RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Putin orders increase in size of Russian military

President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree that officially increases the number of personnel in Russia’s armed forces to almost 2.4 million people, including 1.5 million servicemen. 

The latest increase comes after a similar decree in December 2023, when the president boosted the number of employees in the Russian military to just over 2.2 million, including 1.3 million troops.

In his order on Monday, Putin also instructed the Russian government to allocate the necessary funds for the Defense Ministry to carry out the increase, which formally takes the number of personnel in the armed forces to 2,389,130.   

The last time the president expanded the number of Russian troops, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained that the move was the result of the “proxy war” being waged against Moscow by the West. “The security of our country must be, of course, ensured,” Peskov stated at the time.  

“This is connected with the war that the countries of the collective West are waging. A proxy war, which includes elements of indirect participation in military actions and elements of economic warfare, financial warfare, legal warfare, going beyond the legal framework, and so on.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry also stated at the time that the expansion of the army would be done through citizens who voluntarily wish to serve under contract.  

It also explained that the decision to increase personnel numbers was due to the threat posed by NATO’s continued expansion. Members of the US-led bloc have significantly expanded their military presence along the Russian border, deploying additional air defense systems and strike weapons. 

“An additional increase in the combat strength and numbers of the armed forces is an adequate response to the aggressive activities of the NATO bloc,” the ministry wrote.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

NATO's Stoltenberg says each country must decide if Ukraine can use its long-range missiles on Russia

The outgoing head of NATO Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday he welcomed talks on Ukraine's use of long-range missiles to strike inside Russian territory, but any decision on the issue would have to be made by individual allies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been pleading with allies for months to let Ukraine fire Western missiles including long-range U.S. ATACMS and British Storm Shadows deep into Russia to limit Moscow's ability to launch attacks.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and U.S. President Joe Biden held talks in Washington on Friday on whether to allow Kyiv to use the long-range missiles against targets in Russia. No decision was announced.

"I welcome these developments and these decisions but its for individual allies to make the final decisions," Stoltenberg told LBC radio. "Allies have different policies on this."

Some U.S. officials are deeply skeptical that allowing the use of such missiles would make a significant difference in Kyiv's battle against Russian invaders.

President Vladimir Putin has said the West would be directly fighting Russia if it allowed Ukraine to strike with Western-made long-range missiles.

Asked about possible Russian retaliation, Stoltenberg said there were "no risk-free options in the war".

"But I continue to believe that the biggest risk for us, for United Kingdom, for NATO, will be if President Putin wins in Ukraine," he added.

RT/Reuters

The season of anomie has arrived once again. This unsettling era, reminiscent of the days of General Sani Abacha’s oppressive regime, began in 2015. It is a stark reminder of the dark times when tyranny reigned supreme, now cloaked in the guise of democracy—much like Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. We must not forget how Hitler exploited racism to ascend as the "democratically elected" Chancellor of Germany. The outcome, as we all know, is a tragic chapter in history.

For those who cherish liberty, this is not a moment for silence or indifference, motivated by the desire to avoid being seen as politically partisan. In times of moral crisis, neutrality is not an innocent stance; it is a deliberate alignment with tyranny. As Martin Luther King Jr. poignantly stated, "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Today’s era will not be marked by the inflammatory statements and actions of ethnic opportunists who wield bigotry as a political tool to enable incompetent, insensitive, and self-serving leaders. Instead, history will highlight the deafening silence of so-called human rights advocates and others who, in the name of political correctness, speak with double standards.

These individuals refuse to confront the truth, unwilling to tell the "king" that he is parading through the village naked, oblivious to the reality of his own offensive actions. Despite the ongoing efforts to suppress freedom by criminalizing protests and dissent—the very pillars of democracy—those who seek to live free, standing tall as citizens rather than bowing as slaves, must resist. We must harness every artistic expression across all mediums to oppose this attack on individual freedoms and collective rights.

As the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre advised, whether one is an essayist, pamphleteer, satirist, or novelist, whether one speaks of personal struggles or critiques the social order, the writer—a free person addressing other free people—has only one subject: freedom.

We must protect this shared space of liberty before the Leviathan rips apart the social contract we forged upon leaving Hobbes’ "State of Nature," where life was once solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

Tom Oliver

It is not uncommon for a lot of our clients, from ultra-wealthy business owners to Fortune 500 CEOs, to juggle two to three cellphones while in a meeting. Attention deficit is the silent success killer that is the root cause of a lot of bad boardroom decisions.

Leaders are continuously told to innovate, strategize and think big. Yet, while most business owners, CEOs and executives focus on expanding their vision for the future, there’s an invisible force at play that is undermining their ability to do so: shrinking attention spans. It’s a silent disease that seeps into our daily routines, fueled by the very gadgets and platforms we rely on to stay connected. And while it’s subtle, the impact is profound.

This is why Steve Jobs was notorious for calling out anyone who did not pay attention, even for a second.

The brain at odds: Building careers with the same brain that checks social media

Think about it: the brain we use to build multimillion-dollar companies is the same brain we use to compulsively check our phones for the latest update. This paradox has never been more apparent. We demand focus, long-term vision and strategic decision-making from our executives, but at the same time, we condition ourselves to crave the next dopamine hit—a notification, a quick scroll through a social media feed, or a brief text message.

Dopamine, often called the “feel-good” neurotransmitter, is released when we experience something pleasurable, like checking that latest notification or receiving an email. This quick fix is addictive, especially in the context of smartphones, where we are always just one click away from the next reward. As Jeff Bezos himself pointed out, phones have become attention-shrinking devices. And while we might believe that managing our businesses from these gadgets helps us stay connected and efficient, the truth is, they are sabotaging our ability to focus on the bigger picture.

Dopamine vs long-term success

Why is this so damaging for business leaders? The brain, like any muscle, adapts to what we train it to do. When we train it to crave short-term dopamine fixes, we essentially wire it for instant gratification. And when instant gratification becomes the norm, the ability to sustain focus, think deeply and weigh long-term consequences erodes.

Consider this: a business leader who constantly checks their phone is training their brain to operate in short bursts of attention. This might be acceptable for quick decisions or urgent tasks, but for long-term strategic thinking, this behavior is disastrous. Building a successful business demands the ability to think through complex problems, analyze all angles and make decisions that will have lasting impacts. These are not tasks that can be completed in a rush. They require sustained focus, patience and a willingness to resist the pull of short-term dopamine rewards.

The importance of managing attention in leadership

CEOs, business owners and top executives must make a conscious decision to manage their attention span as they would manage any other resource. In the same way they would allocate capital or hire the right talent, they must also allocate time and energy toward maintaining and lengthening their attention span. This is no longer a luxury—it is a necessity in a world where distractions are omnipresent.

Bezos wasn’t alone in his observation. Countless successful leaders have begun to recognize that the tools designed to make us more connected are, in fact, pulling us away from our ability to connect with the most important tasks at hand. As attention spans shrink, the gap between leaders who can manage their focus and those who can’t will continue to widen. The ability to maintain attention, to resist the lure of instant gratification, will become one of the most important differentiators in business leadership.

Practical steps to combat the attention crisis

So, what can business leaders do to manage this attention crisis and regain control over their focus?

1. Digital detox periods: Schedule specific times of the day where you disconnect from all electronic devices. This doesn’t mean abandoning technology entirely, but creating boundaries that allow your brain to recover from constant stimulation. Even one hour of disconnected time can allow for deeper thinking and long-term focus to flourish.

2. Deep work blocks: Set aside designated blocks of time for “deep work.” This is a time where you focus on critical tasks without interruptions. Whether it’s two or four hours, ensure that this time is completely free from distractions—no emails, no notifications, just you and the task at hand.

3. Mindfulness and meditation: Integrating mindfulness or meditation into your daily routine can help train your brain to resist the pull of distractions. Leaders like Ray Dalio have long credited meditation as a tool to enhance focus, decision-making and emotional regulation. A mere 10 to 20 minutes a day can build the mental muscle required for long-term attention.

4. Turn off notifications: Notifications are the primary culprit in training our brains to focus on the short-term. Turn off unnecessary alerts on your devices. If something is truly urgent, the person will find a way to reach you. By reducing the number of distractions, you reclaim your focus.

5. Embrace boredom: It sounds counterintuitive, but boredom is essential for creativity and long-term focus. When was the last time you allowed yourself to be bored? Instead of immediately turning to your phone when you feel the pull of boredom, sit with it. Some of the greatest ideas in business history were born out of moments of quiet reflection.

Take Sara Blakely, for example. Sara is an American self-made billionaire and founder of Spanx. She made it to the Time magazine’s “Time 100” annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world and was even listed as the 93rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. How did she get there? She attributes “daydreaming” as one of the most powerful weapons to skyrocket her business to success.

6. Train the brain with long-term goals: Set long-term goals and break them down into manageable tasks. This helps retrain your brain to focus on the bigger picture rather than instant gratification. By reinforcing the connection between sustained effort and long-term reward, you can break the cycle of dopamine dependency.

From dopamine addiction to long-term leadership

In the end, the leaders who rise to the top will not be those who can respond to every email in record time or scroll through the most newsfeeds in a day. The leaders who truly thrive will be those who can do the opposite—who can resist the pull of instant gratification and instead focus their attention on the tasks that truly matter. They will be the ones who understand that, in the long run, it’s not about how fast you can respond, but about how deeply you can think. INQ

Business Inquirer

A controversy has emerged between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Dangote Refinery over the price of petroleum products, as the newly operational refinery began supplying petrol to the state-owned oil company on Sunday, September 15, 2024.

NNPCL's Chief Spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, stated that the company purchased premium motor spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, from Dangote Refinery at N898 per liter. However, Dangote Refinery swiftly countered this claim, describing it as "misleading and mischievous."

In a statement, Anthony Chiejina, Dangote's Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, urged the public to disregard NNPCL's assertion and await a formal pricing announcement from the government-appointed Technical Sub-Committee on Naira-based crude sales to local refineries.

Chiejina emphasized that their current stock of crude was procured in dollars and sold to NNPCL in dollars, resulting in "significant savings" compared to current imports.

Despite Dangote's denial, NNPCL has stood firm on its position. Soneye insisted, "If the price isn't N898, then what is it? We would be happy to receive a discount." He added that the government is not setting fuel prices, as it's a deregulated market where prices are determined by market forces.

The dispute comes in the wake of a recent Federal Executive Council directive for NNPCL to engage local refineries, including Dangote, in naira-based transactions for crude oil sales and refined products. This initiative aims to reduce pressure on the naira and improve fuel availability in Nigeria.

As the controversy unfolds, NNPCL has deployed hundreds of trucks to the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery, with loading operations commencing on Sunday. The state-owned company is set to be the sole off-taker of refined petrol from Dangote Refinery, which will then distribute to various marketers.

Both parties agree that this development marks a significant step towards addressing Nigeria's longstanding energy insufficiency. However, the pricing dispute highlights the complexities involved in transitioning to local refining and deregulated fuel pricing in Africa's largest oil-producing nation.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has estimated N950 as the Lagos selling price of petrol sourced from Dangote refinery. This indicates that the selling price at NNPC’s retail stations in other states will be higher as transport costs would be factored in.

The state oil firm disclosed this in an early Monday statement by its spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye.

“Attached to this statement are the estimated pump prices of PMS (obtained from the Dangote Refinery) across NNPC Retail Stations in the country, based on September 2024 pricing,” the statement said.

A PREMIUM TIMES review of the statement shows that NNPC Ltd said it paid Dangote refinery N898.78 per litre for the product, NMDPRA (downstream regulator) fee is N8.99, ‘Inspection fee’ is N0.97, ‘Distribution Cost (Lagos)’ is N15, while ‘Margin’, which can be described as NNPC’s profit on each litre, is N26.48.

“Estimated Pump Price in Lagos” is N950.22, the document states.

The estimated pump price for Lagos at NNPC stations is higher than the current pump price at NNPC stations in the commercial city, which is less than N900. The prices are higher at NNPC retail outlets in other states.

Since NNPC is the sole buyer of petrol from Dangote refinery and is expected to sell the product to other marketers, it indicates that the marketers would buy from the NNPC at about the N950 new price.

Already, many independent marketers across Nigeria sell the product above N1,000 per litre.

Before the commencement of petrol production by the Dangote refinery and its sale to NNPC, which began on Sunday, virtually all of Nigeria’s petrol was imported by the NNPC and then sold to other marketers.

This put a strain on Nigeria’s forex and contributed to the depreciation of the naira.

The petrol import was also not transparent amidst allegations of fraud and importation of substandard products.

In its Monday statement, NNPC suggested that it plans to be transparent about the purchase and sale of petrol sourced from the Dangote refinery.

In the meantime, NNPC would still need to import some petrol to augment the volume produced by the Dangote refinery.

However, the Dangote refinery, owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is expected to eventually produce enough petrol for Nigeria’s local consumption.

Oil and gas experts say Nigerians should not expect the price of petrol to be lower just because it is refined in the country, as market forces would still determine the price.

PT

In the heart of Nigeria, where multidimensional poverty tightens its grip on the bellies of over 130 million souls, two creatures have made Aso Rock their lavish haven. The Bat and the Rat—the power couple—perch high above the suffering masses, oblivious to the devastation their extravagance leaves in its wake. The symbolism couldn’t be more apt: the Bat, a sneaky, nocturnal creature with an eye for mischief, and the Rat, a notorious destroyer of things at homes, gnawing away at what little remains of the nation's wealth.

Nigeria is in a state of misery. Hunger stalks the streets like an uninvited guest, while the government tightens the noose on the average Nigerian’s neck with every fiscal policy. Yet, as the people scrape for crumbs, this first family has found a way to scrape the treasury clean—feeding their insatiable appetites for luxury, foreign trips, and mind-boggling opulence.

In just three months, the Rat, wife of Bat, has devoured N701 million from the public treasury to fund her globe-trotting escapades, all in a whirlwind of foreign exchange procurement. From New York to Paris, from Addis Ababa to London, this Rat has left a trail of public funds in her wake. And for what? To represent a constitutionally non-existent office? To parade herself across continents while Nigerian mothers can't feed their children?

This is no ordinary Rat. It is one with a taste for designer wheels and extravagant programs. With N1.5 billion blown on fancy cars for the "Villa" (read: for the Rat and her entourage), and millions more spent on decorating her events, one would think the country has nothing more pressing to spend money on. The same people whose lives she pretends to improve through these programs of questionable impact are the same ones starving in the streets. But no, the Rat must be chauffeured in style while her fellow citizens ride the vehicle of suffering into deeper poverty.

Then there's the Bat. While he may sleep during the day, his nocturnal ventures have not gone unnoticed. His administration has purchased a brand-new $150 million jet to replace the 19-year-old Boeing Business Jet that served four predecessors. Apparently, even though world leaders like Joe Biden still manage just fine with their decades-old planes, this Bat finds it embarrassing to fly anything but the most pristine, gold-plated luxury in the sky.

For a creature that thrives in the darkness, the Bat seems unaware that his gluttonous feasting on national resources is happening in broad daylight. The people eat the rancid fruits of his misrule, from skyrocketing inflation to the unbearable cost of living. The Bat may think he can swoop in and out of view, but the people’s eyes are now wide open. They can see the grotesque priorities of his administration—an administration that treats the treasury like its private buffet while the rest of the country starves.

This is not governance. It is a sick display of contempt, a slap in the face to the people who thought their cries for better leadership would be answered. The Bat and the Rat have instead chosen to live in opulence while the nation they claim to serve withers in despair.

But Nigerians have a choice. They can continue to let these two creatures feast on their resources, or they can begin to fumigate the villa of this infestation. It is time to shine a light into the Bat’s lair, to catch the Rat gnawing at the national wealth, and to demand a leadership that will not treat public office as a personal goldmine.

The Bat and the Rat might think they can fly and scurry away from accountability. But sooner or later, the people will set the traps. And this time, it will be the end of their midnight feasting.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was safe on Sunday after the Secret Service foiled what the FBI called an apparent assassination attempt while he was golfing on his course in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Secret Service agents spotted and fired on a gunman in bushes near the property line of the golf course, a few hundred yards from where Trump was playing, law enforcement officials said.

The suspect left an AK-47-style assault rifle and other items at the scene and fled in a vehicle but was later arrested.

The apparent attempt on Trump's life came just two months after he was shot at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, sustaining a minor injury to his right ear.

Both incidents highlight the challenges of keeping presidential candidates safe in a hotly contested and polarized campaign with just over seven weeks to go before the Nov. 5 election.

It was not clear if or how the suspect knew Trump was playing golf at the time, but the attempted attack was sure to raise new questions about the level of protection he is given.

CNN, Fox News and The New York Times identified the suspect as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii, citing unnamed law enforcement officials. The FBI declined to comment.

Reuters found profiles on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn for a Ryan Routh who appeared to be the man identified as the suspect by those news organizations.

Reuters was not able to confirm these were the suspect's accounts and law enforcement agencies declined to comment, but public access to the Facebook and X profiles was removed hours after the shooting.

The three accounts bearing Routh's name suggest he was an avid supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia. In several of the posts, he appeared to be trying to help recruit soldiers for Ukraine's war effort.

GUN BARREL IN BUSHES

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said Secret Service agents saw a rifle barrel poking out from bushes about 400 to 500 yards (365 to 460 meters) away from Trump as they cleared holes of potential threats ahead of his play.

The agents engaged the gunman, firing at least four rounds of ammunition around 1:30 p.m. (1730 GMT).

The gunman then dropped his rifle, and left behind two backpacks and other items, and fled in a black Nissan car. The sheriff said a witness saw the gunman and managed to take photos of his car and license plate before he escaped.

"The Secret Service did exactly what should have been done," Bradshaw said, declining to identify the suspect or provide a possible motive.

After the suspect fled the scene, police sent out an alert to statewide agencies with the information on his vehicle, which led to sheriff’s deputies in neighboring Martin County apprehending the suspect on I-95 about 40 miles (65km) from the golf course.

Fox News presenter Sean Hannity said he'd spoken to both Trump and Steve Witkoff, a New York real estate investor and longtime Trump friend who was on the golf course with him on Sunday.

"They were on the fifth hole. And the way Steve described this, the way the president described it, they both had exactly the same story, which is that they heard pop pop, pop pop," said Hannity. The Secret Service "pounced on the president, covered him", he added.

Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, in an interview with the New York Times, said he had spoken with Trump and the former president expressed gratitude for his Secret Service detail, adding that the president said, "These people are awesome."

In response to a reporter’s question, officials acknowledged that because Trump is not in office, the full golf course was not cordoned off.

"If he was, we would have had the entire golf course surrounded,” Bradshaw said during Sunday's briefing. “Because he’s not, security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible.”

Trump sent an email to supporters saying there were "gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!" according to an email seen by Reuters.

The White House said in a statement that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had been briefed about the incident and were relieved to know that he was safe.

Biden later said he had directed his team to ensure the Secret Service has the resources it needs to ensure Trump's safety, according to a statement released by the White House.

Trump is locked in a tight presidential election race with Harris, who has had a surge in the polls since replacing Biden as the Democratic Party's candidate in July.

"Violence has no place in America," Harris said in an X social media post.

On X in 2020, Routh expressed support for Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and mocked Biden as "sleepy Joe."

Earlier this year, Routh tagged Biden in a post on X: "@POTUS Your campaign should be called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA ...make Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose."

Trump's running mate in the presidential election, U.S. Senator JD Vance, said he spoke to Trump after the shooting and that the former president was in good spirits.

Trump was grazed in the right ear and one rallygoer was killed in the gunfire at the Pennsylvania rally on July 13. The gunman, identified as a 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper.

That was the first shooting of a U.S. president or major party presidential candidate in more than four decades, and the glaring security lapse forced Kimberly Cheatle to resign as Secret Service director under bipartisan congressional pressure.

The Secret Service's new acting director said in August that he was "ashamed" of the security lapse that led to the assassination attempt.

** The 58-year-old man accused of pointing an AK-47 at former President Donald Trump on Sunday afternoon has a prolific arrest record that spans several decades.

Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested shortly after the incident at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla. Authorities said Secret Service agents fired at him after seeing the muzzle of his AK-47 pointing through a chain-link fence one hole ahead of where Trump was playing.

Authorities are treating the episode as an apparent assassination attempt on Trump.

A background check on the name given by officials, Ryan Wesley Routh, revealed that he currently lives in Hawaii and has faced dozens of run-ins with police, stretching back to at least the 1990s.

Routh is a native of North Carolina, where his list of arrests includes simple drug possession, driving without a license, expired inspection and operating a vehicle with no insurance. In addition, the Greensboro News & Record reported in 2002 that Routh was arrested after barricading himself in his roofing company's office during a three-hour standoff that followed a traffic stop in which he put his hand on a gun before fleeing.

Routh moved to Hawaii in 2017, records show. He has since launched another construction company in Hawaii that builds simple housing structures for homeless people, according to a LinkedIn page that appears to belong to Routh.  

"This does not appear to be some random guy with an AK-47 walking outside Trump's club," an official said after the Sunday afternoon incident.

News of the incident broke shortly after Trump was safely escorted off of the golf course. 

A Secret Service member spotted the would-be gunman while Trump was playing on the course's fifth hole. Officials say he abandoned an AK-47, a go-pro camera and two backpacks along a chain-link fence that borders the sixth hole of the course. 

Routh fled in an SUV after a member of the Secret Service fired on him, but was soon arrested, according to authorities.

Trump's campaign quickly issued a statement that the 45th president was safe, with Trump following up in a message to supporters that he will "never surrender." 

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson confirmed that the Secret Service opened fire after they saw a man lift an AK-47. The suspect fled in a car, but was quickly apprehended, authorities said.

"There were gunshots in my vicinity but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!" he wrote in a message that was shared on social media

"Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!" he continued. "I will always love you for supporting me. Unity. Peace. Make America Great Again. May God bless you."

Reuters/Fox News

Devastating floods collapsed walls at a jail in Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria early last week, allowing 281 prisoners to escape, prison authorities said on Sunday.

Seven of the escaped inmates have been recaptured in operations by security agencies, Umar Abubakar, spokesperson for the Nigeria Correctional Services said in a statement.

"The floods brought down the walls of the correctional facilities including the Medium Security Custodial Centre, as well as the staff quarters in the city," Abubakar said.

Operations to recapture the remainder of the inmates were underway, he said.

Maiduguri is the capital of Borno state which early last week suffered its worst floods in decades. The flooding began when a dam overflowed following heavy rains, decimating a state-owned zoo and washing crocodiles and snakes into flooded communities.

The flood has killed at least 30 people according to Nigeria’s emergency agency and affected a million others, with hundreds of thousands of people forced into camps for displaced people.

Reuters

Houthi missile reaches central Israel for first time

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would inflict a "heavy price" on the Iran-aligned Houthis who control northern Yemen, after they reached central Israel with a missile on Sunday for the first time.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group struck with a new hypersonic ballistic missile that travelled 2,040 km (1270 miles) in just 11 1/2 minutes.

An Israeli military official said the missile was hit by an interceptor and fragmented in the air, rather than being completely destroyed.

Air raid sirens had sounded in Tel Aviv and across central Israel moments before the impact at around 6:35 a.m. local time (0335 GMT), sending residents running for shelter. Loud booms were heard.

Missile pieces landed in fields and near a railway station. There were no direct casualties, but nine people were lightly hurt while seeking cover. Reuters saw smoke billowing in an open field in central Israel.

At a weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said the Houthis should have known that Israel would exact a "heavy price" for attacks on Israel.

"Whoever needs a reminder of that is invited to visit the Hodeida port," Netanyahu said, referring to an Israeli retaliatory air strike against Yemen in July for a Houthi drone that hit Tel Aviv.

The Houthis have fired missiles and drones at Israel repeatedly in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians, since the Gaza war began with a Hamas attack on Israel in October.

The drone that hit Tel Aviv for the first time in July killed a man and wounded four people. Israeli air strikes in response on Houthi military targets near the port of Hodeidah killed six and wounded 80.

Previously, Houthi missiles have not penetrated deep into Israeli air space, with the only one reported to have hit Israeli territory falling in an open area near the Red Sea port of Eilat in March.

Israel should expect more strikes in the future "as we approach the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 operation, including responding to its aggression on the city of Hodeidah," Houthis spokesperson Sarea said.

The deputy head of the Houthi's media office, Nasruddin Amer, said in a post on X on Sunday that the missile had reached Israel after "20 missiles failed to intercept" it, describing it as the "beginning".

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine suffering high losses due to slow arms supplies, says Zelenskiy

Ukrainian troops are suffering high losses because Western arms are arriving too slowly to equip the armed forces properly, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told CNN in an interview aired on Sunday.

Russia has been gaining ground in parts of eastern Ukraine including around Pokrovsk. Capture of the transport hub could enable Moscow to open new lines of attack.

Zelenskiy said the situation in the east was "very tough", adding that half of Ukraine's brigades there were not equipped.

"So you lose a lot of people. You lose people because they are not in armed vehicles ... they don't have artillery, they don't have artillery rounds," said Zelenskiy, speaking in English. CNN said the interview had been conducted on Friday.

Zelenskiy said weapons aid packages promised by the United States and European nations were arriving very slowly.

"We need 14 brigades to be ready. Until now ... from these packages we didn't equip even four," he said.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Saturday said Washington was working on a "substantial" new aid package for Ukraine.

Zelenskiy is due to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden this month and will present a plan for ending the war. The main elements are security and diplomatic support, as well as military and economic aid, he said.

The only thing Russian President Vladimir Putin fears is the reaction of his people if the cost of the war makes them suffer, Zelenskiy said. "Make Ukraine strong, and you will see that he will sit and negotiate".

Zelenskiy will also reiterate to Biden demands for Ukraine to be allowed to use U.S. long-range weapons to strike military targets deep into Russia.

Kyiv needs this permission because Russian jets blasting infrastructure had begun operating up to 500 km (310 miles) from the front lines compared with 150 km earlier, he told CNN.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Three Ukrainian jets shot down – Russian MOD

Russian forces have shot down three Ukrainian fighter jets over the last 24 hours, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.

Two Sukhoi Su-27 aircraft operated by Kiev were destroyed by the Russian Aerospace Forces, while Russian air defenses have shot down a Mikoyan MiG-29 plane, the ministry said in its daily update on Sunday.

During the same period, the Russian air defenses also intercepted a US-made HIMARS rocket, four French-made Hammer guided bombs, and 55 drones, it added.

Over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian forces lost more than 2,200 troops along the front line and dozens of units of various equipment, including several US-made M777 towed artillery pieces and British L-119 howitzers.

The production of Su-27s and MiG-29s started in the Soviet Union in the early 1980s, with the fighter jets intended to counter American fourth generation aircraft such as F-15s and F-16s.

In July, Forbes reported, citing Oryx defense analysis data, that Ukraine had some 125 jets including Su-27s, Su-25s, MiG-29s and others when the conflict between Moscow and Kiev escalated in February 2022. Around 90 of those aircraft have been destroyed since then, it added.

A “coalition” of European states, including the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Belgium, promised to supply Kiev with some 80 F-16s more than a year ago.

Ukraine, which had received fewer than a dozen of the US-designed jets by early August, lost its first F-16 during its maiden combat deployment at the end of the same month. The Western-supplied warplane went down during a Russian missile and drone attack on targets in Kiev, killing one of the country’s most experienced pilots, Aleksey ‘Moonfish’ Mes.

Ukrainian investigators have not yet announced the reasons for the crash. According to media reports, the versions on the table include technical problems, pilot error and friendly fire.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not report shooting down an F-16. Some Russian outlets claimed that the Western plane could have been destroyed on the ground by an Iskander missile during a strike on an airfield in western Ukraine.

In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the use of F-16s in the conflict will make them “a legitimate target” for Russian forces, warning that the planes will be struck even at airfields inside NATO countries if they operate from there.

Reuters/RT