RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian troops in Kursk Region oblivious to being encircled – Putin

Ukrainian military units in Russia’s Kursk Region, which have been cut off from the border, are apparently not aware how bad their situation is, President Vladimir Putin has said.

On Thursday, Putin claimed during a press conference that up to 2,000 Ukrainian troops had been encircled on Russian soil. In a follow-up interview overnight, published by Russian media on Friday, he made more comments on the situation.

Several Ukrainian units have been cut off in the Russian region, where Kiev had launched a cross-border incursion in August, the president said. The troops themselves and their commanders may underestimate the gravity of the situation, he suggested.

”Our feeling is that the people who were encircled are not fully aware that they are in an encirclement,” he said. Russian intelligence suggests that “stable command and control of the troops has been lost.”

Putin added that Ukrainian forces have been trying to break through to the group in question, but had not been successful. Overall, Russian troops are making progress across the conflict frontline, while Kiev is making no gains at all, he reported.

However, neither Ukraine nor its Western backers are willing to end hostilities, so the Russian military must stay focused on the mission, Putin stressed.

The president attributed Russian battlefield successes to a combination of a bolstered defense industry and troops learning how to use modern military technology and to quickly adapt to changes in Ukrainian actions. Some of the innovations in the use of drones are achieved right on the front line and showcase the high engineering skills of Russian service members, he said.

”This experience in warfare with modern tools is very important,”Putin said.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian drone hits Kyiv high-rise building, kills one, injures five

A Russian drone struck a multi-storey residential building in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday evening, triggering a fire in the top floors and killing one person and injuring five, officials said.

Serhiy Popko, head of the capital's military administration, said more than 100 residents were evacuated from the high-rise in Solomyanskyi district, just west of the city centre.

Air defence units were in action during the hour-long air raid alert and two hours later a new alert was declared in the city for incoming drones.

"Apartments from the 17th to the 21st storeys were damaged in the apartment building in Solomyanskyi district," Popko wrote on the Telegram messaging app. "Apartments were on fire on the 20th floor."

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a teenage girl had died. One of the five injured was being treated in hospital and a first aid tent was set up at the site.

Emergency services said the fire had been brought under control. Photos and videos posted on their site showed firefighters using long hoists to battle the blaze.

Popko also said drone fragments had fallen in an open space in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. No casualties were reported.

RT/Reuters

As I was concluding this piece, my eyes caught a presidential sledgehammer which landed on the head of Conscience Nurtured by Truth – The Guardian. In a release issued by the State House yesterday, authored by erstwhile Editor-in-Chief of TheNews, Bayo Onanuga, the newspaper was accused of a crime almost similar to what General Sani Abacha accused it of in 1994 which led to its closure. The “NADECO government” of Bola Tinubu merely rehashed the allegation. I will address it presently.

All over the world, the Lady Justice is sacred, representing the divine order, law, and custom. It is also an allegorical persona depicting the moral force of the judicial system. Originating from the Ancient Roman goddess called Justitia, her attributes are a blindfold, scales and a sword. When a leader is depicted to have raped this personification of justice, he has violated the deity of goodliness in society. Last week, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, narrated how he revoked the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) of some plots of land allocated to Julius Berger in the Katampe District of Abuja. It was shortly after he had dinner with the Managing Director of Julius Berger. By his own admission, he then deployed same for the construction of 40 Judges Quarters. Wike’s revocation of the land is most likely justified if indeed the German construction giant held it undeveloped for fifteen to twenty years.

The judiciary is reputed in the playbook of democracy to be the last hope of the common man. Of recent, stenchy oozes coming out of this last bastion of hope for a regressing Nigeria are really scary. In the triad of Wike-judges-Julius Berger above, the major fear is how judges who benefitted from allocation of those lands will, without favour, dispense justice in any matter that has to do with Wike, now or in the future? It is most likely the avoidance of such dalliance that Rule 2.8 of the Judicial Code of Conduct frowns at unholy matrimony between judges and would-be litigants. It says “A judge shall avoid developing excessively close relationship with frequent litigants – such as government ministers or their officials.” It goes ahead to say that any of such appearance of alliance is incestuous and “could reasonably create an appearance of partiality.” A last week editorial of the Nigerian Lawyer affirms this when it states that the relationship was questionable. It also says that, “beneath the surface of this supposedly ‘noble’ project, serious concerns about integrity, impartiality and manipulation may emerge.” If in the near future, Wike and Julius Berger engage in a legal tango, can FCT courts be impartial arbiter?

The above incestuous relationship between the executive and the judiciary reminds me of my March 6, 2022 piece with the title, Buhari’s serial rape of the Lady Justice. It referenced an award-winning cartoon published on September 7, 2008 by the Johannesburg-based Sunday Times authored by Jonathan Shapiro. Shapiro’s cartoon identity was Zapiro. That cartoon triggered a huge ball of fire in South Africa. Named ‘Rape of Lady Justice’, it bore then leader of the African National Congress (ANC), who was to later become the South African president, Jacob Zuma, loosening his trousers’ zippers for a sexual romp with the effigy of the Lady Justice. He had a shower tap placed on his head. An impish but salacious smile lit his face. Before him, flung on the bare floor, was a blindfolded lady with a lapel inscribed, “Justice System” hung on her chest. Four hefty and menacing-looking men knelt by the Lady Justice’s side, holding down the “wench”, whose skirt was half peeled off. They were political surrogates of Zuma in the ANC, which included Julius Malema, then leader of the ANC Youth League, among others. The scale of justice had fallen down beside the Lady Justice, with Mantashe smilingly beckoning on Zuma to clamber her for a rape binge, “Go for it, boss!”

That cartoon shot Zuma into a fit. Indeed, he immediately sued Zapiro for £700,000. Massive reactions followed it, ranging from the condemnatory to the laudatory. The ANC, SACP and ANC Youth League pilloried it as “hate speech,” “disgusting” and “bordering on defamation of character” and then petitioned the South African Human Rights Commission for redress.

Zapiro’s cartoon depicted the rape of the South African justice system, as well as other institutions, by Zuma. “He (Zuma) is raping the justice system and they (Zuma’s political allies) are complicit in that,” said the cartoonist in an interview. By this time, Zuma, a notorious polygamist who had six official wives as president, many more by unofficial account and 22 children from the liaisons, was a kingpin of lechery. Not long ago, the court discharged him of a rape romp with an HIV-positive AIDS activist, who was the daughter of his friend. Though Zuma pleaded that the sex was consensual, he however admitted that he had unprotected sex with the lady. He then stunned the world when he maintained that he had “showered afterwards to cut the risk of contracting the infection.” The shower tap Zapiro placed on his head represented this bombastic claim.

If Zapiro were to sketch that cartoon in Nigeria today, he will replace Zuma with the Bola Tinubu administration. His groveling National Assembly and its coterie of fawners would be Malema and co. Together, they can be more fittingly described as in a serial rape of our country. Virtually all institutions and systems in Nigeria today are being mercilessly raped to a point that they lack energy to saunter on. Tinubu, through surrogates, is presiding over a literal rape of the Lady Justice. However, his government’s version of executive rape of the judiciary is of different colour. Only recently, while Rivers State was undergoing its local government election, the name of Wike and alleged interference in judicial decisions became a singsong. Courts of coordinate jurisdictions at both state and federal levels issued contradictory rulings which were felt to have political imprimaturs. These have made the judiciary a laughing stock. In Kano State, similar rape of the judiciary was at play with the state and federal judiciary issuing rulings at loggerheads with each other.

The dilemma of Nigerians today isn’t different from that of the traditional clothes launderer the Yoruba call the Alágbàfò . The river constitutes his major economic source. He depends on it for his existential survival. As the Alágbàfò  goes into enmity with the water/river at their own peril, so also will the enmity of the akara (bean cake) seller with the frying oil surely end in disaster. So, in a case where the Alágbàfò heaves the load of white clothes to the river for laundry but finds out that the river is polluted, the Alágbàfò 

finds self at the three footpath juncture that troubles the stranger to a town. Like the Alágbàfò  above, Nigerians are marooned on an island. Their waters, the main source of their existential survival, are polluted. President Olusegun Obasanjo put their dilemma in perspective. In an interview on the News Central Television on Thursday, he painted the canvass of hopelessness very meticulously. This he did in a narrative of “a Nigerian president” – the people’s water, the river of their existence – who they voted into office but who rules like a voodoo priest. Voodooism isn’t about science but probability and permutations. While not specifically naming anyone, Obasanjo told the tale of “a Nigerian president who came to office without a plan” and who “then… woke up and just said, ‘three-point plan.’ What are the three points? What are they going to achieve? Who are the people who have worked on it? You came and you just opened your mouth and made a pronouncement on something that has not been.”

Everywhere you turn in Nigeria today, the river is tainted, polluted and coffee-brown. For the people, it is double jeopardy. Two sayings of the Yoruba encapsulate the Nigerian dilemma. They both border on a raped trust. One, which mirrors frustration, asks whether, in the rules of fidelity, the one upon whom a disabled reclines, if they are about to shift from the space they occupy, should not have the honour of notifying the disabled of their intention to shift? (Eni a f’èyìn tì, bí ó ba yè, wíwí ní í wí). Nigeria today runs a struggling economy powered by trust deficit towards leaders who are believed to have questionable financial and moral fidelity, who flex misplaced ability. Nigerians are powerless like the disabled. Their leaders, upon whom they reclined for social good, have broken their spines.

The second jeopardy also hangs on a misplacement of trust. The one the people thought would save them from captivity has eventually turned out to be their captor. Uttered in a moment of underwhelming results from overwhelming expectations, Yoruba say, eni a gb’ójú okùn lé, kò jo eni agba. It is similar to the tale of the Alágbàfò and a dirty river.

What Nigerians are doing today is, like the hopeless drycleaner, sitting by the dirty river bank and watching whether indeed, from within the constricting thorns (ìgbágó), the palm-frond (màrìwò) shoot out. Which is very unlikely. Our dirty river has equalized and democratized suffering and hopelessness. While Nigerians are daily engrossed in a festival of lamentations and regret everywhere, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that our dirty river is clean and snow-white. Bretton Woods gave our hunger pass-mark. Homeless roam-about children, hitherto exclusive preserve of the north, are today everywhere in the southern part of Nigeria, too. The Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Olakulehin Owolabi, raised this alarm last Thursday when the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children paid him a courtesy call in his palace. All over the streets of Nigeria, the hungry and ferocious looks on the faces of children and even elders are frightening. Under this government, Nigeria has become one huge IDP camp and everybody is a scrounger and scavenger.

If the executive is a true reflection of the dirty waters that have constituted existential turbulence for our Alágbàfò , the legislature is an affliction. Nigeria’s twin legislature is struggling to outdo itself in the fawning sprint and self-mockery. Take for instance the bill for the establishment of a Bola Ahmed Tinubu University of Nigerian Languages. It has gone through the second reading. Sponsored by Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu and eight others, the bill sponsors said their aim was to have a university for the promotion of the learning of Nigerian languages which will “encourage the advancement of learning and to hold out to all persons without distinction of race, creed, sex or political conviction, the opportunity of acquiring a higher education in Nigerian languages and cultures.” Brilliant conception.

But, why then do Kalu and his legislative cohorts think that the man worthy to have his name affixed to the university is the president? If they were not suffocated by the smell of legislative groveling, no university of Nigerian languages should be named after any other person than Ayọ̀ Bámgbóṣé. Bámgbóṣé was an academic linguist and the first professor of Linguistics in Nigeria. In 1984, Bámgbóṣé became the first African linguist to be conferred the honorary membership of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA). He made tremendous contributions to education and linguistics. Bámgbóṣé’s 1963 journal article titled “A study of structures and classes in the grammar of modern Yoruba” is a locus classicus in linguistics. So, what qualifies Tinubu to be so named? In which of the Nigerian languages did he excel? Certainly not Yoruba, a language he speaks with bumbling understanding. His English is almost an aping of the Cockney. So where did Kalu and his fawners of power get their wild muse?

If the House of Representatives is a home for grovelers by the feet of the executive, the senate is worse. Godswill Akpabio, head of the senate, figuratively wears the Tinubu lapel on his arm and cap literally on his head with baffling shamelessness. He is reputed to adjourn senate sessions to enable him quickly shuttle to Aso Rock to ask for its mind. Thus, if Nigerians expect a legislature that will hold the executive to account, they are waiting for Samuel Becket’s legendary Godot in their legislators.

The combination of a dilemma of the Alágbàfò and the serial rape of virtually all institutions in Nigeria today foretell a grim tomorrow for the Nigerian people. It was the palpable frustration of Nigerians that The Guardian lead story of October 25, entitled “Calls for military intervention: misery, harsh policies driving Nigerians to desperate choices,”reflected. It warned of chaos in the polity if the Tinubu government does not stop its bumbling misgovernance. “Nigerians were exhilarated with the return of democracy in 1999, but 25 years on, the buccaneering nature of politicians, their penchant for poor service delivery, morbid hatred for probity, accountability, and credible/transparent elections, among others, are forcing some flustered citizens to make extreme choices, including calling for military intervention in governance... Deep despondency permeates every facet of the polity consequent upon soaring cost of living. And while the political elite splurge on fine wines and exotic automobiles amid poor service delivery, calls for regime change could become more strident in the days ahead even though military insurrection holds no solution to the country’s woes.”

As usual, Onanuga, in his servile reading of every criticism, took time to pen a presidential doggerel as reply to the story. He called it inflammatory and an open advocacy for regime change. Are we sure this Onanuga is not the doppelganger of the Onanuga we used to know? Does he know that that The Guardian story is a cyclostyle of what Nigerians are saying on the streets? If it is, want does he expect the respected newspaper to write? What “deliberate agenda” could the newspaper harbor other than newspapering? What “fairness and objectivity” is he talking about if not a reportage of the narratives on the street and the hopelessness encircling the air? If you read through the so-called State House release of Onanuga, it bears semblance with Sani Abacha’s criminalizing of journalism, leading to the jailing for life of the Kunle Ajibades, his colleague in TheNews. It appears to me that Onanuga, like the Shappiro cartoon, is one of those fawners holding the wench of good governance by the thighs while his boss smilingly loosens the rope of his trousers. If you know what happened to that dog that was given a bad name, you will appreciate why all genuine democrats must rise in protection of the truth.

Dupe Baruwa-Dada: I lost a sister

In 2011, less than six months into the birth of a new government in Oyo State, a proposal was brought for the celebration of a festival in the state. The memo got to the topmost decision-making organ of the state, the Executive Council. At the Exco, a very suave and articulate man marshaled points on the need for the festival and everybody who spoke gave the memo thumbs-up. However, I constituted the one-man kanda, the stone in the bowl of his rice. So, I raised my hand and the governor, Abiola Ajimobi, gave me the go-ahead to speak. “Your Excellency, sir, beautiful as this proposal is, if we go ahead with it, the people of Oyo State will stone us. Our administration hasn’t constructed roads nor succeeded in bringing development to the people. A festival now will be a disaster,” I said. God bless his soul, without mincing words, the governor immediately canceled the memo.  

As I stepped out of the Exco Chambers, someone called my number. It was my friend of, by then, 15 years, Dupe Baruwa. She said, “Boda Festus, tomorrow, my children and I will pack our baggage and move to your house for sustenance.” Alarmed, I asked why. “You just shot down the memo presented to the Oyo State government by my husband!”

In 1996 or 1997 – I can’t remember now – a ravishingly beautiful lady was posted to the Sunday Desk of the Nigerian Tribune newspaper and we became very good friends. We became each other’s confidants and advisors. Dupe confided in me on virtually every issue of her life and I did same to her, too. At some point, she even took me to Ijebu-Ode to go see her mother. When it came to my life-time consort, Dupe’s decision on who I would marry was the loudest and carried the day.

As fate would have it, in 2019, while in a tutorial class at the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, one evening, I beheld a man downstairs. He looked like the man I was his nemesis in 2011. So I called his name. As he turned, I knew he was the man whose memo I voided in the Oyo State council, Dupe’s husband. We hugged and became even closer during our period at the Law School, sharing same Group 8 class together. His family became mine, too.

When I woke up last Sunday to check the social media, I saw a post that nearly ran me mad. The post wished the soul of Dupe Barruwa-Dada a sweet repose. I was alarmed and aghast. How could Dupe die? Why did Dupe die? It must be a daydream. I had called her a few months earlier to commiserate with her on the loss of her mother and was waiting to attend Mama’s burial in Ijebu-Ode. It was not until I attended her funeral in Ikeja last Thursday and Dupe’s casket was wheeled into the church that it dawned on me that the angel had flown away afterall.

If angelic behavior could confer immortality on one, Dupe will be alive today. She symbolized the sapphire in intelligence, good-naturedness and purity of heart. She was amiable, obliging and amiable to anyone she came in contact with. Dupe’s death at the age of 48 tells me further about the brevity of life and its comparison by the Holy Writ with vapour which whooshes with such vigour but disappears in a minute.

Sleep well, my friend of 27 years, confidant and sister.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord ~ 1 Corinthians 15:58.

Preamble:

Joyous accomplishments in God’s kingdom belong only to those who effectively labour in the fields of divine services, not to idle talkers who never get round to accomplishing anything for God, nor to armchair critics who relish badmouthing achievers and pointing accusing fingers to where the doers of good deeds got it wrong.

Mere talk is cheap, and any idle mind can easily find free engagements in it. Lazy louts always enjoy wearying serious labourers in the Lord's vineyard, organizing bumps on their ways, placing booby traps on their paths and criticizing them endlessly.

However, bonded servants of Christ are aware that critics always dog the tails of achievers! Besides, they’re very conscious that true honour of eternal dimension lies in the dignity of their work in the Lord’s vineyard.

In John 9:4, Jesus Christ Himself struck a chord of imperativeness in respect to this when He said, “I must work”. Thus, for the normal believers, serving the Lord here on earth always comes with a side-note of “must do”. Kingdom service cannot be an optional extra, it’s a royal duty and it’s voluntarily compulsory!

Comparing and Contrasting Busyness and Effectiveness

Many a time, people confuse busyness with effectiveness, and some people even trade busyness for effectiveness. This is rather unfortunate.

Activity is not productivity! Movement doesn’t always translate to motion, just like somebody could be running on a treadmill, sweating very profusely, and yet remain on the same spot.

Good works and great works are not always the same. More does not always mean better. In fact, sometimes, the greatest enemy of productivity is busyness. “Jack of all trades”, people say, “is a master of none”.

You are only productive to the extent that you are effective. Working effectively is working circumspectly. On the contrary, zeal without effectiveness (or winsomeness) is like energy without wisdom.

Being busy like a bee isn’t really an indicator of accomplishment in your kingdom services. Being effective is what produces eternal results because it focuses on getting souls saved and joining hands with fellow believers to raise a glorious Church.

You may at this juncture pause and ask yourself: “am I truly following the footsteps of the Master, Jesus Christ, in intentionally pursuing and doing the things that would please the Father”? (John 8:29). “Am I effective in touching lives for God”? “How many souls can trace their joy in the Lord to me today”?

God prefers that His people be engaged in activities that will provoke positive results and durable rewards. And, when He signals ideas to His set-men on earth, He expects them to pass the same to like-minded faithfuls (Psalms 68:11; 2Timothy 2:2). God save your soul if you become the hand the devil uses to stall God’s work!

Effectiveness in kingdom service is eternally rewardable (Matthew 19:27-29). It provokes gracious accomplishments here on earth, and hereafter, joy and durable bliss that lasts forever (Daniel 12:3; John 4:36). Observably, there are no heavenly rewards allocated for those who trade busyness for effectiveness on earth.

Moving From Just Being Busy To Becoming Effective

Now, let’s take a close look at what we must put in place in order to be effective in our kingdom services. Please note that these may change your worldview permanently!

Basically, you must accept responsibility for your assignment. Jesus Christ said that doing the will of God was His necessary “meat” (John 4:34). He also clearly identified His life’s purpose: “to seek and to save” (Luke 19:10).

Great Christian souls must equally know and accept that the task of winning the lost back to the Savior is every believer’s responsibility. If you aren’t thriving in it, don't blame anybody else, look critically inwards.

In this regard, choose to be faithful, available and teachable (F.A.T). There's no way you can be effective without these in place. Prioritize your life in such a way as to be enabled to render effective kingdom services, and please remember always that every excuse (or justification for ineffectiveness) is a lie wearing, perhaps, the garb of reason.

In addition, be positive in all you do and say. What you say and how you act are reflective of the state of your heart. And, what you say is a seed, which defines what you eventually get or become.

Stop dwelling on dismal issues, like bad economy, poor business climate, etcetera. Be exciting in your mandate delivery. Work zealously and tirelessly. Go to the highways and byways, and maximize opportunities.

Be deliberate in hitting your targets, and intentional in your quest to publish God’s Word. Be energetic and enthusiastic about what you are doing. Passion is life, and if you can add it to your kingdom services, you will certainly obtain the tangible results (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

Furthermore, avoid distractions by all means. Reduce the clusters in your schedule and live a less encumbered life. Say “no” to any inappropriate demand on your time. Your time is your life; you don't want to just spend but invest it. Be focused. Be heavenly-minded, and be upward-looking, consistently.

Again, identify your core talents and the key activities that will make you reach your kingdom goals (Revelation 1:6). You are somebody: be the best at whatever you do. Engage your influence. Let the world be impacted by your currency of light (Matthew 5:13-16). Never bury your talents, you will answer to God for them.

Train and remain trainable

A major hallmark of true intelligence is trainability, and this is a critical requirement in raising resourceful disciples (or apprentices). You cannot say you are a disciple if you aren’t trainable. No apprentice ever became a master without training.

Sadly, some Christians act as if they’re untrainable (2Timothy 3:7). They become like millstones around their leader's neck. What a shameful liability to God’s kingdom!

Friends, take a cold, hard look at yourself, and evaluate the quality of your accomplishments in God’s kingdom services so far. Be honest to yourself, and arise to train smarter wherever you are missing the mark (1John 3:20-21).

Moreover, you must be prayerful if you hope to be effective. You need quiet moments to be alone with God and connect with Him as your true Source once in a while, or else you can't be energized for effectiveness. Those who talk too much, and are given to idle jesting, drain themselves so easily.

Consider your end (Deuteronomy 32:29). There is an exceptional joy reserved for good finishers. But to partake of this, you must constantly ask yourself, “What will God say about me at the end of time”? You must not faint, and you must never throw in the towel (Proverbs 24:10).

Brethren in Christ, let’s serve God fervently and effectively, now! Refuse to go empty-handed. You won’t see shame, and you won’t be disappointed at last, in Jesus name. Happy Sunday!

____________________

Bishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Connect with Bishop Akinola via these channels:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bishopakinola

SMS/WhatsApp: +234 802 318 4987

Have you ever been to an expensive wedding that was a no-holds-barred affair? I am talking about that wedding in which a fortune was spent. The champagne was ordered custom-made from France. The wedding cake was a three-story building. Forget about the wedding but tell me, what happened to the marriage? One year later, they got divorced. What a waste of money. All that expenditure went up in smoke. You did not know that the best man was a divorce lawyer. 

Have you not noticed that the rich tend to be more security-conscious than others? Why is that? They have more to lose and therefore have more to protect. What about you? Do you have anything to protect? Have you received anything that you need to protect? If indeed the thief has come to steal, kill, destroy, what kind of security system do you have against the thief? Do you have anything worth stealing? The songwriter says: “Let the poor say that I am rich because of what the Lord has done for him.”

Your uncle gave you an exclusive car. It was a Lexus SUV, custom-made. It was one of a kind. When they made it, they broke the mould. Everybody came and admired it. But what happened to the Lexus? Within two weeks, you had crashed it into the Carter Bridge. They had to use a chainsaw to remove you from the wreckage. What happened to the car? It was damaged beyond repair. Whose fault was it? Yours, because you despised, in effect, the gift of your uncle.

Grace of God 

The Bible tells the story of two women. Both of them were sinners: harlots as a matter of fact. Nevertheless, the merciful Lord who is not a respecter of persons, who makes the sun shine on the good and the bad, blessed them both with children. 

But one was careless with her gift, so careless she slept on her child and suffocated him to death. Afterwards, she envied the other for her living child and stole it. Her game plan was simple. Either I end up with the child, or neither of us would have a child. When the matter was brought before the king, she readily accepted his verdict to cut the child into two. She said: “Let it be neither yours nor mine.”

That woman was working for the thief. The devil has lost out. He lost his inheritance and was cast out of heaven. But he is determined that you should also not come into your inheritance. It all depends on whether you know the value of what you have. 

It is only your virtue, so why is that man so determined to sleep with you and to defile you? It is only a birthright, so why is Jacob so determined to get it from Esau?

Despising the Grace 

Out of the blue, God sent Samuel to anoint David as King of Israel. God trained him for the assignment in the furnace of affliction. He was on the run for his life from Saul for years, with God as his only help. But after David became king, he relaxed. He became careless. 

It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. (2 Samuel 11:1).

What was David doing in Jerusalem? He was checking out the scenery. And he ended up taking another man’s wife and killing her husband.

In his carelessness, David trusted the wrong people. He lamented: “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” (Psalms 41:9).

In the end, David was nearly overthrown, not by the Philistines, but by his own son Absalom. In forty years, Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. 

Beware

Jesus warned his disciples:

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10:16).

David learnt his lesson. No more Mr. Nice Guy. On his deathbed, David planned the death of Joab and Shimei.

Salvation is free. The Bible says: “Freely have you received.” The kingdom of God is free. But please don’t get carried away with the freedom, or shall I say with the “free-ness.” Although it is freely given and freely received, you still have to work it out.

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12).

The word of God says: “Build a wall, invite a burglar.” (Proverbs 17:19 MSG) Salvation is such a big gift that it makes you a prime candidate for armed robbery. Your salvation was announced on the airwaves, and the prince of the power of the air heard it. The men of the underworld were all waiting outside during the award ceremony. 

“We will see how you will carry it home,” they say. “We will see how you will enjoy it.” So although the gift was freely given, although you did no work to receive it, my friend you are going to have to do a lot to keep it and to enjoy it.

Christian Thieves and Robbers

Who are these armed robbers and where are they exactly? Listen and understand. The worst armed robbers of all are in the church:

Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” (Mark 11:17)

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

It does not matter what part of town you live in. Jesus says the whole place is full of armed robbers. They have come to steal, to kill and to destroy. Therefore, you need to make some hard choices. 

You have just come into a complete set of the most incredible electronic system, with some cold hard cash thrown in for good measure. But the problem is that the whole thing was carried in the newspapers and on television. And the whole neighbourhood gathered when the trailer came bringing in everything. 

How are you going to enjoy the abundant life that Jesus has promised, in that particular neighbourhood? Will you save your life by returning the gift so that you can at least live in peace? Or will you receive the gift and get ready to fight for your rights?

“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matt 11:12)

The dress was so beautiful, so lovely. You’ve just got to have it. Until you found out the price. How much does it cost? Five hundred thousand naira. 

Well it is not that good a dress after all. 

What if I buy it for you? 

Oh yes, please. 

I thought you said it was not good anymore. 

Well, I just could not afford it. 

Not exactly, you were not prepared to pay the price. But you would not mind me buying it for you.

CONTINUED.

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“Pig butchering" operations run out of Asia but target victims globally, with scammers promising love and wealth to get their victims to invest their fortunes.

The scam often starts simply with an unsolicited text message.

Reported U.S. losses from investment scams totaled over $3.3 billion last year, according to the FBI, but experts say many victims are too embarrassed to report their losses.

The road to Kaimi's ruin started in December, with an Instagram message about a Japanese monkey from a handsome stranger who called himself Mike. Over the coming months "Mike" and Kaimi would develop a friendship that quickly evolved into a romance.

Kaimi had no idea he had become ensnared in a romance scam known as "pig butchering," from the Chinese phrase sha zhu pan — the name coming from the idea that scammers must "fatten up" victims first with flattery and fake bonding before stealing their money.

Experts told CNBC it's easy to dismiss victims of these scams as ignorant or foolish but doing so discounts how manipulative the scammers are.

Matt Friedman is the CEO of the Mekong Club, a Hong Kong-based organization that works with corporations to fight modern slavery. "Ten scams come by, and they're very clearly a scam," Friedman told CNBC. "But the 11th one, I may even fall for it."

The scam often starts with a simple text message: "Hi!"

Many people disregard the messages that scammers send. But if they respond, the scammers move quickly to establish a rapport. The mystery texter might say they're a wealthy executive. They'll share images of their lavish lifestyle. Eventually, they'll try to make a meaningful romantic bond with the victim. It can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.

At the third stage, the scammers offer to "teach" the victim how to trade cryptocurrencies or foreign currencies. The scammer networks operate fake trading platforms that look "exactly the way they should look," Friedman told CNBC. Victims are "taught" how to trade by their scammer, and the fake exchanges are engineered to show nonexistent profits of 15% to 20%.

When victims try to withdraw money or have run out of fresh funds, the fake exchanges shut down the accounts and demand payment. Panicked and encouraged by their so-called friend, the victims wire what little money they have left. The exchange and their "friend" block the victim shortly after.

It can take weeks before victims understand they've been scammed and even longer to admit what has happened to them.

Experts told CNBC that the scammers on the phone aren't the real beneficiaries of the scam, although they do sometimes get a cut of the proceeds. Most often, they've been trafficked to Cambodia, Laos or Myanmar to work for organized scamming networks, according to extensive reporting from ProPublica and Vice.

Law enforcement and prosecutors acknowledge pig butchering is a problem but tell victims they're largely unable to help. Reported U.S. losses from investment scams totaled $3.31 billion last year, according to the FBI, but experts say many victims are too embarrassed to report their losses.

The U.S. manages to recover relatively little. The Justice Department's only public action seized just $112 million. Federal prosecutors in New York and Virginia have also been pursuing domain names and individuals linked to the scams.

Dennis, a small business owner in Maryland, told CNBC his scammer "Sarah" reached out to him on Facebook around the same time that Mike first reached out to Kaimi.

CNBC has altered the names of the victims in this story to protect their identities, as both Dennis and Kaimi shared personally identifiable information and identity documents with their scammers, and as Kaimi has not disclosed his sexual orientation to everyone in his life.

Kaimi lost more than $120,000 to his scammer. Dennis lost around $500,000.

'My love for you will last forever'

Mike first messaged Kaimi in late December, cracking a joke about a Japanese monkey that Kaimi had posted.

"When I was looking at who had messaged, I was like, 'I don't know if this person is real,'" Kaimi told CNBC. After a few days, Kaimi sent back a perfunctory message. Mike promptly responded and engaged enthusiastically with Kaimi, before suggesting they move to a messaging app called Line.

CNBC reviewed thousands of messages between Kaimi and Mike running through April 2023.

They bonded over their shared love of travel, and Mike eventually invited Kaimi to visit him in Seoul. They'd go shopping, Mike said.

Kaimi told Mike that his schedule as a teacher didn't let him just jet around the world, and he'd have to save money for an international trip. When pressed, Kaimi told Mike about his financial difficulties, stemming from past credit card debt.

Mike suggested he teach Kaimi how to trade in foreign currencies so he could travel to Seoul and pay off his debt.

Mike alternated between talking about making Kaimi rich and sending him what Kaimi described as "flowery" messages.

"My love for you will last forever," Mike told him.

Kaimi acquiesced in January, and created an account on the forex platform Mike claimed he used, called DPEX.

DPEX wasn't a real exchange, but a front controlled by the same scamming group that Mike belonged to.

Over the following weeks, Kaimi wired thousands of dollars from his bank to [Crypto.com], a centralized exchange. He used it to buy ether and send it to DPEX's wallets.

His transfers started small — the first was worth just $140. DPEX claimed it converted his ether transfers into Tether, a U.S. dollar stablecoin.

Mike and Kaimi's first trade together was a bet against the Japanese yen falling in value. When Kaimi saw he'd made $20 on a $100 trade, he was sold.

Mike offered to help Kaimi structure a plan to use profits from DPEX to pay off $300,000 in student loans, mortgage and credit cards. In February, Mike even "sent" $30,000 from his own DPEX account to Kaimi's to help him move closer to his debt-free goal.

"I want to repay you as soon as possible, shrink down most of the debt, then plan a trip to Korea to see you," Kaimi told Mike. Mike pressed Kaimi to add more to his account and join him in bigger bets. He grilled Kaimi about how else he could raise money, from friends or through loans.

In all, Kaimi sent DPEX more than $100,000 worth of ether. His paper profits grew handsomely: In one week in March, Kaimi's balance went from $100,000 to $310,000.

"I thought I was someone who knew when they were being scammed, was able to discern things," Kaimi told CNBC.

But when Kaimi told Mike he was planning to withdraw his funds, the penny dropped. DPEX froze Kaimi's account, claiming that Mike's generous $30,000 "gift" was a suspicious transaction.

Mike claimed his account was frozen too. "OMG," Mike said, "we are the same."

DPEX asked that Kaimi pay back that gift to unlock his full account balance. Kaimi had planned to do so anyway, but sent DPEX nearly $30,000 to settle the "debt."

The scammers settled into a predictable pattern, pumping Kaimi for more and more fees and taxes. Kaimi paid $64,000 in apparent penalties, urged on by Mike. When the scamming operation asked him for another $65,000, Kaimi realized there was no chance he was getting his money back.

When Mike pressed him to pay DPEX's "fees," Kaimi snapped. "I've filed a report to the FBI and the SEC," he told Mike.

'I thought of ending everything'

Dennis didn't have any reason to be suspicious when his first scammer, Sarah, messaged him on Facebook.

"I just said hi and bye," Dennis told CNBC. "But she keeps approaching me," he said. "We became friends."

Sarah claimed she was a wealthy executive at a Chinese electric-vehicle manufacturer. She showed him photos of her "uncle" with Alibaba's Jack Ma. She sent him photos and videos from luxurious stores and apartments.

But it was her show of affection and care more than her material wealth that drew Dennis close, he said.

"They talk to you and manipulate you," Dennis told CNBC. He was in the midst of separating from his wife. They shared a child together, and in his messages with Sarah, he shared his feelings of inadequacy as a father.

Sarah offered Dennis comfort. They talked for hours every day, and it was weeks before she first offered to teach him how to trade crypto.

Sarah said her powerful uncle ran a trading syndicate large enough to influence crypto prices and guarantee a profit. Experts say that scammers will often cite a well-connected relative as part of their fictitious success.

Sarah pointed him to an "exchange" called Bigone-Eth, that could only be accessed through a iOS app called Trust Wallet. Dennis sent thousands of dollars from Coinbase to Trust Wallet and gave the fake exchange permission to control the crypto in his Trust Wallet.

Sarah guided him through trades that predictably returned 20%. From late December through January, Dennis bought nearly $160,000 worth of bitcoin for his "Bigone-Eth" account and invested $100,000 worth of his cousin's bitcoin with Bigone-Eth as well.

It wasn't enough for Sarah, who told Dennis he needed to invest at least $500,000. Otherwise, she suggested, Dennis' son would "suffer" because of Dennis' laziness.

But like Kaimi, Dennis felt he'd made enough. The hammer fell when he went to withdraw his winnings: Bigone-Eth froze him out and demanded $180,000 to release his $1.2 million balance.

The demand made Dennis suspect that the broker was trying to scam him out of his money. It was only in March, months after he began talking with Sarah, that he began to investigate romance scams and fake crypto brokerages.

Along the way, he conducted an internet search and found a company called Financial Fund Recovery, or FFR, which said it specialized in crypto asset recovery.

Bankrupt and 'scammed out of my mind'

In late March, Dennis spoke with a person claiming to be an FFR employee, John Seth, who told Dennis that Sarah and the exchange were part of the same scam. Seth also promised he could recover Dennis' assets, something Dennis now believes was a lie.

Just a few days after Dennis spoke with Seth, he got an unsolicited call from someone identifying himself as Benjamin Grey. He claimed he worked at Bigone-Eth and told Dennis that he could recover his money for $100,000. Dennis never provided Bigone-Eth or Sarah with his phone number, and now suspects Grey was working with Seth to scam him out of more money.

But Dennis, more alone than ever, trusted Seth. Seth urged Dennis to pay the fee but keep it secret from Sarah and the Bigone-Eth scammers. He borrowed $100,000 from his parents and sent it to Grey through Coinbase.

Dennis didn't notice that Grey's wallet address was different from the original scammers, nor that Grey's email address had a slight misspelling of Bigone-Eth's name. Dennis thought he was on the verge of getting his money back, of repaying his parents and his cousin and moving on with his life.

Dennis was out another $242,000 by the time Seth told him to stop talking with Grey.

Seth suggested suing Grey and Bigone-Eth for the lost money. He sent Dennis an invoice detailing how FFR would put a "lien" on Dennis' Bigone-Eth account — which, in fact, was a fictitious account at a fictitious exchange. Dennis would simply have to wire $42,000 to an Abu Dhabi bank account to get started.

This time, Dennis realized he was being "scammed out of his mind" and blocked both Seth and Grey.

CNBC spoke with Seth, who strongly denied that FFR was running a scam. He implied that Dennis was lying to CNBC and said that FFR did not have an employee named Benjamin Grey.

CNBC has reviewed financial documents, emails, blockchain transactions, and recordings of calls between Dennis, Grey, and Seth. Despite his claims to the contrary, the recordings show Seth encouraging Dennis to send money to Grey. Both Seth and Grey contacted Dennis using VoIP numbers from the same issuer. Both numbers were disconnected after CNBC reached out to them.

Other attempts to reach FFR were not successful. In a text conversation with the number Dennis offered for Grey, the person on the other end denied knowing anything about the interaction with Dennis. A customer service representative at FFR's Abu Dhabi-based bank confirmed that company had an account there but declined to provide further information.

FFR used an address of a coworking space in the state of Georgia to register as a limited liability company in Georgia. Over the phone, a receptionist at that coworking space told CNBC that FFR was not a tenant there and that the mailbox used on the registration form did not exist at that space.

But the receptionist said that a visitor had been looking for FFR's office just a few weeks prior and had told the receptionist that FFR had made off with a scam victim's money.

'Powerless'

In the U.S., law enforcement is still grappling with how to seize and restore victims' funds. In California, Santa Clara county prosecutor Erin West is pushing regulators and law enforcement to better understand how these scams work.

West has had some success at a local level in seizing a few million dollars for a handful of victims. But she says without federal intervention and private-sector support, putting a meaningful dent in scamming operations will be difficult if not impossible.

"I wish I could save them all," she told CNBC. Both Dennis and Kaimi reached out to West, who did what she could to connect them with the right people.

But Dennis' and Kaimi's losses form just a small fraction of the billions of dollars lost to scammers from thousands of victims. In 2022, the Department of Homeland Security estimated scam-related losses at over $3.3 billion.

Kaimi has considered filing for bankruptcy. His local Hawaiian bank has closed his checking and savings accounts, according to a letter from the bank shared with CNBC. Kaimi said a bank employee told him his Crypto.com wire transfers were the reason for the closure but didn't offer any more information to him.

He's filed multiple complaints, with the FBI, Secret Service and regulatory agencies but hasn't heard back from any of them.

Dennis said he's been in regular contact with the FBI about the scam. CNBC traced Dennis' bitcoin to a wallet that's received more than 59,000 bitcoin, worth about $1.6 billion, since 2019. The trail ends after that wallet, which regularly transfers its contents to the crypto exchange Binance.

Crypto exchanges such as Binance, Crypto.com and Coinbase are convenient waypoints for scammers because they have a trusted reputation and massive trading volume. All three exchanges have warned of the dangers of crypto scammers, but for some, that isn't enough.

When he reached out to Crypto.com, the exchange told Kaimi they couldn't help him get his money back.

"I'm not asking you to take responsibility of getting my money back," he said. But he pointed out that his scammers had used the same wallet for months.

West said that while private partners in the banking and crypto industry often are conduits for these kinds of scamming operations, they are also ideally positioned to cut off the supply of fresh money to pig butchering networks.

"We are essentially fleecing our entire middle class of their generational wealth, and handing it to bad actors overseas, and nobody's stopping this," West told CNBC.

Shortly before publication of this story, Cloudflare shut down Bigone-Eth's domain name and flagged it as a suspected phishing site. Neither Cloudflare nor the FBI responded to CNBC's request for comment.

Within hours, Dennis' scammer sent him the new domain name and begged him to respond to her. Dennis ignored her.

"Disappointing men with no sense of responsibility," she wrote the next day.

CNBC

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says the helicopter that crashed in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, was heading to its floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility.

In a statement by Oluwafemi Soneye, NNPC spokesperson, on Thursday, the national oil company said it engaged the helicopter operated by East Winds Aviation.

NNPC said at about 11:22am, the company lost contact with the helicopter – register number: 5NBQG — after taking off from the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) base in Port Harcourt.

Earlier, the ministry of aviation and aerospace development, said three persons died in the helicopter crash.

According to NNPC, eight persons were on board — six passengers and two crew members.

“On the 24th of October 2024, about 11:22am, we lost contact with the Helicopter – Register Number: 5NBQG, engaged by NNPC Limited, that took off from Port Harcourt NAF Base en route the FPSO – NUIMS ANTAN. The helicopter was operated by East Winds Aviation,” NNPC said.

“There were 8 persons on board (6 passengers and 2 crew members). The appropriate authorities have been contacted, including the Ministry of Aviation, who have since issued a press statement. Search and rescue missions are currently ongoing. So far, three (3) bodies have been recovered.

“We shall continue to monitor the situation and provide regular updates as the events unfold. Our prayers are with the passengers, crew and their respective families at this very difficult time.”

NNPC said the ongoing search and rescue operation will continue to receive support from the national oil company.

The Cable

The Naira yesterday depreciated to N1,739 per dollar in the parallel market from N1,735 per dollar on Wednesday.

However, the Naira appreciated to N1,601.2 per dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, NAFEM.

Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative exchange rate for NAFEM fell to N1,601.2 per dollar from N1,654.09 per dollar on Wednesday, indicating N52.89 appreciation for the naira.

The volume of dollars traded (turnover) in the official market increased by 69 percent to $230.99 million from $136.68 million traded on Wednesday.

Consequently, the margin between the parallel market and NAFEM rate widened to N137.8 per dollar from N80.91 per dollar on Wednesday.

Vanguard

Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, has left Nigeria after eight months of detention in the country.

In a statement, yesterday, the family disclosed, “Today, American citizen, Gambaryan, left Nigeria and returned home to his family after eight months of unlawful detention.”

The United States National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, also confirmed Gambaryan’s release on humanitarian grounds. He expressed gratitude to Nigerian officials and diplomatic partners who worked to ensure Gambaryan’s return to the U.S.

“As soon as we secured Gambaryan’s release, I called his wife to share this good news,” Sullivan said. Gambaryan’s wife, Yuki, had publicly campaigned for her husband’s release due to concerns over his deteriorating health.

Sullivan also emphasised the importance of U.S.-Nigeria cooperation, expressing hope that the bilateral relationship between the two countries would continue to grow. This cooperation, according to Sullivan, played a key role in the Binance executive’s release.

Echoing Sullivan’s remarks, U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said: “The U.S. thanks the government of Nigeria for releasing U.S. citizen, Gambaryan, on medical grounds, allowing him to return to the U.S. to receive the specialised medical care he requires.

“This positive outcome demonstrates the strength of the U.S.-Nigeria partnership and highlights our shared commitment to working together to advance our common interests. Our close law enforcement cooperation remains a cornerstone of our bilateral relationship, and the U.S. is committed to working closely with Nigeria to address mutual concerns and prioritise the safety and well-being of our citizens.”

Recall that the Federal High Court in Abuja discharged the Binance executive on Wednesday from the money laundering charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

According to sources, Gambaryan was allowed to leave Kuje correctional centre on Wednesday night. Reacting, Yuki said: “It is a huge relief that this day has finally come. The past eight months have been a living nightmare. I wish it had not taken this long for his release, or that his health had not declined so much, but we can now focus on healing as a family.” She expressed gratitude to the U.S. government for their efforts in securing his release.

“There were moments I feared this day would never come, but Gambaryan’s supporters gave me hope and strength,” she stated, explaining that the road ahead for the Binance official’s recovery will be difficult.

Also reacting, Binance Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Richard Teng, expressed deep relief and gratitude that Gambaryan has finally been released. 

He said: “Throughout this difficult period, Gambaryan has shown immense strength, and we commend his resilience in the face of such severe adversity. We are deeply thankful to everyone who dedicated countless hours to support Gambaryan’s release.”

According to him, Gambaryan’s health and well-being remain Binance’s top priority, and he will receive the medical care and rest he urgently needs alongside his family.

The CEO emphasised Binance’s commitment to collaborating with global regulators to ensure compliance and transparency in the evolving digital asset space.

He expressed eagerness to put “the episode” behind them and continue working towards a brighter future for the blockchain industry worldwide.

With a young, tech-savvy population and a strong interest in digital finance, according to him, Nigeria is well-positioned to leverage blockchain technology to address economic and social challenges. He expressed readiness to play a “constructive role” in that effort.

The Guardian

Palestinian Authority treads tightrope in West Bank crackdown on militants

In the West Bank city of Tubas, the Palestinian Authority has been rounding up militants who are spoiling for a fight with Israel and challenging its own rule, seeking to show it can help shape the future for Palestinians after the war in Gaza.

President Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority (PA) has poured forces into Tubas, saying it aims to quash lawlessness and deny Israel pretexts to raid the city in the occupied territory.

His militant adversaries - Hamas and Islamic Jihad - say the PA is serving Israel's agenda at a time when Israel is going after their fighters in the West Bank as they battle Israel in Gaza, sharpening old divisions between the militants and Abbas.

Residents of Tubas said clashes between the militants and the PA this month involved heavy machine guns and bombs in some of the worst violence they can remember.

It highlights the precarious position of an authority formed in 1994 as a stepping stone to a state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital, a prospect that appears as far away as ever, though it has come back into international focus of late as a way to bring peace.

The PA controlled Gaza until 2007, when Hamas routed forces loyal to Abbas, but is now confined to running patches of the West Bank under the eye of Israeli troops.

As Israel presses its Gaza offensive to wipe out Hamas, the United States has said it wants to see the territory and the West Bank unified under a reformed and revitalised PA.

For Abbas, 88, the Tubas campaign is partly about weakening the grip his militant foes have gained over the northern West Bank, in what his Fatah Movement sees as an Iran-backed attempt to undermine their position, according to Fatah officials and security sources.

It is also about disproving critics who view the PA as ineffective - a reputation that has overshadowed diplomatic contacts led by the United States over the role it might eventually play in Gaza, according to a former PA security official and an analyst.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson declined comment on the Tubas operation but acknowledged that U.S. security cooperation with the PA includes funding, training and equipment.

Tubas Governor Ahmed al-Asaad said the PA had decided to strike with "an iron fist" against what he described as lawlessness and anarchy.

Two PA security men have been wounded as their forces fought members of the "Tubas Battalion", an armed group dominated by the Islamic Jihad faction, and detained at least three of its members, including its leader.

STANDOFF

Al-Asaad said the PA was responding to public concern, giving the example of a bomb that had been recently planted near a school - apparently in preparation for an attack on Israeli forces.

"We don't want - under the slogan of resistance or any other slogan - to destroy our country and to destroy Tubas," he said.

"Our approach is clear and is the approach of the president: the approach of peaceful, popular resistance and safeguarding security and order," he told Reuters in an interview.

The Authority has overhauled its operations in a variety of areas, assuaging some of the concern expressed by countries that provide aid.

On the whole, the revitalisation effort had been "pretty well received," a European diplomat said.

On Saturday, dozens of PA security men surrounded a building near Tubas where two Battalion militants were holed up, with one of them, Obada al-Masri, threatening to blow himself up, a source familiar with the incident said.

"We negotiated with him for almost five hours," said his father, Abdel Majid al-Masri, who was called to the scene to help convince his son to surrender.

He said his son eventually agreed after receiving guarantees he would be held in Tubas rather than at another PA jail where he was previously incarcerated and had suffered mistreatment.

Masri expressed relief that his son had been taken into PA custody rather than killed by Israeli forces, which have also been raiding Tubas in search of militants and had previously jailed his son for three years.

His son had chosen "the route of struggle to liberate Palestine", he said, rejecting PA accusations that Battalion members were engaged in lawlessness.

Islamic Jihad condemned the operation, saying PA forces appeared to be aiming to eliminate resistance to Israel and their methods were no different.

LOW-HANGING FRUIT

PA security forces were heavily deployed, with a checkpoint on a road into the city, when Reuters visited Tubas this week, but the city was calm.

Ghaith al-Omari, an expert on PA affairs at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the Tubas campaign was a much-needed attempt by the PA to assert itself in a part of the West Bank where its control had been "practically absent".

"The PA understands that nobody sees it as being capable of running Gaza and everyone cites the fact that they can't even run the northern West Bank," said Omari, formerly an adviser to the Palestinian president.

But he said one operation did not make a reputation, noting that Tubas represented "low-hanging fruit" and militant groups there were weaker than in Jenin, also in the north.

With U.S. support, the 35,000-strong PA security forces were reconstituted after the 2007 Hamas takeover of Gaza.

Yet, the Washington Institute said in a July policy note, for the PA to assume governance in Gaza it would need extensive recruitment, equipment, vetting, and training, a process it said would take years.

While declining to comment on a potential role for PA security forces in post-war Gaza, the State Department spokesperson reiterated that sustained peace in Gaza "must include Palestinian-led governance and Gaza unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority."

In the West Bank, the biggest issue was that PA security forces were "really, really unpopular in the north", Omari said.

A September opinion poll showed 89% of Palestinians in the West Bank want Abbas to resign, and that Hamas has more support than Fatah there. Polls by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research have consistently shown that Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah leader jailed by Israel, would win any presidential vote.

Omari said: "To do effective security you need both capabilities but also you need credibility and legitimacy."

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian forces capture two villages in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv acknowledges Russian pressure

Russian forces have captured the villages of Serebrianka and Mykolaivka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, Russia's Defence Ministry said on Wednesday, as military blogs reported Russian advances near key frontline towns.

Ukraine's military made no acknowledgement of either village falling into Russian hands, but said both areas of the front were gripped by intense fighting.

Bloggers on both sides reported an intense Russian drive on the town of Selydove.

The Ukrainian General Staff said its forces had repelled all 12 Russian attacks undertaken in an area around Serebrianka just inside the northern border of Donetsk region.

It said heavy fighting gripped towns on the approach to Pokrovsk, the next key logistical town in the Russian military's steady push westward in Donetsk region.

The popular Ukrainian military blog DeepState said Ukrainian troops were facing overwhelming odds defending Selydove - which lies southwest of Mykolaivka. Capturing Selydove would pave the way for a Russian advance on Pokrovsk.

DeepState said Russian forces with "the advantage of endless resources of infantry and equipment" were putting pressure on Ukrainian defences and advancing from both north and south.

Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports from either side.

Russian military blogs earlier in the day reported fighting around Selydove and three other towns - Kurakhove and Hirnyk further south and Toretsk to the northeast.

Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, said Russian forces had seized the central, eastern and southern districts of Selydove, once a town of 20,000. He posted a video he said showed a Russian flag atop a high-rise building.

Russian forces, sent into Ukraine in February 2022, advanced in September at their fastest rate since March 2022, according to open source data, despite Ukraine taking a swath of territory after an August incursion into Russia's Kursk region.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Seven NATO members oppose Ukraine membership – Politico

A group of NATO members led by the US and Germany are reluctant to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the military bloc anytime soon, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

Last week, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky presented his ‘victory plan’, which included a demand for immediate NATO membership. However, four unnamed US and NATO officials have reportedly told Politico that Berlin and Washington are “slow-walking” the request, adding that “key alliance members are worried about getting ensnared in a war with Russia.”

US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith told Politico that the bloc “has not, to date, reached the point where it is prepared to offer membership or an invitation to Ukraine.” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier said that it was his duty to prevent the Ukraine conflict from spiraling into a full-scale war between Russia and NATO, adding that Kiev would become a part of the bloc only when certain conditions are met.

Hungary and Slovakia – which have been critical of the Western approach to the Ukraine conflict and have insisted on an immediate ceasefire – are two other holdouts. Politico described their leaders as following “a generally pro-Kremlin line.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called Zelensky’s plan outright “terrifying,” while his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico warned that Ukraine’s accession to NATO could lead to World War III.

Furthermore, one NATO official told Politico that “countries like Belgium, Slovenia or Spain are hiding behind the US and Germany” when it comes to the issue of Ukraine’s membership, describing them as “reluctant.” Another source noted that while those nations support Kiev’s NATO aspirations “in the abstract,” they would voice their opposition when push comes to shove.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Kiev’s desire to join NATO – which Moscow has described as an existential threat and an “enemy” – was one of the key reasons for the current conflict in the first place.

Officials in Moscow have also said that Ukraine’s membership in the bloc “in any territorial form is absolutely unacceptable to Russia and cannot be part of any peace plans or mediation initiatives.”

Reuters/RT