Gaza ceasefire negotiations extend to another day as death toll exceeds 40,000

Negotiators were to meet in the Qatari capital Doha again on Friday in an effort to hammer out a Gaza ceasefire agreement as Israel continued to slam targets in the Palestinian enclave.

Gaza health officials reported separately on Thursday that the death toll there had surpassed 40,000 people after more than 10 months of fighting.

This round of negotiations opened on Thursday, and the talks would resume on Friday for a second day, Qatari and U.S. officials said.

A U.S. official briefed on the discussions in Doha, who declined to be identified, told Reuters that Thursday's talks were "constructive."

"This is vital work. The remaining obstacles can be overcome, and we must bring this process to a close," U.S. national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at the White House.

Israel, meanwhile, pressed its assault on Gaza. Gaza health officials said at least six Palestinians were killed on Thursday night in an Israeli air strike on a house in Jabalia in northern Gaza Strip.

Israeli troops earlier hit targets in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis.

In a statement issued late on Thursday on Telegram, Hamas politburo member Hossam Badran said Israel's continuing operations were an obstacle to progress on a ceasefire. Hamas officials did not join Thursday's talks.

Badran said the talks must move toward implementation of a framework agreement accepted previously and achieve a complete ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli forces, return of displaced Palestinians and a hostage exchange deal.

"Hamas looks at the ongoing negotiations in Doha regarding a ceasefire and a hostage exchange from a strategic perspective with the goal of ending the aggression on Gaza," he added.

Mediators planned to consult with Hamas' Doha-based negotiating team after the meeting, the U.S. official told Reuters.

The Israeli delegation includes spy chief David Barnea, head of the domestic security service Ronen Bar and the military's hostages chief Nitzan Alon, defence officials said.

The White House sent CIA Director Bill Burns and U.S. Middle East envoy Brett McGurk. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel also took part.

The negotiations, an effort to end bloodshed in Gaza and bring 115 Israeli and foreign hostages home, were put together as Iran appeared poised to retaliate against Israel after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.

ESCALATION RISK

With U.S. warships, submarines and warplanes dispatched to the region to defend Israel and deter potential attackers, Washington hopes a ceasefire agreement in Gaza can defuse the risk of a wider regional war.

The White House said late on Thursday attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank were "unacceptable and must stop," after dozens of settlers assaulted a village, killing at least one person.

With U.S. presidential elections looming on Nov. 5, Republican candidate Donald Trump criticised the Biden administration's months-long calls for a ceasefire, saying it "would only give Hamas time to regroup."

Israel and Hamas have each blamed the other for failure to reach a deal yet neither side has ruled out an agreement.

On Wednesday, a source in the Israeli negotiating team said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has allowed significant leeway on a few of the substantial disputes.

Gaps include the presence of Israeli troops in Gaza, the sequencing of a hostage release and restrictions on the free movement of civilians from southern to northern Gaza.

U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk said the Gaza death toll of more than 40,000 reported by the enclave's health ministry was a "grim milestone for the world".

"This unimaginable situation is overwhelmingly due to recurring failures by the Israeli Defense Forces to comply with the rules of war," he said in a statement from Geneva on Thursday.

Separately, Israel's military said it had "eliminated" more than 17,000 Palestinian militants in its Gaza campaign.

In shattered Gaza where the war has driven almost all of its 2.3 million population from their homes, there was a desperate desire for an end to the fighting.

"We are hopeful this time. Either it's this time or never I am afraid," Aya, 30, sheltering with her family in Deir Al-Balah in the central part of the Gaza Strip, told Reuters via a chat app.

The war started after a Hamas raid on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which Israel says the militants killed some 1,200 people, prompting Israel to attack Gaza in retaliation.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine racks up gains with Russia incursion, faces challenge holding territory

Ukraine has chalked up a string of victories more than a week since blindsiding Russia with a lightning cross-border assault, but the risks are piling up as its troops make plans to hold territory and Russia recovers its footing.

Ukraine poured thousands of troops into the western Russian region of Kursk last week, pulling down Russian flags in towns seized by its soldiers and wresting the war initiative from Moscow for the first time in months.

On Wednesday, officials in Kyiv said Ukraine would use seized Russian territory as a "buffer zone" to shield its north from Russian strikes. Oleksandr Syrskyi, head of the Ukrainian armed forces, said on Thursday that Kyiv had set up a military commandant's office in the occupied part of Kursk, suggesting ambitions to dig in.

The occupied area exceeds 1,150 sq km, Syrskyi said.

Ukraine's goals in Kursk include distracting Russian forces from the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas, where Russia has made steady advances for months and which it is seeking to take in its entirety, former Ukrainian defence minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk said in an interview.

There is, however, no sign of that happening for now.

Apart from a reputational blow to President Vladimir Putin, the biggest invasion of Russia since World War Two has destroyed Russian forces, captured soldiers who can be traded and created a sore on Russia's flank, said Polish military analyst Konrad Muzyka.

The Russian defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ukraine's defence ministry referred questions to the armed forces, which did not immediately respond.

Russian officials have said the Ukrainian attack on Russian territory is a "terrorist invasion" and that civilian infrastructure was targeted, which Ukraine denies.

Putin said that Russia will deliver a "worthy response" to the attack but that the immediate task is to eject all Ukrainian troops from Russian territory.

Ukraine, which has not said how long it might remain, was "not interested" in permanently taking Russian land, a foreign ministry spokesperson said this week. Putin has said Ukraine wants the territory as a bargaining chip in eventual peace talks.

Serhiy Zgurets, a Kyiv-based military analyst, predicted Ukraine would seek to retain control of the land between the towns of Rylsk, Korenevoye and Sudzha and the border, giving it control of a roughly 20-km-wide strip of Russian territory.

The area, he said, could be defended by a small force using long-range artillery systems and air defences.

"This line is not difficult to defend, given there are few roads and a large number of rivers," Zgurets said, adding that the area could be easily supplied from the Ukrainian region of Sumy across the border.

He said he didn't expect troops to press towards the Russian regional capital of Kursk, something that could expose them to attacks from the flanks.

Muzyka was more circumspect, warning that trying to hold a swathe of Russian land could open up Ukrainian forces to potentially heavy losses, pointing to manpower problems that have dogged Ukraine for months in its war with a much larger foe.

The counter-invasion was "a massive gamble" that in the short term was paying off, Muzyka said.

"But there may soon come a time when costs associated with the attack in the Kursk region will outweigh the benefits, especially given the steady pace of Russian advances in the Donetsk region," he said.

RUSSIA RESPONSE

After a shambolic response to the early days of Ukraine's assault that saw tanks and Western-supplied armoured vehicles among convoys that carried troops across the border, Russia finally appears to have slowed the advances. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said forces had advanced a few kilometres on Wednesday.

A senior Russian commander said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces had been pushed out of one village in Russia's border region but that Kyiv's forces were still probing along the front.

Satellite images from Planet Lab and Maxar showed multiple, apparently new, Russian-built trenches further from the border in Kursk region.

Russia has so far relied on military units from near Kursk to try to push back the Ukrainian forces, said Pasi Paroinen, an analyst with Finland's Black Bird Group, which studies publicly available footage from the Russia-Ukraine war.

By bringing the war to Russia, Zelenskiy faces the risk of weakening Kyiv's defences along the front in Ukraine while Russia has already sent in thousands of reserves in a bid to expel the Ukrainian soldiers.

Moscow should have enough reserves, Paroinen said, to respond without pulling troops from the most active frontline of the war in the Donbas region.

Russia has been advancing slowly there for months, deploying gliding bombs in huge numbers as well as assault groups that take heavy losses but make small steps forward, former defence minister Zagorodnyuk said.

Far from a letup in fighting in the east, Ukraine on Thursday reported the heaviest fighting in weeks near Pokrovsk and said there was no sign Russian military pressure was receding along the eastern front inside its borders.

In a tacit acknowledgment of mounting pressure, Zelenskiy ordered his top commander on Wednesday to send more weapons to Pokrovsk and Toretsk, another embattled town that Russia is trying to capture.

Ukrainian soldier Dmytro, 36, who was deployed to the Ukrainian side of the Sudzha border during the incursion, said he wanted the war to end quickly, and he hoped the attack on Russia would put Ukraine on a more equal footing in any negotiations.

He said he viewed the incursion as a necessary step to ward off a Russian attack on Ukrainian territory across the border from the Kursk region, but that he also felt uncomfortable with invading foreign territory.

"Honestly, it does not feel great to do what they (the Russians) did," he said.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

West involved in planning of attack on Russia’s borderline Kursk region — Kremlin aide

Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s borderline region of Kursk was planned with the participation of NATO and Western special services, and was prompted by Kiev’s realization of its imminent collapse, Russian presidential aide Nikolay Patrushev said.

"It was the West who brought the criminal junta to power in Urkaine. NATO countries sent weapons and military instructors to Ukraine, they continue to provide them with intelligence data and they control actions of neo-Nazi groups," he said in an interview with the Izvestia daily. "The operation in the Kursk Region was also planned with the participation of NATO and Western special services."

"This criminal undertaking was prompted by the neo-Nazi Kiev regime’s realization of its looming imminent collapse," the official added.

Patrushev dismissed the US Department of State’s claims of non-involvement into the matter.

"It’s common for the United States to say one thing and do just the opposite. Without their participation and direct endorsement, Kiev would have never dared to set its foot on the Russian territory," he said.

Ukrainian forces started a major attack on the Kursk Region on August 6. Missile attack warnings have been issued repeatedly in the region since then, and the government declared a federal-level emergency there. Most residents were temporarily resettled from the border areas and are now out of harm’s way, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said. More than 720 people have been evacuated over the past day alone, according to the ministry.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Kiev has already lost up to 2,640 troops, 37 tanks, 32 armored personnel carriers since the beginning of the hostilities on the Kursk direction. The operation on elimination of Ukrainian troops continues.

Reuters/Tass

Jessica Chen

Have you ever sat in a meeting and wondered why it feels like only two or three people dominate the entire conversation? These louder colleagues usually speak up first, share their two cents, and take up most of the meeting time. Before you know it, the meeting is over and you never said a thing.

As a global communications expert, I work with a lot of smart and talented people. Even among these skilled and capable professionals, the biggest frustration I hear goes something like this: “I work hard and deliver, but I still don’t feel like I get noticed for my efforts, let alone rewarded with promotions or other opportunities. Why?!”

In my new book, “Smart, Not Loud: How to Get Noticed at Work for All the Right Reasons,” I teach professionals how to unlock bigger opportunities by leveling-up this one skill: communication. It’s not about being assertive, dominant, or aggressive if that’s not your style. It’s about being intentional and smart so that when you do chime in, people listen.

Here are five phrases the most successful people use every day to help them get noticed and get ahead. 

1. ‘I hear what you’re saying’

Brilliant communicators know that in order for people to listen to them and their ideas, they have to make other people feel heard first. 

If you’re in a meeting and you want to jump in, instead of just quickly saying what’s on your mind, potentially cutting people off, listen carefully and wait for them to finish speaking.

Then preface your comments with, “I hear what you’re saying.” 

These words will show the person that you’re acknowledging them and their thoughts, even if you have an opposing point of view. You don’t want the other person getting defensive, which can prevent them from considering what you have to say. 

2. ‘I’m excited about this’

Humans make decisions using both logic and emotions. However, people are far more likely to remember and be persuaded by stories than by facts alone. As the saying goes, they’re more likely to remember how you made them feel than what you said. 

To be a smart communicator, leverage emotion and incorporate stories in your speaking. This means using words like “excited” and “thrilled” to drum up support. Smile when you’re speaking or raise your eyebrows to magnify the impact. When signalizing urgency, use words like “worried” and “concerned” in a downward pitch to project gravitas.

Help people feel what you feel, leveraging your words, body language, and tone of voice. If you have a relevant story — an anecdote about how your product is being used out in the real world, for example, or from your past experience on a similar project  — share it. 

3. ‘Here’s what’s new’

One of the most important things you can do at work is to ask for what you want. Another is to nudge strategically to ensure you get a response. 

Instead of just saying, “Hi, following up here,” which can feel pushy and ineffective, preface your follow-up with a new piece of information. For example, you might say, “Since our last conversation where I pitched X project, I found some interesting data that supports my hypothesis about Y. Here’s what’s new ….”

This strategy can take away some of the awkwardness you may feel, make your ask seem timely and fresh, and move the conversation forward. Getting the answers you’re looking for can help you accomplish more — and do it more easily.  

4. ‘Back then … ’

I’ve discovered — firsthand, and sometimes the hard way — that just because you’re talented, it doesn’t mean people will notice. Working hard and doing great work doesn’t automatically mean you’ll get, or even be considered for, a plum project or raise. 

Talking about your accomplishments can unlock more opportunities. But how do you do that without feeling like you’re bragging? 

Use the power of contrast to highlight the progress you’ve made and the impact you’ve had. For example, you might say, “The design changes we made to streamline the site made it so much easier to navigate. Now we’re seeing the average consumer complete the purchase process in under a minute, but back then it took twice as long.”

5. ‘Thank you for … ’

When someone helps you at work — endorses you for a project, lends a helping hand, makes an introduction — you might express your gratitude by saying, “Thank you.” But smart communicators know it’s not just about saying those two words; it’s about saying what you’re thankful for and why. 

Being specific can magnify your appreciation, make our gratitude feel more authentic, and lift the other person up. It leaves a positive impression and can make them feel more inclined to repeat that helpful action. 

It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it 

As you think about using these five phrases at work, you might, for example: 

• Change up the rate of your words,sometimes speeding up when speaking, but then slowing down when you’re trying to drive a point home. 
• Use your hands. For example, lift them up and show your palms to signal trust or use your fingers to signal the numbers you’re talking about to give your words structure and emphasis. 

It may feel unnatural at first to incorporate these phrases and techniques, but they can help you highlight your brilliance. Because you can stand out in the workplace and get ahead in your career — even if being loud, brazen, and assertive isn’t your style.

CNBC

A French court has authorised the seizure of three presidential jets linked to the Federal Government of Nigeria, sources familiar with the matter have told PREMIUM TIMES.

Two of the jets, part of the Nigerian presidential air fleet, were recently put up for sale, while the third, an Airbus 330, was purchased by Nigeria but not yet delivered.

The seizure of the presidential jets is a result of an application by Zhongshan, a Chinese company whose export processing zone management contract was revoked by the Ogun State government in 2016.

An independent arbitral tribunal chaired by the former President of the UK Supreme Court awarded Zhongshan $74.5 million in compensation, but the Ogun State government, which has a dispute with Zhongshan, has yet to honour the award.

The Federal Government is facing this backlash over an action taken by one of its subnationals with which Zhongshan has a business dispute.

The seized presidential jets include a Dassault Falcon 7X at Le Bourget airport in Paris, a Boeing 737, and an Airbus 330 at Basel-Mulhouse airport in Switzerland. All are currently undergoing maintenance. The Nigerian government reportedly paid over $100 million for the Airbus.

The court order prohibits the movement, sale, or purchase of the jets until Zhongshan receives the awarded $74.5 million. Bailiffs have served papers for each aircraft.

The federal government is yet to comment on this development.

The confiscation of the planes follows the recent seizure of Nigerian-owned buildings in Liverpool, England, by a UK court in relation to the same dispute with Zhongshan. The properties against which Zhongshan secured charging orders are located at 15 Aigburth Hall Road, Liverpool and Beech Lodge, 49 Calderstones Road, Liverpool, estimated by the company to be worth between £1.3 and £1.7 million.

The Ogun State government and Zhongshan have been locked in a long-drawn battle over the management of an export processing zone in the South-west state.

On 29 June 2010, Zhuhai Zhongfu Industrial Group Co Ltd, the parent company of Zhongshan, and the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone (OGFTZ) entered into a framework agreement on the establishment of Fucheng Industrial Park within the zone. The agreement gave Zhuhan the right to develop and run Fucheng Park within the zone.

The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority registered Zhongfu International Investment (NIG) FZE, a subsidiary of Zhongshan, as a free trade zone enterprise within the OGFZ in 2011. The Ogun State government later appointed Zhongfu as the interim manager/administrator of the zone.

But in July 2016, Zhongfu alleged that the Ogun State Government moved to terminate its appointment, and appoint another manager for the free trade zone.

Zhongfu then launched an investment treaty arbitration against Nigeria, citing the bilateral investment treaty between the People’s Republic of China and Nigeria.

On 26 March 2021, an arbitral tribunal issued a final award of $55,675,000 in addition to an interest of $9.4 million and costs of £2,864,445 payable by Nigeria to Zhongshan.

Afterwards, the federal government repeatedly pleaded with the Ogun State Government to amicably resolve its dispute with Zhongshan but still no settlement was reached.

PT

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, has announced the withdrawal of a controversial bill he sponsored that would have allowed for the jailing of people who embarrass or disrespect government officials.

The announcement was made in a post on the official X handle of the House of Representatives.

“In response to the voices and concerns of the people, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, has decided to withdraw the Counter Subversion Bill and other related draft legislation,” part of the post reads.

“This decision follows his extensive consultations with a broad range of stakeholders and a careful consideration of the nation’s current circumstances,” the statement reads.

Tajudeen has faced criticism for the bill which contains other obnoxious provisions such as criminalising the refusal to recite the national anthem.

The legislation, introduced on 24 July, sought, among other things, to criminalise certain actions deemed to be against national security and sovereignty.

Additionally, the bill proposed the death penalty for separatist activities that lead to the death of anyone. The provision criminalising refusal to sing the national anthem generated the most public outrage.

“A person who destroys national symbols, refuses to recite the national anthem and pledge, defaces or abuses a place of worship with the intention of causing violence and subverting the Government of Nigeria, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N5,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of 10 years or both,” clause 8 reads.

Earlier on Wednesday, Tajudeen had insisted that the law was not unique to Nigeria, stating that other countries, such as the UK and Spain, have similar laws.

He said the fate of the bill was in the hands of the lawmakers, who would decide whether to reject or pass it into law.

Focus on corruption, AI tells lawmakers

Earlier on Wednesday, Amnesty International Nigeria (AI), in a statement, called for the withdrawal of the bill, describing its introduction as misplaced and illt-timed.

The statement, titled, ‘Nigeria: Withdraw the ill-timed,’ was signed by its Director, Isa Sanusi.

“The misplaced and ill-timed Counter Subversion Bill 2024 sponsored by the Speaker House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas must be withdrawn. The bill violates international human rights standards because it will be open to vague and broad interpretations and can be used to impose incredibly harsh punishments simply for criticizing the Nigerian authorities,” the statement said.

AI said in the countries where such legislation is implemented, the law is being used to target political opponents and punish those who peacefully express views which differ from those of government.

It stated that the law had always — and everywhere, turned out to be a tool of repression.

“The unclear wording of the bill, the breadth of its application and the absence of any explicit safeguards relating to human rights make the bill – if passed into law – open to interpretation and therefore to mistakes and to abuse by officials. The content of the bill promoted by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas, is at odds with prevailing norms of a free society,” it said.

The group said the lawmakers should instead worry about corruption, which is increasingly rampant and keeps Nigerians poorer.

“Corruption, which is increasingly rampant and keeps Nigerians poorer is the ‘subversion’ that the House of Reps. should worry about and pay closer and concrete attention to. Giving the government more broad powers to punish the people who hold dissenting opinions will only further undermine human rights.

“Nigerian authorities are failing to protect the people, as gunmen kill dozens of people frequently in Benue, Zamfara, Katsina and part of Sokoto state. Abduction for ransom is still widespread across Nigeria. Gunmen have prevented farming in some parts of Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara by imposing levies on farmers, while punishing those who could not pay with amputation or death.

“Amnesty International urges the House of Representatives to focus the legislature in the direction of addressing deep poverty which pushes millions to the brink of starvation. At a time when millions of Nigerians live at the mercy of unprecedented inflation and struggling to feed – and could not afford the cost of education and healthcare, such a legislation relegates the well-being of the people. Legislations must be compliant with domestic and international human rights standards.”

PT

Each Nigerian senator earns at least N21 million monthly in running costs, salaries, and allowances in a country where a worker’s minimum wage is N70,000.

The senator representing Kano South Senatorial District, Kawu Sumaila, disclosed this in an interview with BBC Hausa on Wednesday morning.

Sumaila, a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), said his monthly salary is less than N1 million. Still, when the running cost is included, he earns at least N21 million monthly, like his colleagues.

“My monthly salary is less than N1 million. After deductions, the figure comes down to a little over N600,000.

“Given the increase effected, in the Senate, each senator gets N21 million every month as running cost,” Sumaila said.

The Senate comprises 109 members, including the Senate President, Deputy Senate, and eight principal officers.

Controversy on senators’ pay

The issue of the senators’ emoluments resurfaced recently when former President Olusegun Obasanjo accused them of fixing new salaries and allowances for themselves, contrary to the recommendation of the Revenue Mobilisation Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMAFC).

RMAFC is the body authorised by law to prepare salaries and allowances for public officers.

The former president also alleged that the senators are used to receiving incentives they were not constitutionally entitled to from the presidency.

The Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, has since denied the allegations but was silent on the total amount a senator earns monthly, including the running cost.

Shortly after, the Chairman of RMAFC, Muhammed Shehu, clarified that each senator earns N1,063,860 monthly salary and allowance.

The breakdown includes basic salary of N168,866:70; motor vehicle fuelling and maintenance allowance – N126,650; N42,216:66 for personal assistant; domestic staff – N126,650:00; entertainment – N50,660:00; utilities – N50,660; newspapers/periodicals – N25,330:00; Wardrobe allowance – N42,216,66:00; house maintenance – N8,443.33 and constituency allowance – N422,166:66; respectively.

What does the law state?

Nigerian law on salaries and allowances of public office holders covers salaries and allowances but leaves out the running cost.

The law is titled, “Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc.) (Amendments) Act, 2008”

As a result of the condition of the provision, only the National Assembly Commission would be able to determine the total amount of the running cost of each lawmaker.

Over the years, the National Assembly has not been transparent on the figure it prescribed as the running cost of each lawmaker in the two chambers – the Senate and House of Representatives.

What happened in the past

The running cost of a senator, as disclosed by Sumaila, is close to that revealed by Shehu Sani, a former senator who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District between 2015 and 2019.

Sani, in 2018, confirmed that he and his colleagues collected N13.5 million each monthly as “running cost” in addition to their N750,000 monthly consolidated salary and allowances.

When the comment attracted controversy, RMAFC could not deny it but specifically stated that only the National Assembly Service Commission could provide details of the running costs enjoyed by the senators.

PT

The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following an outbreak of the viral infection in Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to neighbouring countries.

An emergency committee met earlier on Wednesday to advise WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on whether the disease outbreak constitutes a "public health emergency of international concern," or PHEIC.

PHEIC status is WHO's highest level of alert and aims to accelerate research, funding and international public health measures and cooperation to contain a disease.

"It's clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives," said Tedros.

Mpox can spread through close contact. Usually mild, it is fatal in rare cases. It causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body.

The outbreak in Congo began with the spread of an endemic strain, known as clade I. But a new variant, clade Ib, appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, including sexual contact.

It has spread from Congo to neighbouring countries, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, triggering the action from the WHO.

"The detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern DRC, its detection in neighbouring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying," Tedros added.

Tedros said on Wednesday that WHO had released $1.5 million in contingency funds and plans to release more in the coming days. WHO's response plan would require an initial $15 million, and the agency plans to appeal to donors for funding.

Earlier this week, Africa's top public health body declared an mpox emergency for the continent after warning that the viral infection was spreading at an alarming rate, with more than 17,000 suspected cases and more than 500 deaths this year, mainly among children in Congo.

Professor Dimie Ogoina, chair of WHO's mpox emergency committee, said all members unanimously agreed that the current upsurge of cases is an "extraordinary event," with a record number of cases in Congo.

Vaccines and behaviour change helped stop the spread when a different strain of mpox spread globally, primarily among men who have sex with men, and WHO declared an emergency in 2022.

In Congo, the transmission routes need further study, WHO said. No vaccines are yet available, although efforts are underway to change that and work out who best to target. The agency also appealed to countries with stockpiles to donate shots.

Reuters

PRESS RELEASE

Afenifere is deeply concerned by President Bola Tinubu's response to the visit from the Patriots group, where he indicated a preference to focus on his economic reforms and the resulting economic hardships before addressing Restructuring.

This approach, which prioritizes fiscal and monetary policies that lack coherence and synergy, neglects the fact that Restructuring is the very foundation needed for economic growth, recovery, and the resolution of other multifaceted challenges in our polity. We urge the President to reconsider his strategy. What is required is a holistic approach that addresses these issues at their roots, simultaneously. This means implementing not just economic and political reforms and palliatives but complete economic and political restructuring for the following reasons:

1. Interconnectedness of Politics and Economics:

Politics determines how we organize to achieve our objectives, while economics provides the means to do so. These are inseparable at the root of societal functions. Nigeria’s current economic problems stem from political foundations that were designed not for economic prosperity but for political control and economic dependency centered on an exploitative system. A constitution represents a social contract between the government and the governed. With the Nigerian government overly centralized, unjustly skewed towards a particular region, and abdicating its social responsibilities to free market forces, both the government and the governed are under-optimized. Restructuring is essential to re-establish a new social contract with balanced political and economic responsibilities.

2. Historical Precedent and Current Economic Collapse:

The 1929 Great Depression, which led to US President Roosevelt's New Deal and British Keynesianism, was not as severe or prolonged as Nigeria's ten-year economic collapse. The Naira has lost 80 percent of its value, real wages have more than halved, unemployment and inflation have skyrocketed, and Gross Domestic Product has halved since 2014. A responsible Nigerian leadership must respond with far-reaching, fundamental economic and political restructuring rather than superficial reforms that merely address economic indicators.

3. Necessity of Devolution of Power:

Restructuring and devolution of power to federating units, even at a minimum level as recommended in the President’s own party’s El-Rufai Committee report, are necessary for peace, harmony, and the country’s continued corporate existence. Without these, there can be no economic prosperity. Devolution of power is crucial to enable polycentric political authorities and responsibilities, which are necessary for a polycentric, bottom-up economy. For instance, agriculture, Nigeria’s largest contributor to GDP, is threatened by the over-centralization of the police, which hampers effective local policing. Additionally, states are constitutionally dependent on federal allocations from crude oil proceeds, while vast resources go untapped due to constitutional restrictions preventing states from exploiting their own resources.

4. Comprehensive Infrastructure Development:

Like Roosevelt's New Deal, which included massive public works programmes to provide employment and essential infrastructure, Tinubu must institute an emergency, comprehensive infrastructural development programme. This should involve building at least 5,000 kilometers of railway (e.g., Lagos-Calabar, Ilorin-Yola, and Sokoto-Maiduguri), massive low-cost housing, and solar energy panels within three years. Simultaneously, constitutional amendments should be pursued to devolve power and empower federating units, and private production concerns, with a social contract that optimizes and sustains the new economic infrastructure.

5. Rethinking Economic Prioritization:

The belief that economic problems must be resolved first, guided by neo-liberal economic perspectives, is flawed. This approach focuses on balancing budgets and then providing palliatives to future restructured federating units without a social contract, leaving them to the whims of the free market. This is a wrong approach. Instead, the government should identify and address necessary infrastructural and constitutional gaps to resolve current issues and ensure long-term sustainability.

6. Ideological Shift from Neo-Liberal Policies: Tinubu must move away from the 45-year-old neo-liberal economic policies that advocate subsidy removals and devaluation in pursuit of balanced budgets. These policies have abdicated the government’s social contract to improve citizens' lives, instead driving them into poverty, unemployment, and de-industrialization. Contrary to advice from foreign free-market advisors, Nigeria must engage in deficit budgeting and other means to tackle the massive tasks ahead. It was the deficit budgeting through military Keynesianism during World War II that finally ended the Great Depression. If necessary, Nigeria should negotiate debt rescheduling, debt-equity swaps, or enforce a debt moratorium to ensure our continued corporate existence.

7. Restructuring the Police for Local Security and Economic Growth:

Restructuring the police to address local security concerns would free up the army, which, through its Engineering Corps and the Defence Industries Corporation, could employ millions of unemployed Nigerians to build infrastructure at a lower cost. This partnership between the federal government and the army would yield significant returns on investment, potentially over $50 billion annually. The government could then sell shares to private enterprises to repay debts. This would also create a structurally and emotionally attached army protective of the country’s growing economic complex, thereby reducing the risk of coups.

8. Empowering Federating Units Through Economic Development:

Restructured federating units would gain new sources of income by building state-owned railways connected to the federal grid. This would develop the iron/steel, chemical, and electrical subsectors, significantly increasing their collective GDP contributions, currently at just about 1.5%. Devolution of power and economic control would incentivize federating units to develop a new railway complex and real estate, with significant income and employment multiplier effects in agriculture, agro-allied industries, and mining for industrial use locally and in other markets. With real estate being a major source of wealth, the cost savings from the massive low-cost housing program would be passed on to the masses, spurring the growth of various consumer markets.

Ultimately, for a fair, productive, and prosperous corporate existence as a nation, political and economic solutions must be designed and implemented simultaneously. Our political structures should be based on a new social contract dictated by economic and sociopolitical demands.

Signed:

Ayo Adebanjo, Leader, Afenifere

Justice Faloye, Afenifere National Publicity Secretary

Top Hamas official says the group is losing faith in the US as a mediator in Gaza cease-fire talks

A top Hamas official said the Palestinian militant group is losing faith in the United States’ ability to mediate a cease-fire in Gaza ahead of a new round of talks scheduled for this week amid mounting pressure to bring an end to the 10-month-old war with Israel.

Osama Hamdan told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that Hamas will only participate if the talks focus on implementing a proposal detailed by U.S. President Joe Biden in May and endorsed internationally.

The U.S. referred to it as an Israeli proposal and Hamas agreed to it in principle, but Israel said Biden’s speech was not entirely consistent with the proposal itself. Both sides later proposed changes, leading each to accuse the other of obstructing a deal.

Hamas is especially resistant to Israel’s demand that it maintain a lasting military presence in two strategic areas of Gaza after any cease-fire, conditions only made public in recent weeks.

“We have informed the mediators that … any meeting should be based on talking about implementation mechanisms and setting deadlines rather than negotiating something new,” said Hamdan, who is a member of Hamas’ Political Bureau, which includes the group’s top political leaders and sets its policies. “Otherwise, Hamas finds no reason to participate.”

It was not clear late Wednesday if Hamas would attend the talks beginning Thursday.

Hamdan spoke amid a new push for an end to the war, sparked by the Oct. 7 attack on Israel in which Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and dragged about 250 hostages into Gaza. Israel responded with a devastating bombardment and ground invasion that has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians and decimated wide swaths of the territory.

There are now fears the conflict could ignite a wider conflagration.

In an hourlong interview, Hamdan accused Israel of not engaging in good faith and said the group does not believe the U.S. can or will apply pressure on Israel to seal a deal.

Hamdan claimed Israel has “either sent a non-voting delegation (to the negotiations) or changed delegations from one round to another, so we would start again, or it has imposed new conditions.”

Israeli officials had no immediate comment on the claim, but Israel has denied sabotaging talks and accuses Hamas of doing so.

During the interview, Hamdan provided copies of several iterations of the cease-fire proposal and the group’s written responses. A regional official familiar with the talks verified the documents were genuine. The official offered the assessment on condition of anonymity in order to share information not made public.

The documents show that at several points Hamas attempted to add additional guarantors — including Russia, Turkey and the United Nations — but Israel’s responses always included only the existing mediators, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar.

In a statement Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister’s office said some changes it has asked for were merely “clarifications” adding details, such as to clauses dealing with how Palestinians will return to northern Gaza, how many hostages will be released during specific phases and whether Israel can veto which Palestinian prisoners will be released in exchange for Israeli hostages. It accused Hamas of asking for 29 changes to the proposal.

“The fact is that it is Hamas which is preventing the release of our hostages, and which continues to oppose the outline,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this month.

Hamdan, however, claimed that more than once Hamas accepted in whole or in large part a proposal put to them by the mediators only to have Israel reject it out of hand, ignore it, or launch major new military operations in the days that followed.

On one occasion, one day after Hamas accepted a cease-fire proposal, Israel launched a new operationin Rafah in southern Gaza. Israel said the proposal remained far from its demands.

Hamdan said that CIA Director William Burns told Hamas via mediators at the time that Israel would agree to the deal.

But, he said, “the Americans were unable to convince the Israelis. I think they did not pressure the Israelis.”

Asked about Hamas’ concern about the U.S. role, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said: “Well, the United States does not think that Hamas is an honest broker.”

As to whether Hamas will attend the talks, Patel said representatives of Qatar had assured them they would.

“We fully expect these talks to move forward as they should. Our point of view is that all negotiators should return to the table,” Patel said.

Negotiations have taken on new urgency as the war has threatened to ignite a regional conflict.

Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah are mulling retaliatory strikes against Israel after the killings of Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran and of top Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut. Israel claimed the latter strike, but has neither confirmed nor denied its role in the blast that killed Haniyeh.

After a brief truce in November that saw the release of more than 100 Israeli hostages, multiple rounds of cease-fire talks have fallen apart. Around 110 people taken captive remain in Gaza, about a third of them believed to be dead.

Hamdan accused Israel of stepping up its attacks on Hamas leaders after the group agreed in principle to the latest proposal put forward by mediators.

Israel said a July 13 operation in Gaza killed Mohammed Deif, the shadowy leader of Hamas’ military wing. More than 90 other people also died, local health officials said.

Hamdan insisted Deif is alive.

Two weeks later, Haniyeh was killed, with Hamas and Iran blaming Israel. Hamas then named Yahya Sinwar, its Gaza chief seen as responsible for the Oct. 7 attack, to replace Haniyeh — who had been considered a more moderate figure.

Hamdan acknowledged there are “some difficulties” and delays in communicating with Sinwar, who is believed to be hiding deep in the network of tunnels in the Gaza Strip. But Hamdan insisted this does not pose a major barrier to the negotiations.

The most intractable sticking point in the talks remains whether and how a temporary cease-fire would become permanent.

Israel has been wary of proposals that the initial truce would be extended as long as negotiations continue over a permanent deal. Israel seems concerned Hamas would drag on endlessly with fruitless negotiations.

Hamas has said it is concerned Israel will resume the war once its most vulnerable hostages are returned, a scenario reflected in some of Netanyahu’s recent comments.

All versions of the cease-fire proposal shared by Hamdan stipulated that Israeli forces withdraw completely from Gaza in the deal’s second phase.

Recently, however, officials with knowledge of the negotiations told the AP that Israel had introduced new demands to maintain a presence in a strip of land on the Gaza-Egypt border known as the Philadelphi corridor, as well as along a highway running across the breadth of the strip, separating Gaza’s south and north. Hamas has insisted on a full withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Hamdan said the group had not yet received in writing the new conditions.

Hamdan acknowledged Palestinians have suffered immensely in the war and are yearning for a cease-fire, but insisted the group couldn’t simply give up its demands.

“A cease-fire is one thing,” he said, “and surrender is something else.”

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine says advance into Russia 'going well', creates strategic buffer

Ukraine's forces advanced further into Russia's Kursk region on Wednesday as Kyiv said its gains would provide a strategic buffer zone to protect its border areas from Russian attacks.

Kyiv's surge into Russian territory last week caught Moscow by surprise. Russian forces that began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 had been grinding out steady gains all year.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he met top officials to discuss the humanitarian situation and establishing a military commandant's offices “if needed” in an occupied area that Kyiv says exceeds 1,000 sq km (390 sq miles).

"We continue to advance further in Kursk," Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram, "from one to two km in various areas since the start of the day".

Later, in his nightly address, Zelenskiy referred to the growing number of Russian prisoners of war taken in Kursk who could be exchanged for Ukrainian fighters.

"Our advance in Kursk is going well today – we are reaching our strategic goal. The 'exchange fund' for our state has also been significantly replenished."

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said creation of a "buffer zone" was "designed to protect our border communities from daily enemy attacks".

Russia has been pummelling Ukraine with strikes launched from adjacent border territories, including Kursk.

Ukraine complains its defence against such attacks has been hamstrung by the need to respect Western countries' compunction about using their weapons against Russia's hinterland rather than against its forces in occupied Ukraine. Zelenskiy once more urged Western allies to permit long-range missile strikes into Russia.

RUSSIA SAYS IT DOWNS UKRAINIAN DRONES

Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to expel the Ukrainian troops. He says they aim, with Western backing, to give Kyiv a stronger hand in possible future ceasefire talks. But more than a week of intense battles have so far failed to oust them.

"The situation remains difficult," said Yuri Podolyaka, an influential Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger.

Ukraine's General Staff said Kyiv hit four Russian military airfields overnight in the Russian regions of Voronezh, Kursk and Nizhniy Novgorod, targeting fuel stores and aerial weapons. Zelenskiy called the attack "timely" and "accurate".

The aim of the long-range drone strike was to undermine Russia's ability to attack Ukraine with glide bombs, a Ukrainian security source told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Ukraine's military said it had destroyed a Russian Su-34.

Moscow said it shot down 117 of the Ukrainian drones as well as four missiles. The Russian Defence Ministry posted a video on Telegram that it said showed Sukhoi Su-34 bombers striking Ukrainian positions in Kursk region.

Later, Russia's defence ministry said its forces had repelled a series of Ukrainian attacks inside Kursk, including at Russkoye Porechnoye, 18 km (11 miles) from the border. Some pro-Russian war bloggers said the front had been stabilised, while state television said Moscow's forces were turning the tide.

Russia's National Guard said it was beefing up security at the Kursk nuclear power plant, just 35 km (22 miles) from the fighting.

In the Russian border region of Belgorod, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov declared a state of emergency.

Russia says it has already evacuated around 200,000 people from the border zone. The acting governor of the Kursk region late on Wednesday said on Telegram that residents of the border settlement of Glushkovo were ordered to evacuate.

UKRAINE PLANS CIVILIAN EVACUATION CORRIDORS

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Kyiv would open humanitarian corridors for evacuating civilians toward both Russia and Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials said Kyiv would also arrange access for international humanitarian organisations, likely to include the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations.

The unprecedented incursion carries major risks for Russia, Ukraine and the West, which is keen to avoid a direct confrontation between Russia and the U.S.-led NATO military alliance that has helped arm Ukraine.

U.S. President Joe Biden said U.S. officials were in constant touch with Kyiv over the incursion, although the White House said Washington had not received advance notice and had no involvement.

Russian officials say Ukraine's Western backers must have known of the attack. "Of course they are involved," lawmaker Maria Butina told Reuters.

The offensive could leave Ukrainian forces more exposed on other parts of the front, where Russia has been slowly adding to the 18% of Ukrainian territory it now controls.

The heaviest fighting is still in the Donetsk region, and Zelenskiy said his forces there would receive more weapons than planned from the next Western support package.

Ukraine's top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said the Russian town of Sudzha, a transhipment hub for Russian natural gas flowing to Europe via Ukraine, was fully under Ukrainian control. Natural gas was still flowing on Wednesday.

"Sudzha is under Ukrainian control. However, Ukraine has no intention of claiming someone else’s land," the Kyiv foreign ministry said on X.

The Russian rouble fell further against the dollar on Wednesday, for a loss of over 8% since the incursion began.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

The Ukrainian armed forces' losses in the Kursk Region over the past day amounted to 270 military personnel and 16 armored vehicles, including two tanks, while 18 servicemen have surrendered, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

According to the agency, the enemy has lost upwards of 2,300 military personnel since fighting began in the Kursk Region.

According to Major General Apti Alaudinov, deputy head of the Main Military and Political Department of the Russian Armed Forces and commander of the Akhmat special forces, Russia has stabilized the situation in the region. The blockade of the Ukrainian forces that have entered the country is now being finalized.

TASS has gathered the key facts about the situation.

Situation in the region

- The Russian army foiled Ukraine’s attempts to break through near Skrylevka, Levshinka, Semyonovka, Alekseyevskoye, and Kamyshnoye in the Kursk Region.

- Six Ukrainian attacks were repelled near the settlements of Korenevo, Olgovka, Pogrebki, Russkoe Porechnoye and Cherkesskoe Porechnoye.

- Russian troops took out Ukrainian units and equipment in the areas of Loknya, Kremiany, Oleshnya, Sverdlikova and Daryino.

- The Russian military detected and destroyed two enemy groups in pickup trucks near Martynovka.

- Russian aircraft struck Ukrainian reserves near Yunakovka, Sadki, Miropolye, Hrapovshchyna, Mogritsa and Krovnoye in the Sumy Region.

Ukraine's losses

- Ukraine lost up to 270 servicemen and 16 armored vehicles, including two tanks, a Stryker armored personnel carrier, 13 armored combat vehicles, as well as 10 vehicles and a 122-mm D-30 howitzer, during the past day. Eighteen Ukrainian servicemen were captured.

- During the entire period of fighting in the region, Ukraine lost up to 2,300 servicemen, 37 tanks, 32 armored personnel carriers, 18 infantry fighting vehicles, 192 armored combat vehicles, 88 vehicles, four anti-aircraft missile systems, two multiple rocket launchers and 15 field artillery guns.

Alaudinov's statements

- The situation in the Kursk Region is under the Russian troops' control. The blocking of those Ukrainian formations that have entered the territory is now being completed.

- According to him, the enemy is no longer taking offensive actions in the Kursk direction and has begun to gradually fortify the border areas to avoid being annihilated.

- Russian forces will soon launch a widespread offensive to completely destroy the Ukrainian armed forces in the area.

- The Ukrainian raid was aimed at capturing the Kursk nuclear power plant by August 11. This task was not accomplished.

- Most of the enemy’s equipment has already been destroyed.

- The Ukrainian armed forces do not control Sudzha, despite some reports. Russian Defense Ministry units are in the city; intense clashes with the enemy are underway.

Statements by local authorities

- The authorities and the Russian Armed Forces control the situation in the Belovsky District of the Kursk Region, the head of the district, Nikolay Volobuev, told TASS.

- A temporary lull from the Ukrainian shelling is going on in the Sujansky District. The authorities continue to evacuate citizens whenever possible, its head Alexander Bogachev told TASS.

- The operational situation in the Lgovsky District is stable, with no shelling taking place, the head of the municipality, Sergey Korostelev, told TASS.

Reuters/Tass