We all have to communicate with people on a daily basis, so it's inevitable that we'll occasionally be put off, if not downright offended, by the things we hear. But consider the possibility that sometimes you may be guilty of rubbing people the wrong way.

As a public speaking trainer, I always urge people to think carefully about their listeners before speaking. It's impossible to evaluate every word ahead of time, but it's helpful to be aware of phrases or attitudes that keep us from communicating effectively. 

Here are seven rude phrases that people with poor speech etiquette always use — and what to say instead:

1. "Do you want to ...?"

This phrase is great when you're offering someone a choice ("Do you want to go to lunch with me?"). But as a way of delivering orders ("Do you want to take the trash?"), its indirect fake-politeness comes across as belittling.

What to say instead: State your request directly. It's courteous to broach a request by asking, "Will you do me a favor?" After all, people generally like to pitch in. But they don't like to feel manipulated.

2. "Here's the thing ..."

This phrase insists that whatever follows will be the final, authoritative take on the subject at hand. Even when used inadvertently, it can sound a bit self-important. Truly authoritative people don't tend to waste time on throat-clearing statements.

What to say instead: If you're offering an opinion, consider prefacing your remarks with "I think ..." These two words remove any suggestion that you're pompously issuing a declaration. 

3. "Right?"  

In recent years, it's become normalized for this pushy rhetorical nudge to follow questions, especially in interviews with athletes and politicians ("This is the most important stretch of the season, right?" or "We've never seen a circumstance like this, right?")

At best, it's a useless bit of filler. But it can also feel like a manipulative insistence upon agreement.

What to say instead:  If you want someone's opinion, ask for it in a neutral way, rather than demanding confirmation: "I can't think of a more critical moment for the team. Can you?"

4. "Well, figure out a way." 

This phrase is a conversation ender. It's mean! While it's important to delegate, leadership demands that if an employee needs help or tries to communicate about a roadblock, your job is to help them work through it — not to insult them. 

What to say instead: Warmer language and an open approach will always encourage better exploration of solutions. A simple shift might be to say: "Well, let's talk about it and figure out a way."

5. "It is what it is."

In my experience, this phrase is usually used as shorthand for "stop complaining." If someone is asking for sympathy or assistance, you may or may not wish (or have time) to help them, but at least be kind about ending the conversation.

What to say instead: Try offering a bit of curiosity and empathy. You don't need to be phony or overly demonstrative. But saying something as simple as, "That's tough. I'm sorry you're going through that," can make a difference by allowing the other person to feel heard.

6. "Obviously ..."

This word subtly or not-so-subtly conveys that anyone disagreeing with the speaker is wrong. Even if you don't realize it, using it can make you seem arrogant.

What to say instead: Skip it altogether and remember that silence can be a beautiful thing. The most effective speakers know that proving your superiority or correctness is a waste of time and wins you no friends.

7. "If you want my honest opinion ..." (or, "I was just joking.")

First of all, did anyone ask for your opinion? If so, they probably don't expect or need a rude response masquerading as honesty. 

What to say instead: People want help, support and solutions. Saying "maybe" instead of offering your "honest opinion" is a perfectly fine preface. Saying "sorry" if a rude comment falls flat is far more productive than a faux-diplomatic justification for spite.

** John Bowe is a speech trainer, award-winning journalist, and author of "I Have Something to Say: Mastering the Art of Public Speaking in an Age of Disconnection."

 

CNBC

Failure to supply crude oil to domestic refineries, including the multi-billion dollar Dangote Refinery, has stalled the production of refined petroleum products at the facilities.

This is also as the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote refinery in Lagos missed the October production projection it had earlier set.

The October production target miss made it the second time in 2023 that Dangote Refinery would raise hopes of Africa, especially Nigeria, of a possible end to petrol importation.

Failure to begin production means that Nigeria will continue to rely on fuel importation.

It was gathered on Wednesday that amid Nigeria’s continued imports of refined petroleum products, its domestic refineries that would have helped refine the commodities were being starved of crude oil.

About five more modular refineries are ready to commence production of refined petroleum products but cannot produce the commodities because of the unavailability of crude oil, according to industry sources.

Also, industry sources stated that the Dangote Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, had yet to receive the required volumes of crude oil needed to produce refined products.

On September 20, 2023, The PUNCH reported that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery was importing crude oil and expected its first cargo in about two weeks, according to the Executive Director, Dangote Group, Devakumar Edwin.

The report stated that though the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited trades crude oil on behalf of Nigeria, in an interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights at the time, Edwin revealed that the NNPCL had committed its crude to other entities.

The Dangote refinery boss did not disclose the other entities receiving the oil company’s crude, but the NNPCL had earlier disclosed in August that it had entered into a $3bn crude oil-for-loan deal with African Export-Import Bank.

The deal allowed the company to pledge future oil production to the bank as repayments for the loan.

Also, Edwin pointed out that the importation of crude by the Dangote refinery was temporary, as the firm would receive supply from NNPCL from November.

Edwin went ahead to state that the firm would begin the production of up to 370,000 barrels per day of crude that would give rise to Automotive Gas Oil, popularly called diesel, and jet fuel in October 2023.

For petrol, the Dangote Group’s boss said the plant would produce it by November 30, 2023.

He said, “Right now, we are ready to receive crude. We are just waiting for the first vessel. And so as soon as it comes in, we can start.”

However, despite the promise to begin production in October, there seemed to be no traces of diesel refining from the facility in October.

The facility was initially billed to begin refining in August, as announced by the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, at the inauguration of the Ibeju-Lekki facility in May.

“Your excellencies, distinguished guests, our first product will be in the market before the end of July or beginning of August this year,” Dangote had said.

However, it was gathered on Wednesday that the crude oil supply situation to the plant had not improved, as the NNPCL was still finding it tough to provide the crude oil required for the Dangote refinery to commence the production of refined products.

Sources at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources confirmed this in Abuja on Wednesday.

“Officials from the Dangote Refinery visited the NUPRC recently to complain about the lack of crude oil required by the plant and why it would be odd for the company to be importing crude when Nigeria produces the commodity,” one of the sources, who pleaded not to be named due to lack of authorisation, stated.

Efforts to get the reaction of the Dangote refinery were unsuccessful, as two spokespersons for the firm did not answer calls to their mobile phones. They also did not respond to text messages sent to them on the matter.

Although the Federal Government blamed the development on Nigeria’s low oil output, operators of domestic refineries raised concerns about the lack of feedstock (crude) for their refineries and how this was stalling the take-off of these plants.

Operators of the modular refineries confirmed on Wednesday that International Oil Companies preferred exporting the commodity to earn dollars, to the detriment of domestic refiners.

The NUPRC had on Saturday announced that more domestic refineries had issued notice to commence the production of refined petroleum products.

It also announced its readiness to enforce domestic crude oil supply obligations that would ensure the availability of crude to indigenous refiners.

Senior officials from the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the NUPRC, and the Crude Oil Refinery Owners Association of Nigeria further confirmed that the number of local refineries set to commence production was about five.

Modular refinery operators under the aegis of CORAN revealed that feedstock supply had remained a severe bottleneck.

They also told one of our correspondents that the three modular refineries currently in operation hardly have adequate volumes of crude.

CORAN is a registered association of modular and conventional refinery companies in Nigeria. Modular refineries are simplified refineries that require significantly less capital investment than traditional full-scale refineries.

Modular refineries ready

Confirming the readiness of domestic refineries, Secretary of CORAN, Olusegun Ilori, said about five modular refineries were ready.

It was gathered that Aradel Holdings and OPAC modular refineries were among the plants ready to refine crude. Operators of the plants requested not to name their refineries at the moment.

Ilori stated, “We have a good number of our members that are ready to produce refined petroleum products, but the major problem limiting them, which is stopping their financiers, is the issue of guaranteed feedstock.

“That is, where are they going to get crude oil to refine? The Petroleum Industry Act has come, and it states that there must be a domestic supply of crude for those who want to refine.

“As I speak with you, we have about five or six more companies coming onboard and are ready to begin production. This is aside from the four modular refineries that are already producing. The four of them are facing a limited supply of crude,” Ilori stated.

Duport Edo Refinery, Walter Smith Refinery, and Niger Delta Refinery are among the modular refineries that are currently in operation. The facilities produce diesel but in limited volumes due to inadequate feedstock.

On why domestic refineries were being starved of crude, Ilori said, “It is because many of those producing the crude want to export it to earn dollars. Also, Nigeria still needs to meet the crude oil production quota approved by OPEC for export.

“So most crude oil producers don’t want to sell to local refiners because some are owing banks and have projected how to export the commodity to clear their debts.”

He however said, “There is a circular from the NUPRC that is now being distributed to oil companies, mandating crude oil production firms to give domestic refineries a particular percentage for local refining.”

This was earlier confirmed by the NUPRC on Saturday when it stated that it was taking steps to ensure the provision of crude oil to domestic refineries.

“As more private refineries indicate readiness to commence production soon in Nigeria, the NUPRC is taking all the necessary steps within the prescriptions of the Petroleum Industry Act (2021) to ensure adequate and consistent supply of feedstock to operators,” the regulator stated, as it cautioned that there would be consequences for sabotaging the process.

Low production

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, also confirmed the lack of crude to domestic refiners, noting that Nigeria’s inability to meet its crude oil production quota approved by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries was the major limiting factor.

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries in its World Oil Outlook, launched in Saudi Arabia this month, projected the establishment of new modular refineries in Nigeria would complement the Dangote refinery to lift crude oil sales in Africa.

The Outlook says Africa will see a medium-term distillation capacity of 1.2 million barrels daily due to the upcoming 650,000-capacity Dangote Refinery, which is projected to boost Nigeria’s capacity.

FG comments

In a voice note sent to one of our correspondents by the media aide to the petroleum minister (oil), on the issue, the minister confirmed that domestic refineries were not getting enough crude, but stated that the government was working hard to address this.

“Today, we have cases where we have modular refineries that can refine products, but they have no crude because our production is down. So if we don’t get the upstream right, the midstream and downstream will also not be successful.

“So all our efforts, first of all, should ensure that we resolve the problems bedevilling the upstream sector. Since we came, we have engaged the IOCs (international oil companies), and they told us their concerns.

“I’m sure you heard a short while ago when the IOCs, NNPCL, being coordinated by the Ministry of Petroleum and local content, signed an MoU that there should be timelines instead of allowing the contractual cycle in the sector to take forever.

“And so the era of doing something for two years, what could be done in one month, is gone. It is one of the innovations we have brought to the sector,” Lokpobiri stated.

He, however, noted that since the current administration came on board, “we are steadily increasing production.

“When we were sworn in, the President told me, ‘Lokpobiri, the sole mandate is to go and ensure that you grow our production.’

“And how do we grow our production? If we don’t grow our production, which is upstream, the midstream and downstream will also not be successful.”

The minister said efforts were being intensified to ensure that the modular refineries get crude oil and produce refined white products to keep the country wet.

Nigeria has been producing far below the about 1.8 million barrels per day of crude oil production approved by OPEC. For instance, figures from the NUPRC showed that Nigeria’s crude oil was 1.35mbpd in September 2023.

Findings showed that Nigeria’s crude oil production (excluding condensates) was precisely 1,346,562 barrels per day in September, higher than the 1,181,133 bpd produced in August.

Data from the NUPRC further indicated that in January, February and March, the country’s oil outputs were 1,266,659bpd, 1,292,240bpd, and 1,266,737bpd, respectively.

In April, May, June and July, Nigeria produced 1,004,392bpd; 1,189,332bpd; 1,260,928bpd; and 1,089,089bpd, respectively. All the above crude oil production figures showed that Nigeria’s output was still lower than the OPEC quota.

 

Punch

Local crude oil producers in Nigeria are demanding to be paid with United States dollars as the currency of their operations by local refiners in Nigeria.

The producers made the demand at a meeting with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), convened to activate local domestic crude supply obligation.

Section 109 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) introduces the obligation by the oil industry in Nigeria and stipulates that the supply of crude oil to the domestic market shall be on a willing supplier and willing buyer basis.

The volume of crude oil that oil-producing companies shall dedicate to the domestic crude supply obligation shall be based on an allocation system determined by the NUPRC.

Speaking at the meeting, Oluwadare Agbelese of Watersmith said: “A broader discussion needs to be held with the NMDPRA and the CBN to ensure that off-takers have priority access to forex so that they can pay for the product in a competitive manner  just like the operators would if they were selling to external off-takers.”

Also raising other concerns, Tunde Akinpelu from Aiteo sought to know whether the local refiners have the flexibility on their crude oil appetite. Adding that, “Kaduna refinery does not process all the product sleeves that we have in Nigeria. So in Port Harcourt and Warri.”

Another stakeholder, Abdalla Buba  talked about allowing some time for adjustment in the transition from the pre-PIA regime to  the PIA regime.

Responding to the concerns raised, Chief Executive of the NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, said any company that fails to respond to a request for production within a specified period is liable to pay an administrative fine of $10,000 to the NUPRC and shall not be granted an export permit.

He said the move by the commission is in a bid to ensure domestic sufficiency, adding that the nation’s inability to meet it’s domestic refining obligation has impacted negatively on the  state of the economy given the numbers that are rolled out in terms of under-recovery.

Komolafe said: ‘It behooves us as an industry to find a way to make Nigeria a net exporter of refined product. It is important that we engage the industry as we are trying to implement this important provision of the PIA, which is the domestic crude oil obligation.

“The domestic crude oil obligation refers to the requirement imposed by the government on oil producers to allocate a certain portion of their crude oil production for domestic consumption. What we are trying to do in effect as a commission is to begin the enforcement of this critical provision of the PIA.

“There are now firm attempts to  step up domestic refining with some modular refineries.  We now also have the largest refinery in Africa, the Dangote refinery. We have received a request from the refinery to guarantee fixed stock and we believe as a nation, it will be a shame if we cannot meet the fixed stock of the refinery.”

In furtherance of the latest move, The NUPRC has written to the producers to furnish them with copies of the committed agreement for the commission to distill the available barrels that are not committed.

Speaking on the concerns around dollar payment terms, Komolafe said the law already envisages a willing buyer, willing seller situation. “The currency of purchase will either be in naira or in dollars. The parties will sit and agree to a purchase agreement and the currency of the transaction.

“We will also escalate to other stakeholders to see how domestic refiners will be able to meet their obligation.”

Speaking on the implementation mechanism, he said; “we are conscious of the fact that every refinery is configured to take a specific type. We will collate that data and factor obligation in respect to the compactable crude type.

 

Daily Trust

Nigeria’s foreign debt is expected to rise further to about $51 billion, following President Bola Tinubu’s request to the Senate, seeking approval to borrow additional $7.8 billion and €100million, as part of  his 2022-2024 borrowing plan.

Some financial analysts have debunked the official reasons given for the borrowing, claiming it was rather meant as a bridging loan to cushion the country’s current balance of payment crisis.

Nigeria’s foreign debt as at June 2023, was put at $43.2 billion, while domestic debt is put at N54.1 trillion, bringing public debt to N113.4 trillion.

With the presidential request for new borrowing, coupled with the depreciation of the naira, the total public debt is forecast to reach N130 trillion.

The President in a letter addressed to the Senate yesterday, explained that the request was anchored on an approval given by President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, after a Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting early in May 2023.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio, read Tinubu’s request during plenary.

Tinubu’s letter reads: “The Senate may wish to note that the past administration approved the 2022 – 2024 borrowing plan at the Federal Executive Council which was held on the 15th day of May 2023.

“The projects cut across all sectors with specific emphasis on infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, water supply, security and employment as well as financial management reforms, among others.

“The facility of the projects and programmes under the borrowing plan is $7,864,508,559 dollars and then in Euro 100 million euros respectively.

“The Senate is invited to note that following the removal of fuel subsidy and its impact on the economy in the country, African Development Bank, AfDB, and the World Bank Group, WBG, have indicated interest to assist the country in mitigating the economic shores and recent reforms with a sum of $1 billion and $2 billion respectively, in addition to the Federal Executive Council approved 2022-2024 external borrowing plan.

“Consequently, the required approval is in the sum of $7,864,508,559 dollars and in terms of euro, 1000 million euros.

“I would like to underscore the fact that the projects and programmes borrowing plans were selected based on positive technical economic evaluations as well as the expected contribution to the social economic development of the country, including employment generation, skills acquisitions , supporting the emergence of more entrepreneurs, poverty reduction and food security to improve the livelihood of an average Nigerian.

“The projects and programmes will be implemented in all the 36 states of the federation and the federal capital territory “In view of the present economic realities facing the country, it has become imperative that the resolve to using the external borrowing to breach the financing gap which will be applied to key infrastructure projects including power, railway, health, among others.

“Given the nature of this facilities and the need to consolidate the country to normalcy, it has become exigent to request the Senate’s consideration and approval of the 2022- 2024 external borrowing plan to enable the government deliver its responsibilities to Nigerians through expeditious disbursement and efficient projects implementation.”

World Bank commits $11bn to Nigeria in 3 years

Meanwhile, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, yesterday, said the bank has committed over $11 billion in the past three years to Nigeria’s governments at both the federal and the sub-national levels.

Chaudhuri stated this while giving his goodwill message at the opening of a three-day cabinet retreat for ministers, presidential aides, permanent secretaries and top government functionaries, at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.

Chaudhuri, assured Tinubu of the bank’s support in his administration’s challenging task of lifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty and making lives better for everyone.

He said Nigeria is at a critical juncture to either continue muddling through business as usual with the risk of things falling apart or have the courage to chart a new course, to take bold steps to finally see Nigeria rise to its true potential.

He said, “I hope that through what we’ve been able to do that we will be able to continue supporting you, as you realize this enormously important task.

“Although we are at the World Bank, we’re a development organisation and over the last three and a half, four years that I’ve been here, our board has committed over $11 billion in financing for the government, and our financing is meant to go to governments at both the federal and at the sub national levels. So we’re here to support your programmes, we take guidance from you.  

“But even though we have the World Bank in our name, I hope you will think of us as more than a bank. I mean, I really hope that we will be able to earn your trust that we have something more to offer in the nature of solutions to help you think through and then implement the priorities, the focus areas that you’ve laid out by bringing in ideas and experience.

“Financing is only part of the solution. It’s really the ideas and the vision. So you have my commitment. I and the team, the entire World Bank across the globe, we’re here to support you on that. And I would also like to say that I feel particularly privileged to have been here in Nigeria these last four years, especially in the last few months at this critical juncture where Nigeria faced critical choice whether to continue muddling through business as usual with the risk of things falling apart growing by the day or have the courage to chart a new course, to take bold steps to really finally see Nigeria rise to its true potential.”

 

Vanguard

Nigerian stocks rose the most in nearly four months and hit a record high on Wednesday, driven by strong earnings releases from banks and some manufacturers including Dangote Cement.

The All Share Index rose 1.9% at 2.30 p.m in Lagos, the most since July 10, to 70,581.76, the highest on record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Nigerian index outperformed the MSCI Emerging Markets Europe, Middle East and Africa Index, which advanced 0.6%.

Earnings from banks have been solid, alongside reports from manufacturers including Dangote Cement, Tunde Abidoye, a securities analyst at investment bank FBNQuest in Lagos, said by phone.

The banking index was up 2.2% to 732.24 points, the highest since Oct 2008. The index is up 75% this year and is heading for its best performance in at least 10 years.

“The interest-rate environment and revaluation gains are positive for the banking stocks and are helping the index,” Abidoye said.

Nigeria’s biggest lenders have seen their third-quarter earnings more than double, boosted by foreign-exchange revaluation gains. Zenith Bank, the country’s second-biggest bank by assets, reported net income for the nine-month period of 433.9 billion naira, compared with 174.23 billion naira a year earlier. UBA Plc’s net income of 442 billion naira was nearly 400% higher compared with the previous year.

Dangote Cement, Nigeria’s second-biggest firm by market value, also saw net earnings jump 44% from a year earlier, driven by double-digit increases in prices of the building material. The company’s shares are up 5.8% in the last five days and 26% year-to-date.

Leadership Change

Stocks have rallied since President Bola Tinubu’s government scrapped costly fuel subsidies and devalued the naira, rising 38% year-to-date in local currency. However, a 42% devaluation of the naira means that they are down 22% year-to-date in dollar returns, making it one of the worst-performing equity markets globally.

Gains in local currency have been driven mainly by local investors looking to protect their savings against soaring inflation, which quickened to 27% in September, and the weakening naira. Foreign investors sold a net 7.9 billion naira ($9.86 million) of Nigerian stocks in September, according to the Lagos-based Nigerian Exchange.

Airtel Africa Plc led gains on Wednesday, advancing 10%, the most in about 22 months. The firm’s share price traded at 1,694.10 naira, the highest since Oct. 14, with trading volume at about 11 times the 20-day average.

“More banks are going to be releasing results, so it’s a trend that should continue,” Abidoye said. “The pace can only be weakened by the non-financial companies that are affected by naira devaluation and seeing higher finance costs that have affected their financials.”

 

Bloomberg

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says Joe Ajaero, its president, was brutalised in Imo state.

The NLC said Ajaero was beaten and blindfolded immediately after he was arrested by security operatives.

Earlier on Wednesday, Ajaero was reportedly picked up from the Imo council secretariat of the NLC by heavily armed police officers.

Denying the arrest, the police command in Imo said the NLC president was taken into protective custody to avoid being lynched by a mob.

Reacting to the incident, Benson Upah, media head of the NLC, in a statement, said the phones and personal belongings taken from the NLC president have not been returned.

“Immediately after his arrest, he was beaten up and blindfolded and taken to an unknown destination where more brutalisation took place, sometimes with bottles,” the statement reads.

“Contact was made with Congress President, Ajaero this evening around 1530 hours at the police hospital in Owerri from where he was taken to Federal Medical Centre, Owerri where he is receiving medical attention.

“Thoroughly brutalized, his right eye at the time of contact was completely shut.

“His phones, money and other personal effects were taken off him and have not been returned to him.”

 

The Cable

At least 40 people were killed in Yobe state between Monday and Tuesday after suspected Boko Haram militants shot at villagers and set off a land mine, in the first major attack on the northern eastern state in 18 months, the police said on Wednesday.

The attack happened at about 8:30 p.m. (1930 GMT) on Monday, at Gurokayeya village, Gaidam local government in Yobe State, the state's police spokesperson Abdulkarim Dungus said.

He said gunmen opened fire on villagers, killing at least 17 people and that on Tuesday a land mine exploded, killing at least 20 villagers who were returning from burying victims of the previous attack.

The Islamist group has been killing and abducting villagers in Borno state, a hotbed for militancy that has been the epicentre of a 14-year war on insurgency in Nigeria.

President Bola Tinubu and his cabinet on Monday approved $2.8 billion supplementary budget to fund "urgent issues" including defence and security.

Tinubu has yet to disclose how he would tackle insurgency in the north and widespread insecurity in other parts of the country.

The Yobe community had been at peace for over a year before this attack, residents said. The last time a bomb exploded in Yobe state was in April 2022.

Lawan Ahmed, a resident, told Reuters the militants shot at villagers sporadically from motorbikes, killing about 18 people on Monday.

Ahmed added that the same insurgents on Tuesday attempted to eliminate those who had gone to the burial on Monday, killing more than 20 people.

 

Reuters

After weeks in besieged Gaza, some foreign nationals and wounded Palestinians are allowed to leave

Israeli ground troops have advanced to “the gates of Gaza City” in heavy fighting with militants, the military said Wednesday, as hundreds of foreign nationals and dozens of seriously injured Palestinians were allowed to leave Gaza after more than three weeks under siege.

The news came as U.S. President Joe Biden called for a humanitarian “pause” in the fighting. Biden was speaking at a Minneapolis campaign fundraiser when a protester interrupted him, calling for a cease-fire.

“I think we need a pause,” Biden responded. White House officials later said a break in fighting would allow more aid to get into Gaza and create a possibility for more hostages held by Hamas to be freed.

The first people to leave Gaza — other than four hostages released by Hamas and another rescued by Israeli forces — crossed into Egypt, escaping the territory’s growing misery as bombings drive hundreds of thousands from their homes, and food, water and fuel run low.

The U.S. State Department said some American citizens were among those who left, without giving specifics. It said it expected more Americans and other foreign nationals to get out of Gaza in coming days. Talks were reportedly ongoing among Egypt, Israel and Qatar, which has been mediating with Hamas.

Heavy airstrikes demolished apartment buildings for the second day in a row in the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City. Al Jazeera television showed wounded people, including children, being brought to a hospital.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel and Jordan on Friday – his second trip to the region since the war was sparked by Hamas’ bloody Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel. Blinken aims to reiterate U.S. support for Israel, but also to push to ensure humanitarian aid reaches Palestinians in Gaza.

In a sign of increasing alarm over the war among Arab countries, Jordan — a key U.S. ally with a peace deal with Israel — recalled its ambassador from Israel and told Israel’s ambassador to remain out of the country.

Deputy Prime Minister Ayman al-Safadi said the return of the ambassadors is linked to Israel “stopping its war on Gaza … and the humanitarian catastrophe it is causing.”

ISRAELI ARMY ADVANCES DEEPER

Itzik Cohen, commander of the 162nd Armored Division, said his troops were deep in Gaza. “We are located at the gates of Gaza City.”

Israeli forces appeared to be advancing on three main routes, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S. research group. One thrust came from Gaza’s northeast corner. Another south of Gaza City cut across the territory, reaching the main north-south highway.

The third from Gaza’s northwest corner had moved about 3 miles (5 kilometers) down the Mediterranean coast, reaching the outskirts of the Shati and Jabaliya refugee camps on the edges of Gaza City.

Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group reported clashes with Israeli troops in several locations. Hamas’ armed wing posted video purporting to show its fighters emerging from tunnels and firing rockets at Israeli tanks.

The Israeli military said its airstrikes killed the head of Hamas’ anti-tank rocket unit in Gaza.

Several hundred thousand Palestinians remain in northern Gaza in the path of the fighting. Casualties on both sides are expected to rise as Israeli troops advance toward the dense residential neighborhoods of Gaza City. Israeli officials say Hamas’ military infrastructure, including tunnels, is concentrated in the city.

The toll was not known from the strikes Wednesday in Jabaliya. Airstrikes in the same area killed or wounded hundreds, according to the director of a nearby hospital. Israel said those strikes destroyed Hamas tunnels beneath the buildings and killed dozens of fighters.

Rocket fire by Gaza militants into Israel has continued, disrupting life for millions of people and forcing an estimated 250,000 people to evacuate towns in northern and southern Israel. Most rockets are intercepted.

BORDER OPENS TO ALLOW SOME PEOPLE OUT

By midafternoon Wednesday, 335 foreign passport holders left Gaza through the Rafah crossing into Egypt, said Wael Abu Omar, a spokesman for the Palestinian Crossings Authority.

Seventy-six Palestinian patients, along with their companions, have been evacuated for treatment in Egypt, Abu Omar said.

The authority said the plan was for more than 400 foreign passport holders to leave for Egypt. The White House said it expected a “handful” of American citizens to be among them, and German, French, British and Australian officials said their citizens were among the evacuees.

Hundreds more remain in Gaza. The U.S. has said it is trying to evacuate 400 Americans with their families.

Egypt has said it will not accept an influx of Palestinian refugees, fearing Israel will not allow them to return to Gaza after the war.

BIDEN URGES “PAUSE”

Biden’s call for a “pause” was a subtle departure for White House policymakers, who have insisted they will not dictate how the Israelis carry out military operations. The White House has, however, been signaling that Israel should consider humanitarian pauses to allow more aid into Gaza and for trapped foreign nationals to leave. Biden’s new comments put pressure on Netanyahu to give Gaza’s civilians at least a brief reprieve.

“A pause means give time to get the prisoners out,” Biden said at the Minneapolis fundraiser for his 2024 reelection campaign.

HOSPITALS WARN OF DEPLETING FUEL

Over half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes, and supplies of food, medicine, water and fuel are running low.

Hospitals in Gaza expressed increasing alarm that the generators running life-saving equipment were dangerously low on fuel after weeks of siege.

Only hours of electricity remained at Gaza City’s largest hospital, Shifa, according to its director, Mohammed Abu Salmia, who pleaded for “whoever has a liter of diesel in his home” to donate it.

The Turkish-Palestinian Hospital, Gaza’s only facility offering specialized treatment for cancer patients, was forced to shut down because of lack of fuel, leaving 70 cancer patients in a critical situation, the Health Ministry said.

The World Health Organization said the lack of fuel puts at risk 1,000 patients on kidney dialysis, 130 premature babies in incubators, as well as cancer patients and patients on ventilators.

The Israeli military released a recording of what it said was a Hamas military commander forcing a hospital to give some fuel. The recording could not be independently verified.

DEATH TOLL KEEPS RISING

More than 8,800 Palestinians have been killed in the war, mostly women and minors, and more than 22,000 people have been wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Wednesday, without providing a breakdown between civilians and fighters. The figure is without precedent in decades of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Over 1,400 people have died on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during Hamas’ initial attack, also an unprecedented figure. Palestinian militants also abducted around 240 people during their incursion and have continued firing rockets into Israel.

Sixteen Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the ground operation.

An estimated 800,000 Palestinians have fled south from northern Gaza following Israeli evacuation orders, but hundreds of thousands remain.

Israel has allowed more than 260 trucks carrying food and medicine to enter from Egypt over the past 10 days, but aid workers say it’s not nearly enough.

AFTER WAR, THEN WHAT?

Israel has vowed to crush Hamas’ ability to govern Gaza or threaten Israel. But it has said little about who would govern Gaza afterwards.

During his visit Friday, Blinken wants to discuss those issues with Israel and Jordan, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. To that end, Blinken will push Israeli officials on reining in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank and will restate U.S. backing for the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, he said.

On Tuesday, Blinken suggested President Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority could govern Gaza.

Hamas drove the authority’s forces out of Gaza in heavy fighting in 2007, leaving it with limited control over parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and little Palestinian support.

In other developments Wednesday:

— Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired “a large batch of drones” toward Israel, Yahya Sarea, a Houthi spokesman, said on social media. The announcement came one day after the Houthis said their forces had targeted Israel with at least three missile and drone attacks. The Houthi involvement brings Iran, a longtime sponsor of the Houthis, Hamas and the Lebanese militia group Hezbolla, even closer to the war.

 

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine must innovate as war moves to static, attritional phase -army chief

Ukraine's war with Russia is moving towards a new stage of static and attritional fighting, a phase that could allow Moscow to rebuild its military power, Ukraine's commander-in-chief has said.

In an article for The Economist published on Wednesday, General Valery Zaluzhnyi said his army needed key new military capabilities and technological innovation to break out of the new phase of the war, now in its 21st month.

Using stark language, he described risks of prolonged, attritional fighting: "This will benefit Russia, allowing it to rebuild its military power, eventually threatening Ukraine's armed forces and the state itself."

His article comes almost five months into a major Ukrainian counteroffensive that has not made a serious breakthrough against heavily mined Russian defensive lines. Fighting is expected to slow as the weather worsens.

Russian troops have gone on the offensive in parts of the east and Kyiv fears Moscow plans to unleash a campaign of air strikes to cripple the power grid, plunging millions into darkness in the depths of winter.

"Just like in the First World War we have reached the level of technology that puts us into a stalemate," Zaluzhnyi was quoted as saying in an interview published alongside his article.

The article singled out Russia's air power advantage as a factor that made advancing harder and called for Kyiv to conduct massive drone strikes to overload Russia's air defences.

"Basic weapons, such as missiles and shells, remain essential. But Ukraine's armed forces need key military capabilities and technologies to break out of this kind of war. The most important one is air power," he wrote.

He said Ukraine must get better at destroying Russian artillery and devise better mine-breaching technology, saying Western supplies have proven insufficient faced with Russian minefields that stretched back 20 km (12 miles) in some areas.

He called it a priority for Ukraine to build up its reserve forces despite noting it had limited capacity to train them inside the country and highlighting gaps in legislation that allowed people to evade service.

"We are trying to fix these problems. We are introducing a unified register of draftees, and we must expand the category of citizens who can be called up for training or mobilisation," he wrote.

"We are also introducing a 'combat internship', which involves placing newly mobilised and trained personnel in experienced front-line units to prepare them," he said.

** Russian drone hits oil refinery, frontline attacks repelled -Ukraine military

A Russian drone attack set ablaze the Kremenchuk oil refinery in central Ukraine and knocked out power supply in three villages, while battlefield reports said Ukrainian forces had repelled Russian attacks in frontline sectors in the east and northeast.

The fire at the Kremenchuk refinery, which Moscow has targeted many times and the Kyiv government says is not operational, was quickly put out, said Filip Pronin, head of Poltava region's military administration. The extent of the damage was not clear.

Ukraine's Air Force said air defences shot down 18 of 20 drones and a missile fired by Russia overnight before they reached their targets in an attack that sought to strike military and critical infrastructure.

"The focus of the attack was Poltava region, it was attacked in several waves," Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told national television.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said troops had repelled eight Russian attacks near Kupiansk in the northeast, five near the shattered eastern town of Bakhmut, held by Russian forces, and five further south near Avdiivka, a focal point of Russian assaults since mid-October.

A video posted by the Ukrainian military showed its forces destroying a Russian flamethrower system near Avdiivka, an attack it said could be observed for dozens of kilometres.

Military analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko, in an article posted online, said some 40,000 Russian troops were now massed outside Avdiivka, widely viewed as a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

"Despite its losses, the Russian command still intends to capture Avdiivka, which is now a political, rather than a tactical, aim," Kovalenko wrote.

Natalia Khomeniuk, a military spokesperson in the south, said Russian forces had dropped 20 aerial bombs in Kherson region from positions they now hold on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River after abandoning the region's main town last year. Russian forces shell the river's western bank almost daily.

In Poltava region, three villages lost electricity after power lines and an unnamed infrastructure facility were damaged, the Energy Ministry said on Telegram.

Railway power lines were damaged by falling debris in central Kirovohrad region, but the damage was quickly repaired, Governor Andriy Raikovych said.

The Ukrainian military said Russia carried out another missile attack on Poltava region and southern Odesa region later on Wednesday, and two of the missiles in Odesa region were downed.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. Russia made no immediate comment on the Ukrainian reports.

The Russian Defence Ministry's accounts said its forces had hit Ukrainian troops and equipment in villages south of Bakhmut.

 

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine conflict ‘fatigue’ is growing, Italian PM says

There is “a lot of fatigue” with the Ukraine conflict and EU nations will soon agree that it must be resolved through a compromise, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has told a pair of Russian pranksters.

Vovan and Lexus published the clip on Wednesday of their conversation with Meloni, which reportedly dates back to September and in which they posed as an unnamed African politician.

Discussing the Ukraine conflict, the Italian leader told the pair: “I see that there is a lot of fatigue, if I have to say the truth, from all the sides. We are near the moment in which everybody understands that we need a way out.”

“The problem is to find a way out which can be acceptable for both, without destroying the international law,” Meloni added.

The conversation then shifted to Kiev’s summer counteroffensive, the outcome of which the fake African politician suggested was a far cry from what many had expected. Meloni replied that the operation was ongoing, but acknowledged that it had not changed “the destiny of the conflict.”

“Everybody understands that it really could last many years, if we don’t try to find some solution,” Meloni stated. She then expressed concern that a badly-designed solution could trigger further conflicts, before criticizing what previously unfolded in Libya.

The North African nation was rocked by a NATO-backed anti-government uprising in 2011 which ousted longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi. More than a decade later, Libya remains split among warring factions and is economically devastated.

Italy has been the destination for a flow of illegal migrants departing from Libya and crossing the Mediterranean Sea in the hope of receiving shelter in the EU. Meloni accused Brussels of not doing enough to help Rome as she discussed the issue at length with the pranksters.

The conversation also touched on European energy security and how developing energy production in Africa could improve it. “We are going to an era when we can’t manage it no more. It’s already too late,” Meloni said.

Later on Wednesday, Meloni’s office said the phone call had taken place on September 18, ahead of meetings with African leaders at the UN General Assembly. It said it regretted that the prime minister had been deceived by a prankster posing as the head of the African Union Commission, Reuters reported.

Vovan and Lexus, whose real names are Vladimir Kuznetsov and Aleksey Stolyarov, have been pranking public figures for years with fake calls from people their targets trust. The pair usually goad their targets into saying things they might otherwise be unwilling to make public.

** Tank production grows sevenfold in Russia

Russia has greatly boosted production of military hardware over the past year, having multiplied by seven the number of tanks it manufactures, Sergey Chemezov, the CEO of defense conglomerate Rostec, said on Wednesday.

Speaking on Rossiya 24 TV channel, Chemezov added that the state-owned corporation has been continuously modernizing and improving its products as well.

“Over the past year, we ramped up production of tanks by seven times,”Chemezov said, adding that output of light armor, including assorted infantry fighting vehicles and armored cars grew by a factor of around 4.5. The official did not elaborate whether the figures include modernization of older vehicles or production of new ones from scratch.

Earlier this week, Rostec subsidiary Uralvagonzavod released a video showing a new batch of T-90M tanks, Russia’s most modern, undergoing final testing before being sent to the military. The tanks appeared to feature new improvements, such as additional ‘soft hull’ blocks for its turret, while external armor blocks on the hull are now cased in more robust-looking containers, compared to previous versions made of fabric.

In mid-October Uralvagonzavod completed a large batch of T-90M and T-72B3 tanks and delivered them to the military. At the time, Russia’s Deputy PM Denis Manturov said the tanks of this type were most in demand, having performed strongly during the conflict with Ukraine.

Rostec has also greatly expanded ammunition production, Chemezov added. Since the beginning of 2023 it has produced 20 times more munitions for multiple rocket launcher systems than in all of 2022. 

Back in September, Rostec’s industrial director Bekhan Ozdoev revealed the conglomerate has expanded production of high-precision weaponry, namely Iskander ground-based tactical ballistic missiles and air-launched Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. He said at the time that “among other things, the production of missiles for the Kinzhal, Iskander, and Pantsir [anti-aircraft] systems, aerial bombs, artillery and tank shells is being ramped up.”

 

Reuters/RT

 

What is an A, anyway? Does it mean that a 16-year-old recognizes 96 percent of the allusions in “The Bluest Eye”? Or that she could tell you 95 percent of the reasons the Teapot Dome Scandal was so important? Or just that she made it to most classes? Does it come from a physics teacher in the Great Smoky Mountains who bludgeons students with weekly, memory-taxing tests or from a trigonometry teacher in Topeka who works in Taylor Swift references and allows infinite retests?

One answer is that A is now the most popular high school grade in America. Indeed, in 2016, 47 percent of high school students graduated with grades in the A range. This means that nearly half of seniors are averaging within a few numeric points of one another.

A belt has several holes, but usually only one or two of them show any wear in the leather. Can the same really be true for the grades we give our students, with their varied efforts and their constellations of cognitive skills? A grading drop-down menu ought not to be so simple a tool as one person’s belt.

And grades have only gone up since 2016, most notably since the pandemic, most prominently in higher-income school districts. Were this a true reflection of student achievement, it would be reason to celebrate, but the metrics have it differently. From 1998 to 2016, average high school G.P.A.s rose from 3.27 to 3.38, but average SAT scores fell from 1026 to 1002. ACT scores among the class of 2023 were the worst in over three decades. Is it any wonder, then, that 65 percent of Americans feel they are smarter than average?

I’ll confess that in my nearly 30 years as a high school English teacher, my conceptions of grading have either softened or evolved, depending on how you see it. While I may fret over the ambiguity on Page 5 of a student’s essay, I’m aware of the greater machine. Their whole semester will boil down to one letter, and that letter joins 30 or so others on a transcript they may send to a dozen colleges, some of which have thousands of applicants.

Besides, I like my students. I see them coming into the building at 7:30, carrying three backpacks for a routine that may well go on until 7:30 that night, roughly the time it takes someone to complete a full Ironman triathlon. They will use their free periods to prep for group projects, they’ll scarf down lunch before a French quiz, and hours later, toe the line of scrimmage against those massive defensive backs from the other side of the county. I don’t need to be excellent at as many utterly different things as they do. And my skills are not constantly judged like this, year after year, by a rotation of personalities. If kids come to my writing classes and share their heart and soul on the page, I want to offer them a handhold on this stony path.

Also, it’s just so much easier to give good grades!

But when so many adolescent egos rest upon this collective, timorous deflection, it doesn’t do an awful lot of good. Passing off the average as exceptional with bromides like “wonderful” and “impressive” soothes the soul, but if there’s nothing there to modify these adjectives, teachers do little service to their colleagues who receive these students the next year. It has that looming sense of climate denial, propped up by wishful thinking.

Grade inflation, after all, acts just like real inflation. In the early 1960s, when, according to GradeInflation.com, about 15 percent of grades given at four-year colleges were A’s, a dollar could buy you a movie ticket. Now, this will get you 15 seconds with a college essay coach and a firsthand lesson in Freud’s concept of the narcissism of minor differences: The more a community shares the same thing, the higher the sensitivity becomes about small disparities. So if everyone else applying to the College on the Hill has A’s in math, your A-minus suddenly gives you the wrong distinction.

In the shape-shifting landscape of college admissions, grades have never been more important. Now more than 80 percent of four-year colleges do not require standardized tests. Interviews, perhaps the truest show of the unadorned student, are also falling the way of the Bachman’s warbler. ChatGPT brings possibly serviceable responses to essay questions, if you can live with yourself for using it. And a recommendation letter coming from someone who teaches 150 students is going to look different from someone’s who teaches 50. This all augurs toward the new Pangea: grades. As a high school teacher, I don’t want to hold that much power, nor do I think I should.

It’s so easy to see grades as sheer commodities that we all but overlook their actual purpose — as far as I know — of providing feedback. In English class, this happens not just on days we wield our red pens but every time we encourage students to appreciate the complexity of an idea, every time we can coax an apprehensive hand into the discussion about the bloody field or the Tuscan garden. It happens in meetings outside class when students fumble into ideas for their own stories and on the words, words, words of comments my English-teaching kinfolk are thoughtfully spooling onto our students’ drafts. To forsake all this for one fixed letter is to waste the process for the stamp.

How might grade inflation’s roiling cloud now be pierced? Do we approach the colleges that purport to favor both mental health and kids who take 10 A.P. exams? Or high schools, which watch these grading trend lines with the dread of sea level rise? We keep treating high school and college as two separate entities, but ultimately, they service the same people, and there needs to be more conversation about what this mess of grades is doing to them.

For now, a modest proposal: Consider the essay that comes in with a promising central idea but lacks support from a few critical moments of the text. It makes a smart but abrupt transition and closes with an interesting connection, a trifle undercooked. With another assiduous go-round, it might become something amazing. But please don’t give this draft an A-minus, the grade that puts so much potential to an early, convenient death. Instead, think of the produce of this student’s deletions and insertions, the music as he riffles through those pages he’ll annotate better next time, the reflective potential of a revision. Grading offers a singular place to teach such lessons of resilience. Instead, consider the B-plus.

This means nothing if done alone. But if we’re really going to be teachers, it’s high time to tighten the belt.

 

New York Times