Freed hostages bring signs of life from depths of Gaza tunnels

Families of some Israeli hostages in Gaza have received signs of life from their loved ones for the first time in more than a year via captives who have been freed over the past weeks in the ceasefire deal with Hamas.

The messages, along with reports of their harsh conditions in captivity, have been carried by some of the 19 Israeli hostages freed so far in the ceasefire that took effect on January 19.

While the reports have strengthened the families' hope to reunite with their relatives, they have also filled them with dread over their wellbeing. The emaciated appearance of three of the hostages freed on February 8 have only added to their fears.

Signs of life have come so far from at least 10 hostages who were among the 251 kidnapped during Hamas' October 7 attack on southern Israel, which triggered the Gaza war.

Among them is Elkana Bohbut, 35, seized from the Nova music festival. A video of him bound and with a bloody face circulated on social media within hours of his abduction.

Almost 500 days after, through a freed hostage with whom he was being held in a Gaza tunnel, he asked his wife Rivka to listen every day to an Israeli pop song called "Warrior" and draw strength from it.

"500 terrible days have passed, and this week, thank God, we received a sign of life. Elkana is alive but suffering in inhuman conditions," said Rivka Bohbot, before she quoted the song back to him on Saturday.

"I promise you that we will not stop until you come back. We will never give up on you. Don't break, my beloved. Soon you will be home. Soon the nightmare will be over," she said, crying and smiling on the stage of a weekly hostage rally in Tel Aviv.

Another hostage who got a message out was 24-year-old pianist Alon Ohel, seized from a roadside bomb shelter where he had fled to from the Nova festival.

His mother Idit said he is being held injured and shackled in a tunnel, living off one piece of bread a day. But he still managed to send his sister a happy birthday message through one of the freed hostages, she said on Tuesday.

"It was wonderful," she said as she broke into tears. "To hear from her brother, which is incredible to have that on her birthday."

"500-DAY-LONG NIGHTMARE"

Marking 500 days of captivity hostage families and their supporters held a day of protests across Israel, calling for the release of the 73 captives still in Gaza.

Two of them are Gali and Ziv Berman, 27, twin brothers kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, who are not among the 14 hostages slated for release in the first and ongoing phase of the ceasefire.

Their family recently received confirmation that they are still alive, after last hearing that in November 2023, from hostages freed in a brief truce, their aunt Makabit Mayer told Reuters on Monday at Israel's parliament where she was speaking to lawmakers as part of the 500-day protests.

"The difficulty is unbearable. It's an ongoing nightmare but the sign of life certainly breathed life into our lungs, it has given us air to breath. But since we know whose hands they are in, we know it can change at any moment," Mayer said.

A spokesman for Hamas' armed wing said in January that the militant group maintains the wellbeing of its captives

Another hostage is Omri Miran, 47, who was last seen alive in April, in a video released by the militants holding him. He was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, in front of his wife and two little daughters.

"(It has been) 500 days that I wake up every morning and am still in October 7," said Omri's wife, Lishay Lavi Miran. "We don't want a sign of life. We want Omri to come back alive, here, to be with us."

Though it is painful for her when their three-and-a-half-year-old daughter wakes up every morning and asks when her daddy is coming home, she said, the family will not give up. "We always have hope. We can't be without hope," said Miran.

The hostages were taken in the Hamas-led cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, which also killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, and laid waste to much of the enclave even as the hostages remained in captivity.

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Putin aide clarifies Moscow’s approach to US talks

High-level Russian and US delegations will hold talks in Riyadh without the participation of third countries, President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov has said. Earlier on Monday, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky stated that Kiev would treat any negotiations without its involvement as “null and void.”

According to Ushakov, the discussions in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday aim to lay the groundwork for ending the conflict in Ukraine.

“The talks in Riyadh will be bilateral – between Russia and the United States,” Ushakov confirmed.

The Russian delegation will include Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and himself, stated Ushakov. Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive of the sovereign wealth fund (RDIF), may also join, he added. Created in 2011, the fund aims to attract direct investments and venture capital into Russia.

The American side will be represented by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz, and Steve Witkoff, special envoy for the Middle East.

EU diplomats will not be present at the meeting. Kellogg recently argued that involving multiple parties in the negotiations could hinder its progress.

Kiev will not recognize any agreements that may be reached between Russia and the US during talks in Saudi Arabia, Zelensky told journalists on Monday. The Ukrainian government will only acknowledge negotiations that involve its representatives, he said.

The talks in Riyadh follow a phone call between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, during which the two leaders agreed to initiate negotiations to end the nearly three-year conflict.

Riyadh has previously facilitated prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine and maintains diplomatic relations with both nations. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov explained that the location was selected because it suited both countries.

The RDIF has been actively involved in initiatives within the BRICS group of emerging economies, which includes Russia, China, India and Brazil, among others. Saudi Arabia was invited to join the bloc in 2023, and has engaged in discussions regarding potential membership. However, it has yet to make a final decision.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

US Ukraine envoy Kellogg says no one will impose peace deal on Zelenskiy

Keith Kellogg, U.S. President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy, said on Monday that no one would impose a peace deal on Kyiv and that questions about whether Washington would provide guarantees for any future European peacekeepers would be addressed later.

Senior U.S. officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio - but not Kellogg - are due to meet on Tuesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for talks focused on ending the war in Ukraine and on Russia-U.S. ties.

Kellogg, who said he would visit Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv this week, told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels that nobody would impose a deal "on an elected leader of a sovereign nation".

He also reiterated that he was speaking with European allies, who have been pushing to be included in negotiations, but that in his view it was not feasible to have everyone sitting at the table.

European officials have been shocked by the Trump administration’s moves in recent days to court Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago, triggering a barrage of Western sanctions and ostracism.

Washington has sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv, adding urgency to discussions among European allies on how to respond to changing U.S. policy.

The leaders of France, Britain, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands as well as top officials from NATO and the European Union were holding an emergency meeting in Paris on Monday.

Britain, Sweden and Germany said they were open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, given a clear and acceptable mandate. Many officials have stressed they would only consider sending troops to Ukraine if the U.S. provided a security guarantee.

Asked whether the U.S. would do this, Kellogg said: "I've been with President Trump, and the policy has always been: You take no options off the table."

"Before any type of discussion and security guarantees is finalised, of course those discussions are going to take place," he said. "Answers to those questions will be determined as you come up with the final process."

RT/Reuters

I could not be at Calabar for the  interment activities and ceremony of our own Benedicta Madunagu, eminent professor of Botany, the one we reverentially called Comrade Bene, wife of our elder and respected Marxist; one half of the revolutionary couple we have come to adore all these years; and a foremost revolutionary intellectual in her own right! Yet, as I surveyed the solid national list of those who chose to stand up to be counted for the Madunagus' at the burial, and for Bene personally even before her passing, that I could not but reach the conclusion about the continuing veracity of the contention that doing good is the only reliable way of ultimately expecting some sense of good. Here was Bene, with her corpse laid out in the coffin for burial, attracting and commanding the attention of hundreds, if not thousands, of her compatriots who not only continued to value her positive deeds while alive, but were witnesses to her extraordinary commitment to human values and the love of humanity in general.

Bene was not in a position to force anybody to stand up for her or to identify with her at death. But as our people would say, a good name has always been better than gold and silver and good deeds speak for us more than anything else after we must have passed. The compelling reason why many chose to stand up for her and identify with her and her family at her death and burial was the simple fact that she lived a committed life that positively touched many while alive. In the last analysis and in spite of the tendency to believe that humans do not necessarily set great store by the good deeds of others, here we saw them remembering and valuing the humanistic commitment and great deeds of Bene and coming out forcefully and prominently to identify with her and acknowledge and pay obeisance to the memories of such good works. This would be in contradistinction to the argument I was making on these pages last week about the joke of humans believing that they could profit from bad action and behaviour even where it has been proven that all bad actors and actions come to bad end in the end as nature’s recompense for the negative effect of the badness inflicted on the rest of the society. The same way that good works would not go unrewarded in the last analysis as elements come together to acknowledge the good effects of such work on the society.

Perhaps to borrow from the Scriptures, there would come a time, in every location and in every single instance, that we would see the distinction between those who do good and those who do bad. All we need to do is to be critically observant, to be able to apprehend the minutiae of life, and see as the elements coalesce to punish bad actors and actions and at the same time reward good actors and actions. Sometimes it would look like good deeds are meaningless in a world largely populated and defined by badness. But that would mean to miss the essence of the teachings of history about nature’s correction of badness and its extolling of goodness in the long run. Goodness ultimately begets goodness and badness ends up badly within the same parameters of natural scheme of things.

The lesson in all this is that Bene lived a life of commitment to values and ideals and principles and love of humanity and all these did not go unnoticed, unacknowledged, unappreciated and were not taken for granted by her compatriots. Good deeds have a way of speaking out for us boldly and courageously in the long run, and attracting the best elements of nature to help us and come to our rescue at every point in time, even at the worst of times. Bene played the good part and we saw goodness following her even at death. Her commitment and values did not go down in vain after her passing. She was adjudged and continued to be adjudged a quintessential humanist by almost all and this would mean treating her memories with respect and adoration. She played her role well and for this we are all grateful to God for her life. Our own dear Comrade, continue to sleep well after such a remarkable life of commitment!

** Olaitan, Professor of Political Science, was Vice-Chancellor, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State.

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Megan Sauer

You might think OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, head of the company that makes ChatGPT, uses artificial intelligence chatbots in highly complex ways.

Not necessarily, according to Altman himself. “I use [AI] in the boring ways,” he told Wharton organizational psychologist Adam Grant’s “ReThinking” podcast, in an episode that published last month. “I use it for like, ‘Help me process all of this email’ or ’Help me summarize this document.”

Altman is in good company: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, whose company makes many of the high-powered computer chips that power AI large language models, primarily uses chatbots to help him write first drafts, he said at a Wired event in December. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, unsurprisingly, uses his Outlook’s AI features to organize and prioritize his inbox, he said at the Fast Company Innovation Festival 2024.

All three CEOs are market leaders in the AI industry — but their personal, day-to-day uses of AI seem pretty straightforward, much like other chatbot users across all job levels. The most common chatbot uses are coming up with ideas, consolidating information and automating basic tasks, according to a Gallup survey published last year.

It’ll take time for the technology to become more useful across a broad swath of industries, Altman said. The next step, he wrote in a January blog post: AI “agents,” built to automatically complete multi-step tasks off a single user prompt.

OpenAI publicly launched an agentic AI model, a ChatGPT feature called Operator, last month. The company says Operator can automate taskssuch as planning vacations, filling out forms, making restaurant reservations and ordering groceries.

Google released its own agentic AI product last week, and other technology companies in the AI arms race — like Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Anthropic — are reportedly developing their own versions.

“Imagine that this agent will eventually be capable of doing most things a software engineer at a top company with a few years of experience could do,” wrote Altman. “It will not have the biggest new ideas, it will require lots of human supervision and direction, and it will be great at some things but surprisingly bad at others.”

It’s unclear how long it could take those agents to become commonplace at most people’s offices. Only about 13% of U.S. employees currently use AI at work, according to a January McKinsey and Company report.

CNBC

Nigerians have called on the Federal Government to conduct fresh tests to confirm the quality of petrol sold in filling stations across the country.

This came amid allegations from a viral video that the petrol from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited doesn’t last long in fuel tanks.

This is even as the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria said the fuel from the NNPC is of the quality standard.

On Saturday, the NNPC denied claims that it sells substandard petrol with a high burn rate. In a statement by its spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, the NNPC said it was reacting to a viral video claiming that its petrol does not last long when used.

Our correspondent reports that a video had surfaced online where a content creator claimed he bought a litre of Dangote petrol from MRS filling station in Alapere, Lagos at N925 and the same litre from NNPC in Ojodu Berger at the rate of N945.

According to him, he poured the fuel into separate power generators and the one running on NNPC fuel stopped after 17 minutes while the Dangote petrol lasted until 30 minutes.

But the NNPC said the petrol purchased from its filling station in Ojodu Berger was from the Dangote refinery, a claim that was denied by some officials of the refinery who wondered why the NNPC dragged the refinery into the controversy.

“The NNPC Ltd strongly refutes the false and misleading allegations made in a viral video circulating online, which claims that NNPC fuel does not last. This assertion is baseless and entirely unfounded, originating from unverified and amateur research that lacks credibility, accuracy, and professional oversight,” the statement said.

“It is important to emphasise that a significant percentage of Premium Motor Spirit sold at NNPC retail stations in Lagos—where this deceptive video was created—is sourced from the Dangote Refinery, a strategic partner in promoting local production and energy security. Dangote Refinery adheres to strict industry standards, guaranteeing the quality of petroleum products supplied to our consumers,” the NNPC declared.

Reacting via various social media platforms, Nigerians said the claim in the video should be investigated even as they queried why the NNPC still sources fuel from the Dangote refinery when the Port Harcourt refinery is producing.

Calls were also made to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council and the NNPC to carry out similar experiments to ascertain the burn rate of NNPC petrol.

@Walemicaiah reacted to the experiment carried out by the content creator, saying: “It is actually one of the easiest experiments anyone can try. You don’t even need two generators – and that would speak better than anything.

“It is in the interest of the public and the FCCPC can indeed supervise this. Again, nothing bad once it checks quality expectation.”

@momolesho, an X user doubted the accuracy of the test: “That doesn’t mean that research is accurate because you cannot say all conditions are the same. Two generators were used. You need to use the same generator and make sure they are at optimal working conditions, that is, service the generator after each use. Use a better generator like Honda.”

Corroborating this, @wisebrown stated: “You are correct. That’s Research 101. The two carburetors might not be working at the same rate even though they are both new. The two engines might not have the same setting. With just these two reasons, the same fuel might burn at different rates in both generators.”

However, many said they have tested the fuel from both companies and they know the one with the lower burn rate.

@Bokanbature1 argued: “All that needs to be done is to switch fuel type and the two generators to get a more objective assessment. Either way, MRS fuel will trump the NNPC fuel, talking from personal experience.”

@adelacuna said: “NNPC should simply replicate the experiment and stop threatening their consumers.” Also, Fola Opeyemi asked the NNPC to carry out its test. “NNPC, you people should carry out your own experiments and show us the result. It is as simple as ABC,” Opeyemi submitted.

Another netizen, Sizzle, commented, “This ends the Dangote fuel discussions. We were all right. Dangote fuel lasts considerably longer. Can you imagine the difference?”

PETROAN backs NNPC

Meanwhile, PETROAN refuted the claim that the NNPC sells substandard fuel.

Following the viral video, PETROAN said it conducted rigorous testing on NNPC petroleum products and confirmed that they meet the highest industry standards.

“As part of our oversight function in the Nigeria Petroleum Industry, PETROAN engages independent standard laboratories to test and verify the quality of petroleum products before lifting from any depot or refinery. Our comprehensive tests include flash point, density, viscosity, sulfur content, water content, and ash content tests.

“The results of these tests are satisfactory, demonstrating that NNPC petroleum products meet and exceed the required industry standards. Specifically, the flash point test exceeds the minimum requirement, indicating a low risk of ignition. Density test meets prescribed density standards, ensuring optimal engine performance and fuel efficiency. The viscosity test falls within an acceptable range, ensuring smooth engine operation and minimising wear and tear.

“The sulfur content test meets regulatory limits, reducing the risk of engine corrosion and environmental pollution, and the water content test is well below the maximum allowable limit, ensuring fuel stability and preventing engine problems,” the association said in a statement on Sunday by its spokesman, Joseph Obele, who stressed that the ash content test meets regulatory limits, reducing the risk of engine wear and tear.

He added that the association is confident in the quality of petroleum products supplied by NNPCL, which he said adheres to strict industry standards.

“PETROAN encourages healthy competition among industry players, focusing on improving products and services, investing in research and development, and prioritising customer satisfaction. We promote fair competition and support the growth of the downstream petroleum sector in Nigeria,” he stated.

Punch

In a move that has sparked widespread criticism, senior Nigerian government officials, including the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, and other top military officers, applied for visas to attend the Invictus Winter Games in Canada. The delegation, comprising over 70 officials, was denied visas by the Canadian Embassy, leading to a heated exchange between Nigerian officials and the Canadian High Commission.

The controversy has drawn sharp criticism from former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Chidi Odinkalu, who lambasted the Nigerian officials for their actions. Odinkalu questioned the rationale behind sending such a large delegation to a winter games event in Canada, a country with a climate vastly different from Nigeria's tropical environment. He also raised concerns about the timing of the trip, given Nigeria's ongoing economic crisis and severe insecurity.

"How does anyone justify a delegation of over 70 officers led by the CDS to the Invictus Winter Games? When did Nigeria start doing winter?!" Odinkalu remarked in a series of posts on his X page. He further criticized the officials for applying for visas without the knowledge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, calling the move "foolish and irresponsible."

Odinkalu also took issue with the government's response to the visa denials, describing it as "disgraceful." Instead of acknowledging the mistake and apologizing, senior cabinet members, led by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, have chosen to lash out at the Canadian High Commission. "Instead of abusing the Canadian High Commission, the Nigerian government owes them an apology," Odinkalu stated. He called for an investigation into the matter and consequences for those responsible for the embarrassment.

It would be recalled that National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu expressed his anger over the visa denials during the inaugural annual lecture of the National Association of the Institute for Security Studies (AANISS) in Abuja. Ribadu commended the CDS for his candor in revealing the visa denials and delivered a pointed response: "Thank you for the courage to say Canada denied you visas. They can go to hell."

The incident has raised questions about the priorities of Nigerian government officials, particularly in the context of the country's economic challenges. Critics argue that the resources and attention devoted to such a large delegation could have been better utilized to address pressing domestic issues. The visa denials have also highlighted the need for greater accountability and transparency in government actions, especially when it comes to international engagements.

As the controversy continues to unfold, many Nigerians are calling for a reevaluation of the government's priorities and a more responsible approach to managing the country's resources and international relations.

The local unit of Heineken NV, Nigerian Breweries, continued its FX-induced lossmaking for the second year last year as the manufacturer posted N144.9 billion in net loss after a devaluation of the naira last January caused its reporting currency to slump substantially.

It recorded the negative bottom line even though sales improved by 80.8 per cent, taking revenue to a new milestone of N1.1 trillion, according to its audited accounts issued on Friday.

The direct cost of production for the beer and non-alcoholic beverages maker rose to 70.5 per cent of turnover from 64.5 per cent as the cost of imported raw materials eroded revenue.

CEO Hans Essaadi said in April 2023 that imports accounted for almost half of Nigerian Breweries’ input costs, leaving it at the mercy of exchange rate swings.

The spending on raw materials and consumables more than doubled to N615.5 billion during the review period, underscoring the gravity of FX pressures.

“Foreign exchange volatility and limited access to foreign capital created additional hurdles for businesses, while the lingering effects of the fuel subsidy removal and Naira devaluation significantly increased operating costs across industries,” the company stated in its earnings release.

The consumer goods giant said it used the proceeds of its last year’s rights issue to “significantly reduce future currency risks.”

Naira, its reporting currency, saw one of its worst outings in years last year when it shed roughly 41 per cent of its value, complicating matters for import-dependent businesses already grappling with sky-high price levels.

Net loss on foreign exchange transactions stood at N157.6 billion, 2.8 per cent higher than a year ago.

But the reverberations of its foreign exchange woes even went far beyond its base Nigeria.

“Net revenue (beia) was dampened by a negative translation impact of €1,656 million, or 5.5%, mainly due to the devaluation of the Nigerian Naira, and depreciation of the Brazilian Real and Mexican Peso,” the parent Heineken remarked in its own financial report issued on Wednesday.

Heineken acknowledged Nigeria as one of the markets that drove a 1.6 per cent increase in its beer volume globally last year.

Net finance costs stood at N252.8 billion, up from N189.2 billion a year ago. Loss before tax went higher by one-fifth to N182.9 billion.

Last June, Nigerian Breweries announced the acquisition of an 80 per cent stake in Distell Nigeria, helping it branch out into the manufacturing of wines and spirits.

PT

PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc says it will convert a N51.79 billion ($34,26 million) intercompany loan from its UK-based parent company, PZ Cussons Holdings (PZCH), into equity as part of a financial restructuring.

In a document published on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Saturday, but dated February 13, 2025, the company said 2.19 billion new ordinary shares at N23.60 per share will be issued to PZCH.

The move was approved at a special board meeting on February 13.

According to the manufacturer of personal healthcare products, the conversion will increase PZ Cussons Nigeria’s share capital from N1.99 billion to N3.08 billion.

PZ Cussons said the decision is aimed at reducing the debt burden of the company and strengthening its financial position amid economic challenges in Nigeria.

However, the move is subject to shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) scheduled for March 13, 2025.

PZ Cussons said the conversion will further create value for shareholders and other stakeholders for several reasons.

“Strengthening the balance sheet allows future operating cash flows to be allocated more strategically towards value-creating opportunities that align with the Company’s growth objectives,” the company said.

“It will materially reduce the Company’s exposure to foreign exchange risk and its potential impact on Company earnings, thus reducing future foreign exchange losses and further deterioration of the Company’s net asset position.

“It will improve the Company’s financial ratios, such as debt-to-equity and coverage ratios, potentially enhancing the Company’s financial standing and creditworthiness.”

Also, PZ Cussons said the conversion will help restore it to a positive net asset position.

WHY PZ CUSSONS IS CONVERTING DEBT TO EQUITY

PZ Cussons said PZCH provided a $40.26 million intercompany loan to its Nigerian subsidiary in June 2022 to settle outstanding foreign currency payables.

The loan was intended to cover costs related to raw material imports, operations, and other expenses.

The company said the funding became necessary due to limited foreign exchange availability, which made it difficult to meet its obligations.

However, the liberalisation of Nigeria’s foreign exchange market in June 2023, followed by the continued depreciation of the naira, significantly impacted the company’s financial position.

“The Naira value of its foreign currency-denominated loans has increased significantly, resulting in an unrealised exchange loss of N157.9 billion, a loss after tax of N76.0 billion, and a negative shareholders’ equity position of N27.5 billion for the financial year ended May 31, 2024,” the company said.

Despite strong operational growth — reporting a 34 percent revenue increase for the full financial year ending May 2024 and 42 percent for the half-year period ending November 2024 — further naira depreciation has continued to erode profits.

“The adverse revaluation impact on the foreign currency loans has resulted in losses after tax and a worsened negative net equity position of N34.5 billion as of November 30, 2024,” PZ Cussons said.

“The Board and PZCH, after extensive discussions, agree that the conversion of a portion of the outstanding loan amounting to $34.26 million into equity is the most efficient option to strengthen the company’s balance sheet and significantly reduce exposure to further foreign exchange losses.”

The company said following the conversion, the remaining shareholder loan balance of $6 million will remain payable.

The Cable

Seven innocent civilians were said to have been killed by a military airstrike that hit Yauni community, Zakka ward of Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State.

Daily Trust gathered that three other security personnel, including two police officers and an operative of the state owned Community Watch Corps (CWC), were earlier killed in a gun duel with bandits.

A resident who pleaded anonymity told our reporter that the incident was as a result of the local government election which took place on Saturday.

The bandits had reportedly planned to attack voters in Zakka village.

However, having heard of their plan, the security agents reportedly moved to avert its execution which led to exchange of fire with the bandits during which a police officer and a CWC operative lost their lives, while a third police officer who sustained injury later died.

“It was after that incident that the military fighter jet, which most likely came to offer reinforcement, dropped a bomb at Yauni community, south of Zakka, which led to the death of six members of a family, while one woman sustained injuries,” the source said.

This is not the first time in which Katsina residents would lose their lives in accidental airstrikes.

In July, 2022, at least two persons were killed after a military fighter jet dropped a bomb in Kunkunni village of same Safana Local Government Area.

All efforts to get reaction regarding the Saturday’s attack from the police and military proved abortive.

Daily Trust

Saudi Arabia spearheads Arab scramble for alternative to Trump's Gaza plan

Saudi Arabia is spearheading urgent Arab efforts to develop a plan for Gaza's future as a counter to U.S. President Donald Trump's ambition for a Middle East Riviera cleared of its Palestinian inhabitants, 10 sources said.

Draft ideas will be discussed at a meeting in Riyadh this month of countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Proposals may involve a Gulf-led reconstruction fund and a deal to sideline Hamas, five of the people said.

Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies were aghast at Trump's plan to "clean out" Palestinians from Gaza and resettle most of them in Jordan and Egypt, an idea immediately rejected by Cairo and Amman and seen in most of the region as deeply destabilising.

The dismay in Saudi Arabia was aggravated, sources said, because the plan would nix the kingdom's demand for a clear path to Palestinian statehoodas a condition to normalise ties with Israel - something that would also pave the way for an ambitious military pact between Riyadh and Washington, shoring up the kingdom's defences against Iran.

Reuters spoke to 15 sources in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and elsewhere to build a picture of the hurried efforts by Arab states to pull together existing proposals into a new plan they can sell to the U.S. president - even potentially calling it a "Trump plan" to win his approval.

All the sources declined to be identified because the issue involves international or domestic sensitivities and they were not authorised to speak in public.

One Arab government source said at least four proposals had already been drafted for Gaza's future, but an Egyptian proposal was now emerging as central to the Arab push for an alternative to Trump's idea.

THE EGYPTIAN PROPOSAL

The latest Egyptian proposal involves forming a national Palestinian committee to govern Gaza without Hamas involvement, international participation in reconstruction without displacing Palestinians abroad, and movement towards a two-state solution, three Egyptian security sources said.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Palestinian representatives will review and discuss the plan in Riyadh before it is presented at a scheduled Arab summit on February 27, the Arab government source said.

The role of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, widely known as MbS, is shaping up to be key.

"We are telling the Americans we have a plan that works. Our meeting with MbS is going to be critical. He is taking the lead," said a Jordanian official.

The crown prince had a warm relationship with the first Trump administration and is increasingly central to Arab ties with the United States during the new Trump era.

Long a major regional partner for the United States, the crown prince is expanding Saudi Arabia's relationship through business and global power politics.

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund is holding a conference in Miami this month that Reuters revealed Trump is expected to attend. Riyadh is also expected to host his coming talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to end the Ukraine war.

The White House did not respond to several requests for comment on this story.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking on Thursday, referred to the coming Arab meeting, saying: "Right now the only plan - they don't like it - but the only plan is the Trump plan. So if they've got a better plan, now's the time to present it."

Spokespeople for Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the UAE and Israel did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

BUFFER ZONE

Clear plans for Gaza's post-war future have already proven hard to develop as they require positions on contentious debates regarding the territory's internal governance, security management, funding and reconstruction.

Israel has already rejected any role for Hamas or the Palestinian Authority in governing Gaza, or ensuring security there. Arab countries and the United States have also said they do not want to put troops on the ground to do that.

Gulf states, which have historically paid for reconstruction in Gaza, have said they do not want to do so this time without guarantees that Israel will not again destroy what they build.

Jordan's King Abdullah emphasised to Trump on Monday at their meeting in the White House that he was working with Saudi Arabia and Egypt on a Gaza plan that would work, a Jordanian official said.

Abdullah said in televised comments after the meeting that the countries would review an Egyptian plan and "we will be in Saudi Arabia to discuss how we can work with the president and the United States".

Reuters could not immediately reach Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi for comment. After Abdullah's meeting with Trump, Safadi said: "We are now working on crystallising the Arab plan".

Initial proposals shared by the three Egyptian security sources relating to reconstruction and financing appear advanced.

A buffer zone and physical barrier would be erected to stop tunnels being built across Gaza's border with Egypt. As soon as rubble is removed, 20 areas would be established as temporary living zones. Around 50 Egyptian and other foreign companies would be brought in to carry out the work.

Financing would involve international and Gulf money, said a regional source with knowledge of the matter. A potential fund could be named the Trump Fund for Reconstruction, the Arab government official said.

However, the most difficult issues around Gaza's governance and internal security remain to be decided, the official said.

Forcing Hamas out of any role in Gaza would be critical, said the Arab official and the three Egyptian sources.

Hamas has previously said it is willing to cede government in Gaza to a national committee, but it would want a role in choosing its members and would not accept the deployment of any ground forces without its consent.

The three Egyptian sources said that while nothing in the plan was very new, they believed it was good enough to change Trump's mind and that it could be imposed on Hamas and the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas.

'NOT PLEASED'

Saudi annoyance over Gaza had already been building before Trump's announcement.

The kingdom had repeatedly said normalisation with Israel was conditional on a path to creating a Palestinian state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.

That stance hardened as Saudi public anger grew at the destruction and death in Gaza. In November, the crown prince publicly accused Israel of genocide during an Islamic summit and doubled down on the need for a two-state solution.

Frustration was running high in the kingdom over the ongoing war, two regional intelligence sources said.

Washington appeared ready to push past Riyadh's demand for two states. The day before his Gaza announcement, Trump was asked whether a normalisation deal could go ahead without a two-state solution. He said: "Saudi Arabia is going to be very helpful."

Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had held meetings in Riyadh in late January. Two senior diplomats said Witkoff laid out a three-month timeline for the normalisation process.

But Saudi frustration quickly turned into surprise and then anger when Trump announced his Gaza idea. "He is not pleased," a source close to the Saudi royal court said of Prince Mohammed's reaction.

The level of anger was quickly evident in state media broadcasts - which analysts say are often a measure of official Saudi viewpoints - with television news reports personally excoriating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"They are outraged," said Aziz Alghashian, a Saudi analyst familiar with official thinking, describing the mood among senior Saudi officials. "This is outrageous. More than frustration, this is on another level."

Many experts say Trump may be using an old bargaining ploy from his diplomatic playbook, setting out an extreme position as an opening gambit for negotiations. During his first term, he often issued what were widely seen as over-the-top foreign policy pronouncements, many of which never came to fruition.

Still, it has complicated the normalisation talks.

Former Saudi intelligence head Prince Turki al-Faisal, who holds no current role in the government, said in a CNN interview last week that if Trump visited Riyadh, "I'm sure he will get an earful from the leadership here".

Asked if he could see any prospect of normalisation talks advancing with Israel, he said: "Not at all".

Reuters