Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo continue to iron out details, White House says

Negotiations in Cairo to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage deal are still pressing ahead, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said, adding that the discussions will continue on the working-group level for the next few days to iron out specific issues.

Speaking to reporters in a virtual briefing, Kirby pushed back on suggestions that the talks have broken down, and said, on the contrary, that they were "constructive".

"The talks actually progressed to a point where they felt like the next logical step was to have working groups at lower levels to sit down to hammer out these finer details," Kirby said.

Brett McGurk, U.S. President Joe Biden's top Middle East aide at the White House who has been participating in the talks, will soon leave Cairo after staying an extra day to start the working-group talks, Kirby said.

One of the issues to be tackled by the working groups will be the exchange of hostages Hamas is holding and Palestinian prisoners that Israel is holding, Kirby said.

He said the details to be settled included how many hostages may be exchanged, their identities, and the pace of their potential release.

Months of on-off talks have failed to produce an agreement to end Israel's military campaign in Gaza or free the remaining hostages seized by Hamas in the militant group's Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war.

The latest round of negotiations came under the threat of a regional escalation. Over the weekend, Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel as Israel's military said it struck Lebanon with around 100 jets to thwart a larger attack.

But Kirby said the cross-border warfare over the weekend has not had an impact on the talks.

Key sticking points in ongoing talks mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar include an Israeli presence in the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow 14.5-km-long (9-mile-long) stretch of land along Gaza's southern border with Egypt.

"There continues to be progress and our team on the ground continues to describe the talks as constructive," Kirby said.

Hamas official Taher Al-Nono reiterated to Qatar’s flagship Al Jazeera Mubasher on Monday that remarks made by the U.S. regarding the status of the ceasefire talks are “inconsistent with the truth and their objective is to support the positions of the occupation.”

In a statement on Sunday, the Palestinian group said that talk of an imminent deal is false.

Two Egyptian sources on Sunday said Israel expressed reservations about several of the Palestinian detainees Hamas is demanding be released, and Israel demanded their exit of Gaza if they are released.

More than 40,400 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to Gaza's health ministry. Most of its 2.3 million people have been displaced multiple times and face acute shortages of food and medicine, humanitarian agencies say.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia pounds Ukraine with missiles, drones for second day in row, Kyiv says

Russia launched several waves of missile and drone attacks overnight targeting Kyiv and other regions, Ukraine's military said early on Tuesday, a day after Moscow's biggest such attack of the war.

At least one person was killed when a civilian object was "wiped out" in the central Ukraine city of Kryvyi Rih, regional officials said.

Kyiv region's air defence systems were deployed several times overnight to repel missiles and drones targeting the Ukrainian capital, the region's military administration said on Telegram.

Reuters' witnesses reported at least three rounds of explosions overnight in Kyiv.

On Monday, Russia launched more than 200 missiles and drones, killing at least seven and damaging energy infrastructure in an attack condemned by U.S. President Joe Biden as "outrageous."

The size of the Tuesday attacks was not immediately known, but Ukraine's air force said it recorded the launch of several groups of drones and the take-off from Russian airfields of strategic Tu-85 strategic bombers and MiG-31 supersonic interceptor aircraft.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

The Kremlin denies targeting civilians in the war that President Vladimir Putin launched against Russia's smaller neighbour with a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The Russian defence ministry said that its strikes on Monday hit "all designated targets" in Ukraine's critical energy infrastructure.

Kryvyi Rih, Kyiv and central and eastern regions of Ukraine were under air raid alerts for most of the night, starting at around 2000 GMT on Monday.

Five civilians may be still under the rubble and four were injured as a result of the Russian attack, Oleksandr Vilkul, head of Kryvyi Rih's military administration, said on Telegram.

"The news is bad," Vilkul said.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

What we know about massive attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure

The Russian Armed Forces carried out a massive strike on the critical facilities of Ukraine's energy infrastructure that ensure the operation of the country’s defense industry, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

According to the ministry, all designated targets were hit.

TASS has put together the key facts we currently know.

Targets of the strike

- The Russian Armed Forces on Monday morning fired high-precision, long-range, air-launched and sea-launched weapons, used tactical aircraft and launched attack drones to carry out a massive strike on the critical facilities of Ukraine's energy infrastructure that ensure the operation of the country’s defense industry.

- The targets were electric substations in the Kiev, Vinnitsa, Zhitomir, Khmelnitsky, Dnepropetrovsk, Poltava, Nikolayev, Kirovograd and Odessa regions.

- The strikes also hit storage sites of Ukraine’s West-provided air-launched weapons at airfields in the Kiev and Dnepropetrovsk regions.

- Also struck were gas compressor stations in the Ivano-Frankovsk, Lvov and Kharkov regions.

Consequences

- According to the Russian Defense Ministry, all designated targets were hit.

- There are disruptions in energy supply across Ukraine.

- Deliveries of weapons and ammunition to the engagement line by rail were disrupted.

- The Ukrainian energy company DTEK announced emergency power cuts across Ukraine.

- The Ukrainian national railway company said on Telegram it was shifting to diesel locomotives due to power outages.

Reuters/Tass

Pavel Durov is a lot of things to a lot of people. Programming prodigy. Billionaire entrepreneur. Kremlin stooge. Free-speech fighter. Biological father to at least 100 kids.

Durov, the elusive founder of Telegram who was detained in France over the weekend, cuts the figure of a mysterious, globe-trotting tech bro with Mark Zuckerberg’s prodigiousness, Jack Dorsey’s bizarre lifestyle habits and Elon Musk’s libertarian streak – plus a similar obsession with pronatalism and fathering children. Durov said in July that he had fathered more than 100 children thanks to sperm donations he had made over the past 15 years.

Worth an estimated $9.15 billion according to Bloomberg and armed with an array of passports and residences, Durov has for a decade lived a life without borders, a man on an often-shirtless journey to secure the freedom of communication from the prying eyes of governments, democratically elected or otherwise.

Now, Durov’s legal trouble is drudging up an old debate, pitting Telegram’s end-to-end encryption, which keeps communications between users secure even from the company’s employees, against the security concerns of various governments and the European Union’s campaign to rein in big tech.

A pair of prodigies

Durov was born in 1984 in the Soviet Union but moved to Italy when he was a 4-year-old, the tech entrepreneur told right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson in a rare interview earlier this year. The family moved back to Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, after Durov’s father received an offer to work at St. Petersburg State University.

Durov said he and his older brother, Nikolai, were math prodigies from an early age. The elder Durov was the bigger star when the duo were children. Durov said his brother went on Italian TV to solve cubic equations in real time as a child and won repeated gold medals at the International Math Olympiad. The younger Durov was the best student at his school and competed locally.

“We were both very passionate about coding and designing stuff,” Durov said.

He said that when the family returned to Russia, they brought back from Italy an IBM PC XT computer, meaning they were “in the early 90s, one of the few families in Russia who could actually teach ourselves how to program.”

Russia’s Zuck

Durov’s coding prowess and entrepreneurial spirit led him to build Vkontakte (VK), a social media site, in 2006, when he was a 21-year-old fresh out of university. VK quickly became known as the Facebook of Russia, and Durov the country’s answer to Mark Zuckerberg.

But Durov’s relationship with the Kremlin turned adversarial much quicker than Zuckerberg’s did with Washington.

When protesters began using VK to organize demonstrations in Kyiv against Ukraine’s pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovich, in 2013, Durov said the Kremlin asked the site to hand over private data of Ukrainian users.

“We decided to refuse, and that didn’t go too well with the Russian government,” Durov told Carlson.

That decision sealed Durov’s fate at the company. Durov would later resign as CEO, opening the door for people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin to take over. The entrepreneur sold all his shares for millions and then left Russia. Today, VK is under state control.

“For me, it was never about becoming rich. Everything in my life was about becoming free. To the extent that is possible, my mission in life is to allow other people to become free,” Durov said.

“I don’t want to take orders from anyone.”

‘All of them suck’

While Zuckerberg bought WhatsApp in his bid to build the social media empire now known as Meta, Durov chose to build his own messaging app despite an already crowded marketplace for such platforms.

He didn’t think anything out there was good enough.

“It doesn’t matter how many messaging apps are out there if all of them suck,” Durov told TechCrunch in 2015.

Durov said that his experience with the Kremlin was a key motivator in creating Telegram, which is now based in Dubai. He and his brother wanted to build something that would be free from the prying eyes of government.

The company’s strong end-to-end encryption and much-hyped commitment to privacy proved attractive to the hundreds of millions of users who flocked to Telegram – including, eventually, the terrorists who planned the Paris terror attacks in November 2015.

The revelation prompted the normally private Durov to go on a public relations blitz, conducting a bevy of interviews, including one with CNN, to assure a wary public that Telegram was not becoming WhatsApp for terrorists.

Telegram, according to Durov, was simply the most secure messaging platform on the market – and compromising by creating a back door for governments would undermine the app’s appeal and the company’s commitment to privacy.

“You cannot make it safe against criminals and open for governments,” Durov told CNN in 2016. “It’s either secure or not secure.”

Kremlin questions

Telegram’s refusal to budge on decryption put it at loggerheads with governments around the world – including Russia, at least initially.

Moscow in 2018 attempted to ban Telegram for refusing to supply Russian security services with decryption keys. Durov vowed to defy the ban.

Another showdown between the tech entrepreneur and the Kremlin appeared to be on the horizon, but nothing came of it. The ban was lifted in 2020.

In the years that followed, Telegram became one of the few foreign social media platforms operating in Russia without restrictions. It is now the preferred means of official communication for many officials in the Russian government.

Durov’s critics have long questioned whether Telegram could operate so freely in Russia without having made some sort of concession to the Kremlin, allegations Durov has repeatedly batted down – often pointing to his spat in the early 2010s that led him to leave Russia.

Before he was detained in Paris, Durov was in Azerbaijan at the same time as Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was in the country on an official two-day visit. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the two did not meet.

And though Durov has publicly turned his back on Russia, the government was quick to begin working on Durov’s behalf after his detention. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Russian Embassy in Paris “immediately got down to work” after getting word of Durov’s legal troubles.

The issue of Telegram’s abuse by money launderers, drug traffickers and people spreading pedophilia has continued to unsettle Western governments. Durov’s detention in France was connected to a warrant related to Telegram’s lack of moderation, according to CNN-affiliate BFMTV.

Telegram responded in a statement that “it is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.” The statement added that Telegram abides by EU laws and that Durov had nothing to hide.

CNN

In 1853, under orders from President Millard Fillmore, US Navy Commodore Matthew Perry led four warships on a mission to persuade Japan to end its 200-year-old isolationist policy. When he arrived at what is now Tokyo Bay, Perry delivered an ultimatum to the Tokugawa shogunate: open up to trade with the United States or face the consequences.

The arrival of these “black ships” (so named for the dark smoke emitted by their coal-fueled steam engines) was a pivotal moment. Confronted with this impressive display of technological prowess – which exemplified the industrial power that had already enabled the British Empire to dominate much of the world – the shogunate reluctantly agreed to Perry’s demands, leading to the signing of the Treaty of Kanagawa in 1854. One year later, the shogunate received its first steam-engine-powered warship from the Dutch as a token of appreciation.

While technology can pose a threat, it also powers critical infrastructure like schools and hospitals. Over the past century, in particular, the sovereign individual has become inextricably linked to a vast array of technologies, including interconnected systems like energy grids, the internet, mobile phones, and now artificial-intelligence chatbots.

As the Perry expedition showed, technology is also the backbone of state military sovereignty. Thanks to its technological dominance, the US has become the world’s leading military power, with more than 750 bases in 80 countries – three times as many as all other countries combined.

But this picture of state sovereignty is rapidly changing. While America’s financial sovereignty, underpinned by the dollar’s status as a global reserve currency, remains intact, its economic sovereignty is increasingly challenged by a rising China. In purchasing-power-parity terms, China surpassed the US to become the world’s largest economy in 2014. With manufacturing output roughly equal to the US and the European Union combined, China is the top trading partner of more than 120 countries.

Both superpowers are currently competing to control the design, development, and production of critical technologies such as semiconductors, AI, synthetic biology, quantum computing, and blockchain. A 2023 study commissioned by the US State Department, which tracksresearch contributions across 64 emerging technologies, showed that China is leading the US in more than 80% of these areas, with the US a close second.

As the US-China rivalry escalates in the technological arena, countries around the world will be forced to pick a side and adopt their chosen ally’s distinct technologies, standards, values, and supply chains. This could usher in a new era of technological colonialism, undermining global stability.

Curiously, however, neither the US nor China have been able to dominate the semiconductor industry, since Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Samsung in South Korea are the only manufacturers capable of producing semiconductors smaller than five nanometers. To change this, both superpowers are constructing what we call “technology sovereignty circles” – spheres of influence that other countries must join to access these critical technologies.

Unlike the colonialism of old, techno-colonialism is not about seizing territory but about controlling the technologies that underpin the world economy and our daily lives. To achieve this, the US and China are increasingly onshoring the most innovative and complex segments of global supply chains, thereby creating strategic chokepoints.

China, for example, has gained control of supply chains for critical raw materials, enabling it to become the world’s leading producer of electric vehicles. Meanwhile, the US leads in chip-design software thanks to companies like Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys.

Europe, too, is keen to establish itself as a key player in this rapidly evolving sector. Beyond hosting the Dutch company ASML, which produces extreme ultraviolet lithography systems crucial for advanced-chip manufacturing, the European Union is a net importer of AI research talent. It is also home to more STEM students and computer scientists and creates more startupsthan the US.

When onshoring proves impossible, technology sovereignty circles act as another, subtler form of coercion. By cultivating deeply entrenched asymmetric dependencies, they effectively push countries into techno-economic servitude.

The United Kingdom is a prime example. In 2020, the US forced the UK to exclude Chinese technology firm Huawei from its 5G network, threatening to cut off access to America’s intelligence apparatus and chip-design software. Similarly, the Netherlands was pressured to stop supplying China with ASML machinery in early January. In response, China has tightened its grip on critical materials by restricting exports of gallium and germanium, key inputs for microchips and solar panels.

Every country could soon face its own black-ship moment. Those without the protection provided by ownership of critical technologies risk becoming techno-colonies, serving the needs of their technological sovereigns by manufacturing simple electronics, refining rare metals, labeling data sets, or hosting cloud services – from physical mines to data mines. Countries that fail to align with either the US or China will find themselves relegated to the status of impoverished technological backwaters.

Amid heightened geopolitical tensions, emerging technologies such as quantum computing, AI, blockchain, and synthetic biology promise to push the boundaries of human discovery. As we explain in our forthcoming book, The Team of 8 Billion, the key question is whether these technological innovations will be controlled by a select few as instruments of subjugation or democratized to foster shared prosperity. Instead of ushering in an era of destructive techno-colonialism, these new technologies could help revitalize our rules-based international order and upgrade collective governance.

But to achieve this, we must replace today’s black ships with something humanity has yet to invent: a framework for planetary cooperation based on a unified substrate of human interests. Such a framework must reflect our growing interconnectedness and technological dependencies, as well as the ever-global challenges we face, from war and nuclear proliferation to pandemics and climate change.

Techno-colonialism represents the latest iteration of the age-old struggle for global dominance. Will we become the architects of our own doom, or the champions of a brighter future? For better or worse, the answer is in our hands.

Project Syndicate

Emery Wells put himself on the path to a dream career by recklessly buying a $17,500 camera that he definitely couldn’t afford.

Wells, 42, is the CEO of Frame.io, a video collaboration software business he co-founded in 2014 and sold to Adobe for $1.275 billion in 2021.

Nearly two decades ago, he was a 25-year-old freelance video editor who’d recently quit bartending in New York to pursue a full-time film career. At an industry trade show in 2006, he watched a startup called Red Digital Cinema announce its intention to build a digital camera high-quality enough for big-budget Hollywood productions.

Without hesitating, a colleague put down a $1,000 deposit to get on the product’s waitlist. “I was shocked,” Wells tells CNBC Make It. “And out of, really, just jealousy, I said: ‘Well, I’m signing up [too].’”

The deposit nearly maxed out his credit card’s $1,200 limit, he recalls: “I was already in debt ... and I think I may have had a few hundred dollars in my bank account at the time.” When his Red One camera shipped a couple years later, he found a way to scrounge up the rest of its cost.

Being among the few people in New York to own one altered the trajectory of Wells’ career, he says. Suddenly, he was in high demand. By 2014, his post-production company Katabatic Digital brought in more than $1 million in annual revenue from clients like Coca-Cola and Pfizer.

But the real money, it turns out, was in a piece of software built by Wells and Katabatic engineer John Traver — a platform for people to collaboratively give feedback on videos throughout the post-production process. When they launched Frame.io as a standalone tool, more than 15,000 clients signed up.

Wells faced a decision: Focus on the established, stable business or dedicate himself to a hot, but unproven, startup? He opted for the latter, shuttering Katabatic to focus on Frame.io full-time.

The startup raised more than $80 millionin funding over the next five years, and as Wells and Traver weighed an IPO, Adobe made them a billion-dollar offer they couldn’t refuse.

Here, Wells discusses the risks of giving up a sure thing to take a chance on a bigger opportunity and the reckless purchase that made it all possible.

CNBC Make It: You built Katabatic Digital into a successful business. What made you start thinking about sacrificing it for something bigger?

Wells: Post-production is client service work. Sometimes you have clients. Sometimes you don’t, and there’s nothing to do.

I hired John Traver to do post-production stuff, but he had a minor in computer science. We started tinkering on software ideas over the course of several months. I don’t think there was a super serious goal of creating a software company, because we didn’t know that we could.

We said, “Why don’t we spend some time building something that we know really, really well, that we know there’s a market for, we know we can solve the problem better, and we know we could make some money doing it?”

When did you realize Frame.io might be big enough that you’d have to shift your focus away from Katabatic? How did you make that decision?

In 2014, we were trying to raise money for Frame.io. One serial entrepreneur told us, “I would never give you $1, and nor would any other investor, until you’re all in. Not 99%. You cannot have this other thing. I’m not giving you money to do a side project.”

It really resonated with me. I was like, “Oh, gosh. Do I have to shut down? What do I do?”

As we got closer to the launch, where people could pay for Frame.io and use it, my time naturally shifted towards it. I started turning down work from clients, because we were spending all of our time trying to get this thing ready.

I think it was starting to form in my mind: If we’re going to really go for this, we have to really go for it.

Did it feel like a major risk to abandon Katabatic for something much less certain?

I’d spent almost a decade building this post-production company from scratch. I probably had a few hundred thousand dollars in savings, and I spent a lot of that money on Frame.io. So, yeah, it was definitely a huge risk.

But it was a calculated one, and I was getting signals on the success of Frame.io along the way [from customers and investors] that encouraged me to take more risk and more risk and more risk. In the first 90 days after we publicly launched, we were doing $30,000 of monthly recurring revenue. We raised a $2 million seed round from Accel.

That was the moment I was like, “OK.” I don’t think I ever personally took another post-production job at that point.

Did you always think Frame.io could become a billion-dollar company? Was it a big, “swing for the fences” idea?

Frame.io is the idea that became bigger and bigger and bigger the more time we spent thinking about it. When we launched, I wouldn’t say I had conviction that it was going to be a billion-dollar business.

I think that’s true for a lot of founders. Not to compare myself to Mark Zuckerberg, but there’s these fun interviews of Mark from the early daystalking about how big Facebook was going to get. He’s like, “I don’t think we’re ever going to [grow beyond college students].”

It just happens. You go from $1 million in revenue to $3 million to $6 million. Then you’re pitching how you’re going to get to $10 million, $20 million and beyond. And I’m like, “Are we? I don’t know if we’re really going to get there.”

Every single fundraising round, you have to sell that pitch to every investor you talk to — but if I’m being honest, I [didn’t] know.

CNBC

The Federal Government has declared that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited does not have the funds required to rebuild old pipelines.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, stated this at the just concluded Energy and Labour Summit 2024 organised by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria in Abuja.

Lokpobiri, while speaking about the divestment of international oil companies and the need to ramp up production, emphasised that Nigeria also needs to repair its pipelines, which he said are old, corroded, and expired.

He noted that even if the country can produce more than 1.7 million barrels of crude oil, the problem is how to evacuate it to the terminal.

“Part of our problem is that pipelines that were traditionally transporting our crude were built in the 1960s and the 1970s and the lifespan is since over. We have identified that even when we can produce, evacuation is a big problem.

“The reason why pipeline vandalism is very easy to do is because the pipelines have all expired they completely corroded and so, anybody can just go and tap it and the thing is busted; but there are better technologies which are more expensive, there are better pipelines that other people are using in other countries, but they are not cheap, We also need to change our model.

“Now, the NNPC that is our joint venture partner, do they have the money to be able to replace these pipelines? I think NNPC will speak for themselves whether they have the money to be able to do that, and I don’t think they have,” Lokpobiri declared.

Consequently, he called for public-private partnerships to fix the old pipelines, saying, “That is why we have to go for the global model – PPP. We have to get the private sector to come in.

For the private sector to come into any country to invest, he said they must have confidence in such a country, stressing that this was lacking in the past 12 years when there was no foreign investment in the nation’s oil company.

“When this government, came we tried to rebuild the confidence and investors are coming,” Lokpobiri added.

The oil minister maintained that the smuggling of fuel from Nigeria to other neighbouring countries is because the NNPC imports and sells below the landing cost.

“Nigeria plays a very critical role in the energy security in Africa. That is why whatever PMS we import into Nigeria finds its way to the whole of West Africa. That is why smuggling cannot stop. If NNPC Imports PMS and sells to marketers at perhaps N600 or below, there’s no way that smuggling can stop,’ saying the security agents at the borders are also involved.

“When smugglers are taking the products outside the country, even if you put all the policemen on the road, they are Nigerians; you and I know the answer. If you put all the customs men on the road, they are Nigerians, you and I know what the problem is, and that is why I’m saying that for Africa to attain energy

security, Nigeria has to play a very strategic role,” he remarked.

On the supply of crude to Dangote and other local refineries, he expressed fear that this may suffer a setback except production is ramped up.

“Our ambition is to ramp up production. It is only when we ramp on production that the midstream and the downstream can also be successful. You know we resolve at the Federal Executive Council to sell crude to local refineries – Dangote and the other refineries that are refining products for local consumption.

“But the bigger challenge is whether we have enough quantity to be able to supply them because of certain things that happened before we came. You will agree with me that when I became minister one year ago, we were doing barely about a million barrels, but today we’re doing 1.7mbpd approximately, inclusive of condensate,” Lokpobiri said.

He added, “Supporting local refining is the way to go. We can look for investors to explore and ring out this crude, so I will be able to meet both our domestic obligation and also export some to be able to raise more dollars and meet our obligations.

“We are committed to ensuring we support local refineries with all the feed-stock. If you must supply refineries in Nigeria and you don’t have the crude to supply, it remains something that is written beautifully in a law.”

He said the Federal Government would ensure there is healthy competition by being fair to both the small and the big refiners.

Punch

Many Nigerians have condemned the early Sunday arrest of a journalist, Adejuwon Soyinka, at the Muhammed Murtala International Airport, Lagos, on his arrival from the United Kingdom. They also expressed worry over the growing trend of harassment of journalists in the country.

SSS operatives arrested Soyinka at the airport on his arrival via a Virgin Atlantic flight.

In a flood of reactions following story of the arrest on Sunday, many Nigerians spontaneously expressed their outrage about the arrest and detention.

After being picked up at the airport, Soyinka was driven to the SSS headquarters annexe in Ikoyi, Lagos, and released after about six hours of detention.

SSS operatives seized his passport to release him on bail.

The reason for Soyinka’s arrest is still unknown, although SSS said without giving details that its operatives arrested him based on a request from another agency.

Meanwhile, hours after his release, many Nigerians continued to react in anger to the tweeted story of the detention of the journalist.

Many of the commentators painted a picture of how it has become President Bola Tinubu’s government’s stock-in-trade to harass journalists and suppress dissenting and critical voices.

They said Soyinka’s arrest is the latest in a series of government attempts to limit Nigeria’s civic space and curtail the right to freedom of expression.

Nigerians react in anger

“Hunt for Journalists up and down in just 1 year and 3 months. Is there still light at the end of the Nigeria tunnel?” an X user, @Obed Obaa, wrote.

Another user, @Amourab, said Soyinka’s arrest might be foretelling a broader picture. “They’re going for the journalists. I pray Nigerians wake up one day to see the bigger picture and fight for a country that works,” the tweet read.

@MOOD OBIDIENT stressed the importance of freedom of the press and urged Nigerians to rise against tyranny. “Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy. Nigeria currently runs a ‘Kleptocracy’ system of Government. The citizens must rise against tyranny.”

“Why is the government having issues with journalists, are we back to the military regime?” @Aremu Adeola, another X user, questioned.

Another user, @Giovanni, wrote: “The ability of a free and independent press to hold political leaders accountable is what makes open government possible—it is the heartbeat of democracy. This recent attack on investigative journalists is quite worrisome and should be condemned!”

Many others, like @SirMcAwesome247, described the attacks on the Fourth Estate of the Realm as “worrisome”.

“Our journalists should not be harassed into a position where they’re unable to do their jobs,” the reply post read.

@Future stated: “First it was PIDOM now Adejuwon. Freedom of Speech is gradually dying in Nigeria. I once knew a Country.”

@OnileGogoro cried out to Elon Musk, who owns X, to help protect journalists. The user wrote, “Really dangerous times for Investigative Journalists in Nigeria @elonmusk, please lend us your voice! The Nigerian Government is trying to silence free speech and journalists.”

Deteriorating state of press freedom

Nigerian authorities recently said that some Nigerians who played key roles in the recent #EndBadGovernance protests had been placed on watchlist at the nation’s international airports.

It is unclear if Soyinka’s arrest is related to that controversial action, although the journalist is not publicly known to have participated in organising and executing the protest.

Several journalists covering the ten-day protest were attacked and brutalised by security agents, including personnel of the SSS.

In one shocking case in Abuja, operatives shot live ammunition at a car carrying some journalists who were on duty at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, where peaceful protesters gathered.

Nigerian journalists and activists have continuously decried the deteriorating state of press freedom in Nigeria, especially in the last one year under Tinubu.

More than 100 attacks on journalists have been verified in Nigeria this year, according to the Press Attack Tracker. The attacks on the press and journalists are primarily by state actors, with the police accounting for almost 50 per cent of all harassment faced by journalists in the first half of the year.

The military and the SSS are also prominent culprits, arbitrarily arresting and detaining journalists unlawfully.

Notable cases

On Wednesday, 1 May, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Daniel Ojukwu, was abducted by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector General of Police for a story which revealed that the senior special assistant to former President Muhammad Buhari on sustainable development goals (SSAP-SDGs), Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, allegedly paid N147 million to a restaurant for the construction of classrooms in Lagos.

Also, in May, another journalist with WikkiTimes, Yawale Adamu, was reportedly being threatened by a political aide to the member of the House of Representatives representing the Jama’are Itas Federal Constituency in the National Assembly over a story he did accusing the lawmaker of politicising distribution of aid from the North East Development Commission (NEDC).

Also in May, the Nigerian Police Force Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) detained the Executive Director of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Dayo Aiyetan, and an investigative journalist with the platform, Nurudeen Akewushola, for over nine hours after honouring their invitation.

In June, PREMIUM TIMES reporter Emmanuel Agbo was also summonedover a yet-to-be-published report he was working on.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that at least 56 journalists were assaulted or harassed by security forces or unidentified citizens while covering the recent anti-government #EndBadGovernance demonstrations.

Recently, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported that Nigeria remained one of West Africa’s most dangerous and difficult countries for journalists.

According to RSF, which ranked Nigeria 123 of 180 countries in its global press freedom report for 2023, Nigerian journalists are regularly monitored, attacked and arbitrarily arrested, and “crimes committed against journalists continue to go unpunished, even when the perpetrators are known or apprehended.”

In May, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors called on the Nigerian authorities to stop using repressive and anti-media laws such as the Cybercrime Act and some codes of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to target, intimidate, and harass journalists and media houses.

UNESCO also recently called on all authorities worldwide to prioritise the duty and responsibility to ensure the safety of journalists covering protests, in accordance with international norms and human rights obligations.

However, despite calls and criticism, the Security continued to attack and also refused to respond to calls on the need to stop attacking journalists in Nigeria.

PT

Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun's ascent to the position of acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) comes at a time when the Supreme Court and the Nigerian judiciary are grappling with an unprecedented crisis of public confidence. Her appointment, shrouded in controversy due to her involvement in the widely criticized Imo State governorship decision of 2020, only deepens the skepticism of a public already weary of a judiciary perceived as corrupt, inconsistent, and subservient to political powers.

The task before Kekere-Ekun is monumental: to restore the integrity of an institution that has, over the past years, become synonymous with compromised verdicts and opaque practices. This challenge is compounded by her own controversial past, which threatens to overshadow her tenure before it even begins. However, it is not an impossible task. With decisive actions and unwavering commitment to judicial reform, she can set the Nigerian judiciary on a path to redemption.

One of the most glaring issues undermining the judiciary is the lack of transparency in its operations, particularly in the areas of financial management, appointment processes, and disciplinary actions. Kekere-Ekun must prioritize opening up these processes to public scrutiny. The National Judicial Council (NJC) should adopt a more transparent system for the appointment of judges, ensuring that merit, rather than political connections, is the guiding principle. Additionally, disciplinary measures against erring judges must be stringent and publicized to demonstrate a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption.

The Nigerian judiciary's perceived subservience to the executive branch is another critical issue. Recent administrations have been accused of exerting undue influence over judicial appointments and decisions, leading to a judiciary that often appears to be an extension of the ruling party rather than an independent arbiter of justice. Kekere-Ekun must assert the independence of the judiciary by resisting any attempts at political interference. This includes standing firm against any pressure to deliver judgments that favour the government or powerful individuals. Upholding the sanctity of the judiciary requires courage, and Kekere-Ekun must demonstrate this by ensuring that justice is not only done but seen to be done.

Inconsistent and contradictory judgments have plagued the Nigerian judiciary, leading to confusion and further eroding public trust. The Imo State governorship verdict, where a candidate who came fourth in the election was declared the winner, is a prime example of such inconsistencies. Despite her involvement in this disgraceful judicial faux pas, Kekere-Ekun must lead efforts to establish clear, consistent judicial precedents. This can be achieved by fostering a culture of rigorous legal reasoning and adherence to established legal principles among judges. The Supreme Court, under her leadership, must become a beacon of clarity and consistency in the interpretation of the law.

Restoring public confidence in the judiciary also requires rebuilding the relationship between the courts and the public. Kekere-Ekun must be proactive in engaging with civil society, the legal community, and the broader public to understand their concerns and expectations. Regular communication, transparency in court proceedings, and the inclusion of public input in judicial reforms can help bridge the gap between the judiciary and the people it serves. Additionally, addressing the long-standing issue of judicial delays, which frustrate litigants and contribute to the perception of inefficiency, should be a top priority.

Finally, Kekere-Ekun must recognize that her legacy will be defined by her ability to restore the Supreme Court's reputation. This requires not only delivering justice but also ensuring that the court is above reproach. She must take a firm stand against any form of corruption within the judiciary, and her actions must reflect a commitment to ethical standards that inspire confidence. Her pledge to restore public confidence must be matched by tangible actions that address the systemic issues within the judiciary.

In conclusion, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun's appointment as acting Chief Justice of Nigeria presents both a challenge and an opportunity. While her past decisions have cast a shadow over her reputation, her tenure as CJN offers a chance to turn the tide and restore the judiciary's standing. The road to redemption is long and fraught with obstacles, but with bold reforms, a commitment to transparency, and a steadfast defense of judicial independence, Kekere-Ekun can lay the foundation for a judiciary that the Nigerian people can once again trust and respect.

Members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), better known as Shi’ites, have clashed with the police in Abuja.

The brawl occurred on Sunday at the Wuse area of the federal capital territory (FCT) during the Arba’een symbolic trek observed by IMN members.

In a statement, Josephine Adeh, FCT police spokesperson, claimed members of the group attacked and killed two officers.

The police spokesperson added that three officers were rushed to the hospital for medical attention after the incident.

“The FCT police command wishes to confirm an unprovoked attack by the proscribed Islamic Movement of Nigeria, popularly known as the ‘Shi’ite’ group, on some personnel of the Nigeria Police Force attached to FCT command at Wuse Junction by traffic light, where two (2) police personnel were killed, three left unconscious in the hospital, and three (3) Police patrol vehicles set ablaze,” the statement reads.

“The proscribed organisation attacked the police checkpoint unprovoked, wielding machetes, improvised explosive devices (locally made bombs in bottles with kerosene), and knives.”

Adeh said several arrests have been made, adding that normalcy has returned to the area.

‘NUMEROUS MEMBERS KILLED’

In a statement, Sidi Mainasara, spokesperson of IMN, alleged that police killed “numerous members” of the group during the procession.

“We wish to inform the public that police have attacked the ongoing Arba’een Symbolic Trek at Wuse District in Abuja and killed numerous mourners. While trying to disperse the Arbaeen Trek, the police killed and injured numerous mourners,” the statement reads.

“Presently, security agents are busy arresting the Arbaeen Trek mourners.

“Medical practitioners are attending to those critically injured, and details of those killed, injured, and arrested will be made available to members of the press in due course.

“Before the commencement of the trek, we have searched all participants to ensure no infiltration, and the programme will end as scheduled.

“The Arbeen Trek that was conducted yesterday at Masaka and Zuba axis ended peacefully and successfully.”

The Cable

Israel and Hezbollah in major missile exchange as escalation fears grow

Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel early on Sunday, as Israel's military said it struck Lebanon with around 100 jets to thwart a larger attack, in one of the biggest clashes in more than 10 months of border warfare.

Missiles were visible curling up through the dawn sky, dark vapour trails behind them, as an air raid siren sounded in Israel and a distant blast lit the horizon, while smoke rose over houses in Khiam in southern Lebanon.

On Sunday evening, sirens sounded in Rishon Letsiyon, central Israel, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said, and added that one projectile had been identified crossing from the southern Gaza Strip and falling in an open area. The armed wing of Hamas said it had fired an "M90" rocket at Tel Aviv.

Any major spillover in the fighting, which began in parallel with the war in Gaza, risks morphing into a regional conflagration drawing in Hezbollah's backer Iran and Israel's main ally the United States.

With three deaths confirmed in Lebanon and one in Israel, both sides indicated they were happy to avoid further escalation for now, but warned that there could be more strikes to come.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the Iranian-backed group's barrage, a reprisal for the assassination of senior commander Fuad Shukr last month, had been completed "as planned".

However, the group would assess the impact of its strikes and "if the result is not enough, then we retain the right to respond another time", he said.

Israel's foreign minister said the country did not seek a full-scale war, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned: "This is not the end of the story."

Earlier, Netanyahu had said: "We are determined to do everything we can to defend our country ... whoever harms us - we harm him".

The two sides have exchanged messages that neither wants to escalate further, with the main gist being that the exchange was "done", two diplomats told Reuters.

Expectations of an escalation had risen since a missile strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights last month killed 12 youths and the Israeli military assassinated Shukr in Beirut in response.

Hezbollah had delayed its retaliation to give time for ceasefire talks, and had calibrated its attack to avoid triggering a full-scale war, a Hezbollah official said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the presence of two aircraft carrier strike groups in the Middle East, bolstering the U.S. military presence. Earlier, top U.S. General C.Q. Brown arrived in Israel for talks with military leaders.

Meanwhile in Gaza, the Israeli offensive continued, with air strikes killing at least five Palestinians in Gaza City early on Monday, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

There was no agreement in the Gaza ceasefire talks that took place in Cairo, with neither Hamas nor Israel agreeing to several compromises presented by mediators, although a senior U.S. official, described the talks as "constructive" and said the process would continue in the coming days.

DENSE BOMBARDMENT

Israel's air strikes started before Hezbollah began its barrage, Nasrallah said. Netanyahu said these "pre-emptive" strikes had foiled a much larger Hezbollah barrage but Nasrallah said they had had little impact.

Hezbollah's own rocket and drone strikes were focused on an intelligence base near Tel Aviv, Nasrallah said. Netanyahu said all the drones targeting what he called a strategic location in central Israel were intercepted.

A security source in Lebanon said at least 40 Israeli strikes had hit various towns in the country's south in one of the densest bombardments since hostilities began in October.

Hezbollah said the strikes killed two of its fighters in al-Tiri. The Hezbollah-allied Shi'ite Muslim group Amal said a strike on Khiam killed one of its fighters.

Israel's military said a naval soldier was killed and two wounded.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, met cabinet ministers at a session of the national emergency committee.

Flights to and from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv were suspended for around 90 minutes. Some flights to and from Beirut were also halted, stranding passengers.

WARNING SIRENS

In northern Israel, warning sirens sounded and explosions were heard in several areas as Israel's Iron Dome aerial defence system shot down rockets coming from southern Lebanon.

"Israel should, as it did this morning, deliver a pre-emptive strike. But if Hezbollah continues, Israel should strike very hard to remove the threat from Hezbollah once and for all," said Yuval Peleg, 73, from Haifa.

A resident of the southern Lebanese town of Zibqeen told Reuters he had awakened "to the sound of planes and the loud explosions of rockets - even before the dawn prayer. It felt like the apocalypse."

The White House said U.S. President Joe Biden was following events. "We will keep supporting Israel's right to defend itself, and we will keep working for regional stability," National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was "deeply concerned" by the escalation between Israel and Hezbollah and called on both parties to immediately return to a cessation of hostilities, his spokesperson said.

Egypt and Jordan also warned against escalation.

The United States was not involved in Israel's strikes on Sunday, but provided some intelligence about incoming Hezbollah attacks, a U.S. official said.

Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel immediately after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas gunmen on Israel. Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire constantly ever since, while avoiding a major escalation as war rages in Gaza to the south.

That precarious balance appeared to shift after the strike in the Golan Heights, for which Hezbollah denied responsibility, and the subsequent assassination of Shukr, one of Hezbollah's most senior military commanders.

Shukr's death in an air strike was quickly followed by the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which led to vows of reprisals against Israel by Iran.

Reuters