On Monday morning, armed Okada riders attacked the Ipaja Police Station in Lagos State, resulting in a gun battle with the police officers on duty. The confrontation caused panic among local residents and prompted the reinforcement of police personnel.

Benjamin Hundeyin, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, confirmed the incident and stated that the situation had been brought under control.

"Officers of Ipaja Police Division have successfully repelled an early morning attack on their division by motorcycle operators. The attack came after police officers commenced the day’s enforcement of the existing ban on motorcycles in Lagos State," Hundeyin said.

"The attackers, who numbered in the hundreds, stormed the station with dangerous weapons, shooting at the officers and attempting to overrun the station. The officers held their ground until reinforcement arrived from the Area Command and the Rapid Response Squad (RRS).

"During the attack, two of the assailants were fatally injured. Despite this, the officers managed to impound over two hundred motorcycles, arrest some of the attackers, and retrieve one locally made firearm," he continued.

Hundeyin emphasized that the Lagos State Police Command remains committed to enforcing all laws and maintaining order within the society, asserting that they will not be intimidated into neglecting their duties.

Hundreds of people have fled their villages in a rural community in Niger State after weekend attacks by armed groups left 10 dead and at least 160 missing, a local government chairman and two residents said on Monday.

A year after President Bola Tinubu came to power promising to end widespread insecurity, kidnappings in the northwest by armed gangs demanding ransoms have become almost routine, with authorities seemingly powerless to stop them.

Gunmen on motorbikes first attacked Kuchi community in Niger state's Munya local government area on Friday evening, killing five residents and five hunters who tried to fight back, before kidnapping dozens of people, said local chairman Aminu Ajume.

The gunmen returned on Sunday night and seized livestock and food and burned shops, forcing at least 700 villagers to flee to nearby communities, Ajume added.

"As I am speaking to you, Munya is (a) no go area. They moved from house to house abducting people ... they abducted 160 villagers, including women," he told Reuters by phone.

Kidnapping gangs, known locally as bandits, and members from a faction of insurgent group Boko Haram joined forces to launch the attacks, Ajume said without providing evidence.

Boko Haram has been fighting an insurgency in the northeast since 2009 but Niger authorities have previously said its smaller faction had cells in the state and carried out some attacks.

The police and army spokespersons in Niger state did not respond to several requests for comment.

Maryam Abubakar, a resident, said she hid in the toilet when she heard sporadic gunfire around 1900 GMT on Friday and gunmen burst into her home shortly after.

"It was raining at that time. The bandits entered the house, searched the rooms and kitchen and they took my aunt and her two children," Abubakar said, adding the three were still missing.

Musa Auwal was in his shop when gunmen attacked on Friday but he hid in a nearby bush, he said. When he returned the next day, his shop had been looted, so he fled to stay with relatives 60 km away.

Reuters

Netanyahu says deadly Israeli strike in Rafah was the result of a 'tragic mistake'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that a “tragic mistake” was made in an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza city of Rafah that set fire to a camp housing displaced Palestinians and, according to local officials, killed at least 45 people.

The strike only added to the surging international criticism Israel has faced over its war with Hamas, with even its closest allies expressing outrage at civilian deaths. Israel insists it adheres to international law even as it faces scrutiny in the world’s top courts, one of which last week demanded that it halt the offensive in Rafah.

Netanyahu did not elaborate on the error. Israel’s military initially said it had carried out a precise airstrike on a Hamas compound, killing two senior militants. As details of the strike and fire emerged, the military said it had opened an investigation into the deaths of civilians.

Sunday night’s attack, which appeared to be one of the war’s deadliest, helped push the overall Palestinian death toll in the war above 36,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and noncombatants in its tally.

“Despite our utmost efforts not to harm innocent civilians, last night there was a tragic mistake,” Netanyahu said Monday in an address to Israel’s parliament. “We are investigating the incident and will obtain a conclusion because this is our policy.”

Mohammed Abuassa, who rushed to the scene in the northwestern neighborhood of Tel al-Sultan, said rescuers “pulled out people who were in an unbearable state.”

“We pulled out children who were in pieces. We pulled out young and elderly people. The fire in the camp was unreal,” he said.

At least 45 people were killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and the Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service. The ministry said the dead included at least 12 women, eight children and three older adults, with another three bodies burned beyond recognition.

In a separate development, Egypt’s military said one of its soldiers was shot dead during an exchange of fire in the Rafah area, without providing further details. Israel said it was in contact with Egyptian authorities, and both sides said they were investigating.

An initial investigation found that the soldier had responded to an exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants, Egypt’s state-owned Qahera TV reported. Egypt has warned that Israel’s incursion in Rafah could threaten the two countries’ decades-old peace treaty.

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency closed meeting for Tuesday afternoon on the situation in Rafah at the request of Algeria, the Arab representative on the council, two council diplomats told The Associated Press.

Rafah, the southernmost Gaza city on the border with Egypt, had housed more than a million people — about half of Gaza’s population — displaced from other parts of the territory. Most have fled once again since Israel launched what it called a limited incursion there earlier this month. Hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid tent camps in and around the city.

Elsewhere in Rafah, the director of the Kuwait Hospital, one of the city’s last functioning medical centers, said it was shutting down and that staff members were relocating to a field hospital. Dr. Suhaib al-Hamas said the decision was made after a strike killed two health workers Monday at the entrance to the hospital.

Netanyahu says Israel must destroy what he says are Hamas’ last remaining battalions in Rafah. The militant group launched a barrage of rockets Sunday from the city toward heavily populated central Israel, setting off air raid sirens but causing no injuries.

The strike on Rafah brought a new wave of condemnation, even from Israel’s strongest supporters.

The U.S. National Security Council said in a statement that the “devastating images” from the strike on Rafah were “heartbreaking.” It said the U.S. was working with the Israeli military and others to assess what happened.

French President Emmanuel Macron was more blunt, saying “these operations must stop” in a post on X. “There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians. I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire,” he wrote.

The Foreign Office of Germany, which has been a staunch supporter of Israel for decades, said “the images of charred bodies, including children, from the airstrike in Rafah are unbearable.”

“The exact circumstances must be clarified, and the investigation announced by the Israeli army must now come quickly,” the ministry added. ”The civilian population must finally be better protected.”

Qatar, a key mediator in attempts to secure a cease-fire and the release of hostages held by Hamas, said the Rafah strike could “complicate” talks. Negotiations, which appear to be restarting, have faltered repeatedly over Hamas’ demand for a lasting truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, terms Israeli leaders have publicly rejected.

The Israeli military’s top legal official, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, said authorities were examining the strike in Rafah and that the military regrets the loss of civilian life.

Speaking to an Israeli lawyers’ conference, Tomer-Yerushalmi said Israel has launched 70 criminal investigations into possible violations of international law, including the deaths of civilians, the conditions at a detention facility holding suspected militants and the deaths of some inmates in Israeli custody. She said incidents of property crimes and looting were also being examined.

Israel has long maintained it has an independent judiciary capable of investigating and prosecuting abuses. But rights groups say Israeli authorities routinely fail to fully investigate violence against Palestinians and that even when soldiers are held accountable, the punishment is usually light.

Israel has denied allegations of genocide brought against it by South Africa at the International Court of Justice. Last week, the court ordered Israelto halt its Rafah offensive, a ruling it has no power to enforce.

Separately, the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders, over alleged crimes linked to the war. The ICC only intervenes when it concludes that the state in question is unable or unwilling to properly prosecute such crimes.

Israel says it does its best to adhere to the laws of war. Israeli leaders also say they face an enemy that makes no such commitment, embeds itself in civilian areas and refuses to release Israeli hostages unconditionally.

Hamas triggered the war with its Oct. 7 attack into Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seized some 250 hostages. Hamas still holds about 100 hostages and the remains of around 30 others after most of the rest were released during a cease-fire last year.

Around 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes. Severe hunger is widespread, and U.N. officials say parts of the territory are experiencing famine.

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian-held Luhansk in eastern Ukraine attacked twice in one night

The Russian-held city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine came under attack twice within three hours early on Tuesday, officials said, the latest in a series of strikes near the city.

Fires appeared to have broken out in both strikes. Ukraine made no official comment on either incident.

Leonid Pasechnik, Russia-installed governor of Luhansk region, said the first attack at about 9 p.m. (1800 GMT) was made with cluster munitions.

"A fire has broken out as a result of the attack," Pasechnik said, noting that information on casualties was being clarified.

Russia's Tass news agency, quoting emergency services, cited injuries.

Ukrainian media and war bloggers posted a picture of what they described as a large fire in the city.

A second strike hit the city at midnight, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said, apparently in the same general area.

Rodion Miroshnik, a special ambassador for the ministry, said city residents had heard two explosions in the same district as the site of the first attack.

"It cannot be ruled out that the repeat strike occurred at the site where rescue teams are dealing with the aftermath of the previous missile attack," Miroshnik wrote on Telegram.

Ukrainian news outlets said the target of the second strike was an airfield and posted a video of a fire spreading over a wide area.

Reuters could not independently confirm battlefield accounts or what weapon might have been used.

Ukraine's military has launched at least three attacks on Luhansk and nearby areas in recent weeks, targeting mainly fuel storage depots.

Russia annexed the Luhansk region several months after its February 2022 invasion, along with three other regions, though it does not fully control any of them.

Much of Luhansk has been occupied since 2014, when Russian-financed separatists took over swathes of territory in eastern Ukraine after large protests prompted Russia-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych to flee the country and Moscow's forces seized the Crimea peninsula.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian troops liberate two communities in Ukraine operation over past day — top brass

Russian troops liberated the settlement of Ivanovka in the Kharkov Region and the settlement of Netailovo in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Monday.

"Battlegroup West units liberated the settlement of Ivanovka in the Kharkov Region and gained more advantageous positions… Battlegroup Center units liberated the settlement of Netailovo in the Donetsk People’s Republic and improved their tactical position," the ministry said in a statement.

Russian troops inflict over 300 casualties on Ukrainian army in Kharkov area over past day

Russian troops inflicted more than 300 casualties on the Ukrainian army in the Kharkov area over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup North units continue advancing deep into the enemy defenses. They inflicted casualties on manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 125th mechanized and 112th territorial defense brigades in areas near the settlements of Konstantinovka and Granov in the Kharkov Region. They repulsed two counterattacks by enemy assault groups in areas near the settlements of Glubokoye and Volchansk in the Kharkov Region," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army’s losses in the Kharkov direction over the past 24 hours amounted to 318 personnel, a tank and two armored combat vehicles, it specified.

In counterbattery fire, Russian troops destroyed a US-made 155mm M777 howitzer, a UK-made 155mm FH70 howitzer, a 152mm D-20 howitzer, three 122mm D-30 howitzers, a US-manufactured 105mm M119 artillery gun and a 122mm Grad multiple rocket launcher of the Ukrainian army, the ministry said.

Ukrainian army loses 130 troops in south Donetsk area over past day

The Ukrainian army lost roughly 130 troops in battles with Russian forces in the south Donetsk area over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup East units took more advantageous positions and inflicted casualties on manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 128th territorial defense brigade near the settlement of Makarovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic. The Ukrainian army lost as many as 130 personnel, five motor vehicles, a 155mm M777 howitzer and a 155mm M198 howitzer of US manufacture," the ministry said.

Reuters/Tass

In a federal system of government, such as the one we claim to be running, granting autonomy to local governments undermines the principles of federalism. Successive military leaders from certain sections of Nigeria have used their power to create local government areas in their regions, giving them demographic and fiscal advantages over other sections, which provide the bulk of the fiscal resources that all tiers of government rely on. This autonomy is a subversion of federalism and should be rejected by all who value democracy within a federal system.

In a true federal system, regions, provinces, or states are the federating units that create a central authority to achieve specific mutual benefits. Local government areas, which are created for administrative convenience, do not qualify as federating units and should not draw administrative costs from the federation account. In principle, they are unknown to the central authority as established by the federating units.

While efforts should be focused on repairing our feudalistic unitary system disguised as federalism, we are instead dismantling the political architecture of the federal system by undermining the states' authority over local governments. The argument that governors are misappropriating local government funds from the federation account does not justify dismantling the federal system. The neglect of local roads and other responsibilities of local governments is not solely due to state governors controlling funds, but also due to politicians' general disregard for the welfare of the people and their tendency to prioritize personal gain.

Even if local government funds were distributed directly to them, there is no guarantee that local government chairmen would not emulate the governors' corrupt practices. This could lead to further fragmentation, with each political ward or village demanding direct allocations from the federation account.

The issue of underdevelopment in local government areas is more about the politicians' lack of accountability than the governors' control over funds. Constituents must mobilize to hold their local leaders accountable, regardless of political party affiliations. Furthermore, while state governors are criticized for mismanaging funds, there is little concern about the federal government's handling of its share of the federation account, which affects national infrastructure and services like policing.

As part of our journey towards a restructured federal system that allows states or geographical zones to flourish socio-economically, we should consider dissolving existing local government areas. States should delineate their own local-governing areas based on demographics, administrative needs, and available financial resources. The current proliferation of local government areas, driven by military rulers from the North, was primarily to receive funds from the federation account without considering viability.

Granting local government areas direct funding from the central purse has serious implications for rural lands. Local government chairmen in rural areas, dependent on federal allocations, may be pressured into relinquishing land for projects that serve political or personal interests of the central authority. The RUGA project under former President Muhammadu Buhari exemplifies the potential dangers of such autonomy, which could have led to significant land losses for communities if local governments had been autonomous.

The Yoruba people in the South-West are still not free from the threat of land subjugation, even with their son in power. It is important to avoid supporting policies simply because they are pushed by someone from one's own group. While Bola President Tinubu may have good intentions for local government administration, we must be wary of the potential misuse of rural lands by future presidents from other geopolitical zones. The idea of RUGA remains alive in the consciousness of herdsmen in Nigeria, and local government autonomy could provide a legal basis for similar projects in the future.

The trick to getting ahead at work isn’t being the fastest learner or the smartest in the room — it’s having a positive attitude, says Amazon CEO Andy Jassy.

Jassy, who took the top job at Amazon after Jeff Bezos stepped down in 2021, shared his “best career advice” in a new interview with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky. 

“I think an embarrassing amount of how well you do, particularly in your 20s, has to do with attitude,” Jassy, 56, said. 

It’s not just about being cheerful, he explained. Having a positive attitude means you work well on a team and honor deadlines, among other strengths. 

If you have the right mindset, Jassy said you should be able to confidently answer “yes” to the following questions: 

• Do you work hard? 
• Are you more can-do than naysaying? 
• Do you do what you said you were going to do? 
• Can you work in a team? 

These strategies are “so simple” and yet often overlooked, he said. 

“People would be surprised [at] how infrequently people have great attitudes,” he added. “I think it makes a big difference.”

Enthusiasm can enable you to take advantage of opportunities like stretch assignments and training programs because you’ll feel more confident stepping out of your comfort zone and trust that you can tackle any challenges that arise.

Jassy was just 29 when he joined Amazon as a marketing manager in 1997. Five years into his career there, he was invited to be Bezos’s first “shadow” advisor, a quasi-chief of staff who joins all of the CEO’s meetings. 

Several of his colleagues at Amazon told him not to accept the offer, but Jassy said he chose to focus on the positive aspects of the job — and by taking it, he was able to strengthen his leadership skills. 

“I just figured if it wasn’t something that worked out either for Jeff or for me if I tried it a few months, I could always try something else, but if it did work out, I hadn’t ever heard of another job like this,” he said. “And it was just an incredible experience.” 

It’s important to note that Amazon’s leadership has come under fire for its treatment of warehouse employees during the Covid-19 pandemic and for allegedly fostering a harsh workplace culture.

Jassy has previously acknowledged that the company could improve its treatment of employees. “I think if you have a large group of people like we do … it’s almost like a small country,” he said during the GeekWire Summit in 2021. “There are lots of things you could do better.”

Regardless of where you’re at in your career, having a positive attitude can help you build stronger relationships in the workplace. “You pick up advocates and mentors much more quickly,” Jassy said. “People want those people to succeed.”

Research has affirmed the benefits of a positive attitude in the workplace — that it can make you more productive, boost creativity and prevent burnout, among other advantages.

“There’s so many things that you can’t control in your work life,” Jassy said. “But you can control your attitude.”

CNBC

The Federal Government has asked the Supreme Court to nullify the actions of 36 states accused of withholding local government funds. The lawsuit, filed by Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, seeks to prevent state governments from disbanding elected local government chairmen and replacing them with caretaker committees.

The suit, dated May 20, 2024, calls for a declaration that, under Section 162(5) of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999, state governments are merely agents of local governments in collecting funds from the federation account. These funds, once received, must be paid directly into the state joint local government account and subsequently distributed to each local government.

In the suit marked SC/CV/343/2024, comprising 27 grounds, the Federal Government also seeks to invoke Sections 1, 4, 5, 7, and 14 of the Constitution to mandate governors and state houses of assembly to uphold a democratically elected system at the local government level.

A 13-paragraph affidavit supporting the originating summons was filed by Kelechi Ohaeri of the Federal Ministry of Justice. The affidavit includes publications from national newspapers and broadcast media from 2023 to 2024, highlighting the public interest in this litigation.

The AGF's suit demands a declaration that the dissolution of democratically elected local government councils by governors or state powers is unlawful, unconstitutional, null, and void. It further asserts that states failing to establish a democratically elected local government system are in breach of the 1999 Constitution and should not be entitled to receive and spend funds meant for local governments.

Among the reliefs sought are:

- A declaration that local government councils are entitled to direct payments from the federation account for funds standing to their credit when state governments fail to transfer these funds.

- An injunction preventing states from receiving or tampering with local government funds if no democratically elected local government system is in place.

- An order for the federal government to pay local governments directly from the federation account when states fail to do so.

- Immediate and successive compliance by state officials with the terms of the court's judgment and orders.

The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for May 30. The Nigeria Governors’ Forum has not yet responded to the suit. When contacted, the acting Head of Media for the NGF, Halimah Salihu Ahmed, declined to comment.

Despite a Supreme Court ruling on December 9, 2016, voiding laws that allowed governors to appoint caretaker chairmen for local governments, many states have continued to violate this ruling. State governments have historically resisted local government autonomy. On January 24, 2023, the Senate revealed that among the 35 constitutional amendment bills rejected by state assemblies were those seeking financial and legislative autonomy for local governments.

Supporters of Aminu Bayero, the dethroned Emir of Kano, have taken to the streets in protest across the five emirates of Bichi, Rano, Karaye, Kano, and Gaya. Bayero was deposed on Thursday after Kano Governor Abba Yusuf signed a new law repealing the Emirate Council Law of 2019, which had previously divided the Kano emirate into five jurisdictions and provided the grounds for the dethronement of Muhammadu Sanusi in 2020.

Sanusi was reinstated as the 16th Emir of Kano on Thursday during a colorful ceremony at the government house and has since moved into the palace. In response, Bayero returned to Kano early Saturday morning and moved into the mini palace in Nassarawa area of Kano, only to be subsequently ordered arrested by the governor. Soldiers are currently stationed to guard the dethroned monarch.

Protesters carrying banners and placards called for Bayero's reinstatement, chanting anti-government slogans and setting up bonfires on major roads. They claim the emirship dispute is politically motivated. The state has been in turmoil since Muhammadu Sanusi II's return as the Kano emir, four years after his own dethronement, leading to a royal power struggle with Aminu Ado Bayero.

Governor Yusuf, after signing the Kano State Emirates Council Law on Thursday, issued a reappointment letter to Sanusi on Friday and demanded that the emirs affected by the law vacate their palaces within 48 hours. Despite this, the state police command announced on Saturday their intent to enforce a court order against Sanusi's reinstatement.

While Bayero remains in the Nassarawa mini palace under heavy security, Sanusi operates from the Gidan Rumfa palace, protected by vigilantes and local hunters.

Protests continued yesterday, with Bayero's supporters lighting bonfires and chanting anti-government slogans. In Rano Emirate, youths protested the dethronement of Kabiru Muhammad Inuwa, known as 'Autan Bawo,' as the first-class emir of the area.

Protest leader Aliyu Harazimi Rano expressed their discontent with the state government's new law, highlighting the developmental benefits the establishment of the Rano Emirate had brought to the area.

Israeli airstrikes kill at least 35 in Rafah, Gaza authorities say

Israeli air strikes killed at least 35 Palestinians and wounded dozens in an area in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah designated for the displaced, Palestinian health and civil emergency service officials said.

The Israeli military said its air force struck a Hamas compound in Rafah and that the strike was carried out with "precise ammunition and on the basis of precise intelligence." It took out Hamas' chief of staff for the West Bank and another senior official behind deadly attacks on Israelis, it said.

"The IDF is aware of reports indicating that as a result of the strike and fire that was ignited several civilians in the area were harmed. The incident is under review."

The spokesman for the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza, Ashraf Al-Qidra, said 35 people were killed and dozens others, most of them women and children, were wounded in the attack.

The strike took place in Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah, where thousands of people were taking shelter after many fled the eastern areas of the city where Israeli forces began a ground offensive over two weeks ago.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah was receiving an influx of casualties, and that other hospitals also were taking in a large number of patients.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri described the attack in Rafah as a "massacre", holding the United States responsible for aiding Israel with weapons and money.

"The air strikes burnt the tents, the tents are melting and the people's bodies are also melting," said one of the residents who arrived at the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah.

Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli military said eight projectiles were identified crossing from the area of Rafah, the southern tip of the Gaza Strip where Israel kept up operations despite a ruling by the top U.N. court on Friday ordering it to stop attacking the city.

A number of the projectiles were intercepted, it said. There were no reports of casualties.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was convening his war cabinet later on Sunday to discuss continued operations in Rafah. Israel argues that the U.N. court's ruling allows room for some military action there.

In a statement on its Telegram channel, the Hamas al-Qassam Brigades said the rockets were launched in response to "Zionist massacres against civilians".

Rafah is located about 100 km (60 miles) south of Tel Aviv.

Israel says it wants to root out Hamas fighters holed up in Rafah and rescue hostages it says are being held in the area, but its assault has worsened the plight of civilians and caused an international outcry.

On Sunday, Israeli strikes killed at least five Palestinians in Rafah, according to local medical services. The Gaza health ministry identified the dead as civilians.

Israeli tanks have probed around the edges of Rafah, near the crossing point from Gaza into Egypt, and have entered some of its eastern districts, residents say, but have not yet entered the city in force since the start of operations in the city earlier this month.

Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz said the rockets fired from Rafah "prove that the (Israel Defense Forces) must operate in every place Hamas still operates from".

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant held an operational assessment in Rafah where he was briefed on "troops’ operations above and below the ground, as well as the deepening of operations in additional areas with the aim of dismantling Hamas battalions", his office said in a statement.

Itamar Ben Gvir, a hardline public security minister who is not part of Israel's war cabinet, urged the army to hit Rafah harder. "Rafah with full force," he posted on X.

Nearly 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, Gaza's health ministry says. Israel launched the operation after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Fighting also continued in the northern Gaza area of Jabaliya, the scene of intense combat earlier in the war. During one raid, the military said it found a weapons storage site with dozens of rocket parts and weapons at a school.

It denied Hamas statements that Palestinian fighters had abducted an Israeli soldier.

Hamas media said an Israeli airstrike on a house in a neighborhood near Jabaliya killed 10 people and wounded others.

TRUCE TALKS

Efforts to agree a halt to the fighting and return more than 120 hostages have been blocked for weeks but there were some signs of movement this weekend following meetings between Israeli and U.S. intelligence officials and Qatar's prime minister.

An official with knowledge of the matter said a decision had been taken to resume the talks this week based on new proposals from Egyptian and Qatari mediators, and with "active U.S. involvement."

However, a Hamas official played down the report, telling Reuters: "It is not true."

Netanyahu's war cabinet would discuss the new proposals, his office said.

A second Hamas official, Izzat El-Reshiq, said the group had not received anything from the mediators on new dates for resuming talks as had been reported by Israeli media.

Reshiq restated Hamas's demands, which include: "Ending the aggression completely and permanently, in all of Gaza Strip, not only Rafah".

While Israel is seeking the return of hostages, Netanyahu has repeatedly said the war will not end until Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, is eliminated.

AID TRUCKS ENTER GAZA

Israel has faced calls to get more aid into Gaza after more than seven months of a war that has caused widespread destruction and hunger in the enclave.

Khaled Zayed of the Egyptian Red Crescent told Reuters 200 trucks of aid, including four fuel trucks, were expected to enter Gaza on Sunday through Kerem Shalom.

It follows an agreement between U.S. President Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Friday to temporarily send aid via the Kerem Shalom crossing, bypassing the Rafah crossing that has been blocked for weeks.

Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV shared a video on social media platform X, showing what it said were aid trucks as they entered Kerem Shalom, which before the conflict was the main commercial crossing station between Israel, Egypt and Gaza.

The Rafah crossing has been shut for almost three weeks, since Israel took control of the Palestinian side of the crossing as it stepped up its offensive.

Egypt has been increasingly alarmed at the prospect of large numbers of Palestinians entering its territory from Gaza and has refused to open its side of the Rafah crossing.

Israel has said it is not restricting aid flows and has opened up new crossing points in the north as well as cooperating with the United States, which has built a temporary floating pier for aid deliveries.

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian jamming rendering much US-supplied weaponry ineffective – WaPo

Many US-made munitions that rely on satellite guidance have failed to withstand Russia’s jamming technology after being supplied to Kiev, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

The Ukrainian armed forces have had to stop using some of those armaments altogether because of Russia’s extensive electronic warfare capabilities, the paper said.

The affected munitions include Excalibur GPS-guided artillery shells, rockets for HIMARS multiple rocket launch systems and JDAM aircraft-dropped bombs, the report read.

The US completely ceased deliveries of Excalibur shells half a year ago after Ukraine reported that they had been rendered ineffective, unnamed Ukrainian officials told WaPo.

The paper said that it had also reviewed an internal assessment by Kiev, according to which the success rate of the munitions fell to just 10% within several months. “The Excalibur technology in existing versions has lost its potential,” the document read, adding that the encounter with Russian jamming has disproved its reputation as a “one shot, one target” weapon.

The HIMARS system used to make headlines after being provided to Kiev in 2022, but the next year “everything ended: the Russians deployed electronic warfare, disabled satellite signals, and HIMARS became completely ineffective,” a senior Ukrainian military official complained. Because of this, Kiev had to resort to deploying the “very expensive shell” against lower-priority targets, he said.

The success rate of JDAMs also dropped significantly just weeks after they were first provided to Kiev in February 2023 as their “non-resistance” to jamming was revealed, the Ukrainian assessment stressed. During that period, the US-made bombs were missing their targets by between 200 meters and 1.2km, it said.

The Ukrainian officials told WaPo that getting the needed adjustments to the “failing weaponry” has been difficult due to “an overly bureaucratic process” in Washington. However, in the case of JDAMs, the manufacturer was able to provide a patch and the munitions are still being used by Kiev, according to the sources.

On Saturday, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said that since the start of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022, the production of electronic warfare equipment has increased 15-fold in the country.

Russia has warned repeatedly that deliveries of weapons systems to Kiev by the US and its allies will not prevent Moscow from achieving its military goals, adding that it will merely prolong the fighting and could increase the risk of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO. According to officials in Moscow, the provision of arms, the sharing of intelligence, and the training of Ukrainian troops means that Western nations have already become de-facto parties to the conflict.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian attack on Ukraine's Kharkiv kills 14, injures dozens

A Russian strike on a crowded DIY hardware store in Kharkiv killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens more, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday, the death toll rising as the country's second-largest city reeled from two attacks a day earlier.

Two guided bombs hit the Epicentr DIY hypermarket in a residential area of the city on Saturday afternoon, Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on national television.

The strikes caused a massive fire which sent a column of thick, black smoke billowing hundreds of metres into the air.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the local prosecutors' office said 14 people died, with 44 injured. Prosecutors said 11 of the dead had been identified and seven people were missing.

Syniehubov, in a late-afternoon post on social media, put the death toll at 16.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said about 120 people had been in the hardware store when the bombs struck.

The past week has seen an uptick in strikes on the city after Russian troops stormed across the border, opening a new front north of the city.

Russia has bombarded Kharkiv, which lies less than 30 kilometres (20 miles) from its border, throughout the war, having reached its outskirts in a failed bid to capture it in 2022.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a plea to Ukraine's Western allies to help boost air defences to keep the country's cities safe. French President Emmanuel Macron, writing on social media platform X, denounced the attack on the store as "unacceptable."

A separate early evening missile strike hit a residential building in the centre of the city of 1.3 million. The number of people wounded by that strike had climbed to 25 by Sunday morning.

The missile left a crater several metres deep in the pavement at the foot of the building, which also housed a post office, a beauty salon and a cafe.

Emergency workers ushered away residents of nearby apartment buildings. Some of the injured had blood on their faces.

Just over the border, in Russia's Belgorod region, the regional governor said four residents died in Ukrainian attacks on Saturday.

FIREFIGHTERS BATTLE BLAZE

Andriy Kudinov, director of the suburban shopping centre, told local media the hardware store was full of shoppers buying items for their summer cottages.

It took 16 hours to fully extinguish the fire at the centre, which had raged over an area of 13,000 square metres (15,548 square yards), Interior Minister Klymenko said.

Rescuers, medics and journalists occasionally had to rush away from the scene of both strikes on the city and take cover on the ground, fearing another strike, as has occurred during several recent Russian attacks.

Dmytro Syrotenko, a 26-year-old employee of the DIY centre, described panicked scenes.

"I was at my workplace. I heard the first hit and ... with my colleague, we fell to the ground. There was the second hit and we were covered with debris. Then we started to crawl to the higher ground," said Syrotenko, who had a large gash on his face.

Syrotenko told Reuters he was taken to safety by a rescue worker who helped him, several colleagues, and shoppers.

Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address on Sunday, said the strike and carnage prompted widespread condemnation that should lead to "absolutely just consequences" and again underscore the need for Ukraine to secure sufficient air defences.

"This, in order for us to have enough air defence systems at least to defend Ukraine, our cities," he said. "And so that our partners muster the resolve for preventive defensive actions against Russian terrorists."

Ukraine, he said, would keep pressing its partners to speed up deliveries of F-16 fighter aircraft "to strengthen our defences against terrorist attacks on our cities and pressure from the Russian army on the front line."

Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians, but thousands have been killed and injured during its 27-month invasion of Ukraine.

RT/Reuters