Primate Henry Ndukuba, leader of the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, has urged President Bola Tinubu to prioritize the creation of a new constitution for the nation. According to Ndukuba, Tinubu's most lasting legacy would be establishing a solid foundation for democratic governance through this effort.

He emphasized that the new constitution should address the concerns raised at previous Sovereign National Conferences and respond to ongoing calls for restructuring the country. The Primate cautioned that avoiding this responsibility would be equivalent to "postponing doomsday."

In his presidential address at the 19th Standing Committee Meeting of the church, held at St. Andrew’s Basilica in the Nike Diocese on September 19, 2024, Ndukuba assessed the state of the nation, highlighting that Nigeria is plagued by various persistent challenges.

He stated that the proposed constitution would tackle the root causes of the "xenophobic agitation of the citizens." Ndukuba also praised the National Assembly for its work in amending the military-imposed constitution, which he believes will pave the way for a new constitution crafted by the sovereign assembly representing the "people of Nigeria."

Signed:

Folu Olamiti, Director of Media, Office of the Primate.

Israel destroys 1,000 Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels, military says

Israeli fighter jets pounded Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon late on Thursday, striking hundreds of rocket launcher barrels that were set to be used to immediately fire toward Israeli territory, the military said.

It said that since the afternoon, fighter jets struck some 100 rocket launchers consisting of about 1,000 barrels.

"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will continue to operate to degrade the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s infrastructure and capabilities in order to defend the State of Israel," the IDF said.

The intense barrage followed attacks earlier in the week attributed by Lebanon and Hezbollah to Israel that blew up Hezbollah radios and pagers, killing 37 people and wounding about 3,000 in Lebanon.

In Thursday's late operation, Israel launched dozens of bombs across southern Lebanon, three Lebanese security sources said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel will keep up military action against Hezbollah.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah after a week of escalation. The U.S. has also expressed fears of further escalation.

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to return tens of thousands of residents evacuated from northern border areas to their homes. Hezbollah

In a show of support with Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks, Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel, forcing many residents to flee to the center of the country. Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire daily since.

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russia’s drone production to increase tenfold – Putin

The Russian military is set to receive ten times more drones in 2024 than it did in the year before, President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday during a meeting of the country’s Military-Industrial Commission on the development of unmanned aircraft systems.

The president stated that in 2023, the Russian Armed Forces received nearly 140,000 drones of various types and their production rate has since gone up significantly. “This year, the production of drones is planned to increase several times, or to be more precise, almost ten times,”Putin said.

He said that the range of unmanned systems is being expanded and that unmanned boats are being developed as well.

“The key task is to produce a wide range of unmanned aerial vehicles and to set up serial production of such promising technology as quickly as possible,” Putin explained, adding that it is necessary to “fully meet” the needs of the armed forces and increase drone production and the technical and tactical characteristics of UAVs, which includes actively introducing elements of artificial intelligence.

“Along with the development of drones, we need to look for means of their electronic and conventional destruction. This will save the lives of our military personnel, civilians and more reliably protect military equipment, civilian infrastructure, and critically important facilities,” the president said.

Putin stated that the design, testing, and serial production of drones is set to be carried out in special scientific and production centers, 48 of which are planned to be created across the country by 2030.

Earlier on Thursday, the president personally visited the Special Technology Center (STC) in St. Petersburg which specializes in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare systems and communications.

Putin also inspected an exhibition of robots that have already been supplied to Russia’s forces on the front line and was shown several examples of kamikaze drones, reconnaissance systems, and a model of a loitering munition.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia attacks Ukraine geriatric centre and power grid

Russian forces hit a geriatric centre in the Ukrainian city of Sumy and targeted its energy sector in a new wave of airstrikes on Thursday, killing at least one civilian, Ukrainian officials said.

A U.N. monitoring body said attacks on the power grid probably violated humanitarian lawwhile the International Energy Agency said in a report that Ukraine's electricity supply shortfall in the critical winter months could reach about a third of expected peak demand.

During a daytime strike on the northern city of Sumy, a Russian guided bomb hit a five-storey building, regional and military officials said.

One person was killed and 12 wounded, the interior ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said rescue teams were checking to see whether people were trapped under rubble.

Images from the site shared alongside the ministry's post showed elderly patients evacuated from the damaged building lying on the ground on carpets and blankets.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said that Russia had launched 90 guided bomb attacks in the past 24 hours

He also said that Ukraine's forces had "managed to diminish the occupiers' assault potential in Donetsk region," though the situation remained difficult in areas subjected to the heaviest attacks, near the cities of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had captured the village of Heorhiivka, east of Kurakhove.

The General Staff of Ukraine's military, in an afternoon report, referred to the village as one of several engulfed by fighting. Popular Ukrainian military blog DeepState said the village was in Russian hands.

Overnight, Ukraine's air force said it had shot down all 42 drones and one of four missiles launched since Russia invaded Ukraine more than 2-1/2 years ago.

Russian forces have pummelled the energy system in the Sumy region in multiple strikes this week, reducing power in some areas and forcing authorities to use back-up power systems.

Ukraine's energy ministry said power cuts had been in force in 10 regions due to airstrikes and technological reasons.

In a sign of its concern, the European Union said a fuel power plant was being dismantled in Lithuania to be rebuilt in Ukraine, and that electricity exports would also be increased.

The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said Russia's attacks violated international humanitarian law by jeopardizing essential services, including water and heating, while also threatening public health, education and the economy, according to the report.

Kyiv says targeting energy system is a war crime, and the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for four Russian officials and military officers for the bombing of civilian power infrastructure.

Moscow says power infrastructure is a legitimate military target and dismisses the charges as irrelevant.

SUMY A FREQUENT TARGET

Moscow has repeatedly attacked the Sumy region, which borders Russia's Kursk region, the site of a major Ukrainian incursion in which Kyiv says it seized over 100 settlements.

Russian shelling killed three people near Krasnopillia in the Sumy region on Wednesday evening, local prosecutors said. More shelling on Thursday wounded two people and damaged a medical institution, they added.

Russia has taken back two more villages in Kursk, a senior commander said on Thursday, adding that Russian forces were also advancing in eastern Ukraine.

Zelenskiy, however, said the incursion into Kursk region had succeeded in diverting nearly 40,000 Russian troops to the area.

RT/Reuters

By his admission, Adams Oshiomhole is a lousy product vendor. In the real commercial world, his premises would have been closed and his products banned.

But in politics, crime multiples grace. Oshiomhole dragged Godwin Obaseki into the governorship race in 2016 when the odds were against him. Obaseki’s daytime job was minding his business at Afrinvest, a financial services company he founded. But he soon landed a side hustle as chairman of the Edo State Economic and Strategy Team in Osadebey House, Benin.

When Oshiomhole wanted to hand over the baton in 2016, after two terms as governor, Obaseki, the Lagos Boy, didn’t look like it. He was not sellable. Pius Odubu, the deputy governor, was in good stead and seemed favouredto get it by most accounts. 

Tinubu-Fashola model

But Oshiomhole wanted to replicate the Tinubu-Fashola template in Lagos. He wanted to be the Tinubu of Edo and to make Obaseki, the technocrat and worldly-wise businessman, the Fashola. That was how Odubu, the local politician and village man, lost out.

A Lagos-based multibillionaire with a sprawling business empire also backed the plan, which finally earned Obaseki the ticket as a candidate for the All ProgressivesCongress (APC). Oshiomhole portrayed Obaseki as a genius, the special one that the Edo people had been waiting for while demonising his challenger in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Osagie Ize-Iyamu. 

As I said in an article at the time, there was no name that Oshiomhole didn’t call Ize-Iyamu, except the name his parents gave him: Osagie. This man, he said, was a lousy product, undeserving of the vote of the Edo people.

Short honeymoon

Genius Obaseki won, but the honeymoon didn’t last. It didn’t take one year before he fell out with his promoter, Oshiomhole. The disagreement was not about performance or party programmes. It was about whether or not Tony Anenih, Oshiomhole’s mortal enemy, should have been given a state burial and also about control of the state’s resources. 

The off-season governorship poll in Edo made matters worse. Obaseki inherited a parliament installed in 2015 when Oshiomhole was governor, and the lawmakers’ reelection in 2019 came one year ahead of Obaseki’s. He managed to work with the lawmakers for the first three years of his tenure because they were all predominantly members of the same party. 

When he switched to the PDP after he was denied the APC governorship ticket in 2020, a predominantly APC parliament fiercely loyal to Oshiomhole was in place. The House was a lion’s den, and Obaseki knew he would have had to plot his survival if he won reelection. Oshiomhole went around Edo State begging voters to forgive him for selling them a “bad product,” the same product he used his mouth to advertise as a genius deal in 2016. 

This time, he offered them Osagie Ize-Iyamu, whom he had demonised and written off four years earlier as the rebranded new deal. Of course, voters rejected the offer. Obaseki, who had defected to the opposition PDP with his deputy, Philip Shaibu, won the election.

To survive, Obaseki governed with a hobbled parliament. Over half of the state lawmakers were camped in Oshiomhole’s house in Abuja because the governor refused to swear them in. 

Vendor begs again

The vendor has been begging again for the sins he committed against the Esama of Benin, Gabriel Igbinedion, hoping that forgiveness might also pave the way for the APC’s candidate, Monday Okpebholo, in this weekend’s governorship election. 

It won’t be long before we know what the voters think. The stage is set for a three-way race among Okpebholo(APC), Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP). 

According to the election watchdog, Yiaga Africa, there are 17 parties with about 2.6 million registered voters. For nearly two-and-a-half decades, the political contest in Edo has been between two parties – until last year’s presidential election altered the landscape, producing a result that gave Labour 56.97 percent of the votes cast in the presidential election, a senator, and a member of the House of Representatives.

The battlegrounds

The battle this weekend will be fierce in two senatorial districts – Edo Central, where the two leading candidates, Okpebholo and Ighodalo, are from, and the South, which produced a senator and a federal House member from the Labour Party and is also the stronghold of the Obaseki and his ally and former SSG, Osaradion Ogie.

It was in the Central, formerly a PDP bastion, that Okpebholo defeated Clifford Ordia, a two-term senator. This weekend’s contest gives Okpebholo a chance to prove his victory was not a fluke in an election where the two leading candidates, both from this constituency with the least local governments (five) and lowest number of registered voters 440,514 (16.68 percent), have everything to play for.

The South is the main battleground, the state’s vote bank with 1,526,699 (57.81 percent) registered voters and seven local governments. It is also crucial to the outcome for other reasons. Apart from being the governor's base and the home of the Labour candidate, it is also the most cosmopolitan, partly explaining the Labour Party's emergence as a force.

The South is where the governor’s record in the last eight years and the credentials of those who want to succeed him might face the strictest scrutiny. Yet, like most elite populations, it is also the most unreliable in outcomes. If it rains too much, the weather is too hot, or the fear of violence becomes a clear and present danger, the elite has an excellent excuse to shun the poll and sit at home. 

With the APC and PDP threatening to make the election a do-or-die affair and allegations by the PDP that the APC plans to use force and intimidation to rig the poll, low voter turnout, especially in urban areas in Edo South, is a clear and present threat. This danger may erode any benefits for Ighodalo from the combined forces of Obaseki and Ogie from Oredo and Ikpoba Local Governments and tip the scales in favour of the APC and Labour Party candidates.

Not on the ballot?

Oshiomhole is not on the ballot. His reputation as one of Edo’s most famous product vendors of the past eight years is. With six local governments and 673,794 (25.51 percent) registered voters, Edo North, Oshiomhole’s home base, is the second-largest vote bank in the state. It is also the base of Philip Shaibu, the stranded deputy governor. 

I guess that Obaseki’s style – not to mention his take-no-prisoner politics, a bad habit he may have inherited from his estranged promoter, Oshiomhole – may have further alienated him and reduced the chances of his candidate, Ighodalo, making significant inroads in the North. Prominent people in PDP who sheltered Obaseki from vagrancy in 2020 against whom he turned his back are waiting to take revenge. 

Will it be the triumph or perhaps the redemption of the product vendor? Will President Bola Tinubu get his vindication four years after Obaseki’s campaign mocked him with, “Edo no bi Lagos?” Or will this be Obaseki’s chance to affirm himself as the new political force in Edo and shut down the production factory of the decorated lousy product vendor once and for all?

** Ishiekwene is the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the new book Writing for Media and MonetisingIt.

Sui Guillory

Every entrepreneur is on her path to running a business, and each will learn her own lessons in time. But take it from me, an entrepreneur who has started several successful businesses over the past 20 years: Sometimes it’s helpful to learn from others’ experiences!

And so I offer five deceptively simple lessons I’ve learned as a business owner.

Lessons learned from running a business

1. It’s okay to pivot

When you start a business, there’s often this drive to build the business, make it a success, and then…what? Most entrepreneurs keep running their businesses for years and ignore the fact that they’re burnt out and bored.

There’s no lifelong contract you sign when you start a business. You call the shots, and if you’re being called to do something completely different, give yourself permission to do so. That may mean closing or selling the business you’ve worked hard to build. This is not failure. This is success. You have created a thriving business and now you’re deciding to take on a completely new endeavor. That takes bravery!

Even if you stay in the same business, set your ego aside and constantly look for ways to improve the business, even if that means changing services or products to better align with your audience.

2. It’s okay to work less

Americans have become workaholics, and rather than making us better at work, it’s impeding us, causing health problems and stress. Again, there seems to be some unspoken rule that says the more you work, the more virtuous you are (or appear to be).

If you remove cultural expectations and instead focus on working just as much as you need to keep your business chugging along and move it in the direction of your business goals, you might find it’s a whole lot less than 40 hours a week.

Creating systems and processes can cut down on the time you spend on menial tasks, like scheduling social media posts rather than creating them when you’re ready to publish them. And delegating tasks to others (which is why you hired employees, right?) can free you up to focus on the bigger-picture activities you need to perform as the business owner.

3. It’s okay to fire clients

New entrepreneurs may be horrified at the idea of firing a client, but those who have been running their companies for a while will instantly be able to think of a pesky client who they would love to fire. Maybe it’s the one who sends 20 emails a day and calls you on the weekend. Or the one who constantly changes his mind about what he wants for a project. Or the one who pays little but demands much.

You don’t have to put up with bad clients. Yes, you will lose revenue if you let one go, but think of the time you’ll free up. With that time, you can look for new, better clients to replace that revenue. You can also devote more time to the clients you have, which will make them so happy, they’ll refer others to you!

Just be careful in how you “fire” a client. If emotions get in the way, you risk burning bridges. On the other hand, if you can tactfully tell a client that you’re no longer able to provide services for them, you may leave the relationship secure. If you don’t want to be honest about how crazy it makes you to receive dozens of texts about a project from the client, just tell them your workload doesn’t allow you to fully dedicate yourself to their project.

4. Who you are now isn’t who you will be

Even after 20 years of entrepreneurship, I’m still changing and learning. You will, too. As your industry changes, as you’re influenced by books, blogs, documentaries, conferences, and peers, you will get new ideas about how to run your business and the products or services you offer.

In business, there is no stagnation. Or there shouldn’t be. Your role as an entrepreneur is to constantly improve yourself so you can help your business grow. Your ego (there that word is again) may tell you that you’re experienced and that you don’t need to learn anything, but don’t listen to it. There’s always room to grow and learn

5. Listen to others (but know when to shut your ears)

One great way to learn and help your business grow is to turn to others for advice. That might be a business partner, employee, friend, spouse, or mentor. Be open to the advice coming from anywhere, and humble yourself enough to really hear it rather than deciding that you always know best what your business needs.

On the other hand, realize that while people have the best intentions, they don’t always know what your business needs! It’s up to you to discern when you’ve got things covered and when you’re in too deep and need to see your business from an outside perspective. Sometimes you need a combination of advice from others and your own intuition.

If you pay attention, your business is teaching you things every day. But sometimes it requires you to pull your head out of the muck to hear it, and set aside self-pride to heed it.

Forbes

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the enforcement of a 0.005 per cent levy on all electronic transactions conducted by banks and financial institutions.

According to the CBN’s monetary, credit, foreign trade, and exchange policy guidelines for the fiscal years 2024-2025, published on Tuesday, the measure is in compliance with the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015.

“The CBN shall continue to enforce the payment of the mandatory levy of 0.005 per cent on all electronic transactions by banks and other financial institutions, in accordance with the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015,” it said.

The new development comes against the backdrop of the public outcry against the 0.5 per cent previously introduced by the CBN in May.

The rate generated debate among Nigerians, prompting the House of Representatives to direct the CBN to suspend its implementation.

The levy, which applies to various forms of electronic transactions, is designed to support the development of a robust cybersecurity infrastructure in Nigeria.

The funds collected are expected to be allocated to enhance the nation’s capabilities in cyber intelligence, investigation, and prevention of cybercrimes.

According to a CBN guideline, banks and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) are required to adhere to cybersecurity guidelines issued earlier.

According to a CBN guideline, banks and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) are required to adhere to cybersecurity guidelines issued earlier.

“Pursuant to the circular titled “Issuance of Risk-based Cybersecurity Framework and Guidelines for Deposit Money Banks and Payment Service Providers” referenced BSD/DIR/GEN/LAB/11/25, and dated October 10, 2018, issued by the CBN to combat the increasing cyber security threat in the banking industry, banks and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) are mandated to adhere to the guidelines on the risk-based cyber security framework.

“Similarly, another framework titled “Issuance of Risk-based Cybersecurity Framework and Guidelines for Other Financial Institutions (OFIs)”, referenced OFI/DOA/CON/ACT/004/155, was issued on June 29, 2022. The guidelines specified the minimum cyber security baseline to be implemented by banks, OFIs and PSPs, and mandated the appointment of a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to oversee cyber security issues,” it read.

PT

A former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, has called on the federal government to remedy the present hardship confronting Nigerians.

He spoke on Tuesday in Minna, Niger state, when he hosted a delegation of Campaign for Democracy (CD), a Civil Society Organisation (CSO).

While stating that hardship appears to be out of control, the former military ruler said he would continue to urge the government to put measures in place to address the hardship that the citizens are currently experiencing.

He said: “Everybody is crying because of this hardship and it seems to be getting out of control.

“People cannot afford three square meals, the issue of transportation, the hike in fuel price, the hike in school fees for the children and the lack of funds in everybody’s pocket is making life difficult for everybody.

“We will continue to encourage the government to introduce measures to soften the hardship. The federal, states and local governments should see how they can cushion this economic hardship.”

He said as far as he was concerned, giving palliatives to the people was not the answer to the high prices of food and other items across the country.

 “The answer is the need for the government to flood and saturate the communities with food. Let the government buy food and sell it at lesser prices, so people can buy the food items of their choice, depending on their income,” the former head of state said.

He advised those planning to protest against the economic crisis on October 1 to do so peacefully.

“For God’s sake when you demonstrate, do it peacefully,” he said.

Daily Trust

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has authorised major petroleum marketers to commence lifting the premium motor spirit, PMDS, otherwise known as petrol, from Dangote Petroleum Refinery under the existing agreement between it and the refinery.

The initial agreement stated that NNPCL is the sole distributor of the refinery’s petrol with the first batch of the consignment put at 16.8 million liters lifted by NNPCL’s retail entity. Findings by our correspondents indicated that some major marketers, including 11 Plc have already lifted the product for distribution to their outlets in Lagos and other parts of the nation.

One of the marketers who pleaded anonymity, said: “I can confirm that we have some major marketers already lifting from the Dangote Refinery, but it is still under the NNPC arrangement with the refinery, in other words, we are lifting NNPC product from the Dangote refinery. It is not our product. We have no direct arrangement with the refinery.”

However, it was also learnt that independent marketers were not included in this modified arrangement.

The National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Abubakar Garima, confirmed that only NNPCL has access to Dangote fuel and they discharge the bulk of the products to their retail outlets.

He added that they are not yet buying from the NNPCL under the Dangote Refinery arrangement.

He stated: “Independent marketers are waiting for NNPCL to give the new price of the petroleum products in order to lift from them. We load at the old rate of N875 per litre as most of our members have outstanding stock with NNPCL; we were told that they will be cleared this week.”

We want to import, compete with NNPC, Dangote – Marketers

Under the deal that made NNPCL the sole off-taker of petrol from Dangote Refinery marketers have said they may have to resort to importation to continue in business. Marketers have therefore asked the Federal Government to completely open up the sector to all players.

Meanwhile, checks around Abuja and Lagos yesterday showed that four days after NNPC began loading of petrol from Dangote Refinery, many filling stations were yet to be supplied with the product and they have been locked up.

Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike, said the group plans to begin importing their own petrol.

“There has been no progress in the situation. We have been waiting for NNPC and nothing has changed. We have information that at least three marketers are bringing in products from outside of the country. This is Dangote’s chance to work with independent marketers.

“We are asking Dangote to sell to us at the same price as NNPC. We don’t understand why he has to depend solely on NNPC to distribute its product when he has other willing buyers.

“We are also looking at importing to keep our business. We are asking the Federal Government also to hand over the Port Harcourt Refinery to independent marketers. We will engage capable people to manage it. That is the only panacea to this problem”, he added.

Vanguard

Hezbollah devices explode again in Lebanon, raising fears of wider Israel conflict

Hand-held radios used by armed group Hezbollah detonated on Wednesday across Lebanon's south in the country's deadliest day since cross-border fighting erupted between the militants and Israel nearly a year ago, stoking tensions after similar explosions of the group's pagers the day before.

Lebanon's health ministry said 20 people were killed and more than 450 injured on Wednesday in Beirut's suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, while the death toll from Tuesday's explosions rose to 12, including two children, with nearly 3,000 injured.

Israeli officials have not commented on the blasts, but security sources said Israel's spy agency Mossad was responsible. One Hezbollah official said the episode was the biggest security breach in the group's history.

The operations, which appeared to throw Hezbollah into disarray, played out alongside Israel's 11-month-old war in Gaza and heightened fears of an escalation on its Lebanese border and the risk of a full-blown regional war.

"We are opening a new phase in the war. It requires courage, determination and perseverance from us," Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in remarks at an air force base.

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi accused Israel of pushing the Middle East to the brink of a regional war by orchestrating a dangerous escalation on many fronts.

The U.S., which denied any involvement in the blasts, said it was pursuing intensive diplomacy to avert an escalation of the conflict. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israel told Washington on Tuesday it was going to do something in Lebanon. But Israel did not provide details and the operation itself was a surprise to Washington, the official said.

At least one of Wednesday's blasts in Lebanon took place near a funeral organised by Iran-backed Hezbollah for those killed the previous day when thousands of the group's pagers exploded across the country and wounded many of its fighters.

A Reuters reporter in the southern suburbs of Beirut said he saw Hezbollah members frantically taking batteries out of any walkie-talkies that had not exploded, tossing the parts in metal barrels. Hezbollah turned to pagers and other low-tech communication devices in an attempt to evade Israeli surveillance of mobile phones.

Lebanon's Red Cross said on X that it responded with 30 ambulance teams to multiple explosions in different areas, including the south of Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

Images of the exploded walkie-talkies showed labels with "ICOM" and "made in Japan." According to its website, ICOM, which did not immediately reply to a request for comment, is a Japan-based radio communications and telephone company.

The company has said that production of model IC-V82, which appeared to be the model in the images, was phased out in 2014.

The hand-held radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, around the same time as the pagers, a security source said.

In Tuesday's explosions, sources said Israeli spies remotely detonated explosives they planted in a Hezbollah order of 5,000 pagers before they entered the country.

The United Nations Security Council will meet on Friday about the pager blasts after a request by Arab states.

Tehran's ambassador in Lebanon was superficially injured in Tuesday's blasts, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported then. But the New York Times on Wednesday said he lost one eye and the other was severely injured when a pager he was carrying exploded, citing two members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

Iran's envoy to the U.N. said in a letter on Wednesday that it "reserves its rights under international law to take required measures deemed necessary to respond" to the attack.

HEZBOLLAH LAUNCHES ROCKETS

Hezbollah, which has vowed to retaliate against Israel, said on Wednesday it attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets, the first strike at its arch-foe since the blasts. The Israeli military said there were no reports of any damage or casualties.

"Hezbollah wants to avoid an all-out war," said Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director of research at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. "But given the scale ... there will be pressure for a stronger response."

The two sides have been fighting across the Lebanese border since the Gaza conflict erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, fuelling fears of a wider Middle East war that could drag in the United States and Iran. The previous highest daily Lebanese death toll was 11 who died in Israeli shelling last month, according to official counts.

Gallant said Israel, which has vowed to return evacuated residents to their homes in the north, was transferring troops and resources to the Lebanon border region. Israeli sources said this included the army's 98th Division, which has commando and paratrooper formations, moving from Gaza to the north.

"The 'centre of gravity' is moving north, meaning that we are allocating forces, resources and energy for the northern arena," Gallant said in remarks released by his office.

A full-blown war with Israel could devastate Lebanon, which has lurched from one crisis to another, including a 2019 financial collapse and the 2020 Beirut port blast.

Rising tensions may also complicate so far unsuccessful efforts by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the U.S. to negotiate a Gaza ceasefire between Israel and militant group Hamas, a Hezbollah ally also backed by Iran.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Wednesday it was too soon to assess the impact of the blasts on ceasefire talks.

Hezbollah, Iran's most powerful proxy in the Middle East, said in a statement it would continue to support Hamas in Gaza and Israel should await a response to the pager "massacre."

A Hamas delegation visited people wounded in the blasts in Lebanese hospitals on Wednesday, Lebanese state news agency NNA said.

The explosions followed a series of assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas commanders and leaders ascribed to Israel since the start of the Gaza war.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian drone attack triggers earthquake-sized blast at arsenal in Russia's Tver region

A large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on Russia triggered an earthquake-sized blast at a major arsenal in the Tver region on Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of a nearby town, war bloggers and some media reported.

Unverified video and images on social media showed a huge ball of flame blasting into the night sky and multiple detonations thundering across a lake about 380 km (240 miles) west of Moscow.

NASA satellites picked up intense heat sources emanating from an area of about 14 square kilometres (5 square miles) at the site in the early hours and earthquake monitoring stations noted what sensors thought was a small earthquake in the area.

"The enemy hit an ammunition depot in the area of Toropets," said Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger. "Everything that can burn is already burning there (and exploding)."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, hailed the outcome of the attack without referring specifically to the target.

"A very important result was achieved last night on Russian territory and such actions weaken the enemy," Zelenskiy said. "I thank everyone involved. Such precision is truly inspiring."

He thanked the SBU security service, the HUR intelligence service and the Special Operations Forces.

A source in Ukraine's SBU state security service had earlier told Reuters the drone attack had destroyed a warehouse storing missiles, guided bombs and artillery ammunition.

Russian state media have in the past reported that a major arsenal for conventional weapons was located at the site of the blasts. State media, now subject to military censorship laws, was muted in its reporting on Wednesday.

Igor Rudenya, governor of the Tver region, said that Ukrainian drones had been shot down, that a fire had broken out and that some residents were being evacuated. He did not say what was burning.

One woman told Reuters that members of her family had been evacuated from Toropets.

"A fire started with explosions," said the woman, who identified herself only as Irina.

Rudenya later said the situation in Toropets was stable as of midday local time (0900 GMT) and that evacuated residents could return. The fire had been put out and there were no recorded fatalities, he said.

Russia and Ukraine each reported dozens of enemy drone attacks on their territory overnight, with Russian forces advancing in eastern Ukraine.

MAJOR EXPLOSION

The size of the main blast shown in the unverified social media video was consistent with 200-240 tons of high explosives detonating, said George William Herbert of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California.

A Toropets chatroom on the Russian social media site VK was flooded with messages of support from other parts of the country and offers of help to people fleeing the town.

Some people were asking whether buildings at specific addresses were still standing.

"People, does anyone know what's happened to Kudino village??? They told me nothing is left of our house," posted one woman.

Another woman replied: "It's horror there." Kudino is a village 4.5 km (2.8 miles) northeast of Toropets.

Some war bloggers asked how drones could trigger such large blasts at what was thought to be a highly fortified facility.

According to an RIA state news agency report from 2018, Russia was building an arsenal for the storage of missiles, ammunition and explosives in Toropets, a 1,000-year-old town, with a population of just over 11,000.

Dmitry Bulgakov, then a deputy defence minister, told RIA in 2018 that the facility could defend weapons from missiles and even a small nuclear attack. Bulgakov was arrested earlier this year on corruption charges, which he denies.

"It (the concrete facilities) ensures their reliable and safe storage, protects them from air and missile strikes and even from the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion," RIA quoted Bulgakov as saying at the time.

Some Russians on chat groups expressed anger.

"Why wasn't the ammunition underground?! What are you doing???? In Kudino, houses were blown away! Why is the forest burning and no one is there... What kind of negligence is this!!!!" one woman posted.

Russia reported that its air defence units had destroyed 54 drones launched against five Russian regions overnight, without mentioning Tver. Ukraine said it had shot down 46 of 52 drones launched by Moscow overnight and that Russia had used three guided air missiles which did not reach their targets.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian forces advance on key Ukrainian supply hub – media

The Russian military has liberated the Donbass town of Ukrainsk, RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday, citing a source within the security forces. The news agency also said it had obtained photos of Russian soldiers raising a flag over a mine located on the western outskirts of the town.

The nation’s defense ministry has not commented on the development so far. It did not even mention Ukrainsk in its latest daily report on the situation on the frontlines. The town was mentioned in the ministry’s previous update, published on Monday, where it said that Moscow’s troops continued their offensive in the area, pushing Kiev’s troops away from their defensive positions and moving forward.

A town with a population of around 10,500 people, Ukrainsk is located about four kilometers away from the railroad junction of Tsukurikha, which, according to RIA, is used by Kiev to supply “a significant part” of its troops in Donbass.

According to the defense ministry’s data, the Russian forces repelled eight Ukrainian counterattacks in the area. Kiev lost up to 475 soldiers as well as five artillery pieces, including the US-made M777 howitzer during the fights at this part of the front over the past 24 hours.

Ukrainsk and the nearby town of Selidovo have become an arena of intense fighting over the past week as Russian forces continue to expand their zone of control to the west and southwest of Avdeevka – a key Donbass town taken by Moscow’s troops early this year. The Russian forces are now moving closer to the city of Pokrovsk, which is one of the key logistics hubs supplying the Ukrainian forces still remaining in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

Earlier, the defense ministry reported that the nation’s military had liberated eight settlements in the Donetsk People’s Republic in the week between September 7 and 13.

The developments come as Ukrainian forces still try to retain some control over Russia’s Kursk border region. Kiev sent thousands of troops across its northern border with Russia in August. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky touted the operation as part of a “victory plan” he intends to submit to the US government for consideration.

The Russian military started a major push to drive Ukrainian forces away from the area over the past weeks. Last week, Moscow reported liberating ten settlements in the Kursk Region. On Monday, the defense ministry reported liberating another two villages. Ukrainian casualties in the incursion reached 13,800, according to the ministry’s latest estimates.

Reuters/RT