In middle school, I played on a football team that lost every game. Our coaches tried to keep our spirits high by reciting the proverb once heard on fields and courts across the country: It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game. When it comes to the state of our democracy, Americans would do well to heed those words.

That old saying may appear out of place in a democratic society obsessed with election outcomes and legislative victories. Too many politicians interpret a ballot box victory as a mandate to shove their party’s agenda down people’s throats. They believe that winning confers legitimacy on everything they want to do and the authority to do it. This, of course, is wrong. How democracy is exercised — how the game is played — is more important than who wins.

We’re either forgetting this or deciding that we no longer care. Partisans increasingly see the other side as immoral, stupid, unworthy or incapable of good-faith debates. Americans have lost confidence in government’s ability to manage the country, much less address its intractable problems. This erosion of respect feeds an anti-democratic backlash: More than a third of us support violations of democratic norms by the political leaders we favor.

The right has embraced antidemocratic tactics more readily and with more fervor. But the left is not immune to the pull of illiberalism, a word that essentially means the infringing of the political minority’s rights, and a disregard for constitutional order. Whereas democracy requires parties to accept losses, illiberalism is obsessed with winning elections, prevailing in policy disputes and hoarding power — to hell with democratic norms, rules and fairness.

Illiberal impulses arise from different origins on the right and the left. Right-wing illiberalism has roots in the idea that the nation has always been exceptional, but that its destiny is now threatened by faithless or incompatible groups of others: progressives, racial and ethnic minorities, internationalists and so on. Former president Donald Trump’s rhetoric and actions put the impulse front and center. Running on the motto “Make American Great Again,” he repeatedly professed his obsession with winning, attacked the free press and made too many disparaging remarks about people of color to list. The impulse is visible in right-wing support for the “independent state legislature” theory, which empowers state-level majorities to ignore the courts and the public will; in book bans and whitewashed history classes; and in the violence of Jan. 6, 2021.

In the far reaches of the left wing, illiberalism springs from an unwillingness to recognize and praise those aspects of the United States that should be conserved, preferring instead to portray a nation corrupt from the start, beyond repair and in need of a teardown. The illiberal left chills the speech of ideological opponents, hijacks legitimate protest movements to serve undemocratic ends and supports coercive means to achieve policy goals. Although not equivalent to the excesses of right-wing illiberalism, the left repudiates democracy nonetheless.

The two sides are equally obsessed with imaginary utopias — for the right, a pining to return to an America that never existed; for the left, attempting to forge an America that cannot be built.

Given what they have in common, their stark opposition has an odor of hypocrisy. Consider presidential emergency powers. Democrats cried foul when Trump used emergency powers to redirect federal money to build a wall on the southern border. Republicans had a conniption over the idea that President Biden could use executive authority to make abortion available or forgive student loans. Victory, not democracy, is the goal. The blunt exercise of power is excused by the winners as long as they get their way.

Lots of attention has been devoted to the right’s illiberalism, and rightly so. But the mirror tendency on the left — in no small part a response to congressional intransigence during the Obama administration and the ongoing antidemocratic agenda in red states — is perhaps more worrisome. The left’s illiberalism grants a monopoly on national pride, and our symbols of unity, to the right: the flag, the anthem, the very concept of patriotism. It’s as if the two sides ask Americans to choose between a nation that behaves as if it doesn’t need to respect its people and a people who act as though they don’t need to respect the nation.

Nations have identities, cultures, narratives and customs that are needed to provide stability. Such symbols, along with a shared history, connect the people of this large, diverse — and still young —country. Ceding the symbols and stories to the illiberal right wing will leave too many Americans alienated from the nation they hope to improve. Why struggle to build up a country that is not worthy of love?

We know how to deal with undemocratic conservatives. The whole of the civil rights movement took aim at their reactionary illiberalism. The Jim Crow era they sought to enforce was put to bed by folks who offered a better and more optimistic version of the nation’s future.

We need to learn how to oppose the illiberalism of the left, the impulse to give up on the national story, to lose the thread of it, to declare the American experiment dead. “We must not be enemies,” Abraham Lincoln urged; instead, we must all practice a conservatism that preserves the institutions and beliefs undergirding the shared liberal ideals of human freedom and equality. When the political game is played between these lines and by these rules, everyone wins.

Washington Post

Gmail has so many useful features that some of them go unnoticed. Here’s a handful that you’ll wish you’d known about ages ago.

Most of us have been using Gmail for so long that we never really bother to explore new features that have been added over the years.

But if you use Gmail to get actual work done, there are a handful of really helpful goodies that aren’t quite so obvious unless you look for them. Here are five of these time-savers that you may have overlooked—until now.

Add a recipient in the body of a message

This one’s about as straightforward as it gets, but you’d be forgiven for not knowing it existed, given that there’s nothing in the Gmail interface to spotlight it.

You’ll get a dropdown with a selection of your contacts: Click the person’s name and they’ll be added as a recipient.

Open your calendar in a sidebar

If you live inside Gmail, you probably spend a fair amount of time with Google Calendar as well.

Kill two birds with one stone by keeping your calendar open on the right-hand side of Gmail at all times.

In the upper corner to the right of your inbox, you’ll notice icons for Calendar, Keep, Tasks, and Contacts. Click the Calendar icon and you’re good to go.

You’ll see your entire day at a glance and you’ll be able to create new meetings with a couple of clicks. I actually prefer the simplicity to the full-blown Google Calendar interface.

Explore add-ons galore

You may already be using Chrome extensions for Gmail, but Gmail itself makes it easy to find a heaping helping of add-ons that work across several browsers, not just Chrome.

In the same right-hand column where you click the Google Calendar icon to open it in the sidebar, there’s a nondescript plus-sign icon.

Click it, and a bountiful marketplace will pop up. It’s chock-full of handy integrations from the likes of Zoom, Webex, Docusign, and a ton of other providers large and small.

Hover to quickly sort your inbox

Here’s a feature that had been staring me in the face for a while before I actually realized how useful it was.

Clearing out the morning deluge of overnight messages is as easy as hovering over each one. When doing so, you’ll notice four icons on the right-most side of each subject line: archive, delete, mark unread, and snooze.

With a single click, you can send each message elsewhere. Blaze your way through your inbox in no time.

Create templates for repetitive messages

And last but not least, arguably the greatest Gmail time-saver of them all: templates. If you find yourself constantly tapping out the same messages over and over again, you absolutely must use this feature.

To do so, create a canned message. Once you’ve gotten it just how you like it, click the three-dot icon on the far-right of the bottom of your message, then Templates > Save draft as template > Save as new template.

Give it a name, and then the next time you need to use your templated message, click the same three-dot icon, then Templates, and then click on the name of the template you saved.

The contents of the canned message are automatically inserted into the body of the email: no typing required.

Fast Company

For employees, the CEO can seem like an elusive figure – too busy and too important to engage with on a day-to-day basis. However, leaders who take the time to build relationships with their team members can create a more connected and engaged workforce.

Being approachable is key, but it's not always easy to know where to start. To help, a group of entrepreneurs shared their tried-and-true strategies for creating an approachable, open work environment and building better relationships with their teams.

1. Break the ice

Employees may not be naturally inclined to initiate a conversation with the CEO. That's why Stephanie Wells, co-founder and CTO at Formidable Forms, recommends leaders make the first move.

"Being a CEO isn't easy, as there are a lot of responsibilities on your shoulders – but team coordination is equally important," notes Wells. "You won't be able to achieve your goal if your team thinks that you're unapproachable."

She suggests leaders hang out with their team members from time to time, whether it's inviting them over for a coffee or having dinner.

"It doesn't matter how you do it," Wells adds. "Just be the one to break the ice."

2. Implement an open-door policy

Josh Kohlbach, founder and CEO of Wholesale Suite, recommends CEOs create an open-door policy within their organization.

"This lets your employees walk in at any time with their ideas, thoughts and concerns without being afraid of being judged or reprimanded," Kohlbach explains. "This will also make them feel that the management is approachable and willing to listen to them."

3. Seek out feedback

One reason why employees may hesitate to approach their CEO is the perception that the CEO is unavailable or simply too busy. To combat this, eMerchantBrokerco-founder Blair Thomas suggests CEOs remove the "being sought-after" aspect by proactively seeking out feedback from team members.

"Create the opportunity for them to share problems and ideas by asking them if there's anything they'd like to discuss," Thomas suggests. "Just taking the time to ask someone about their day can have a massive impact on their perception of you."

4. Show appreciation

Another great way to build trust and connection with your team is to show your appreciation. Solomon Thimothy, president of OneIMS, emphasizes that small actions can make a significant impact in building relationships with your team.

"Giving someone a high five for a job well done or sharing kudos in the team's Slack channel can make all the difference," says Thimothy.

"Make sure each person in your organization feels appreciated and has excellent opportunities to grow and make a difference."

5. Engage in company conversations

According to MemberPress CEO Blair Williams, leaders can demonstrate their approachability by taking an active part in company conversations.

"This could mean sharing pictures in family channels, answering questions that pop up casually and so on," Williams explains.

Joining conversations – or even starting them – shows you're open to questions and ideas, which leads to improved communication and overall team relationships.

6. Create open forums

CEOs looking to become more approachable should strive to create a positive work culture where employees feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, opinions and concerns.

"This can be done by creating open forums where employees can submit their queries anonymously," advises Thomas Griffin, co-founder and president of OptinMonster. "You can also have a suggestion box for them to share ideas, which fosters trust and understanding."

7. Be physically present

Sometimes, just being physically present can make a significant difference in how your team perceives you.

"If you are bringing Mr. Burns from 'The Simpsons' energy to business and are always behind glass or doors, you are likely not developing deeper relationships across your company," says Alphametic CEO Matthew Capala.

"By being in front of and physically present for your teams, you become more approachable."

Capala recommends CEOs spend time "around the water cooler" and work in common areas to increase presence (and popularity) among their teams.

8. Aim to lead, serve and motivate

A CEO's mindset and approach are just as important as their actions.

Joel Mathew, founder and CEO of Fortress Consulting, advises leaders to remember that they aren't just in charge of the business; they're also in charge of leading, serving and continually motivating their teams.

"While it's true that employees work for you, it's just as important to remember that they work with you," Mathew explains. "Once you establish that culture, you become much more approachable – and it strengthens the relationship in and out of work."

Inc

Nigeria’s state oil company almost tripled the pump price of gasoline after President Bola Tinubu said he’ll fulfill a pledge to scrap fuel subsidies that cost the government $10 billion last year.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Co. on Wednesday raised the cost to N488 ($1.05) a liter from N184 in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub, according to a document seen by Bloomberg and confirmed by the company. In Abuja, the nation’s capital, prices will jump to N537 from 194 naira, it said.

Tinubu announced the end of the decades-long subsidy regime in his inauguration speech on May 29. Many filling stations across the country stopped selling fuel after the announcement to adjust their prices. Long queues have formed at outlets, while intra-city transport fares have increased.

The decision to abandon the policy triggered a rally in Nigerian dollar bonds on Tuesday. Africa’s largest crude producer would have had to spend  6 trillion ($12.9 billion) — about two-thirds of the revenue expected to be generated by oil and gas output — this year if the subsidies had continued. 

The surge in fuel prices may hamper the central bank’s effort to rein in inflation in Africa’s most-populous country, where about 40% of the population live in extreme poverty. The monetary policy committee has raised its benchmark interest rate by 700 basis points since May 2022 to a record 18.5%. Price-growth accelerated to a near 18-year high of 22.2% in April.

NNPC, which currently imports all of Nigeria’s gasoline needs, has been selling the fuel at a steep loss. The firm’s Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari said on Tuesdaythe government is yet to reimburse the company for more than $6 billion that it’s spent on keeping gasoline cheap.

“We can’t continue to build this,” he said.

The meeting between the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the federal government has ended without an agreement.

The meeting, at the instance of the federal government, was intended to reach an agreement with organised labour after President Bola Tinubu’s announcement that petrol subsidy would cease to be in place by the end of June.

Speaking after the meeting on Wednesday night, Dele Alake, a member of the government’s team, said the meeting was engaging but did not provide details.

“We have been deliberating on finding very amicable resolutions to the issue at hand —to the queues and all of that and the increase in pump price,” Alake said.

“We had a very robust engagement. We cross-fertilised ideas, ideas flew from all sides and there is one thing that is remarkable even from the labour side — and that is Nigeria. We are all looking at the peace, progress and stability of Nigeria. That is what is paramount.

“Of course the NNPCL GCEO, Kyari, is here, we cannot go into details now because the talks are still ongoing.

“We cannot finish everything at one sitting, so we have adjourned now, we are continuing the talks at a later date very shortly. But the point is that the talks are ongoing and it’s always better for all sides to keep talking with a view to arriving at a very amicable resolution that will be in the longer-term interest for all Nigerians. That is as much as we can say now.”

NO CONSENSUS REACHED

However, Joe Ajaero, president of NLC and his counterpart in Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, said no consensus was reached at the meeting.

The organised labour said the meeting would reconvene after they have met with their members at a date yet to be fixed.

Those who were in attendance on the federal government’s side were Folashade Yemi-Esan, head of the federal civil service; Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL); Tijjani Umar, permanent secretary of the state house, among others.

The petrol subsidy removal has long plagued past administrations as they attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, to eliminate it.

In his inaugural address on Monday, Tinubu said the petrol subsidy “is gone” and that his administration would discontinue it. His statement was met with pushback from organised labour.

The Cable

Nigeria has revised its tax-to-GDP ratio for 2021 to 10.86% from 6% following an adjustment to include revenues collected by other government agencies, the tax office chief said on Wednesday.

Tax collection rates have hovered between 5%-6% of gross domestic product over the past 12 years, Federal Inland Revenue Service head Muhammad Nami said, adding that revenues collected by other agencies were previously left out of the calculation.

Africa's biggest economy has one of the lowest tax collection rates in the world, though tax receipts did rise by 56% in 2022 to a record 10 trillion naira ($22 billion).

Previous governments pledged to boost non-oil revenues since oil sales make up 90% of foreign exchange receipts, but raising more money from taxes has proved difficult in a country where many small business are not registered.

Nami said Nigeria's tax-to-GDP ratio could be higher if tax waivers and gaps in its fragmented tax system were plugged. He added that a 2014 GDP rebasing had worsened the tax ratio.

Nigeria has been struggling to raise revenues since recovering from a recession caused by previously low oil prices. The revenue situation worsened with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The government has said it will prioritise tax collection from its digital economy and focus on non-resident firms with significant economic presence that generate turnover in Nigeria.

($1 = 460.00 naira)

Presidential Election Petitions Court has admitted more documents in the petition by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar challenging the February 25 election.

The five-member panel of justices on Wednesday admitted the C.T.C of form EC8 series from local governments of Bayelsa, Kaduna, and Kogi states submitted under the second schedule to the exhibits tendered by the PDP.

The panel also admitted BVAS accreditation and data reports of 33 states of the country.

However, counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Kemi Pinheiro; counsel to Bola Tinubu, Emmanuel Ukala; and counsel to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adeniyi Akintola all objected to the admissibility of the documents.

Counsel to the PDP, Eyitayo Jegede informed the court that they will remove Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, and Kogi states from the list of states to be tendered. 

But Pinheiro said the commission is opposed to the admissibility of exhibits for Kogi, Sokoto, and Rivers states.

Earlier, the panel adjourned the petition by the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi till Thursday after the party’s counsel; Awa Kalu informed the panel that they could not present their schedule of exhibits due to the ill-health of the staff in their secretariat.

Daily Trust

Iyaloja-general of Lagos State, Folasade Tinubu-Ojo, has updated her profile on the microblogging site, Twitter, reflecting the title ‘first daughter of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN)’.

This is coming after her father, President Bola Tinubu, was sworn in as the President on Monday.

Tinubu-Ojo currently has over 21,000 followers on the popular microblogging site.

A check on her Twitter bio reads, “This is the Official Handle of the Iyaloja General of Nigeria. The First Daughter of the FRN.”

Also, in a series of tweets, Tinubu-Ojo said she had launched an initiative to support her father’s administration.

“Friends of Iyaloja Initiative (FoI) unveiled today. I can boldly say again that our youths, women and the vulnerable shall be attended to by this administration. I will fight for this cause and I believe that God Almighty shall crown our efforts with unprecedented success.

“I have decided to use my little wealth of experience, connections and human resources available to me to support my dad’s administration.

“FoI shall be focusing on: youth and women empowerment. Empowering people with special needs. Empowering the vulnerable and several other programs aimed at affecting the lives of Nigerians; especially, those in the grassroots.

“We shall be in partnership with other notable NGOs with track records of excellence in the key areas. We shall also seek collaborations with several governmental agencies, ministries and parastatals created to serve Nigerians in areas that pertain to our operational cycle.

“I can boldly say again that our youths, women and the vulnerable shall be attended to by this administration. I will fight for this cause and I believe that God Almighty shall crown our efforts with unprecedented success,” she wrote.

Meanwhile, reactions have continued to trail her updated Twitter bio, with users on the app alleging that there is an agenda behind the move.

A popular tweep, David Hundeyin, wrote, “Iyaloja General of Nigeria. These people legit have no greater ambition than to cut tickets every day for every Nigerian citizen. Even Buhari was more subtle.”

Another tweep, David Onyemaizu, wrote, “Iyaloja General of Nigeria/First Daughter of the FRN? This is just day two of your father being in power & you already think it’s a monarchy or a family business? Well, she’s actually free to use whatever titles she wants on her bio. Only becomes a problem if validated by.”

“The Iyaloja General of Nigeria. The First Daughter of the FRN. Thank God Nigeria has had Presidents before,” Karo commented.

Another tweep Ferejogi wrote, “For those who didn’t know, Folashade Tinubu-Ojo has always been the Iyaloja-General of Nigeria. This happened several years ago. If you don’t know something, just say you don’t know. Admit your ignorance.”

Punch

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Britain ‘de facto’ at war with Russia – Medvedev

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has described the UK as waging an “undeclared war” against Russia. The comment came after Britain’s foreign secretary condoned a large-scale drone attack on Moscow earlier this week.

In a Twitter post on Wednesday, Medvedev accused London of being Moscow’s “eternal enemy.” The former leader, who currently serves as deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, claimed that based on international law, “including the Hague and Geneva Conventions with their additional protocols,” Britain “can also be qualified as being at war.”

The former president argued that by providing Ukraine with weapons and training, the UK “de facto is leading an undeclared war against Russia.”

Medvedev hinted that this could have direct ramifications for “public officials” in Britain.

His tweet cited remarks made on Tuesday by UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who said Ukraine has the right to “project force beyond its borders to undermine Russia’s ability to project force into Ukraine itself.”

Cleverly further claimed that striking “legitimate military targets” in Russia is an acceptable part of Ukraine’s self-defense.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, eight UAVs were detected in Moscow’s airspace on Tuesday morning, in what officials described as a “terrorist attack” by Kiev.

The ministry reported that three drones were suppressed by electronic warfare measures and deviated from their intended course before crashing, while the other five were shot down by Pantsir-S air defense systems outside the city.

Several residential buildings sustained superficial damage and two people suffered minor injuries as a result of the raid.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Kiev of launching the attack in an attempt to avenge a recent series of Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian airfields, ammunition dumps, and “decision-making centers.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed on Tuesday that the headquarters of the Ukrainian military’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) had been among the targets hit in the strikes.

** Russian forces wipe out last Ukrainian combat ship in Odessa — top brass

Russia’s Aerospace Forces destroyed the last Ukrainian combat ship in the Odessa port in the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Wednesday.

"On May 29, the Ukrainian Navy’s last combat ship Yury Olefirenko was destroyed as a result of a strike by the Russian Aerospace Forces’ precision weapons against the anchorage of naval ships in the Odessa port," the spokesman said.

The Ukrainian Navy operated about 25 combat ships, including five patrol and six artillery boats before Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine.

In addition, the Ukrainian Navy’s combat assets included the Gola Pristan anti-saboteur boat and the Svatovo assault boat. Upon Kiev’s attempt to storm Snake Island in the Black Sea on May 9 last year, Russian forces sank three Ukrainian Centaur-class armored assault boats and each of them could have carried a marine infantry platoon.

The Ukrainian Navy also operated nine armored gunboats, one of which, the Akkerman, was abandoned by the crew in Berdyansk, according to information of the Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily. The Vinnitsa corvette and the Yury Olefirenko medium amphibious assault ship were sunk.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine says Russian missiles kill two children in Kyiv

A Russian missile attack on Kyiv killed three people including two children and injured 14 on Thursday, officials in the Ukrainian capital said.

The Kyiv military administration said in a statement the attack struck the Desnyanskyi region on the capital's eastern outskirts as well as Dniprovkskyi district, closer to the centre.

It was the 18th attack on the capital this month.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said nine people needed hospital treatment. Emergency crews had extinguished fires caused by falling debris near the sites of the strikes.

Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app a medical clinic had been hit. Photographs posted on the city's website showed windows blown out in the clinic and in nearby apartment buildings.

Pictures from the scene posted on social media showed rescue teams attending to residents in buildings, with shattered building materials strewn about on the street.

City authorities said the impact was from shot-down cruise or ballistic missiles.

Air raid alerts in Kyiv and in most of eastern Ukraine were in effect for about an hour.

Sudan’s Central Bank Is latest battleground in deadly conflict

Sudan’s army bombed a printing press in an attempt to prevent the paramilitary group it’s been fighting for control of the North African country from printing money to fund its operations, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The Rapid Support Forces militia in turn raided the country’s central bank as fighting continued to rage amid yet another broken cease-fire, according to a foreign diplomat and an aid official briefed on events. More than 1,000 people have died and hundreds of thousands have been displaced in the six-week conflict.

It was unclear what the resulting damage was or whether the RSF looted any of the central bank’s gold reserves. Spokespeople from both sides didn’t reply to requests seeking comment. Calls to the central bank didn’t connect.

The RSF said on Twitter that the army had “attacked an RSF position at a currency printing plant in Khartoum.”

Continued violence in the capital and elsewhere in Sudan came as the army announced it’s withdrawing from talks in Saudi Arabia aimed at finding a solution to the conflict.

Bloomberg