Ahmad Gumi, 60, is a medical doctor and retired army captain. But he has not had a job after retirement 37 years ago. His day job since has been bandits’ advocacy. He has become so used to getting away with saying what he likes when he likes and how he likes it, he hardly knows when he needs help to extract his foot from his mouth. 

He could use such help. Not only for his own good, but perhaps for the good of those taking him seriously as well.

In a rambling no-holds-barred sermon last week, Gumi lashed out at the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, for planning to make Abuja “an extension of Tel Aviv,” where anyone with a long beard would be treated like Osama bin Laden and murdered. He criticised Muslims for supporting a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the last election, forgetting that others, including Christians, also voted for that ticket.

“Satan” at work

His most deadly venom, however, was not for Wike. It was for Tinubu, the enabler of the “Satan” called Wike, and the hundreds of smaller Southern devils of all faiths roaming the woods of the country in a murderous rampage since 1966 but who have resurged with Tinubu’s election, holding the trigger. Their poor, dispossessed Northern compatriots are left to occupy empty shells as offices. This translation is a mild version of what Gumi said.

He spoke for himself and not for millions of Muslims across the country who recognise that after an election whoever emerges president has an obligation not just to one religious group but to all citizens, whether they are believers or agnostics. 

He spoke for himself and not for exceptional clerics and Muslim leaders like the Sultan of Sokoto Sa’ad Abubakar who have spent their lives building bridges across faiths. Gumi spoke for himself, and certainly not for voters in Abuja who, for the first time ever, elected a non-indigenous woman, Ireti Kingibe, and member of the Labour Party, instead of traditional candidates of the two dominant parties, to represent them in the Senate. Gumi was speaking for himself.

Life in Abuja

Of course, he has a fanbase – a remnant of die-hards who follow him in the mistaken notion that he would not inherit some of the incendiary rhetoric of his father, Abubakar Gumi. Perhaps there are also a few closet admirers among temporarily displaced politicians who are happy with his bitter words. But what is Gumi complaining about, really?

That Wike is suspectedly talking to the Israelis for Abuja’s security? It doesn’t matter to me. And Gumi may not understand why. Living in Abuja, as Chinua Achebe once said about Lagos, has become like living at the warfront. 

But Gumi will not understand since he goes about with police escorts, which is strange because you would expect that the exploits from his bandits’ advocacy should have set him free from all security concerns by now. 

Unfortunately, life in Abuja, especially in recent times, has been dangerous with frequent reports of deadly attacks on commuters by so-called “one-chance” drivers. If talking to Mossad or Hamas or Hezbollah will keep Abuja safe, it really doesn’t matter to me. And Gumi, a retired army captain, ought to know better.

Red herring

The US, “a country of infidels”, has some of the largest military bases in the world in Muslim countries in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, where Gumi earned his PhD in Islamic jurisprudence, has five of such bases apart from a military defence pact with America. The UAE hosts 5,000 US military personnel at the Al Dhafra Air Base, just outside Abu Dhabi. President Donald Trump had planned to double it.

Wike talking with Mossad – which I suspect was just a Gumi red herring – does not make Abuja any more vulnerable than did military president General Ibrahim Babangida awarding Julius Berger, a German firm, the contract to build Aso Rock, where the Nigerian president resides.

But of course, that was not Gumi’s main grouse. He is offended by the “otherness” of Wike’s appointment. How can someone who is not like him, an intruder if you like, be appointed minister of the Federal Capital Territory? 

There are many things for which you can criticise Wike, not least of which is his politics, sometimes. His decisions to shuffle the FCT administration, demand overdue ground rent, and revoke hundreds of plots of undeveloped land that have in many cases become speculators’ lottery, have ruffled feathers. Yet, they can hardly be described as self-serving. 

To be fair, Gumi did not mention any of these complaints in his sermon. Even if he did, it would have been perfectly within his right to do so because public officers must be held to account. But that was not the point of his displeasure; it was not about requesting accountability, offering suggestions about a better way, if he thought there was one, or challenging the competence of the minister. 

Whose sacred ground?

His attack came from a much deeper place: resentment that Tinubu who emerged president by the grace of the North had the effrontery to bring an “intruder” into a “sacred ground,” without the approval of the Landlord. This brazen sense of entitlement dressed up as a “religious wrong,” offends decency. It’s unacceptable.

Abuja does not need to be saved from Wike. It is against people like Gumi that the capital and the country must now defend itself. The original builders of this place did not conceive of it as the Boys Quarters of one tribe, religion or ethnic group. It was precisely because of this sort of complication which Lagos presented, apart from it becoming a concrete jungle, that Abuja was conceived of as the new frontier of national unity. 

The original majority Gwari indigenes have complained, perhaps justifiably, of being marginalised; agitators from the creeks of the Niger Delta have complained, perhaps justifiably, that Abuja was built off the back of oil wealth from that polluted and forsaken region. 

What injury has Wike’s appointment caused Gumi? In Joseph Ona & another V. Diga Romani Atenda (2000), 5 NWLR (Pt. 656) 244, the Court of Appeal put to rest any special claim to Abuja by anyone or group. Abuja has no special status and therefore cannot be claimed as anyone’s special ground.

Changing demographics

If Gumi was looking, he would have seen, from the results of the last general elections that the city’s demographics, especially in the municipal areas, are changing. For the first time in its 47-year history as federal capital, neither the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of which he is an undisguised sympathiser; nor the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), had the majority. Appointments must reflect competence and the changing demographics. 

In spite of Gumi, it’s a small step forward for unity and diversity that an APC president appointed a PDP minister in a federal capital where a woman and a non-indigene, represents Abuja in the Senate.

Gumi was right about one thing, though. That he didn’t particularly see eye-to-eye with former President Muhammadu Buhari. But it’s surprising that for eight years he didn’t see anything wrong with Abuja under former FCT minister Mohammed Bello. 

A man full of religious fervour, Bello was well on his way to pre-eminence in mullah-hood when Buhari diverted him with a ministerial appointment, which became his undoing. He lost his way and his catastrophic tenure has been largely responsible for Abuja’s current mess. 

Bello’s failure had nothing to do with religion or the fact that all seven ministers of the city in the last 24 years have all been Muslims. After all, Nasir El-Rufai, one of the two exceptional ministers in nearly 50 years, is a Muslim. 

Gumi’s followers won’t hear him say that. But the next time they listen to his hate sermon, they should ask him what matters more to him: result or religion? His extremism shames decency. He should find a job.

** Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP 

After decades of working with some of the world's best consultants, coaches and solopreneurs, I've assembled a list of qualities that contribute to their success.

You don't need to check all these boxes, but if any strike a chord with you, weave them into your marketing, such as your website, LinkedIn profile, presentations and proposals.

• Credible: You inspire trust and confidence from the first contact.
• Experienced: You're an expert in your field not just based on x number of years, but also by profoundly understanding your specialty. You're continually learning and staying on top of industry trends, laws and procedures.
• The client comes first: It's easy for you to keep their priorities and interests at the forefront of your mind. You realize that by making them look good to others (especially to their boss or significant other), you'll end up looking good to them.
• Attentive listener: Quiet people tend to be talented solopreneurs because they listen more than they talk, and they don't interrupt. Are you able to concentrate on what the other person is saying without thinking about what you're going to say next? Are you able to sense what someone is not saying?
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• Communicator: You easily match both verbal and non-verbal styles from a shop-floor worker to a boardroom executive.
• Collaborator: You create a dynamic teamwork environment that integrates all project team members and their strengths.
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And above all:

• Keep your word: When you promise something – like an email or deliverable by a certain time – you do whatever it takes to make it happen. The cornerstone of solopreneur success is to under-promise and over-deliver. That's what leads to referrals and repeat business.

Inc

Nigeria's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld President Bola Tinubu's election win, bringing to an end a legal challenge brought by his two main rivals, who argued that his victory was marred by irregularities.

The ruling will give the 71-year-old Tinubu a clear mandate to govern Africa's most populous nation, which is grappling with double-digit inflation, foreign currency shortages, a weakening naira, widespread insecurity and crude oil theft.

Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999 after three decades of almost uninterrupted military rule, but accusations of ballot-rigging and fraud have followed its electoral cycles.

The judgment by seven Supreme Court judges, which is final, follows a pattern seen in previous presidential elections that have been challenged in court. None of the attempts to overturn results through the courts has been successful.

Atiku Abubakar of the People's Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party came second and third respectively in the February vote, but rejected the result and called for Tinubu's win to be annulled.

The two opposition leaders had appealed a Sept. 6 tribunal judgment that endorsed Tinubu's victory.

In the appeal, they argued that the electoral commission failed to electronically transmit results from polling stations to an online portal, which undermined their authenticity.

They also said Tinubu had won less than 25% of the vote in the federal capital Abuja so he did not meet the legal threshold to become president.

The judges dismissed all their arguments.

"There is no merit in this appeal, and it is hereby dismissed," said Supreme Court Justice, John Okoro.

The court also rejected Atiku's bid to introduce new evidence that alleged Tinubu had submitted a forged university certificate to the electoral agency. Tinubu had denied this.

Reuters

The Supreme Court has slated Thursday (today) for judgement on the appeals filed by the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and Labour Party, Peter Obi.

The judgement will lay to rest the legal disputes over the 25 February presidential election.

Atiku and Obi had appealed against the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) which dismissed their petitions challenging the outcome of the 25 February presidential election and affirmed the election of President Bola Tinubu.

Director of Information of the Supreme Court, Festus Akande, confirmed the information to journalists on Wednesday in Abuja.

Supreme Court had on Monday, reserved judgement after hearing the appeals.

NAN

Nigeria is ranked 120th of the 142 countries in terms of adherence to rule of law, according to the latest global Rule of Law Index released by the World Justice Project (WJP).

The 2023 index released on Wednesday in Washington DC, United States, also showed that out of the 34 countries ranked in the sub-Saharan region, Nigeria is rated 23rd.

According to the WJP report, countries were judged on eight indicators, namely constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice and criminal justice.

While the report noted that Nigeria’s score increased, however, it slipped by two points from the 2022 index where it was ranked 118th out of the 140 countries ranked globally that year.

“This is the sixth consecutive Index marking global declines in the rule of law. This year alone, the rule of law declined in 59 per cent of countries surveyed. However, Nigeria is among the minority of countries to see its Rule of Law Index score increase this year,” the report stated.

Globally, the top-ranked country in the 2023 WJP Rule of Law Index is Denmark, followed by Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Germany.

The country with the lowest score is Venezuela, trailed by Cambodia, Afghanistan, Haiti, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Nigeria’s performance across indicators

In terms of constraints on government powers, Nigeria was ranked 85th out of 142 countries globally and ranked 14th out of 34 countries in the region. The performance in this indicator was the best performance for Nigeria in any of the indicators.

However, WJP stated that 74 per cent of the countries failed in the area of constraint on government, specifically in terms of the ability of some institutions to check the excess of the executive.

“Over the past seven years, index scores for constraints on government powers have fallen in 74% of countries—including Nigeria. Around the world, legislatures, judiciaries, and civil society—including the media—have all lost ground on checking executive power.

“These and other authoritarian trends continued in 2023, but they are slowing, with fewer countries declining in 2022 and 2023 than in earlier years. Constraints on Government Powers fell in 56 per cent of countries, compared to 58 per cent in 2022 and 70 per cent in 2021. Likewise, a smaller majority of countries saw overall rule of law declines in this year (59 per cent) as compared to the last two (61 per cent and 74 per cent),” WJP stated.

Co-founder and President of WJP, William Neukom, explained that “the world remains gripped by a rule of law recession characterised by executive overreach, curtailing of human rights, and justice systems that are failing to meet people’s needs.”

In terms of absence of corruption, Nigeria ranked 121st out of 142 countries globally, and 23rd out of 34 countries regionally. In the open government category, the country is ranked 104th out of 142 globally and 14th out of 34 in the regional ranking.

Similarly, in order and security, Nigeria is the second worst country in the sub-Saharan region as it is ranked 33rd out of 34 countries. Globally, it is ranked 139 out of 142. In terms of fundamental rights, Nigeria has a global ranking of 116th out of 142 and a regional ranking of 23rd out of 34.

For regulatory enforcement, civil justice and criminal justice, Nigeria is ranked 119th, 100th and 86th respectively out of the 142 countries rated.

Regional ranking

In the sub-Saharan region, WJP ranked the following countries: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The region’s top performer is Rwanda (ranked 41st out of 142 globally), followed by Namibia and Mauritius. The three countries with the lowest scores in the region are Mauritania, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (138th globally).

WJP stated that since 2016, the rule of law has fallen in 78 per cent of countries studied. The rule of law factor to decline most between 2016 and 2023 is fundamental rights—down in 77 per cent of countries, including Nigeria.

Methodology

WJP is an independent, nonpartisan, multidisciplinary organisation working to create knowledge, build awareness, and stimulate action to advance the rule of law worldwide.

To compile the list, WJP says it relies on more than 149,000 household surveys and 3,400 legal practitioner and expert surveys to measure how the rule of law is experienced and perceived worldwide.

WJP defines the rule of law as a durable system of laws, institutions, norms, and community commitment that delivers: accountability, just laws, open government, and accessible justice.

The report is published annually and subjected to a rigorous methodology. The Index is used by governments, multilateral organisations, businesses, academia, media, and civil society organisations around the world to assess and address gaps in the rule of law.

PT

Ninety percent of depots operated by independent oil marketers are currently closed on the back of a lack of supplies caused by currency volatility and difficulties in the local distribution channel, industry operators say.

Mohammad Salaudeen, Executive Director of Northwest Petroleum and Gas Limited, said marketers licensed to import petrol since deregulation couldn’t because of the cost of operations.

Representing Winifred Akpani, MD/CEO of the firm, on a panel session titled “Africa Fuels’ Update: Overview of Trends and Market Developments,” at the ongoing Oil Trading and Logistics (OTL) Africa Week 2023 in Lagos, Salaudeen said operations from importation to distribution to the end users have been hampered by the unstable dollar/naira exchange rate, leading to a high cost of operations.

“We’ve seen the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited retail stations not operating at some point. If NNPC stations (that are the big boys) are not operating, what happens to people like us?

“The challenge today is that, firstly, we can’t import the product,” he said. “Secondly, the NNPC brings it in in smaller volumes. So what will get to us…We’ll have to wait.”

According to the executive director, when marketers put forth their request, it’s like they are in a queue, “when it gets to your turn, you’ll get it. That is the challenge of today.”

“Unfortunately, we have to wait for quite some time for us to be able to move forward on this and that’s the position that marketers face.”

Earlier at the event, Farouk Ahmed, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory NMDPRA, said that eight (8) wholesale petroleum product suppliers out of 94 licensed oil marketers were granted import permissions and supplied eight cargoes of PMS totaling 251,000 MT (291,238,670.69 litres) between June and September 2023.

However, he expressed confidence that the government’s efforts to restore the stability of the harmonised FX market will assist in the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, by other oil marketing companies in addition to the state-owned oil companies.

On the other hand, the 21 depots operated by the state-owned oil company are not functioning, according to the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).

“Without mincing words, none of the depots is working,” said Dele Tajudeen, Zonal Chairman, IPMAN Southwest.

Representing Chinedu Okoronkwo, National President of the Association, Tajudeen said the only option left is to explore private depots across the country.

“Once these depots start working, a marketer in Kaduna won’t have to come to Lagos to move products.

“When all these are put in place, the traffic and the cost of transportation will be better,” he said. “By the time we are in serious full deregulation… The price of the commodity will surely come down.”

Businessday

Federation account allocation committee (FAAC) says it shared N903.48 billion with the three tiers of government for September 2023.

The figure represents a decrease of N196.52 billion compared to the August disbursement of N1.1 trillion.

The committee disclosed this in a communiqué issued on Tuesday at the end of its October meeting in Abuja.

According to the communiqué, the N903.48 billion was drawn from statutory revenue of N423.01 billion, value-added tax (VAT) of N282.66 billion,  N10.98 billion from electronic money transfer levy (EMTL), and N186.81 billion from exchange difference.

FAAC said “N54.426 billion was given to the cost of collection, N347,857 billion allocated to transfers and refunds, while N289 billion was transfered to non oil revenue (savings) for September 2023”.

According to FAAC, the distributable VAT revenue for the period reviewed was N303.55 billion — a decrease from the N345.72 billion distributed in August, by N42.177 billion.

From the distributable VAT revenue of N303.55 billion, the committee said N282.666 billion was distributed to the three tiers of government. The federal government got N42.40 billion, while the states and local governments received N141.33 billion, and N98.933 billion, respectively.

The committee said the distributable gross statutory revenue “of N1,014.953 billion was received for September” — an amount higher than the N891.934 billion received in the preceding month by N123.019 billion.

From the distributable gross statutory revenue, N190.84 billion was allocated to the federal government, states got N96.80 billion, and local governments received N74.62 billion.

FAAC said out of the distributable revenue of N11.44 billion from EMTL, the federal government received N1.64 billion, states were given N5.49 billion, and local government received N3.846 billion.

Also, from the N264.81 billion exchange difference revenue, the federal government was given N85.64 billion, the states got N43.44 billion, and N33.49 billion was allocated to local governments.

FAAC said the balance in the excess crude account (ECA) as at October 24, 2023 was $473,754.57.

The Cable

Department of State Services has freed the embattled ex-Economic and Financial Crimes Commission boss, Abdulrasheed Bawa, after exactly 134 days spent in the custody of the secret police.

Bawa was released from the national headquarters of the secret police, ‘Yellow House,’ in Abuja, Wednesday night.

Bawa was arrested and detained by the DSS on June 14, 2023, following an invite over undisclosed reasons, after he visited President Bola Tinubu earlier on the same day.

Our correspondent gathered that following Bawa’s arrest on June 14, 2023, he was probed for alleged financial impropriety during his years in the anti-graft agency.

Sources privy to the development also revealed that the ex-EFCC boss refused to hire a legal representative despite his confinement.

Punch

UN warns Gaza blockade could force it to sharply cut relief missions as Israeli bombings rise

The U.N. warned Wednesday that it is on the verge of running out of fuel in the Gaza Strip, forcing it to sharply curtail relief efforts in the territory blockaded and devastated by Israeli airstrikes since Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel more than two weeks ago.

The warning came as hospitals in Gaza struggled to treat masses of wounded with dwindling resources. Meanwhile, the U.N.’s top official faced backlash from Israel after saying the Hamas massacre that sparked the fighting did not “take place in a vacuum.”

Health officials said the death toll was soaring as Israeli jets pounded Gaza. Workers pulled dead and wounded civilians, including many children, out of landscapes of rubble in cities across the territory.

Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, said more than 750 people were killed over the past 24 hours. The Associated Press could not independently verify the death toll, and it was not known if the count included any militants.

The Israeli military, which accuses Hamas of operating among civilians, said its strikes killed militants and destroyed military targets. Gaza militants have fired unrelenting rocket barrages into Israel since the conflict started.

The rising death toll in Gaza — following a reported 704 killed the day before — was unprecedented in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even greater loss of life could come if Israel launches an expected ground offensive aimed at crushing Hamas, an Islamic militant group sworn to Israel’s destruction.

The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 6,500 Palestinians have been killed in the war. The figure includes the disputed toll from an explosion at a hospital last week.

The fighting has killed more than 1,400 people in Israel — mostly civilians slain during the initial Hamas attack, according to the Israeli government. Hamas also holds some 222 hostages in Gaza.

The warning by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, over depleting fuel supplies raised alarm that the humanitarian crisis could quickly worsen.

Gaza’s population has been running out of food, water and medicine, too, under Israel’s seal. About 1.4 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have fled their homes, with nearly half of them crowded into U.N. shelters.

In recent days, Israel let a small number of trucks with aid enter from Egypt but barred deliveries of fuel — needed to power generators — saying it believes Hamas will take it.

UNRWA has been sharing its own fuel supplies so that trucks can distribute aid, bakeries can feed people in shelters, water can be desalinated, and hospitals can keep incubators, life support machines and other vital equipment working.

If it continues doing all of that, fuel will run out by Thursday, so the agency is deciding how to ration its supply, UNRWA spokeswoman Tamara Alrifai told The Associated Press.

“Do we give for the incubators or the bakeries? Do we bump clean water or do we send trucks to the borders?” she said. “It is an excruciating decision.”

More than half of Gaza’s primary health care facilities and roughly a third of its hospitals have stopped functioning, the World Health Organization said.

At Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, the lack of medicine and clean water have led to “alarming” infection rates, the group Doctors Without Borders said. Amputations are often required to prevent infection from spreading in the wounded, it said.

One surgeon with the group described amputating half the foot of a 9-year-old boy with “slight sedation” on a hallway floor as his mother and sister watched.

A strike Wednesday in the Nuseirat refugee camp killed the wife, son, daughter and grandson of one of Al Jazeera TV’s chief correspondents, Wael Dahdouh. Footage aired on the Qatari based network showed the veteran journalist weeping over his son’s body on a hospital floor.

“They take vengeance on us through our children?” he sobbed.

In a swath of Gaza City’s Yarmouk neighborhood reduced to splinters, a bleeding man hugged a child after both were dug out of the rubble. A bakery in Deir al-Balah was flattened. In a nearby hospital, medics treated a boy with a mangled, half-severed leg. One worker lifted a dead baby out of the shattered concrete and rebar of 15 homes hit in the southern city of Rafah.

The conflict threatened to spread across the region. The Israeli military said it struck military sites in Syria in response to rocket launches from the country. Syrian state media said eight soldiers were killed and seven wounded.

Strikes in Syria also hit the airports of Aleppo and Damascus, in an apparent attempt to prevent arms shipments from Iran to militant groups, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Israel has been exchanging near daily fire with Iranian-backed Hezbollah across the Lebanese border.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah met with top Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad officials in their first reported meeting since the war started. Such a meeting could signal coordination between the groups, as Hezbollah officials warned Israel against launching a ground offensive in Gaza.

Hamas’ surprise rampage on Oct. 7 in southern Israel stunned the country with its brutality, its unprecedented toll and the failure of intelligence agencies to know it was coming. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech Wednesday night that he will be held accountable, but only after Hamas was defeated.

“We will get to the bottom of what happened,” he said. “This debacle will be investigated. Everyone will have to give answers, including me.”

U.S. President Joe Biden said that after the conflict comes to an end, Israelis, Palestinians and their partners must work toward a two-state solution. He also decried increasing attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, saying they must “stop now.”

Settler attacks have been part of swelling violence in the occupied West Bank, including clashes between fighters and Israeli troops and shootings of stone-throwing protesters. At least 104 Palestinians have been killed, health authorities say.

Israel’s U.N. ambassador, Gilad Erdan, said his country will stop issuing visas to U.N. personnel after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that Hamas’ attack “did not happen in a vacuum.” It was unclear what the action, if implemented, would mean for U.N. aid personnel working in Gaza and the West Bank.

“It’s time to teach them a lesson,” Erdan told Army Radio, accusing the U.N. chief of justifying a slaughter.

The U.N. chief told the Security Council on Tuesday that “the Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.” Guterres said “the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

Guterres said Wednesday he is “shocked” at the misinterpretation of his statement “as if I was justifying acts of terror by Hamas.”

“This is false. It was the opposite,” he told reporters.

AP

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian military getting weaker – Shoigu

Russian Defense Minister Shoigu said on Tuesday that the current situation in the combat zone suggests that the Ukrainian armed forces are losing strength and “panicking.” He cited a substantial takedown of aviation potential to back up his assertion.

Shoigu claimed that his forces downed 24 Ukrainian military planes in just five days, crediting “new weapons systems” for the achievement.

He also pointed to manpower losses reducing Kiev’s offensive potential. “Today’s situation shows that the enemy has fewer and fewer capabilities. And there are fewer of their soldiers thanks exclusively to your combat work,” he told servicemen from the Vostok Group.

“They are in panic, we know their tactics, we know their offensive and retreat plans,” he added.

Shoigu added that in the last three to four weeks many Ukrainians have been captured or have voluntarily surrendered. According to the minister, they speak about the poor psychological condition of their colleagues.

“We now have weapons systems which have taken down 24 planes in five days,” Shoigu was quoted as saying in a press release.

Footage of the discussion published by the military did not include the comments about the new weapons, while Shoigu did not detail the time frame in which the strikes on Ukrainian aircraft were conducted.

The Defense Ministry regularly reports successful engagements of Ukrainian military aircraft by fighter jets and air defense units. Briefings from last Friday to Tuesday claimed that 18 planes had been destroyed in total.

The list included 14 MiG-29s, two Su-24s, one Su-25, and one L-39. The latter is a Czech-produced trainer-fighter plane, rather than a more capable fighter or ground attack plane like the others. A single Mi-8 helicopter was taken down in the same period, according to the ministry.

The ministry’s briefing on Friday noted that in the week starting October 14, Russian forces took out 12 Ukrainian planes, including ten MiG-29s and two Su-25s. Seven of the MiGs were destroyed in a 24-hour period, the report said.

A source close to the Defense Ministry told TASS that Shoigu was referring to the use of the long-range air defense system S-400, with targeting data provided by the A-50 airborne radar. The interceptors fired during the engagement were reportedly armed with new warheads. The claim was not officially confirmed.

Shoigu attended the award ceremony after visiting one of the headquarters involved in the Ukrainian campaign. It was held in a tent in which weapons trophies appeared to be on display alongside portraits of Russian military commanders and Orthodox icons.

** Russia’s top brass reports downing two American ATACMS missiles for first time

Russian air defense forces shot down two US-made ATACMS missiles over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday.

Russia’s Defense Ministry did not report earlier about the destruction of ATACMS missiles.

"During the last 24-hour period, air defense capabilities intercepted two US-made ATACMS tactical missiles, an S-200 surface-to-air missile converted for striking ground targets, two HARM anti-radiation missiles and two rockets of the US-manufactured HIMARS multiple launch rocket system," the ministry said in a statement.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia disregards losses, presses on in Ukraine's Avdiivka

Russian forces are disregarding heavy losses and pressing on with a drive to capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday.

Russia has focused on the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk since failing in its initial drive on the capital Kyiv after mounting its invasion in February 2022.

Over the past two weeks, Russia has concentrated on Avdiivka in Donetsk, a town known in peacetime for its big coking plant and now seen as a bulwark of Ukrainian resistance.

"The enemy is trying to move forward and then we beat them back," Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesperson for Ukraine's southern groups of forces, said on national TV.

"So by no means can you speak of a fixed situation of some sort. Heavy fighting is continuing, though activity has subsided somewhat. The enemy is going through some kind of regrouping."

Russian forces were relying on infantry, using small assault groups of 30 to 40 men, Shtupun said, giving Russia's losses in the last six days as 2,500 dead and wounded in the area.

"This is quite significant even for Russia, bearing in mind that they do not look after their own men," Shtupun said.

Vitaliy Barabash, head of Avdiivka's military administration, said Russia was applying pressure from the north but was unable to get past a rail line under Ukrainian control.

He also dismissed reports that Russian troops had secured control of one of the large slag heaps dominating the town's industrial landscape.

"They put up flags there and tried to make some kind of spectacle," Barabash said.

Valeriy Prozapas, a Ukrainian captain, told Espreso TV that the Russians were acting to exploit the fact that Avdiivka was "de facto half surrounded".

"The second issue is political. They have little to be proud of and have to sell to their population some sort of victory, even if it is only an interim one," Prozapas said.

Ukraine's counteroffensive, launched in June, has resulted in the capture of devastated villages in the east and some settlements in the southern sector, but the pace is far slower than last year's advance through the northeast.

Russian accounts of the latest fighting made no mention of Avdiivka, but said Russian troops had repelled 15 Ukrainian attacks near Kupiansk, farther north.

Ukrainian officials also acknowledged heavy fighting near Kupiansk, a town initially seized by troops but taken back by Ukraine in last year's rapid advance through the northeast.

Authorities in Kharkiv region said they were imposing a mandatory evacuation of families from 10 localities in the area.

RT/Tass/Reuters