Israel planted explosives in 5,000 Hezbollah's pagers, say sources

Israel's Mossad spy agency planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers imported by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesday's detonations, a senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters.

The operation was an unprecedented Hezbollah security breach that saw thousands of pagers detonate across Lebanon, killing nine people and wounding nearly 3,000 others, including the group's fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut.

The Lebanese security source said the pagers were from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, but the company said it did not manufacture the devices, but were made by a European firm with the right to use its brand.

Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts.

The plot appears to have been many months in the making, several sources told Reuters.

The senior Lebanese security source said the group had ordered 5,000 beepers from Gold Apollo, which several sources say were brought into the country earlier this year.

Gold Apollo founder Hsu Ching-Kuang said the pagers used in the explosion were made by a company in Europe that had the right to use the Taipei-based firm's brand, the name of which he could not immediately confirm.

"The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it," he told reporters on Wednesday, without naming the company which did make the devices.

The senior Lebanese security source identified a photograph of the model of the pager, an AP924, which like other pagers wirelessly receive and display text messages but cannot make telephone calls.

Hezbollah fighters have been using pagers as a low-tech means of communication in an attempt to evade Israeli location-tracking, two sources familiar with the group's operations told Reuters this year.

But the senior Lebanese source said the devices had been modified by Israel's spy service "at the production level."

"The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. It's very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner," the source said.

The source said 3,000 of the pagers exploded when a coded message was sent to them, simultaneously activating the explosives.

Another security source told Reuters that up to three grams of explosives were hidden in the new pagers and had gone "undetected" by Hezbollah for months.

Israeli officials did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Images of destroyed pagers analysed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo.

Hezbollah was reeling from the attack, which left fighters and others bloodied, hospitalised or dead. One Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the detonation was the group's "biggest security breach" since the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hezbollah ally Hamas erupted on Oct. 7.

"This would easily be the biggest counterintelligence failure that Hezbollah has had in decades," said Jonathan Panikoff, the U.S. government's former deputy national intelligence officer on the Middle East.

BREAK YOUR PHONES, GROUP ORDERED

In February, Hezbollah drew up a war plan that aimed to address gaps in the group's intelligence infrastructure. Around 170 fighters had already been killed in targeted Israeli strikes on Lebanon, including one senior commander and a top Hamas official in Beirut.

In a televised speech on Feb. 13, the group's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah sternly warned supporters that their phones were more dangerous than Israeli spies, saying they should break, bury or lock them in an iron box.

Instead, the group opted to distribute pagers to Hezbollah members across the group's various branches - from fighters to medics working in its relief services.

The explosions maimed many Hezbollah members, according to footage from hospitals reviewed by Reuters. Wounded men had injuries of varying degrees to the face, missing fingers and gaping wounds at the hip where the pagers were likely worn.

"We really got hit hard," said the senior Lebanese security source, who has direct knowledge of the group's probe into the explosions.

The pager blasts came at a time of mounting concern about tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, which have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the Gaza conflict erupted last October.

While the war in Gaza has been Israel's main focus since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas-led gunmen, the precarious situation along Israel's northern border with Lebanon has fueled fears of a regional conflict that could drag in the United States and Iran.

A missile barrage by Hezbollah the day after Oct. 7 opened the latest phase of conflict and since then there have been daily exchanges of rockets, artillery fire and missiles, with Israeli jets striking deep into Lebanese territory.

Hezbollah has said it does not seek a wider war but would fight if Israel launched one.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday that the window was closing for a diplomatic solution to the standoff with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon.

Still, experts said they did not see the pager blasts as a sign that an Israeli ground offensive was imminent.

Instead, it was a sign of Israeli intelligence's apparently deep penetration of Hezbollah.

"It demonstrates Israel's ability to infiltrate its adversaries in a remarkably dramatic way," said Paul Pillar, a 28-year veteran of the U.S. intelligence community, mainly at the CIA.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia strikes energy facilities in Ukraine's Sumy region, authorities say

Russia fired missiles at energy infrastructure in the northeast Ukrainian city of Sumy on Tuesday hours after an overnight drone strike on the region, reducing power in some areas and forcing authorities to use back-up power systems.

The Sumy region's governor, Volodymyr Artiukh, citing an initial assessment, said Russia had used at least four missiles in the latest attack on energy facilities. Ukraine's energy ministry said Russia's attacks had caused a fire at a power substation and cut power to more than 281,000 consumers. Power was later partially restored, it said.

Acting Sumy mayor Artem Kobzar said there were no casualties in the city, but regional officials said the overnight drone attack had damaged the region's Konotop, Okhtyrka and Sumy districts.

Critical infrastructure facilities had to use back-up power systems, regional authorities said on the Telegram messaging app.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 51 drones in Tuesday's attack, of which 34 were shot down.

Russia also dropped three guided bombs on the town of Hlukhiv, Ukraine's northern military command said on Telegram. Two people were wounded and 20 private houses, public transport and a grain silo suffered damage.

Russia, which began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has been attacking energy infrastructure in what Kyiv says is a concerted effort to degrade the energy system before winter, when people need electricity and heating most.

Russian forces have been steadily advancing in Ukraine's east, while Ukrainian forces remain in the Russian region of Kursk following a cross-border incursion last month.

Moscow said its air defence systems had overnight destroyed 16 Ukrainian drones over Russia's Kursk and Bryansk regions.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian breakthrough attempts thwarted: developments in Kursk Region

The offensive of the battlegroup North continues in the Kursk Region, several brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces have been defeated over the day, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

In addition, the Russian military repelled five attempts of the enemy to break through the border towards the settlements of Veseloye and Medvezhye.

TASS has gathered the key news about the unfolding situation.

Operation to neutralize Ukrainian forces

- The Russian military repelled four enemy counterattacks towards Lyubimovka, Malaya Loknya, Olgovka and Cherkasskaya Konopelka.

- The army also repulsed five Ukrainian attempts to break through the border near the settlements of Veseloye and Medvezhye.

- The advance of Russia’s battlegroup North continues, its units delivered strikes on the Ukrainian formations of the 22nd, 41st and 115th mechanized, 17th armored, and 82nd air assault brigades, the National Guard’s 1st brigade as well as the 112th and 129th defense brigades in the vicinity of Lyubimovka, Malaya Loknya, Daryino, Nikolo-Daryino, Tolsty Lug and Plekhovo.

- The Russian military struck clusters of manpower and hardware of the 22nd, 41st and 61st mechanized, 17th tank, 80th, 82nd and 95th airborne assault brigades, as well as the 112th and 129th defense brigades near Daryino, Kositsa, Kurilovka, Kruglenkoe, Zazulevka, Lyubimovka, Mirny, Makhnovka, Mikhailovka, Malaya Loknya, Nikolo-Daryino, Novy Put, Novaya Sorochina, Novoivanovka, Orlovka, Pravda, Plekhovo, Russkoe Porechnoye and Tolsty Lug.

- Russian jets hit Ukrainian reserves in the Sumy Region.

Ukraine’s losses

- Over the day, Ukraine lost up to 400 troops and 19 armored vehicles, including four tanks, a Swedish-made CV-90 infantry fighting vehicle and 14 armored combat vehicles, as well as five artillery pieces, five mortars, six vehicles and an engineering demolition vehicle.

- Since the beginning of hostilities in Russia’s borderline region, Ukraine’s losses have amounted to more than 14,200 troops, 119 tanks, 45 infantry fighting vehicles, 91 armored personnel carriers, 743 armored combat vehicles, 445 vehicles, 103 artillery pieces, 28 multiple rocket launchers, including seven HIMARS and six US-made MLRS, eight launchers of anti-aircraft missile systems, four transport and loading vehicles, 26 radar stations, seven counter-battery radars, two air defense radars, 14 pieces of engineering equipment, including eight engineering demolition vehicles and a UR-77 demining unit.

Alaudinov’s statements

- The Russian military has mopped up Kursk Region's Borki from Ukrainian troops. Reinforcement units have entered the settlement, Deputy Chief of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces, Commander of the Akhmat special forces, Major General Apty Alaudinov said.

- He added that Akhmat forces destroyed a significant number of Ukrainian infantry attempting to establish positions in several areas near Sudzha.

- Alaudinov added that several dozen foreign instructors had appeared near Sudzha.

Reuters/Tass

The New York Times reported Thursday that the Biden administration is considering allowing Ukraine to use NATO-provided long-range precision weapons against targets deep inside Russia. Such a decision would put the world at greater risk of nuclear conflagration than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis.

At a time when American leaders should be focused on finding a diplomatic off-ramp to a war that should never have been allowed to take place, the Biden-Harris administration is instead pursuing a policy that Russia says it will interpret as an act of war. In the words of Vladimir Putin, long-range strikes in Russia “will mean that NATO countries — the United States and European countries — are at war with Russia.”

Some American analysts believe Putin is bluffing, and favor calling his bluff. As the Times reported, “‘Easing the restrictions on Western weapons will not cause Moscow to escalate,’17 former ambassadors and generals wrote in a letter to the administration this week. ‘We know this because Ukraine is already striking territory Russia considers its own — including Crimea and Kursk — with these weapons and Moscow’s response remains unchanged.’”

These analysts are mistaking restraint for weakness. In essence, they are advocating a strategy of brinksmanship. Each escalation — from HIMARS to cluster munitions to Abrams tanks to F-16s to ATACMS — draws the world closer to the brink of Armageddon. Their logic seems to be that if you goad a bear five times and it doesn’t respond, it is safe to goad him even harder a sixth time.

Such a strategy might be reasonable if the bear had no teeth. The hawks in the Biden administration seem to have forgotten that Russia is a nuclear power. They have forgotten the wisdom of John F. Kennedy, who said in 1963, “Nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war.”

We should take this advice seriously. Putin has signaled numerous times that Russia would use nuclear weapons in extreme circumstances. In September 2022, Putin said, “If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people — this is not a bluff.” In March 2023, he struck a deal with Belarus to station tactical nuclear weapons there. Earlier this month, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov announced that Russia would be amending its nuclear doctrine in response to Western involvement in the Ukraine war.

Imagine if Russia were providing another country with missiles, training and targeting information to strike deep into American territory. The U.S. would never tolerate it. We shouldn’t expect Russia to tolerate it either.

This game of nuclear “chicken” has gone far enough. There is no remaining step between firing U.S. missiles deep into Russian territory and a nuclear exchange. We cannot get any closer to the brink than this.
And for what? To “weaken Russia”? To control Ukraine’s minerals? No vital American interest is at stake. To risk nuclear conflict for the sake of the neoconservative fantasy of global “full-spectrum dominance” is madness.

The war fever in the U.S. foreign policy establishment is at such a pitch that it is hard to tell whether they believe their own rhetoric. In last Tuesday’s debate, Vice President Kamala Harris conjured up images of Russian forces rolling across Europe. Surely she must know how absurd that is. For one thing, Russia can barely wrest a few provinces from Ukraine, which is by no means one of Europe’s great powers.

Secondly, Russia made its war aims very clear at the outset — most notably Ukrainian neutrality and a halt to NATO’s eastward expansion. Hundreds of thousands of lost lives, and hundreds of billions of dollars later, no one is better off — not Europe, not America and certainly not Ukraine.

It is past time to de-escalate this conflict. This is more important than any of the political issues our nation argues about. Nuclear war would mean the end of civilization as we know it, maybe even the end of the human species.

Former President Donald Trump has vowed to end this war, but by the time he takes office, it might be too late. We need to demand, right now, that Harris and President Biden reverse their insane war agenda and open direct negotiations with Moscow.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an environmental lawyer and public health advocate. Donald Trump Jr. is executive vice president of the Trump Organization.

The Hill

The terrible cost of Russia’s continuing assault on Ukraine is viscerally clear at a military rehabilitation center on the outskirts of this city. Soldiers there describe how their bodies were shattered on the front lines. And they’re the lucky ones who survived.

Alexei was trying to hold his position at Pokrovsk, the scene of some of this year’s heaviest fighting, when a drone dropped a grenade near him. His left leg and right hand were nearly severed, attached by thin threads of tissue but now mended. Nikolai lost his left leg in Kharkiv, another Russian target. He waited 18 hours to be evacuated because of drone attacks. Dima lost both legs when his vehicle was hit by a drone in Pokrovsk. The four soldiers traveling with him were killed.

I met these wounded soldiers at a recovery center funded by a Ukrainian businessman named Victor Pinchuk, one of 15 similar facilities he has established around the country. Like soldiers everywhere, they’re kids, with sleeves of tattoos and T-shirts promoting heavy metal bands. But they got old in a hurry. Talking with a half-dozen of them Friday, I heard the same grim account of what’s at stake in this war. As Alexei put it: “We don’t have a choice. If we stop fighting, we’ll stop existing.”

Listening to their stories, you realize that Ukraine is bleeding out. Its will to fight is as strong as ever, but its army is exhausted by a ceaseless drone war that’s unlike anything in the history of combat. The Biden administration’s rubric of support — “as long as it takes” — simply doesn’t match the reality of this conflict. Ukraine doesn’t have enough soldiers to fight an indefinite war of attrition. It needs to escalate to be strong enough to reach a decent settlement.

That’s the lesson I took from a visit here to attend a conference sponsored by Pinchuk’s group YES, which stands for Yalta European Strategy. It was founded 20 years ago to encourage Ukraine’s integration with the West. Now it’s trying to prevent the country’s destruction. The title of the meeting was “The Necessity to Win.” But the underlying message was that, without more firepower, Ukraine might be forced to settle on Vladimir Putin’s terms to halt his brutal onslaught.

The YES gathering was unlike any conference I’ve attended. It was a Davos-like meeting of prominent politicians and diplomats, featuring a passionate address by President Volodymyr Zelensky. But on the wall behind the speakers was a grim display of snapshots of dozens of dead soldiers — some bright-eyed, others haggard, all of them gone. And the most powerful presentations weren’t from the big shots but from soldiers who had come in from the front.

“We are tired,” said a drone unit commander named Serhii Varakin, who has been fighting Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine for more than eight years. His face, ringed with fatigue, was a portrait of the stress of relentless combat. The conference’s most emotional moment came when this hardened warrior told the audience: “I should have had a family, wonderful children, taking pictures by the barbecue, but now I take pictures on the front line.” The prolonged applause brought tears to Varakin’s eyes.

During a break from the conference, I visited a Ukrainian friend named Sergiy Koshman, a free-wheeling intellectual from Kharkiv and onetime civil society activist. Now he’s working to design weapons. At our last meeting, a few months after Russia’s full-scale invasion, he had described an almost giddy sense of national solidarity, with young activists talking about a mountaintop festival to defy Russian threats of using tactical nuclear weapons. But that mood has changed.

“We thought that once we showed solidarity, Russia would back off,” he told me. “Now it seems the war could last for decades.” He described a “radicalization” of intellectual life, in which the core principle had become: “We have to kill as many Russians as possible and find innovative ways to do it.” The war has transformed the country. “It’s so kinetic, when ballistic missiles are raining down on you daily. It’s a different reality.”

This cultural mood was vividly embodied by a soldier named Yarnya Chornohus. She’s a poet when she isn’t at the front, and she was a striking presence onstage: movie-star beautiful, with a snake tattooed on her right arm, the fangs open at her wrist, and the Ukrainian military emblem on her left arm. She said she had instructed her daughter to be ready to fight someday. As a poet, she said, she had learned the power of her verse comes from her experience of war.

A recurring theme of the conference was that President Joe Biden should remove current limits on Ukraine’s use of American ATACMS long-range missiles to strike deep into Russia. A procession of speakers said Biden should stop worrying about the danger of Russian escalation — and implied he was weak for even considering the issue. That strikes me as wrong; a primary responsibility of any American president is to avoid war with a nuclear superpower.

But I came away from the conference thinking the United States should take more risks to help Ukraine. It matters how this war ends. If Putin prevails, it will harm the interests of America and Europe for decades.

“I have no announcement to make” on the ATACMS issue, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a video interview with the group. That’s fine with me. Don’t announce anything. Leave Putin guessing. But if Russia’s surge continues, Putin’s bases within ATACMS range should be legitimate targets. He’s the one crossing the “red line” every day he continues his unprovoked aggression.

Zelensky, clad as always in a green combat shirt, said the proper range for U.S.-supplied weapons should be “long enough to act as a game changer and make Russia seek peace.” He’ll meet Biden in a week in New York to make that plea in person. I hope Biden says yes, privately.

If Zelensky is wise, he’ll bring along Oleksander Budko, a wounded veteran who spoke to the YES group. Though he lost both of his legs in combat, the boyishly handsome Budko was recently chosen as “Ukraine’s most desirable man” on a national television show. That’s the spirit that sustains Ukraine in this dark moment, and it’s moving to see.

But it’s not sentimentality that underlies deeper American support for Ukraine, but U.S. national interest.

Washington Post

The price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, produced by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on Monday may justify the importation of the commodity into Nigeria, oil marketers have said.

Dealers also stated that vessels of imported petrol should start arriving in Nigeria from Tuesday (today) as they called for transparency in the pricing of the PMS produced by the Dangote refinery.

This came as the Organised Private Sector faulted the role of NNPC as the sole off-taker of petrol from the $20bn Lekki-based refinery. They called for competition in the space, adding that NNPC’s role as sole off-taker would not encourage this.

On Monday, NNPC announced that it would sell the petrol lifted from the Dangote refinery at a price above N1,000/litre in the far north.

Its spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, in a statement titled, ‘NNPC Ltd Releases Estimated Pump Prices of PMS from Dangote Refinery Based on September 2024 Pricing’.

Soneye explained that the price may go for as high as N1,019/litre in Borno State and N999.22 in Abuja, Sokoto, Kano, and others.

In Oyo, Rivers and other areas in the South, it will be N960/litre. The lowest price, according to an info graphic released by the NNPC, is N950 in Lagos and its environs.

“The NNPC Ltd has released estimated prices of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol (obtained from the Dangote refinery) in its retail stations across the country.

“The NNPC Ltd also wishes to state that, in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, PMS prices are not set by the government, but negotiated directly between parties at an arm’s length,” he stated.

The company explained that the product it loaded on Sunday was paid for in dollars.

“The NNPC Ltd can confirm that it is paying Dangote Refinery in USD for September 2024 PMS offtake, as naira transactions will only commence on October 1, 2024.

“The NNPC Ltd assures that if the quoted pricing is disputed, it will be grateful for any discount from the Dangote Refinery, which will be passed on 100 per cent to the general public,” the statement added.

Soneye stated that the estimated pump prices of PMS were obtained from the Dangote refinery and would be across NNPC retail stations in Nigeria based on September 2024 pricing.

Recall that the Dangote Group had disagreed with NNPC on Sunday on the N898/litre PMS cost announced by NNPC as the price at which Dangote sold the commodity.

Petrol importation

Major oil marketers stated that the high price of the Dangote petrol released by NNPC would encourage the importation of the commodity, as they noted that some PMS vessels might arrive in Nigeria today (Tuesday).

“As it is now, I don’t know what magic they (NNPC and Dangote) are going to perform because a lot of companies are surely going to be involved in the importation of PMS. This is because whatever is going to come out of that place (Dangote refinery), it is either there will not be enough transparency in the allocation of the product, or there will be other issues.

“Also, some big players may not get enough quantity from the plant and they will have to complete this with imported products. Like I told you, all things being equal, from September 17 (today), PMS vessels by marketers, not NNPC, should start coming into the country,” a major marketer, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to lack of authorisation to speak on the matter, stated.

The source added, “Let me also state that as it is now, you will see PMS for N1,200/litre in some stations, this can also happen in Lagos because, at N950 and N1,019/litre, there will be a market for imported products. Yes, you will see a price of N950 here and in another location, you will get it at about N1,200. It now depends on the customers.

“Those who can queue may opt for the cheaper prices and wait in the queues, while people in haste will drive into stations that sell at higher rates to buy the product. So, the price by Dangote will encourage importation. And like I told you earlier, a lot of marketers are having their cargoes before the end of the month.”

IPMAN reacts

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria raised concerns over the pricing of petrol from the Dangote refinery, urging NNPC to ensure that the product was not sold at a higher price than imported fuel.

IPMAN argued that such a disparity would be counterproductive to the nation’s drive for energy self-sufficiency and could negatively impact consumers and marketers alike.

According to IPMAN on Monday, the pricing strategy for locally refined petrol should reflect the advantages of domestic production, offering Nigerians a more affordable option.

The association emphasised that maintaining competitive pricing was crucial for the success of the Dangote refinery and for fostering a sustainable fuel market in the country.

IPMAN National Welfare Officer, John Kekeocha, stated this on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief breakfast programme on Monday.

“If NNPC can sell Dangote products higher than the imported products then it doesn’t make sense. What is the celebration we are having all these while then?” he queried.

The NNPC began loading the first batch of petrol from the Dangote Refinery on Sunday, saying it got petrol at N898 per litre from the private refinery.

Before lifting petrol from the Dangote Refinery on Sunday, NNPC retail outlets in Lagos sold petrol for around N855 but said a litre of Dangote petrol would sell for N950/litre in Lagos and N1,019 in Borno.

However, Dangote refinery denied selling petrol to NNPC at N898. A spokesman for the refinery Anthony Chiejina in a statement late Sunday described the claim by the NNPC as “misleading and mischievous.”

Terrifying price

Reacting to the price list released by NNPC, the President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, described it as “terrifying.”

He, however, noted that the breakdown of the prices by the national oil company was clear, adding that “NNPC did not even tell us if they are making any profit from the Dangote selling price.”

Gillis-Harry stated, “This is the kind of transparency that we are requesting that the industry should be inundated with. We need this transparency so that the public will understand what they are engaged in.

“However, whatever it is, the good news is that PMS will be rolling out into the tanks of commuters and that businesses will not be grounded to a halt due to scarcity. But as for the pricing, I believe there will be a stakeholder review about it and we will make our input known.”

The PETROAN president called for minimal importation of PMS while the country should try to stabilise the supply of products from the Dangote refinery.

He again pointed out this would be achieved when there was transparency, accurate and timely information from both NNPC and Dangote refinery.

OPS expresses concern

The President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Dele Oye, said NACCIMA members were concerned about NNPC’s role as the sole off-taker for the Dangote refinery.

He said, “The arrangement whereby NNPC is the sole buyer from the Dangote refinery does indeed create a monopolistic situation, which appears to contradict the principles of a deregulated market and is in conflict with the government’s current position that they have deregulated the sector. This raises concerns about the potential distortion of pricing mechanisms and the limited opportunities for other stakeholders to participate in the market.

 “The conflicting statements between Dangote refinery and NNPC further underscore the need for clarity and transparency in the fuel pricing process. The public deserves a clear explanation of the rationale behind the pricing decisions to enhance trust and confidence in our energy sector. The recent price increase, while necessary, has had a significant impact on the already challenging inflationary situation, and has led to some businesses and even some state governments resorting to remote work arrangements.”

He asserted that the NNPC needed to open the market by allowing multiple buyers from Dangote refinery.

He added, “This would not only enhance competition but also ensure that prices reflected true market realities rather than being solely dictated by regulatory control.

 “Furthermore, it is imperative that the NNPCL provide a clear timeline for the completion and commencement of operations at the Port Harcourt Refinery. This would introduce much-needed competition among the local refineries, thereby strengthening our energy security.

 “The current uncertainty and perceived lack of transparency, as well as the perceived lack of demonstrated support for the Dangote Refinery, may send negative signals to potential foreign and existing local investors. This could undermine President Tinubu’s efforts to attract foreign direct investment and drive economic growth. It is essential that we address these issues promptly to build a more favourable investment climate that encourages sustainable development and prosperity for our nation.”

The President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gabriel Idahosa, said NNPC could not prevent Dangote refinery from selling PMS to other marketers.

Idahosa noted that independent marketers had called on the NNPC to allow them decide whether they could afford to buy at whatever price Dangote would sell and then sell accordingly.

He said, “If we can sell at N900 and make a profit, that’s our problem. If we cannot sell, and we are forced to sell above N898, and there are Nigerian buyers in various parts of the country who are willing to buy because they are not ready to stay in long queues at NNPC stations that are selling at N898, so be it.”

Idahosa observed that while independent oil marketers were not restrained from buying Dangote’s PMS, they may be hesitant to compete with NNPC’s pump prices in the open market.

“What NNPC can do, and it has done, is to say whatever price we and Dangote have agreed to pay is a private treaty between the supplier Dangote and the buyer NNPC. And NNPC will sell to you and me at the pump at N898, which is the price they announced.

“So, they have yet to fix the price for Dangote to sell its products, but they have sealed the price that you and me can buy from the pump,” he continued.

The LCCI president noted that NNPC’s increase in pump price to a minimum of N898 following its purchase of PMS from the Dangote refinery came at a time when Nigerians were enmeshed in hardship and hunger worsened by declining average income levels

“It is difficult for the majority of Nigerians to afford it easily. That point is not in dispute,” Idahosa said. “The only point is, how do we gradually begin to see a reduction in the pump price of petrol?

“We have travelled through this road before (about) the high price of diesel and aviation fuel, but because the market was deregulated, it gradually and steadily came down. So, how can we see that for petrol? I think that is everyone’s primary concern,” Idahosa added.

Punch

Nigeria’s inflation rate eased to 32.15% in August 2024, marking the second consecutive month of decline, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This drop follows a 33.40% inflation rate recorded in July. While inflation remains high, the slower rate of increase in prices offers some relief to consumers who have been struggling with rising costs of goods and services.

In its August Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, the NBS highlighted a month-on-month decline of 2.22%, reflecting a 0.06% reduction compared to July. On a year-on-year basis, the inflation rate rose by 6.35% compared to 25.80% in August 2023, indicating that while prices are still rising, the rate of increase has slowed.

Food inflation also declined, with a 37.52% rate in August compared to 39.53% in July. Key factors contributing to the slowdown in food inflation include price reductions in staples such as yam, palm oil, Irish potatoes, and cassava. However, on a year-on-year basis, food inflation still showed an 8.18% rise compared to August 2023, driven by increases in the prices of bread, maize, guinea corn, and other essential commodities.

Despite this slight improvement, Nigeria continues to face severe inflationary pressures, particularly in food prices, which have soared since the removal of petrol subsidies and the liberalization of the naira in 2023. The resulting economic challenges have pushed more Nigerians into poverty and heightened food insecurity. In response, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency on food security in July 2023 and introduced measures such as suspending duties and taxes on essential food imports. While these policies have slowed the rate of inflation, they have yet to bring it under control.

The NBS report also provided insights into the regional variation in food inflation. Sokoto, Gombe, and Yobe states experienced the highest food inflation rates in August, while Benue, Rivers, and Bayelsa had the lowest. On a month-to-month basis, Adamawa, Kebbi, and Borno saw the sharpest increases in food prices, while Ogun, Akwa Ibom, and Sokoto recorded the slowest growth.

In summary, while the decline in Nigeria’s inflation rate is a positive development, the overall economic situation remains challenging, particularly with food prices continuing to rise year-on-year. The government’s efforts to address inflation will be critical as the country navigates this economic crisis.

Returning residents to north Israel now a war goal, Netanyahu says

Israel on Tuesday expanded its stated goals of the war in Gaza to include enabling residents to return to communities in northern Israel that have been evacuated due to attacks by Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The decision was approved during an overnight meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet, Netanyahu's office said.

Hamas' Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel sparked the war in Gaza. Hezbollah opened a second front against Israel a day later and fighting across the Israel-Lebanon border has since escalated, threatening to ignite a regional conflict.

Tens of thousands of Israelis were evacuated from towns along the northern frontier that have been badly damaged by rocket fire and they have yet to return.

Israel's defence minister said on Monday: "The possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to 'tie itself' to Hamas, and refuses to end the conflict. Therefore, the only way left to ensure the return of Israel's northern communities to their homes will be via military action."

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Putin orders increase in size of Russian military

President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree that officially increases the number of personnel in Russia’s armed forces to almost 2.4 million people, including 1.5 million servicemen. 

The latest increase comes after a similar decree in December 2023, when the president boosted the number of employees in the Russian military to just over 2.2 million, including 1.3 million troops.

In his order on Monday, Putin also instructed the Russian government to allocate the necessary funds for the Defense Ministry to carry out the increase, which formally takes the number of personnel in the armed forces to 2,389,130.   

The last time the president expanded the number of Russian troops, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained that the move was the result of the “proxy war” being waged against Moscow by the West. “The security of our country must be, of course, ensured,” Peskov stated at the time.  

“This is connected with the war that the countries of the collective West are waging. A proxy war, which includes elements of indirect participation in military actions and elements of economic warfare, financial warfare, legal warfare, going beyond the legal framework, and so on.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry also stated at the time that the expansion of the army would be done through citizens who voluntarily wish to serve under contract.  

It also explained that the decision to increase personnel numbers was due to the threat posed by NATO’s continued expansion. Members of the US-led bloc have significantly expanded their military presence along the Russian border, deploying additional air defense systems and strike weapons. 

“An additional increase in the combat strength and numbers of the armed forces is an adequate response to the aggressive activities of the NATO bloc,” the ministry wrote.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

NATO's Stoltenberg says each country must decide if Ukraine can use its long-range missiles on Russia

The outgoing head of NATO Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday he welcomed talks on Ukraine's use of long-range missiles to strike inside Russian territory, but any decision on the issue would have to be made by individual allies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been pleading with allies for months to let Ukraine fire Western missiles including long-range U.S. ATACMS and British Storm Shadows deep into Russia to limit Moscow's ability to launch attacks.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and U.S. President Joe Biden held talks in Washington on Friday on whether to allow Kyiv to use the long-range missiles against targets in Russia. No decision was announced.

"I welcome these developments and these decisions but its for individual allies to make the final decisions," Stoltenberg told LBC radio. "Allies have different policies on this."

Some U.S. officials are deeply skeptical that allowing the use of such missiles would make a significant difference in Kyiv's battle against Russian invaders.

President Vladimir Putin has said the West would be directly fighting Russia if it allowed Ukraine to strike with Western-made long-range missiles.

Asked about possible Russian retaliation, Stoltenberg said there were "no risk-free options in the war".

"But I continue to believe that the biggest risk for us, for United Kingdom, for NATO, will be if President Putin wins in Ukraine," he added.

RT/Reuters

The season of anomie has arrived once again. This unsettling era, reminiscent of the days of General Sani Abacha’s oppressive regime, began in 2015. It is a stark reminder of the dark times when tyranny reigned supreme, now cloaked in the guise of democracy—much like Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. We must not forget how Hitler exploited racism to ascend as the "democratically elected" Chancellor of Germany. The outcome, as we all know, is a tragic chapter in history.

For those who cherish liberty, this is not a moment for silence or indifference, motivated by the desire to avoid being seen as politically partisan. In times of moral crisis, neutrality is not an innocent stance; it is a deliberate alignment with tyranny. As Martin Luther King Jr. poignantly stated, "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Today’s era will not be marked by the inflammatory statements and actions of ethnic opportunists who wield bigotry as a political tool to enable incompetent, insensitive, and self-serving leaders. Instead, history will highlight the deafening silence of so-called human rights advocates and others who, in the name of political correctness, speak with double standards.

These individuals refuse to confront the truth, unwilling to tell the "king" that he is parading through the village naked, oblivious to the reality of his own offensive actions. Despite the ongoing efforts to suppress freedom by criminalizing protests and dissent—the very pillars of democracy—those who seek to live free, standing tall as citizens rather than bowing as slaves, must resist. We must harness every artistic expression across all mediums to oppose this attack on individual freedoms and collective rights.

As the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre advised, whether one is an essayist, pamphleteer, satirist, or novelist, whether one speaks of personal struggles or critiques the social order, the writer—a free person addressing other free people—has only one subject: freedom.

We must protect this shared space of liberty before the Leviathan rips apart the social contract we forged upon leaving Hobbes’ "State of Nature," where life was once solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

Tom Oliver

It is not uncommon for a lot of our clients, from ultra-wealthy business owners to Fortune 500 CEOs, to juggle two to three cellphones while in a meeting. Attention deficit is the silent success killer that is the root cause of a lot of bad boardroom decisions.

Leaders are continuously told to innovate, strategize and think big. Yet, while most business owners, CEOs and executives focus on expanding their vision for the future, there’s an invisible force at play that is undermining their ability to do so: shrinking attention spans. It’s a silent disease that seeps into our daily routines, fueled by the very gadgets and platforms we rely on to stay connected. And while it’s subtle, the impact is profound.

This is why Steve Jobs was notorious for calling out anyone who did not pay attention, even for a second.

The brain at odds: Building careers with the same brain that checks social media

Think about it: the brain we use to build multimillion-dollar companies is the same brain we use to compulsively check our phones for the latest update. This paradox has never been more apparent. We demand focus, long-term vision and strategic decision-making from our executives, but at the same time, we condition ourselves to crave the next dopamine hit—a notification, a quick scroll through a social media feed, or a brief text message.

Dopamine, often called the “feel-good” neurotransmitter, is released when we experience something pleasurable, like checking that latest notification or receiving an email. This quick fix is addictive, especially in the context of smartphones, where we are always just one click away from the next reward. As Jeff Bezos himself pointed out, phones have become attention-shrinking devices. And while we might believe that managing our businesses from these gadgets helps us stay connected and efficient, the truth is, they are sabotaging our ability to focus on the bigger picture.

Dopamine vs long-term success

Why is this so damaging for business leaders? The brain, like any muscle, adapts to what we train it to do. When we train it to crave short-term dopamine fixes, we essentially wire it for instant gratification. And when instant gratification becomes the norm, the ability to sustain focus, think deeply and weigh long-term consequences erodes.

Consider this: a business leader who constantly checks their phone is training their brain to operate in short bursts of attention. This might be acceptable for quick decisions or urgent tasks, but for long-term strategic thinking, this behavior is disastrous. Building a successful business demands the ability to think through complex problems, analyze all angles and make decisions that will have lasting impacts. These are not tasks that can be completed in a rush. They require sustained focus, patience and a willingness to resist the pull of short-term dopamine rewards.

The importance of managing attention in leadership

CEOs, business owners and top executives must make a conscious decision to manage their attention span as they would manage any other resource. In the same way they would allocate capital or hire the right talent, they must also allocate time and energy toward maintaining and lengthening their attention span. This is no longer a luxury—it is a necessity in a world where distractions are omnipresent.

Bezos wasn’t alone in his observation. Countless successful leaders have begun to recognize that the tools designed to make us more connected are, in fact, pulling us away from our ability to connect with the most important tasks at hand. As attention spans shrink, the gap between leaders who can manage their focus and those who can’t will continue to widen. The ability to maintain attention, to resist the lure of instant gratification, will become one of the most important differentiators in business leadership.

Practical steps to combat the attention crisis

So, what can business leaders do to manage this attention crisis and regain control over their focus?

1. Digital detox periods: Schedule specific times of the day where you disconnect from all electronic devices. This doesn’t mean abandoning technology entirely, but creating boundaries that allow your brain to recover from constant stimulation. Even one hour of disconnected time can allow for deeper thinking and long-term focus to flourish.

2. Deep work blocks: Set aside designated blocks of time for “deep work.” This is a time where you focus on critical tasks without interruptions. Whether it’s two or four hours, ensure that this time is completely free from distractions—no emails, no notifications, just you and the task at hand.

3. Mindfulness and meditation: Integrating mindfulness or meditation into your daily routine can help train your brain to resist the pull of distractions. Leaders like Ray Dalio have long credited meditation as a tool to enhance focus, decision-making and emotional regulation. A mere 10 to 20 minutes a day can build the mental muscle required for long-term attention.

4. Turn off notifications: Notifications are the primary culprit in training our brains to focus on the short-term. Turn off unnecessary alerts on your devices. If something is truly urgent, the person will find a way to reach you. By reducing the number of distractions, you reclaim your focus.

5. Embrace boredom: It sounds counterintuitive, but boredom is essential for creativity and long-term focus. When was the last time you allowed yourself to be bored? Instead of immediately turning to your phone when you feel the pull of boredom, sit with it. Some of the greatest ideas in business history were born out of moments of quiet reflection.

Take Sara Blakely, for example. Sara is an American self-made billionaire and founder of Spanx. She made it to the Time magazine’s “Time 100” annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world and was even listed as the 93rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. How did she get there? She attributes “daydreaming” as one of the most powerful weapons to skyrocket her business to success.

6. Train the brain with long-term goals: Set long-term goals and break them down into manageable tasks. This helps retrain your brain to focus on the bigger picture rather than instant gratification. By reinforcing the connection between sustained effort and long-term reward, you can break the cycle of dopamine dependency.

From dopamine addiction to long-term leadership

In the end, the leaders who rise to the top will not be those who can respond to every email in record time or scroll through the most newsfeeds in a day. The leaders who truly thrive will be those who can do the opposite—who can resist the pull of instant gratification and instead focus their attention on the tasks that truly matter. They will be the ones who understand that, in the long run, it’s not about how fast you can respond, but about how deeply you can think. INQ

Business Inquirer