

“We’ve seen this pattern before—structural adjustments and austerity dressed up as reforms. The outcome is always the same: deeper poverty and greater inequality.”

Mounting Economic Hardship

According to the NLC, real wages have been severely diminished, pensioners are struggling, and over 150 million Nigerians are now classified as multi-dimensionally poor. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face input cost hikes of over 150%, while wage award arrears remain unpaid.

Although the Federal Government has rolled out compressed natural gas (CNG) buses as a palliative to ease transport burdens, Ajaero dismissed the measure as grossly inadequate and hindered by a lack of infrastructure.

Labour Intimidation and Lack of Dialogue

The NLC accused the Tinubu administration of replacing promised dialogue with labour unions with intimidation and repression.

“Rather than engage workers in genuine dialogue, this government responds with threats, violence, and the criminalisation of protests. Meanwhile, public officials continue to enjoy luxuries funded by the very people they ask to sacrifice.”

Security Crisis Overshadowing Economic Policy

The union also raised alarm over the worsening security situation, warning that the nation’s economic discourse is meaningless in the face of rising insecurity.

“Talking about economic policy while Nigerians are being kidnapped, robbed, and murdered daily is like arguing about interior design in a burning house. Safety and security must come first.”

The NLC lamented that insurgent groups, banditry, and violent crimes have continued to claim lives and destabilise communities, creating an environment that deters investment and undermines public trust.

A Call for Change

Concluding its appraisal, the NLC rejected what it described as “painful reforms without gain,” calling them nothing more than deliberate policies that deepen poverty while enriching a privileged few.“True reform must prioritise the welfare of citizens. Policies that serve foreign creditors, speculators, and the elite at the expense of the people are not reforms—they are betrayals. It’s time this government changed course and placed Nigerians at the heart of its agenda.”

The Nigerian stock market has demonstrated remarkable resilience with a sustained upward trajectory over two consecutive trading sessions, accumulating gains totaling N483 billion and pushing market capitalisation above N71 trillion for the first time.

Strong Performance Metrics

The market’s bullish momentum began on Tuesday when capitalisation increased by N259 billion (0.37%) to reach N70.894 trillion, followed by Wednesday’s additional N224 billion gain (0.32%) that elevated total market value to N71.118 trillion.

The All-Share Index (ASI) mirrored this positive trend, climbing 411.52 points on Tuesday to close at 112,427.48, then adding another 354.25 points on Wednesday to finish at 112,781.73 points.

Driving Forces Behind the Rally

The sustained growth has been primarily attributed to robust buying interest in medium and large-capitalised stocks across both trading sessions. Key performers included:

Tuesday’s Top Gainers:

- Honeywell Flour Mill: +10% to N22.00

- SCOA Nigeria: +10% to N5.39

- SFS Real Estate Investment Trust: +10% to N226.60

- Industrial & Medical Gases: +9.96% to N37.00

- International Energy Insurance: +9.82% to N1.79

Wednesday’s Leading Stocks:

- Oando: +10% to N51.70

- UH Real Estate Trust: +9.96% to N50.25

- Royal Exchange: +8.64% to N0.88

- Legend Internet: +7.27% to N5.90

- Lasaco Assurance: +6.67% to N3.20

Market Breadth Analysis

Both trading sessions recorded positive market breadth, indicating broad-based investor confidence:

- Tuesday: 36 gainers versus 32 losers

- Wednesday: 32 gainers against 21 losers

However, some stocks experienced significant declines. Tuesday’s major losers included Conoil (-10% to N268.30), Learn Africa (-9.98% to N3.88), and Transcorp Hotels (-9.97% to N132.80). Wednesday saw Nigerian Railway Corporation lead the decline with a 9.89% drop to N5.92.

Trading Activity Overview

Trading volumes remained robust across both sessions:

Tuesday Trading Data:

- Volume: 622.64 million shares

- Value: N16.12 billion

- Transactions: 17,044 deals

Wednesday Trading Activity:

- Volume: 611.53 million shares

- Value: N16.68 billion

- Transactions: 13,682 deals

Most Active Stocks

Fidelity Bank dominated trading activity on both days, leading Tuesday with 108.17 million shares worth N2.05 billion and Wednesday with 93.47 million shares valued at N1.78 billion. Other consistently active stocks included Guaranty Trust Holding Company, United Bank for Africa, and Access Corporation.

Market Outlook

The consecutive days of gains represent a significant boost for investor confidence in the Nigerian equity market. The sustained buying pressure across diverse sectors suggests growing optimism about corporate earnings potential and overall economic prospects.

The achievement of crossing the N71 trillion market capitalisation threshold marks a notable milestone for Nigeria’s capital market, reflecting both domestic and international investor appetite for Nigerian equities in the current market cycle.

The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has issued a stern warning to disc jockeys (DJs) against playing music in public without proper licensing, stating that offenders risk a fine of up to ₦1 million or a five-year prison sentence.

In an advisory released on Wednesday in Abuja, John Asein, Director-General of the NCC, expressed concern over the increasing trend of DJs performing copyrighted music without obtaining the required permissions from approved Collective Management Organisations (CMOs).

Asein emphasized that under Sections 9 and 12 of the Copyright Act (2022), only the copyright owner of a musical work or sound recording has the exclusive right to reproduce, perform, or communicate it to the public. Unauthorized use constitutes an infringement, which could result in civil liability or criminal charges under Section 44(7) of the Act.

“Violators face a minimum fine of ₦1 million or a jail term of five years—or both—upon conviction,” he stated.

The NCC urged DJs to secure the necessary licenses and pay royalties through the approved CMO, the Musical Copyright Society Nigeria (MCSN). Asein noted that the Disc Jockey Association of Nigeria (DJAN) has already partnered with MCSN to streamline royalty payments for DJs nationwide under a negotiated tariff.

The commission warned that it would enforce the law rigorously, arresting and prosecuting any DJ found operating without proper authorization.

“The NCC will not tolerate copyright violations,” Asein said. “DJs must comply with licensing requirements to avoid legal consequences.”

President Donald Trump has enacted comprehensive travel restrictions affecting nationals from nearly two dozen countries, citing national security threats and inadequate information-sharing protocols.

The newly implemented measures completely ban entry for nationals from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen, while imposing partial restrictions on travelers from seven additional nations such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Laos.

The restrictions stem from Executive Order 14161, signed on January 20, 2025, titled “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats”, which directed national security agencies to conduct comprehensive risk assessments of various countries.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson defended the policy as necessary protection against inadequately vetted individuals. “President Trump is fulfilling his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors that want to come to our country and cause us harm,” Jackson stated, describing the measures as “commonsense” responses to countries with insufficient screening capabilities.

The administration has identified several factors driving the restrictions: elevated terrorism risks, unstable or hostile governments, high rates of visa violations, and inadequate cooperation with U.S. security protocols. Afghanistan, for instance, faces particular scrutiny due to Taliban control and a nearly 30% student visa overstay rate.

In announcing the policy, Trump referenced recent security incidents to justify the restrictions. “The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted,” he said in a video statement.

The president characterized his first-term travel policies as highly successful in preventing terrorist attacks on American soil, positioning these new restrictions as an extension of that approach. “We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States,” Trump declared.

Countries subject to complete entry bans include those with limited governmental control over document security, state sponsors of terrorism, or territories under control of designated terrorist organizations. Nations facing partial restrictions typically involve concerns about visa overstay rates or incomplete cooperation with U.S. security requirements.

The implementation represents a significant expansion of travel restrictions compared to previous policies, affecting a broader range of countries and encompassing various categories of travelers. The administration has indicated that the measures will remain in place until affected countries demonstrate improved security cooperation and information-sharing capabilities.

Some truck drivers on Wednesday blocked the Ganaja-lokoja-Ajaokuta expressway in Ajaokuta Local Government Area of Kogi State over the shooting of their colleagues – a truck driver and his mate.

The incident happened when security operatives keeping vigil on the highway allegedly shot the duo for refusing to stop for checking at their roadblock when flagged down.

However, no life was lost, as the victims were rushed to the hospital after gunshot wounds.

Angered, the truck drivers blocked the road from the Ganaja-lokoja-Ajaokuta junction at the flyover bridge in solidarity with their injured colleagues.

Until men of the military were deployed to the scene, the truck drivers stood their ground, refusing to remove their trucks from the highway.

The incident resulted into a gridlock which prevented commuters, motorists, and other road users, from going to their workplaces and offices.

Many civil servants reportedly trekked for hours to access their offices, even as many others were said to have returned home.

“I had to trekked from governor Idris Wada estate, about 7 kilometer to the place of my work. It was a nastic and frustrating experience.

“We thank the soldiers for their timely intervention, as they brought the situation under control towards noon of the day”, said Aliyu Dansabe, a civil servant.

When contacted, the kogi State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, William Aya, said the situation is under control.

Daily Trust

US vetoes UN Security Council demand for Gaza ceasefire

The United States on Wednesday vetoed a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that demanded an "immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza and unhindered aid access across the war-torn enclave.

The other 14 countries on the council voted in favor of the draft as a humanitarian crisis grips the enclave of more than 2 million people, where famine looms and aid has only trickled in since Israel lifted an 11-week blockade last month.

"The United States has been clear: We would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza," Acting U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dorothy Shea told the council before the vote, arguing that it would also undermine U.S.-led efforts to broker a ceasefire.

Washington is Israel's biggest ally and arms supplier.

The Security Council vote came as Israel pushes ahead with an offensive in Gaza after ending a two-month truce in March. Gaza health authorities said Israeli strikes killed 45 people on Wednesday, while Israel said a soldier died in fighting.

Britain's U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward criticized the Israeli government's decisions to expand its military operations in Gaza and severely restrict humanitarian aid as "unjustifiable, disproportionate and counterproductive."

Israel has rejected calls for an unconditional or permanent ceasefire, saying Hamas cannot stay in Gaza. Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told the council members who voted in favor of the draft: "You chose appeasement and submission. You chose a road that does not lead to peace. Only to more terror."

Hamas condemned the U.S. veto, describing it as showing "the U.S. administration's blind bias" towards Israel. The draft Security Council resolution had also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and others.

RIVAL AID OPERATIONS

The war in Gaza has raged since 2023 after Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel in an October 7 attack and took some 250 hostages back to the enclave, according to Israeli tallies. Many of those killed or captured were civilians.

Israel responded with a military campaign that has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. They say civilians have borne the brunt of the attacks and that thousands more bodies have been lost under rubble.

Under global pressure, Israel allowed limited U.N.-led deliveries to resume on May 19. A week later a controversial new aid distribution system was launched by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, backed by the U.S. and Israel.

Israel has long accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies. Israel and the U.S. are urging the U.N. to work through the GHF, which is using private U.S. security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.

"No one wants to see Palestinian civilians in Gaza go hungry or thirsty," Shea told the Security Council, adding that the draft resolution did not "acknowledge the disastrous shortcomings of the prior method of aid delivery."

The U.N. and international aid groups have refused to work with the GHF because they say it is not neutral, militarizes aid and forces the displacement of Palestinians.

No aid was distributed by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on Wednesday as it pressed the Israeli military to boost civilian safety beyond the perimeter of its so-called secure distribution sites after a deadly incident on Tuesday.

The GHF said it has asked the Israeli military to "guide foot traffic in a way that minimizes confusion or escalation risks" near military positions, provide clearer civilian guidance and enhance training of soldiers on civilian safety.

'DELAYS AND DENIALS'

The GHF posted on Facebook that "ongoing maintenance work" would delay the opening of its distribution sites on Thursday. It said on Tuesday that it has so far distributed more than seven million meals since it started operations.

Despite U.S. and Israeli criticism of the U.N.-led Gaza aid operation, a U.S. ceasefire plan proposes the delivery of aid by the United Nations, the Red Crescent and other agreed channels. Israel has agreed to the ceasefire plan but Hamas is seeking changes that the U.S. has rejected as "totally unacceptable."

Ahead of the U.N. Security Council vote, U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher again appealed for the U.N. and aid groups to be allowed to assist people in Gaza, stressing that they have a plan, supplies and experience.

"Open the crossings – all of them. Let in lifesaving aid at scale, from all directions. Lift the restrictions on what and how much aid we can bring in. Ensure our convoys aren’t held up by delays and denials," Fletcher said in a statement.

The U.N. has long-blamed Israel and lawlessness in the enclave for hindering the delivery of aid into Gaza and its distribution throughout the war zone.

"Enough of suffering of civilians. Enough of food being used as a weapon. Enough is enough is enough," Slovenia's U.N. Ambassador Samuel Zbogar told the Security Council.

A similar humanitarian-focused draft resolution is now expected to be put to a vote in the 193-member U.N. General Assembly, where no countries have a veto power and it would likely pass, diplomats said.

Danon warned: "Don't waste more of your time, because no resolution, no vote, no moral failure, will stand in our way."

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Kiev regime ‘not interested in peace,’ turning to terror, suffering ‘huge losses’ on battlefield: Key points from Putin’s speech

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine’s leadership of carrying out terrorist attacks on Russian territory in order to derail peace efforts, which he said threaten the Kiev regime’s grip on power.

Speaking at a government meeting on Wednesday, Putin said the recent sabotage of railway infrastructure in Russia’s Bryansk and Kursk Regions was a deliberate strike on civilians intended to disrupt the negotiations.
Kiev’s backers have become “accomplices to terrorists”

Putin said the attacks were the result of decisions made by Ukraine’s top political leadership, calling them “undoubtedly a terrorist act.”

“This only confirms our concern that the already illegitimate regime in Kiev, which once seized power, is gradually turning into a terrorist organization, and its sponsors are becoming accomplices to terrorists,” he said.

The two incidents occurred on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. In Bryansk Region, a bridge collapsed in front of a moving passenger train. In Kursk Region, a freight train derailed when a railway bridge gave way. In total, seven people died and over 120 were injured.

“Under all international norms, such actions are called terrorism,”Putin said.
Ukraine’s battlefield losses 

The Russian president accused Kiev and its Western backers of previously aiming to inflict a strategic defeat of Russia on the battlefield. Now, he said, the country’s leadership is shifting tactics amid mounting losses and as Ukrainian forces retreat along the front line.

“Today, amid heavy losses and retreating along the entire line of contact, the Kiev leadership has turned to organizing terrorist acts in an attempt to intimidate Russia,” Putin said.

He questioned the competence of Ukraine’s leadership, under whose orders the Ukrainian armed forces have suffered “senseless and enormous losses” – including during their now-repulsed incursion in Kursk Region – and continue to face defeat on the battlefield.

“What kind of authority can the leaders of a thoroughly rotten and completely corrupt regime possess?” Putin added.

Deliberate strikes to disrupt talks

Putin called Kiev’s railway sabotage an “intentional strike on the [Russian] civilian population.” 

He said the “crimes” committed against Russian civilians – including women and children – were timed to disrupt the peace process.

Both attacks came shortly before the second round of Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul and amid a surge in Kiev’s drone raids into Russia, which Moscow says are aimed at derailing attempts to reach a settlement in the conflict.

Speaking about Kiev’s apparent attempts to undermine the peace efforts, Putin noted that Ukrainian officials simultaneously requested a ceasefire lasting 30 to 60 days, along with a top-level meeting.

“But how can such meetings be held under these conditions?” he said. “What is there to talk about? Who conducts negotiations with those who rely on terror – with terrorists?” 

He warned that any pause would only allow the Ukrainian forces to regroup, receive more Western arms, and prepare for renewed hostilities.
Kiev regime not interested in peace 

Ukraine has repeatedly rejected Russia’s proposals for a short-term ceasefire on humanitarian grounds, Putin said.

“It does not surprise us and only convinces us further that today’s Kiev regime does not want peace at all,” he stated. “For them, peace most likely means a loss of power.” 

Putin emphasized that “power, for the [Kiev] regime, is apparently more important than peace, more important than human lives.” 
Kiev’s lack of political culture 

Putin also accused the Ukrainian leadership of lacking basic political culture, pointing to recent public remarks. This week, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky referred to Russia’s negotiators as “idiots” after Moscow proposed a brief truce to recover fallen soldiers’ bodies.

“Apparently, we are dealing with people who not only have no real competence in anything but also lack even a basic political culture if they allow themselves to make certain statements – including direct insults – against those they claim to want to negotiate with,”Putin said.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine hit fewer Russian planes than it estimated, US officials say

The United States assesses that Ukraine's drone attack over the weekend hit as many as 20 Russian warplanes, destroying around 10 of them, two U.S. officials told Reuters, a figure that is about half the number estimated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Still, the U.S. officials described the attack as highly significant, with one of them cautioning that it could drive Moscow to a far more severe negotiating position in the U.S.-brokered talks to end more than three years of war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump in a telephone conversation on Wednesday that Moscow would have to respond to attack, Trump said in a social media post.

Trump added it "was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace."

Ukraine says it targeted four air bases across Russia using 117 unmanned aerial vehicles launched from containers close to the targets, in an operation codenamed "Spider's Web."

It released footage on Wednesday showing its drones striking Russian strategic bombers and landing on the dome antennas of two A-50 military spy planes, of which there are only a handful in Russia's fleet.

The two U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, estimated the Ukrainian strikes destroyed around 10 and hit up to 20 warplanes in total.

That estimate is far lower than the one Zelenskiy offered to reporters in Kyiv earlier on Wednesday. He said half of the 41 Russian aircraft struck were too damaged to be repaired.

Reuters could not independently verify the numbers from Kyiv or the United States.

Russia, which prioritizes its nuclear forces as a deterrent to the United States and NATO, urged the United States and Britain on Wednesday to restrain Kyiv after the attacks. Russia and the United States together hold about 88% of all nuclear weapons.

The United States says it was not given any notice by Kyiv ahead of the attack.

The war in Ukraine is intensifying despite nearly four months of efforts by Trump, who says he wants peace after the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Russian and Ukrainian embassies also did not immediately reply.

ESCALATION RISK

Ukraine's domestic security agency, the SBU, said the damage to Russia caused by the operation amounted to $7 billion, and 34% of the strategic cruise missile carriers at Russia's main airfields were hit.

Commercial satellite imagery taken after the Ukrainian drone attack shows what experts told Reuters appear to be damaged Russian Tu-95 heavy bombers and Tu-22 Backfires, long-range, supersonic strategic bombers that Russia has used to launch missile strikes against Ukraine.

Russia's Defence Ministry has acknowledged that Ukraine targeted airfields in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions and were repelled in the last three locations. It has also said several aircraft caught fire in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions.

The attack has bolstered Ukrainian morale after months of unrelenting Russian battlefield pressure and numerous powerful missile and drone strikes by Moscow's forces.

It also demonstrated that Kyiv, even as it struggles to halt invading Russian forces, can surprise Moscow deep inside its own territory with attacks up to 4,300 km (2,670 miles) from the front lines.

Influential Russian military bloggers have accused Russian authorities, especially the aerospace command, of negligence and complacency for allowing the nuclear-capable bombers to be targeted.

Trump's Ukraine envoy said the risk of escalation from the war in Ukraine was "going way up," particularly since Kyiv had struck one leg of Russia's "nuclear triad," or weapons on land, in the air and at sea.

"In the national security space, when you attack an opponent's part of their national survival system, which is their triad, the nuclear triad, that means your risk level goes up because you don't know what the other side is going to do," Trump's envoy, Keith Kellogg, told Fox News on Tuesday.

RT/Reuters

If an alien is captured in a Hollywood film, the state imprisons it to weaponise its capabilities. Nollywood does not make alien films, but our cinematic representations of contact with non-human forces regularly reflect an individual seeking money. That was how I concluded that if we ever capture an alien in this part of the world, our immediate course of action will be to make it vomit cash. Nothing detains our imagination, absorbs our attention, and conditions our relationship with our humans and non-human beings like money. We fantasise about wealth so much that our popular culture is chock-full of stories of men with magical powers conjuring cash into existence through mystical rituals. The trouble with a society like ours is that the fiction does not merely play out on the magical tube of the television; it also erupts in reality.

The latest sensational case of money ritual homicide is that of an Enugu-based “native doctor”, Obi Obieze, caught with a 13-year-old he would have sacrificed for his schemes.  What I find rather frustrating about the conversations that attended the man’s arrest were the claims that ritual murder is a violation of the tenets by which “native doctors” are expected to abide, rather than a wholesale debunking of the idea that anyone has the power to make money through such means. It did not help that Obieze’s status as a “native doctor” also fits into the existing belief that practitioners of what we call “traditional religions” have the spiritual expertise to carry out magic such as money rituals (which is why even the practitioners of our Abrahamic religions secretly consult them).

The belief is so powerful that it sustains institutional bias against indigenous religions. Every informed person in Nigeria is aware that those who have been arrested for various atrocities include Christians and Muslims, but it is those of the indigenous religious traditions who bear most of the brunt. For instance, Anambra Governor Charles Soludo has been waging a war against the native doctors suspected of empowering dissident elements in the state by destroying their shrines. Time and space will not permit me to elaborate to Soludo that in the 20th century, the British colonial government also embarked on similar demolitions in Igboland, only to find that their clampdown on shrines counterproductively invigorated the people’s beliefs in their power.

The more we have antagonised our indigenous religions, the stronger the belief in them as repositories of mystical power has grown. There is a generation of people—including charismatic religious movements, charlatans, and a whole lot of other superstitious folks—hell-bent on sustaining beliefs in the magical power wielded by priests of indigenous religions. Their motives are not entirely driven by historical nostalgia nor by the idea that these practices offer ethical guidance for living, but simply because they cannot live without the notion that no god exists anywhere to make money appear from nowhere. That, for me, is where the problem with our cultural attitudes toward our indigenous religions lies. People are more invested in the magical possibilities that these belief systems can purportedly make happen than in the ethical values their meanings carry.

Some years ago, I was at a religious conference in Nigeria where a group of academics presented their research on why people are leaving Christianity and Islam and opting for indigenous religions. It turns out that almost everyone had converted because they were looking for a God that answers by fire, not because they wanted a religion that nudges them to higher values or morals. It is almost as if a magical transformation is the only reason our people seek God. Even our cultural industry does not help the issues. Hardly does Nollywood reflect indigenous belief systems as a source of values and meanings that can reform our social ethics. No, our Gods in our cinema are almost always a caricature.

To restate what I have repeatedly said in this column, there is no money ritual anywhere that works. No magical (or miracle) expertise anywhere in the world can make cash come out of nothing. What is called a money ritual is mostly a manipulation of credulity. After reading virtually every interview of those arrested for money rituals and the confession statement of the ritualists in documented police reports, I reasonably arrived at the conclusion that those arrested are split into two groups: people who knowingly deceive others, and the sincerely stupid people with a flimsy understanding of the modern monetary system. Those of the former category do not expect anything to happen and merely deceive with gimmickry. The latter, on the other hand, genuinely believes the magic is possible and therefore experiments with human lives. These are the ones who admit to trying out the rituals after learning about them. While no cash appears, they still make some money through sales of human body parts and that increases their motivation to keep trying. None of them has any record of testimonies of prior success, and they are usually men whose poverty is indelibly etched onto their appearance.  They all look like their hearts would stop beating if they were ever handed a cash sum of one million in any currency. As stupid as they are, they are also the foot soldiers of a surreptitious economy of organ harvesting who hide their dealings in human body parts under the amorphous umbrella of “money rituals”.

Here is where their shoddy understanding of the modern monetary system betrays them: the cash they want to conjure is an invention of modernity and therefore relatively recent. The spirits that will materialise have supposedly existed before the existence of the legal tender and should be too timeless to be involved in producing something as vulgar as money. In any case, now that the concept of money in the contemporary economy is evolving into more abstract forms due to digital technology, are those spirits also transitioning to a cashless economy, or are they still stuck on paper money?

 Our fore-parents, who originated the idioms of “money rituals”, were not speaking in the same literal language as the present-day “native doctors” who seek to replicate the magic. Their understanding of money rituals by our ancestors was borne of their observation of an emerging colonial modern economy (the slave trade, in particular), where—unlike the agrarian ones they knew intimately—offered the possibility of wealth without obvious work. Some of the contemporary “native doctors” who sacrifice a living human in their money rituals are either confused pretenders or psychopaths whose sickness has not yet been named.

Obieze, who was busted after a search team for a 13-year-old found her entombed in a sewage pit within an unfinished building used as a shrine, was obviously manipulating his clients’ psyche ink about it, knowing that a charm was produced for you from the blood of an innocent soul will do two things to any human: either drive them crazy or sear the conscience. If the latter happens, one is emboldened to the point of the daredevilry that separates great men from their ordinary counterparts. The effect of such magic is not so much supernatural as it is psychological. If you can live with yourself after taking a life, it also means you can engage in any unconscionable action for money. Your chances of making it increase, even if only marginally. And that is what the ruse of human sacrifice in money rituals is all about, not physical cash materialising out of thin air.

Punch