For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace ~ Isaiah 9:6.

Introduction

The usual greeting at this time of the year is: compliments of the season! It is Christmas Yuletide, well noted for great joy, merriment, exchange of lovely gifts, evergreen songs, highest degrees of pomp, etcetera. Hence, I join a host of gladsome hearts, globally, to say to you, very merry Christmas season!

Now, most people often think about Christmas as a single day’s event, commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, but it’s much more than that. It’s actually a season of a whole lifetime, celebrating the incarnation of God in Jesus the Christ.

Incarnation is the self-revelation of God to the world, whereby both His power and wisdom came to our planet earth and became human, just for the reconciliation of humanity to Himself (1Corinthians 1:24). It’s God partaking of human

nature so we can be partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Alleluia!

Jesus Christ Is Remarkably Wonderful!

Indeed, there are few words in the human diction, which can describe Jesus as perfectly as the word, “wonderful”! A wonder is generally suited to excite amazement and admiration, whether it be miraculous or not (Jeremiah 32:17).

“Wonderful” is usually applied to anything that is quite distinguished and distinctly great (Daniel 12:6). Thus, here it denotes the unusual and remarkable assemblage of qualities that distinguish the Messiah, and qualify Him as the Mighty God.

When we cast our minds upon the various “infallible proofs” of His unfailing goodness, ever-enduring mercy and unfathomable greatness, we cannot but marvel and declare that we serve the One who is, in all respects, wonderful.

However, the wonderfulness of Jesus Christ is intrinsic to His divine person, transcending the sheer awesomeness of the things that He did and still does. I believe this was what inspired the Psalmist to write: “thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone” (Psalm 86:10).

Even before the Master walked the shores of the earth, the wonder of His person was known to some people, by revelation. For example, when the Prophet Isaiah foretold the first coming of Jesus, he proclaimed that “His name shall be called Wonderful ....” (Isaiah 9:6).

All the attributes inherent in the other names alluded to in that prophetic proclamation – His guidance, His might, His everlasting love, the Peace He gives – are best summed up in one word: wonderful.

Likewise Daniel, while in the land of captivity, saw a revelation of Jesus and His glory and His dominion, which is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away (Daniel 7:14). What a wonder – a universal kingdom and dominion that knows no end!

Albeit, nothing tells the story of His wonder as much as His matchless love, which saw the omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient One voluntarily take on the human form and submit Himself to the death on the Cross. This is truly mind- blowing!

Jesus Christ Is The Unique Wonder of All Wonders!

Justly is Jesus Christ called Wonderful. He is both God and man. His love is the wonder of angels, and of glorified saints. Jesus Christ, in His being and in His works, is exalted above the ordinary course of nature.

He is wonderful in His person, and in the glory and beauty of it. It was a wonder that God gave Him for us, and that He came. He’s wonderful in His humility, self-denial, patience, conduct, courage, and greatness of soul.

His conception was wonderful. After His birth, the direction of the wise men to Him by a star, His preservation from Herod's cruelty, and His wisdom in disputation with the law-doctors in the temple at twelve years of age were all records of wonder.

His baptism in Jordan was a wonder. His victory over Satan’s temptations in the wilderness, His doctrines, His mighty works and His transfiguration on the mount were all wonderful.

Jesus was even wonderful in His death. By dying, He procured life for us. He abolished death, destroyed the devil and obtained eternal redemption for all mankind. At His death, there was a great earthquake, darkness fell upon the earth, and even the temple veil was supernaturally rent in two (Matthew 27-28).

Again, wonderful is His resurrection from the dead, and His ascension to heaven. His entrance into heaven is wonderful: He’s even now seated at the right hand of God interceding for us.

Yet, more wonderful will Jesus Christ be in His second coming. The trumpet will sound with the voice of the archangel, the dead will be raised, there will be the rapture of saints, followed by pronouncements and executions of distinct divine judgements. Please pause here, and ponder!

Jesus Christ is the Wonder of all generations. He’s the embodiment of all wonders over the ages. In His ordinances, His manifestations and His grace, now and hereafter, Jesus is wonderful in all content.

History is replete with various examples of the “almightiness” of Jesus Christ and His wondrous works. He fed five thousand with five loaves and two fish. He walked on water and calmed the storm. He healed the sick, raised the dead and cast out devils!

However, most amazing of all, He reproduces Himself and dwells within millions of believers across the earth. Thus, as believers today, we can experience and live as proxies of His wonder on the earth (Luke 17:21; 1Corinthians 3:16)!

No wonder then that we, His people, are for signs and wonders (Isaiah 8:18). He is not only "wonderful", but a "miracle of unfolding secret", revealed to believers through the mercy of God (Judges 13:17-18).

Yes indeed, Jesus Christ is the One who defies every adjective that we attempt to use in qualifying Him (Job 9:10). He is our wonderful kinsman-Redeemer.

He’s wonderful in all He is, in all He does, and in all that belongs unto Him. He’s the King of kings; He lives in us and we’re His viceroys on earth (1John 4:17).

Please, celebrate Him responsibly this season, building up yourself on your most holy faith. Surely, the One who is called “Wonderful” shall make you a wonder unto many, and you shall enjoy manifest goodness within and all around you! You won’t miss it, in Jesus name. Amen. Happy Sunday!

____________________

Bishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Connect with Bishop Akinola via these channels:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bishopakinola

SMS/WhatsApp: +234 802 318 4987

Is it good to go to school; get a good job; build your own house; and have lots of money? Not according to Jesus. These things are highly valued by men. But Jesus teaches that: “What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” (Luke 16:15).

Therefore, it is not surprising that Jesus had none of these accomplishments as a man. He did not go to school. He was a lowly carpenter. He did not build His own house. He was not a rich man.

In Jesus’ doctrine, the cares of this life are the preoccupations of Satan and men. This makes them offensive to God. Jesus told Peter: “Get behind me, Satan! You are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:23).

This means the things of men are the things of Satan. Jesus asked the chief priests of the Jews: “The baptism of John – where was it from? From heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25). If it is from heaven, then it cannot be from men.

God Is Good

Jesus says: “No one is good but One, that is, God.” (Matthew 19:17). This means only the things about the kingdom of God can be good. Everything about this world is evil. Those things that preoccupy us; going to school, getting good jobs, building houses, and making money, all pertain to this world and, as such, are evil and not of God.

God’s kingdom is not of this world. (John 18:36). Indeed, everything earthly is a human alternative to the will of God in heaven. Continued devotion to the things of this world militates against our desire to be with the Father in heaven and it is therefore evil.

Jesus says to His disciples: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:13).

This indicates He sees men as evil. To be good, men, whom Jesus also categorise as “the sons of this world,” have to become “the sons of light;” another word for sons of God. Sons of men must receive from Jesus the power to become sons of God. (John 1:12-13).

This requires all our affinities to men and to this world to be relinquished in favour of God and the kingdom of heaven. These include allegiances to the fatherland, to family and relatives, and race, sex, and creed.

Jesus is categorical: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26). He says furthermore: “Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33).

Relative and Absolute Evil

Men are consumed by the love of life, leading us to regard anything that threatens our life as evil. This makes us define evil erroneously in relative terms. If the enemy kills us, he is evil; but if we kill him, we are good.

However, God sees evil in absolute terms.

Jesus regards anything that undermines God’s will as evil. This makes man’s life the greatest evil of all. The love of life, expressed in our determination to enhance, promote, and safeguard our temporal condition, commands our allegiance even above the first and greatest commandment to love God with all our heart.

Therefore, Jesus regards man’s love of life as the root of all evil and the basis of every sin. Indeed, we steal, cheat, fight, kill and commit adultery to save our lives. We only overcome sin by hating our lives.   

Re-definition of Evil

Jesus reveals that the love of life makes men the enemies of God. He tells us that God has made the hatred of life in this world the primary prerequisite for the attainment of eternal life. Jesus says: “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25).

Thereby, Jesus redefines evil. Since men esteem their lives more than anything else, Jesus defines everything that diminishes our life in this world as good. He requires us to take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions and in distresses. For when we are weak, then we are strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Poverty becomes a blessing. Jesus says: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” (Luke 6:20). He also categorises adversities as a blessing: “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” 

(Luke 6:21).

He says: “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.” (Luke 6:22).

Correspondingly, Jesus tells us not to bother to resist evil anymore: “I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matthew 5:39). He insists we must love our enemies: “I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44).

Moreover, Jesus says we should not fear death: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.” (Luke 12:4). Death becomes something good because it leads to our reunification with the Father in heaven: “If you loved me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father.’” (John 14:28). But life is evil because it keeps us away from God.

Evil Misnomer

The problem with the love of life is that men are unaware that it is sinful. If we love life, we will automatically love sin. The love of life militates against the love of God. It blinds men to the truth about good and evil.

Indeed, we define our righteousness by the extent to which we love and promote life; the very thing God hates. To understand good and evil from God’s perspective, we must first break free from the bondage of the love of life.

The love of life prompts us to eat from the God-forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Everything we make and do has evil and good in it simultaneously. Every good medicine for healing sicknesses has bad side effects. The plane that carries us from Cape to Cairo sometimes falls from the sky and crashes.

We make so-called “evil things” like the atom bomb and the machine gun; and “good things” like the airplane and the aspirin. But both our “good” and “bad” products are evil in God’s sight because they are of the world and not of God.

Accordingly, John counsels: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world.” (1 John 2:15-16).

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; www.femiaribisala.com 

Over the past several decades, there have been many supporting studies of the health-promoting effects of an optimistic personality. Much research has been done on the connection between a high level of optimism and good health, described well in clinical psychologists Burel R. Goodin and Hailey W. Bulls' 2014 research paper, appropriately titled, “Optimism and the Experience of Pain: Benefits of Seeing the Glass as Half Full.” The authors state that optimism “is linked to both enhanced physiological recovery and psychosocial adjustment to coronary artery bypass surgery, bone marrow transplant, postpartum depression, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer’s disease, lung cancer, breast cancer, and failed in vitro fertilization.”

Newer research demonstrates that high levels of hope have been found to be related to lower levels of pain, psychological distress, and functional disability in patients with chronic illnesses. I notice these associations daily when I see patients, and so my clinical style is to be an optimist. I don’t want to give false hope, but I think a major role of a physician is to educate patients about the possibilities for treating their diseases, both those that are available now and those that may be available in the near future. I know it is demoralizing as a patient to feel out of control, but by ensuring patients understand what is going on, I hope I can at least reduce some stress—and perhaps even enable them to have a better outcome through their new optimism.

This is not to say there’s no value in grief and feeling glum. Forced optimism can backfire when too much inauthentic positivity leads to denialism and hiding dark emotions that demand we process them. Your mood and general outlook on life are not mutually exclusive. But the two do interact to help determine your overall personality and approach to life in response to positive or negative events. Unsurprisingly, this is also true for other members of the animal kingdom, particularly for pigs and squirrels.

In fact, the domestic pig is an interesting animal to study and compare with humans in terms of the way they process happiness and pain. Pigs are among a growing list of research subjects in the relatively young scientific field of animal personality. Pigs share a number of cognitive capacities with humans, such as self-awareness, experiencing emotions, and playfulness. Studies on the domestic pig tell us that mood and personality interact to influence thinking, how our biases come into play within our environment, and decision-making. And therein lies a key word: environment. It turns out that our environments can make or break our moods (and those of pigs).

In pigs, personality is frequently measured by watching how the animals cope under different circumstances. Pigs that are deemed proactive, characterized by more active and consistent behavior, are not the same as reactive pigs that behave more passively and erratically. In studies on humans, proactivity and reactivity have been linked to extraversion and neuroticism, respectively, with extroverts more optimistic and those with neurotic tendencies more pessimistic. In one particularly illuminating 2016 study done by a group of researchers in the United Kingdom who specialize in animal behavior and welfare, a litter of pigs that included both proactive and reactive swine was placed in one of two environments known to influence their moods. One environment, designed to be more feel-goody, was more comfortable, playful, and roomy than the other. It had a couple of more square feet per pig and the addition of straw, which pigs love to play with and use as their bedding. Research has long shown that the addition of straw to a pigpen can enhance pigs’ welfare.

To conduct the experiment, the pigs were trained to associate two separate feeding bowls with different outcomes. One bowl contained sugary treats, which represented a positive outcome, and the other, filled with coffee beans, promoted the negative outcome.

Then the researchers introduced a third bowl that would act as the litmus test for identifying how optimistic or pessimistic each pig was. The researchers watched to see whether the pig approached this bowl expecting more sweets (and thus another positive outcome) and were optimists. As it turned out, the proactive pigs were more likely to respond optimistically regardless, but the optimism of the reactive pigs hinged on their moods. Reactive pigs living in the roomier feel-good environment were much more likely to be optimistic about the feeding bowl with an unknown inside. The pigs living in a smaller, more barren environment acted pessimistically. The experiment also revealed what the researchers assumed was true from the start: humans are not unique in combining longer-term personality traits, such as a penchant to have a gloomy or conversely sunny outlook, with shorter-term mood biases when making judgments.

Our personalities color our decisions, and our moods can be influenced heavily by our environments, which means we do have some control in protecting our preferred moods. If you want to tip the scales in favor of being hopeful and reap the health rewards, you need to be mindful of your living quarters, what (and most definitely, whom) you surround yourself with, and where you spend your leisure time (watching TV alone in your living room or taking a walk with a friend). This advice may sound obvious or trite, but not until recently has science really drilled down on the significance of the personality-mood-outlook-outcome phenomenon.

Other scientists have recorded findings in squirrels that point out once again that personality matters. A three-year study published in 2021 that was done by a team of researchers from the University of California, Davis and the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Colorado is the first to document personality in golden-mantled ground squirrels, which are common across the western United States and parts of Canada. The researchers recorded four main traits: boldness, aggressiveness, activity level, and sociability. They noted that bolder, more social squirrels earn an advantage over their shyer counterparts; the gregarious ones move more quickly, command the use of more space and places to perch themselves, and gain more access to resources. These effects ultimately favor the social squirrels’ survival. It pays to be convivial, and maybe a little brash.

Although pain and pain management within the context of personality was not part of this study, we can draw some conclusions nevertheless. There is a lot that each of us has control over, and many things, such as health, where we have only partial control, so we have to use the power we have to tip the scales in our favor. This means taking a good look at our lifestyles, because work on the things that we can affect—our moods, our environments, whom we associate with, where we choose to spend our time—and the other aspects like pain and how we feel will improve. Maybe it will not alleviate all of our symptoms, but it will have a major influence.

New research into people with personality disorders, such as narcissism and borderline personality disorder, finds they report higher levels of pain and may even be at a higher risk for cognitive decline (and dementias, including Alzheimer’s). This newer research too highlights the power of personality. In particular, the research shows that people who are organized, responsible, goal directed, and gregarious and have high levels of self-discipline (“conscientiousness”) may be less likely to develop cognitive decline and impairments than those who are moody or emotionally unstable (“neurotic”). My hunch is the research on pain and personality and cognition and personality will increasingly overlap. After all, our patterns of thinking and behaving—our personality traits—all go hand in hand with how we perceive pain and how our brains function.

Adapted from THE BOOK OF ANIMAL SECRETS: Nature’s Lessons for a Long and Happy Life by David B. Agus, MD.

Time

Ratings agency Moody's on Friday revised its outlook on Nigeria to positive from stable, citing possible reversal of the deterioration in the country's fiscal and external position due to authorities' reform efforts.

The agency also affirmed its "Caa1" long-term foreign currency and local currency issuer ratings.

President Bola Tinubu says he is seeking to boost growth and attract billions in new investment after taking charge of Africa's biggest economy, which is grappling with shortages of foreign exchange, low oil output and widespread insecurity.

Tinubu scraped a popular but costly fuel subsidy in May, removing exchange controls and ending a ban on some imports.

The reforms have been welcomed by investors, but unions say they led to soaring costs while inflation has been in double-digits in Nigeria since 2016, further eroding savings and incomes.

"These policy changes, and those potentially to come, have raised the prospects of a fiscal and external improvement in the country's credit profile," Moody's said in a statement.

Last month, Tinubu urged the National Assembly to approve $8.69 billion and 100 million euros ($107.47 million) for projects across infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, water supply, growth, security, employment generation, as well as financial management reforms.

Central Bank of Nigeria in November started clearing $7 billion outstanding foreign currency forwards in a bid to attract new dollar inflows and stabilise the naira, which has been weakening to record lows.

In August, S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on Nigeria to stable from negative and affirmed its rating at 'B-/B'.

($1 = 0.9305 euros)

Reuters

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned banks to beware of the circulation of counterfeit naira banknotes, particularly higher denominations, in major cities across the country.

The warning was made in a statement signed by Hakama Sidi Ali, CBN’s acting director of corporate communications on Friday in Abuja.

Ali said these counterfeit naira notes were mainly used for transactions in food markets and other commercial centres across the country.

She said any person found complicit in the circulation of the counterfeit currency would face severe sanctions.

“The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to the circulation of counterfeit banknotes, especially higher denominations, by some individuals for transactions in food markets and other commercial centres across major cities in the country,” Ali said. 

“For the avoidance of doubt, Section 20(4) of the CBN Act (2007) as amended, states that: It shall be an offence punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than 5 years for any person to falsify, make or counterfeit any bank note or coin issued by the Bank which is legal tender in Nigeria.” 

The director said CBN is in constant collaboration with relevant security and financial agencies to confiscate fake naira banknotes, arrest and prosecute counterfeiters.

“Members of the public are also encouraged to report anyone suspected of having counterfeit naira notes to the nearest police station, branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria or via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,” Ali said.

She directed deposit money banks, financial houses, Bureaux De Change (BDCs) and the general public to be more vigilant and take necessary precautionary measures to curtail the acceptance and distribution of counterfeit notes.

Ali said Nigerians should embrace alternative modes of payment for day-to-day transactions to mitigate the risk of spreading counterfeit banknotes.

The Cable

Group Chief Executive Officer of the the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Mele Kyari yesterday described oil theft and vandalism in the Niger Delta region as a calamity saying there are over 4,800 illegal connections on crude oil pipelines in the area and warned that this could frustrate the projections of the Federal Government. 

Speaking yesterday in Abuja when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Appropriation on the proposed budget for 2024, Kyari said that  the daily oil production would depend greatly on the security situation in the oil rich Niger -Delta region, describing the act of vandalism and oil theft going on there as a calamity and completely abnormal.

He said, “The situation we have in Niger Delta in terms of security is a calamity. We don’t have that anywhere in the world. To engage non-state actors as last resort as solution is abnormal. But we have to respond abnormally.

You have over 4,800 illegal connections on our pipelines. That means, within every kilometer, you have an insertion. Even if you seal all the insertions, you can’t get what you want in terms of production. In the Niger Delta, people are coming from all parts of the country to do illegal refining. That’s why we engage locals to deal with it. We will contain this challenge. We are doing everything possible to restore sanity. What is happening is a colossal damage to the environment and the host communities.”

Vanguard

Israeli troops round up Palestinian men in northern Gaza as UN warns aid operation is 'in tatters'

Israel said Friday that the military was rounding up Palestinian men in northern Gaza for interrogation, searching for Hamas militants, while desperate Palestinians in the south crowded into an ever-shrinking area, and the U.N. warned that its aid operation is “in tatters.”

The detentions pointed to Israeli efforts to secure the military’s hold on northern Gaza as the war entered its third month. Furious urban fighting has continued in the north, underscoring Hamas’ heavy resistance, and tens of thousands of residents are believed to remain in the area six weeks after troops and tanks rolled in.

The first images of mass detentions emerged Thursday from the northern town of Beit Lahiya, showing dozens of men kneeling or sitting in the streets, stripped down to their underwear, their hands bound behind their backs. Some had their heads bowed. U.N. monitors said Israeli troops reportedly detained men and boys from the age of 15 in a school-turned-shelter.

In other developments, the United States vetoed a United Nations resolution backed by the vast majority of Security Council members and many other nations demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. The vote in the 15-member council was 13-1 with the United Kingdom abstaining.

Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres told the council that Gaza is at “a breaking point” and “there is a high risk of the total collapse of the humanitarian support system.”

Israel has vowed to crush Hamas, which rules Gaza, following the group’s Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war.

Israel’s air and ground campaign initially focused on the northern third of Gaza, leading hundreds of thousands of residents to flee south. A week ago, Israel expanded its ground assault into central and south Gaza, where nearly the territory’s entire population of 2.3 million Palestinians are crowded, many of them cut off from humanitarian supplies.

In central Gaza, Israeli planes on Friday dropped leaflets on the refugee camps of Nuseirat and Maghazi with a message for Hamas officials.

“To Hamas leaders: A life for a life, an eye for an eye and whoever started is to blame. If you punish, then punish with the like of that with which you were afflicted,” the leaflet read, cobbling together a popular Arabic saying with a verse from the Muslim holy book, the Quran.

The leaflet left out the rest of the verse, which says it is better to patiently endure afflictions without retaliating.

Hours later, a strike shattered a residential building in Nuseirat, killing at least 21 people, according to officials at the nearby hospital. Following the blast, residents were seen digging beneath the rubble, looking for survivors and belongings that could be unearthed.

HUNDREDS ROUNDED UP

Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy said Friday that those detained in northern Gaza were “military-aged men who were discovered in areas that civilians were supposed to have evacuated weeks ago.” Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said that in the past 48 hours, some 200 people have been detained. Dozens have been taken to Israel for interrogation, including Hamas commanders, he said.

Authorities were questioning the detainees to determine whether they were members of the militant group, Levy said, indicating there would be more such sweeps as troops move from north to south.

The London-based news outlet Al-Araby al-Jadeed, or The New Arab, said one of the men seen in the images of the detainees is its Gaza correspondent Diaa al-Kahlout, and that he was rounded up with other civilians.

The Israeli assault has obliterated much of Gaza City and surrounding areas in the north. Still, tens of thousands of residents are believed to remain there, though the U.N. says it cannot confirm exact numbers. Some are unable to move, others refuse to leave their homes, saying the south is no safer or fearing they will not be allowed to return.

Heavy fighting has been underway for days in Jabaliya refugee camp and the Gaza City district of Shujaiya. The U.N. said Jabaliya’s Al Awda Hospital — one of two hospitals still operating in the north — was surrounded by Israeli forces and sustained damage from Israeli shelling. It said Israeli sniper fire into the hospital has also been reported.

On Thursday in Shujaiya, a prominent poet and English professor, Refaat Alareer, was killed, along with his brother, sister and her four children, when Israeli shelling hit the house they were staying in, according to colleagues at “We Are Not Numbers,” a nonprofit he helped found.

Days earlier, Alareer wrote on X that his walls were shaking from bombing, shelling and gunfire. The last poem he wrote and shared on social media read, “If I must die/ let it bring hope/ let it be a tale.”

The military says it makes every effort to spare civilians and accuses Hamas of using them as human shields as the militants fight in dense residential areas.

Early Friday, Israeli troops made an unsuccessful attempt to free Israeli hostages at a location in Gaza. In the ensuing clash with militants, two soldiers were seriously wounded, and no hostages were freed. the military said. Hamas said its fighters fended off the attempt.

Israel says 137 hostages are still in captivity out of the roughly 240 abducted by militants during the Oct. 7 attack.

There has also been a dramatic surge in deadly military raids and an increase in restrictions on Palestinian residents in the occupied West Bank since the start of the war.

Israeli forces stormed into a refugee camp Friday in the West Bank to arrest suspected Palestinian militants, unleashing fighting with local gunmen in which six Palestinians were killed, health officials said.

IMPENDING CATASTROPHE

The continuation of tough fighting in the north raises fears that Israel’s move south to uproot Hamas will wreak similar devastation.

Israeli troops have been battling Hamas fighters inside the southern city of Khan Younis, while strikes have continued to pound nearby Deir al-Balah. A strike Friday on a residential building in Zawaida, outside Deir al-Balah, killed at least 20 people from families sheltering there, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Tens of thousands of people displaced by the fighting have packed into Rafah, in the far south of the Gaza Strip, and Muwasi, a nearby patch of barren coastline. Israel has designated Muwasi as a safe zone. But the U.N. and relief agencies have called that a poorly planned solution.

“We do not have a humanitarian operation in southern Gaza that can be called by that name anymore,” the U.N.’s humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, said Thursday. The pace of Israel’s military assault has left no place safe in the south, where the U.N. had planned to aid civilians. “That plan is in tatters,” he said.

Israel’s campaign has killed more than 17,400 people in Gaza — 70% of them women and children — and wounded more than 46,000, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which says many others are trapped under rubble. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.

Hamas and other militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and took more than 240 hostages. The military says 93 of its troops have been killed in the ground campaign.

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine says Russian missiles kill one, troops press on Avdiivka

Russian warplanes fired 19 long-range missiles at targets in Ukraine on Friday, killing one civilian in a central region, wounding eight and damaging an industrial facility and power lines, Ukrainian officials said.

On the 1,000-km (600-mile) front line in the war against Russia, Ukrainian officials said Moscow's forces pressed on with a drive to encircle the shattered eastern town of Avdiivka.

Officials also reported heavy battles in the northeast near Kupiansk, a town seized by Russian forces soon after their February 2022 invasion but later retaken by Ukraine.

The missile strike on Friday morning was the first big salvo Russia has fired at targets, including the Ukrainian capital, in weeks. Russia has mainly been using drones for its overnight attacks.

One person was killed and eight injured in the central region of Dnipropetrovsk, Governor Serhiy Lysak said on the Telegram messaging app. Two wounded were in serious condition.

Air defences shot down 14 incoming missiles over the region outside Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk region, air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said in televised comments.

The strike damaged power lines, an unnamed industrial facility and more than 20 homes in the towns of Pavlohrad and Ternivka and two villages, Lysak said. Images from the site, posted on social media, showed buildings with damaged rooftops and shattered windows.

Russia used seven Tu-95 bombers to launch missiles at different regions across the country, the air force said.

Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said the Ukrainian capital had been targeted but that all the missiles were downed by air defences as they approached.

Missile debris smashed windows and walls in private homes in the Kyiv region, Governor Ruslan Kravchenko said, with air alerts in force for two hours. Officials reported an earlier overnight missile attack on the northeastern Kharkiv region.

PRESSING ON DEFENSIVE LINES

In Avdiivka, dominated by a vast coking plant, Ukraine's general staff said its forces had repelled 32 enemy attacks.

The head of the military administration in the town, less than 12 km (eight miles) from the outskirts of the Moscow-held regional capital of Donetsk, said Russian forces were "pressing on the entire defensive line around the town".

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"Weather conditions prevent the occupiers from using their vehicles, so they resort to 'human wave' assaults, throwing more personnel into battles," Vitaliy Barabash told Espreso TV.

Moscow's forces have been inching forward on the flanks to try to cut supply lines.

Ukrainian military spokesperson Oleksandr Shtupun said Russian forces had suffered heavy losses around the town. He told national television Russian forces had dropped about 450 aerial bombs in the region and were bringing in reserves.

The Russian Defence Ministry rarely mentions Avdiivka in its reports, but the war blog Rybar said on Friday that battles were raging by the coking plant and near Stepove village north of the city. Rybar acknowledged that the front was all but unchanged.

Further north, Ukrainian military spokesperson Volodymyr Fitio said Russian forces were deploying more reserves in a drive on the village of Synkivka - seen as a foothold on any attempt to retake Kupiansk, 14 km (nine miles) distant.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian troops deliver 30 strikes on Ukrainian military airfield sites over week

Russian troops delivered 30 multiple-launch strikes on Ukrainian military airfield infrastructure and foreign mercenaries’ deployment sites over the past week in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Friday.

"Over the period of December 3-8 this year, the Russian Armed Forces delivered 30 multiple-launch strikes by precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against the Ukrainian army’s military airfield infrastructure: arsenals, artillery ammunition and military hardware storage sites and fuel depots. In addition, the strikes hammered the deployment sites of Ukrainian army units, nationalist formations and foreign mercenaries. All the designated targets were destroyed," the ministry said in a statement.

Reuters/Tass

Google scored a lukewarm victory against Apple a few weeks ago when the latter announced iMessage will soon support RCS messaging. However, iMessages will remain blue and encrypted, while RCS messages will stay green and unencrypted. Apple will only support the RCS standard the GSMA developed, not the proprietary RCS product that Google operates.

I said time and again that Google has bigger problems than the iMessage bubble war it’s fighting in an effort to make Android as appealing as the iPhone. Getting Apple to support RCS will not stop the iPhone from being the more coveted product.

There’s no better proof of that than the story of a couple of thieves bringing back a stolen Android handset because it wasn’t an iPhone. I guess they haven’t heard about Android users finally being able to text iPhone users via RCS.

It all happened in Washington, DC, early one morning. She’s an Uber Eats and Instacart driver, and her husband wanted to help her park her car. That’s when the masked thieves came.

“As soon as he parked the car two masked gentlemen came up to him, armed,” she said. “They robbed him, took everything he had in his pockets, took the keys to my truck and got in and pulled off.”

The attackers had guns, and they took her husband’s smartphone. But then they returned it, unhappy that it wasn’t an iPhone. “They basically looked at that phone and was like ‘Oh, that’s an Android? We don’t want this. I thought it was an iPhone,'” she said.

The even bigger problem is the theft of the car that was used as the livelihood of the couple.

As for stealing iPhones, thieves should know better. The handsets routinely have Find My iPhone active, so they are easy to track and disable.

The unfortunate event happened on the same day as a public hearing in DC on the surge of crime and Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed “Addressing Crime Trends Now” (ACT Now) bill.

ABC7 also quotes remarks from DC Police Chief Pamela Smith that her department has seen promising crime trends since July.

“Carjackings are down 7%,” Smith said. “Assault with a dangerous weapon is down 6% and vehicle theft is down 11%. Overall, indexed violent crime is down three crimes and robbery is up 14 crimes over the prior period in 2023.”

The victim of this carjacking disagrees. She said they’re seeing “rapid numbers of carjackings every day.” According to the woman, the thieves are getting “younger and younger.”

If that’s accurate, it would also explain why the thieves didn’t want to steal Android phones. A recent Piper Sandler survey showed that teens in the US overwhelmingly prefer the iPhone to Android. A Gallup survey in Korea showed that young adults also want an iPhone over a Samsung phone.

Separately, a CIRP study showed that iMessage is far from being the main reason for Android users to switch to the iPhone. Most switchers had problems with Android or wanted new features.

BGR

As we get older, it makes sense that our tolerance for certain things will change, so we asked the BuzzFeed Community, "What are you simply getting too old for?" And people had a lot of thoughts on the matter. Here's what they had to say:

1. "Theme parks. I've loved theme parks since I was a kid, especially roller coasters — the higher, faster, crazier, the better! I used to have no issues waiting in line for my favorite ride or going on a ride multiple times. Now, however, the combo of the crowds, the heat, the ridiculously long lines, and the fact that I feel sick and out of sorts after going on a roller coaster has just taken the fun out of theme parks altogether."

—ravenbard
2. "I’m tired of being disappointed. The older I get, the more I encounter people and situations that disappoint me. I wish I had a pile of money in the bank and a quiet, comfortable place to keep to myself. That’s the best way to grow old, in my opinion."

—barlowdelvaux81
3. "Comfortable and quality shoes! My heels were gorgeous, but they killed my feet. I now live in Allbirds and Rothy’s shoes — no more cutesy cheap stuff from random boutiques."

—mjalex
4. "Being talked down to. I retired my capacity for it when I entered my 40s and now, whether you're my employer or someone in my personal life, you aren't going to talk to me in any kind of way. If you do, I've mastered the art of scathing rebuttals and ignoring people. You teach others how to treat you!"

—smellsbells
5. "Going anywhere that doesn’t have a parking lot. I don’t want to circle the block for 20 minutes just to try to squeeze into a tiny spot with ambiguous street signs — just let me park in a parking lot!!"

—katkat007
6. "I was actually offended by Daylight Saving Time! I never had a problem when it became dark early before — but this past fall, I was honestly offended. I hope next year is better."

—eahall0718
7. "Long or complicated trips on public transportation. I don't want to arrive somewhere exhausted already. I live in a city and will take a taxi instead. I know it costs more money, but I'm pretty frugal otherwise and the savings in time and energy are worth it."

—smogmonster
8. "Being 'cool.' I have never been cool and was very self-conscious as a teen and in my 20s when people my age were out partying, etc. Now that I’m in my 30s, I don’t care about that anymore."

—andrastes_knickers
9. "As I age, I will no longer get the cheapest hotel option with three other girls just to cut down on costs. Gone are the days I'd go on a girls trip, shove myself into a tiny 2-star hotel room, and then binge drink or stay up the entire time. Hostels are a no-go as well. My vacations have very quickly gone from partying and drinking to 4/5-star hotels with room service and a spa BY MYSELF. There is nothing better than once or twice a year getting a luxury hotel room for a couple of days and just relaxing. Eating in bed, reading a book on the balcony in the sun, shopping or museums, a night dinner, a hot shower, and bed alone. I no longer pack skimpy clothes and heels but smart sundresses with comfortable shoes for exploring. Aging is a beautiful thing if you let it."

—JadedHunter
10. "Caring about people who don’t care about me. (I’m 70.) When I was in my late teens/early 20s, I was in a few relationships (platonic and otherwise) that were very one-sided, but I was such a people-pleaser back then that I would put up with it. Not anymore — if I get the sense that I am putting way more effort into a relationship than the other person, then I will just back away from it. I’d rather be by myself than be with a 'friend' like that."

—sidneykaler
11. "Keeping up with fashion is one. It just moves too fast nowadays with social media and 'micro trends.' You can’t really enjoy your purchases before they are 'out.' I’ve made a point not to purchase any new clothes this year, and you know what? I haven’t burst into flames."

—ashleyc4a899ee19
12. "In my 20s, I went out partying nearly most of the week. I loved clubs, dancing, and staying up late. In my 40s, all I want to do is be comfortable in my home, texting with a friend, and wearing comfortable clothes. Fuck clubbing, you can’t pay me enough to do it."

—sweetgirl950
13. "Bars and breweries that don’t serve food. Why? If I’m going out to enjoy myself with friends, there better be food. And it better be at least halfway decent. (There’s one in my hometown that just sells candy. This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Candy and beer sounds like a horrible idea.)"

—omgitsaclaire
14. "Sitting on the floor. I discovered a few months ago that if I sit on the floor for more than 10 minutes, I tweak my back — just by sitting. And then I'm out of commission for almost a week trying to recover. It sucks."

—ladypalutena
15. "Roommates. I’m privileged enough to be able to afford my own home. I only allow guests that have a departure date, or if it’s a family emergency. Otherwise, I’m old and cranky and like having my space and alone time."

—jacks22004
16. "People. I'm too old to deal with them — just give me dogs and cats."

—grimchbettahavemymoney
17. "I eventually had to refuse to participate in camping. Excessive heat? Nope. Sleeping on the ground? Nope. No bathroom? Nope. Cooking and cleaning more while camping than at home? Nope. If it’s not a vacation for me, I won’t go. Give me an A/C, clean sheets, an attached bathroom, a continental breakfast, and a dinner out. That’s a vacation."

—shazzerz
18. "Trying certain types of new things. When I was a kid, I wanted to try everything at least once. Now, there are things like water skiing and scuba diving that I no longer have any interest in attempting. The world is vast enough that there are plenty of new activities and interests I can pursue where there are things to do and places to go I’m no longer tempted by. Part of this is having the maturity to better understand risks and their long-term impacts and another part is knowing the quirks of my own body at the age I’m at and having a better idea what its weaknesses are (and which weaknesses I have the likelihood to be able to change and which I don’t)."

—mathworks

19. "New music. There's no artist development anymore, so there's truly hardly any talent out there anymore — and there's also SO MUCH music available that it doesn't seem worth it to seek these artists out, especially since there's a ton of music/musicians I already love."

—jduckett220

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