Israel intensifies Gaza strikes, Hamas fires rockets amid truce talks

Fighting in the Gaza Strip escalated on Thursday with some of the most intense Israeli bombardment of the war and Hamas demonstrated its ability to rocket Tel Aviv, even as the foes engaged in the most serious talks for weeks on a new truce.

Israeli bombing was at its most intense over northern Gaza, where orange flashes of explosions could be seen from across the fence in Israel in the morning hours. Later, Israeli planes roared over central and southern areas, dropping bombs that sent up plumes of smoke, residents said.

In Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv, sirens wailed and rockets exploded overhead, intercepted by Israeli defences. Shrapnel fell on a school but the children were in shelters and there were no reported casualties, Israel's Ynet news site said.

The armed wing of Hamas said it had fired the salvo in response to Israeli killing of civilians. But with the group's leader in Cairo for truce talks, the attack seemed timed to send a message that nearly 11 weeks of war had failed to destroy the militants' strike capability.

Both sides remained far apart in public. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed again to fight on until the eradication of Hamas, the Islamist group that sent fighters over the border into southern Israel on Oct. 7, taking some 240 hostages and killing 1,200 people.

"Surrender or die," he told Hamas in a video address.

Hamas said Palestinian factions had taken a united position that there should be "no talk about prisoners or exchange deals, except after a full cessation of (Israeli) aggression".

Residents in Jabalia in the north of the Strip close to the Israeli border said the area was completely cut off, with Israeli snipers now firing on anyone trying to escape.

"It was one of the worst nights in terms of the occupation bombings," said one Jabalia resident who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal.

Nearly 20,000 Gazans have been confirmed killed since the start of the conflict, according to the Palestinian health ministry, with several thousand more bodies believed trapped under rubble. Nearly all of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes.

A report by a UN-backed body said the entire population of Gaza is facing crisis levels of hunger. The risk of famine is increasing each day, added the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

"This report sort of confirms our worst fears," said Arif Husain, chief economist and director of research at the U.N. World Food Programme.

"I've been doing this for the last 20 plus years. I've been to Afghanistan, I've been to Yemen, to Syria, South Sudan, Ethiopia, northeast Nigeria. But I've never seen something this bad happening this quickly," he told Reuters in an interview.

By the afternoon, Israel intensified bombing of the Gaza City suburb of Sheikh Radwan, residents said. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad militant group said they fired rockets and mortar bombs at Israeli forces massing on the Gaza side of the border. Reuters could not confirm the battlefield reports.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said it had reports Israeli forces had stormed an ambulance centre in Jabalia and arrested paramedics. The Israeli military said it needed more details on the report to comment and was following international law and taking "feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm".

The World Health Organization said the last hospital in the northern half of the Gaza Strip had effectively ceased functioning over the past two days, leaving no place left to take the wounded.

TALKS SERIOUS, SIDES PUBLICLY FAR APART

As clashes raged, diplomatic efforts ramped up in the final days of the year to stave off humanitarian catastrophe and agree a new truce to release some of the hostages taken by Hamas, the group that runs the Gaza Strip and has vowed to destroy Israel.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was in Egypt for a second day for negotiations, a rare personal intervention that in the past has signalled important stages in diplomacy. Islamic Jihad said its leader was also headed there.

"These are very serious discussions and negotiations, and we hope that they lead somewhere," White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday. U.S. President Joe Biden said: "We're pushing."

In the past, mediating countries including Egypt and Qatar have met separately with Israel, Hamas and other groups, though there were no details on who might be engaged with any Israeli party on Thursday.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen confirmed negotiations on a hostage release were ongoing but declined to provide details.

Taher Al-Nono, Haniyeh's media adviser, told Reuters: "We cannot talk about negotiations while Israel continues its aggression."

Israel's military said it destroyed a network of tunnels in Gaza City, which it found in recent days and said served senior Hamas leaders. It released a video that appeared to show a long line of fire erupting through the centre of Gaza City.

Hamas officials said an Israeli air strike at the Rafah crossing to Egypt on Thursday morning killed four people including the Gaza director of another border crossing, Kerem Shalom. Israel's military appeared to deny involvement, saying it was not familiar with the incident.

Israel allowed Kerem Shalom to open this week, increasing the amount of aid getting into the Strip, though U.N. agencies say it remains a trickle compared to the vast needs.

The U.N. Security Council was due to vote on Thursday on a resolution to boost aid after a delay at the request of the United States. The draft would give the U.N. a wider role overseeing aid shipments, seen as diluting Israel's control.

Washington said there were concerns that in its current form the resolution "could actually slow down" deliveries.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia has fired 7,400 missiles, 3,700 Shahed drones in war so far, Kyiv says

Russia has launched about 7,400 missiles and 3,700 Shahed attack drones at targets in Ukraine during its 22-month-old invasion, Kyiv said on Thursday, illustrating the vast scale of Moscow's aerial assaults.

Ukrainian air defences were able to shoot down 1,600 of the missiles and 2,900 of the drones, air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said in televised comments. "We are faced with an enormous aggressor, and we are fighting back," he said.

He said the lower missile downing rate was due to the use of supersonic ballistic missiles, which are much harder to hit, as well as the fact that the West supplied Ukraine with advanced Patriot air defence systems only well into the war.

Ukraine has received advanced air defence systems, including several Patriots, from Western allies throughout the invasion, allowing it to shoot down more missiles.

Meanwhile the cheaply-produced, Iranian-made Shahed drones, known in Ukraine for their noisy petrol engines, have been used more and more frequently in Russia's aerial assaults on Ukrainian infrastructure far behind the war's front lines in the east and south of the country.

"Ten to 15 regions are involved in shooting down Shaheds every night," Ihnat said.

Russia says it only fires on military targets though Moscow has also admitted to targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Russia says it does not target civilians, despite thousands of documented civilian deaths throughout the war.

Russia began launching the drones at infrastructure facilities in September 2022. They initially confused Ukraine's air defences, as they were harder for standard air defence radars to detect than missiles, which forced Kyiv to adapt.

The use of the drones in massed attacks then created a dilemma for Ukraine as they were so cheap to produce it was not cost-effective to down them with expensive air defence missiles.

Ukraine now uses vehicles with mounted machine guns to shoot down drones.

"We were shooting at them with everything we could find, with pistols, submachine guns," Ihnat said, recalling the early attempts to down the drones. "Well, even then it became clear that the target is not simple, there are many complications, mistakes. You need to prepare."

Western media outlets and analysts have produced evidence, including satellite imagery, of Russia setting up its own Shahed production facilities.

** Mass drone attack hits several Kyiv districts

Russian drones bore down on the city of Kyiv early on Friday, with Mayor Vitali Klitschko and other officials reporting strikes on widely separated residential districts.

It was the sixth drone attack on the capital this month. Two people were injured.

Klitschko, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said a drone had hit a block of flats in the Solomyanskyi district, south of the city centre, triggering a fire on the upper floors that was quickly brought under control.

Emergency services, also writing on Telegram, said several apartments were damaged on the 24th, 25th and 26th storeys of the building. Two people were injured, including one being treated in hospital.

The incident occurred a few hundred metres from a maternity hospital.

Air raid alerts were later lifted in almost all regions.

A video posted on social media showed a giant orange flame going skyward in the night.

Klitschko also said drone fragments had set fire to a house under construction in Darnytskyi district on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River that runs through the city.

He said there were no injuries. Pictures posted online showed construction materials strewn about the site.

Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, reported fragments from a downed drone had struck an apartment building in a third area - Holosiivskyi district - also south of the city centre.

Popko posted pictures showing smashed windows and heavy damage to apartments.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Top Russian general reveals details of Kiev's failed counteroffensive

Ukrainian military planners expected swift progress in their summer counteroffensive, which was to culminate in Moscow's so-called “land bridge to Crimea” being cut off, General Valery Gerasimov, the head of the Russian general staff, said on Thursday. He added that the attempt was thwarted by his forces.

The senior official briefed foreign military attaches on various aspects of Russia's military strategy, including steps taken to prevent a Ukrainian counteroffensive, which he said was the top priority for the country this year.

“The enemy plan was to blockade Melitopol by the end of the 15th day of the offensive,” Gerasimov said. The Ukrainians then planned to advance towards the Sea of Azov, the city of Mariupol, and the border of Crimea, he added.

Melitopol is a large city in Zaporozhye Region, located some 40 km away from the coast of the Azov Sea and about 15 km away from Molochnyi Lyman, a large coastal estuary connected with it.

Gerasimov noted that the core of the Ukrainian force used in the counteroffensive consisted of brigades trained and armed by Western nations. The grouping that was supposed to reach the Azov Sea initially included 50 battalions armed with over 230 tanks and more than 1,000 infantry fighting vehicles, half of them Western-made, he reported. The force was later boosted to 80 battalions, according to the general.

Russian troops prepared deep defensive lines to prepare for the planned attack. When Ukraine launched it on June 4, it “achieved minor advancement at the cost of colossal losses,” failing to breach “even the tactical zone of our defenses,” he stressed.

Additional supplies of Western weapons and the deployment of strategic reserves by Kiev failed to turn the tide, Gerasimov added. “Hence, the counteroffensive, which Ukraine and its NATO allies had touted widely, failed,” the general stated. The Russian official reiterated that the Ukraine conflict was a “hybrid proxy war against Russia by the US and its allies,”waged with Ukrainian hands. Washington wants to prolong the conflict by providing military assistance to Kiev, he claimed.

In addition to conducting active defense on the front line, Russian forces are using long-range precision weapons to attack Ukrainian “command sites, defense factories and critical objects with a military purpose,” Gerasimov said, adding that over 1,500 such targets have been hit. Degrading the Ukrainian military industrial capacity has been a major achievement, he noted.

Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, Gerasimov’s counterpart in the Ukrainian military leadership, acknowledged in early November that the frontline situation had turned into a “stalemate.” Senior civilian officials, including President Vladimir Zelensky, disputed his assessment for weeks before finally admitting that the push against Russia was over. The president claimed that the new phase was necessitated by cold weather when he conceded in early December.

** Ukraine’s counteroffensive has failed – ex-NATO general

Kiev’s much-touted summer counteroffensive operation has failed to produce “expected” results, and instead resulted in heavy casualties for the Ukrainian side, Czech President Petr Pavel admitted in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde on Wednesday.

Launched back in June, the Ukrainian counteroffensive was hyped up as a turning point for Kiev’s forces which would push Russian troops out of former Ukrainian territories. However, six months after the start of the operation, the Ukrainian side has yet to achieve any significant territorial gains and has instead suffered extremely heavy casualties. 

Pavel, who previously served as the chief of the general staff of the Czech Army and chairman of the NATO Military Committee, suggested that the main reason for Ukraine’s failure was that the West did not provide it with enough modern weaponry.

“Supporting countries were reluctant to deliver modern equipment, some elements arrived later, and when Ukraine launched its counteroffensive, the ratio of forces did not allow for rapid success,” he told Le Monde.

Before Kiev had even launched its summer offensive in June, Pavel says he had also warned that it would be a difficult operation because he “didn’t want to create excessive expectations.”

“Painting a picture of quick success is dangerous, especially with an enemy like Russia, whose capabilities and resources should never be underestimated,” he said.

The Czech president went on to suggest that Kiev should now try to change its tactics and switch to consolidating its defense lines instead of launching offensive operations that are only resulting in heavy casualties but no territorial gains.

“They could thus save their forces in anticipation of a resumption of these operations in the spring,” Pavel said.

On Tuesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry estimated that the Ukrainian military had suffered nearly 400,000 casualties since February 2022, losing nearly half of its military personnel over the course of the counteroffensive. Ralph D. Thiele, a retired German Air Force colonel and NATO staffer, also claimed on Thursday that some 800 Ukrainian troops were being killed or wounded every day.

Last week, German news outlets Die Welt and Bild also reported that Ukraine may be gathering forces and drawing up new war plans for a fresh counteroffensive in 2024, while changing its tactics in the meantime to inflict maximum losses on Moscow.

Russia, meanwhile, has repeatedly pointed out the Kiev was essentially sending its soldiers on suicide missions, with Russian President Vladimir Putin saying the Ukrainian leadership had grown desperate after failing to achieve anything in its counteroffensive.

Reuters/RT

In the last one and a half decades, Rabiu Kwankwaso has been the most charismatic politician out of Kano after the passing of Abubakar Rimi. Kwankwaso is not just charismatic; he is consequential, with a cult-like following that responds twice, even when he calls once.

He is facing yet another defining moment in his political career. The outcome of the ruling of the Supreme Court in the case between the Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and his rival, Nasiru Gawuna, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), could well determine if the sun has finally set on Kwankwaso’s reign or whether he would get a new lease of life.

Kwankwaso’s protegee, Yusuf, lost at the election petition tribunal and also at the court of appeal, where Gawuna had challenged his election on three main grounds: 1) That Yusuf is not a registered member of the NNPP; 2) That 165,663 out of the 1,019,602 votes scored by the NNPP were invalid because the ballots were neither stamped nor signed, therefore reducing his total valid votes to 853,939, and 3) That he, Gawuna having scored 890,705 votes with margin of nearly 130k, won the governorship election and should be declared governor.

The lower courts agreed with his submissions in rulings – one from an undisclosed location and the other from cyberspace – that sparked widespread protests in the state, not to mention accusations of compromise. Even though a member of the tribunal raised the alarm that some persons were trying to lean on her by offering financial gifts through a proxy, all allegations of wrongdoing have been denied by the judiciary. All eyes are now on the Supreme Court.

Nigeria’s courts have been swamped with election petitions, making election litigation one of the fastest growing industries. Voters vote, but judges choose the winners.

In spite of the large number of decided election petition cases in the last over 20 years, however, there have been only a few where the two lower courts ruled in one way, only to have their rulings overturned by the Supreme Court. Governorship election petitions used to end at the Court of Appeal. Even after the law was amended to take governorship election disputes up to the Supreme Court, the norm was a split decision between the lower courts, before the final ruling by the Supreme Court.

From the case involving Rotimi Amaechi and Celestine Omehia in 2007, to the ruling in 2016 where the Supreme Court set aside the ruling of the two lower courts and declared Nyesom Wike as the validly elected governor of Rivers State (without giving reasons for its decision), perhaps the most dramatic of the three or four exceptional cases was the one in 2019 involving the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma.

Apart from Ejike Mbaka whose extraordinary gift enabled him to foretell the outcome of the Uzodimma case in his famous “I see hope” speech, most normal, reasonable people could not fathom how a man who came fourth place in an election could become first. Yet, in a landmark decision wonderful beyond understanding, the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the two lower courts and ruled that Uzodimma won the election.

Kwankwaso and his supporters obviously hope to beat the odds, which in any case, are perhaps not as formidable as those of Uzodimma. But Gawuna’s backers appear to have gone even one step further to secure their current juridical advantage. On the state’s Wikipedia page, for example, some folks terminated the tenure of Yusuf in November when the Court of Appeal gave its ruling. Gawuna is described on that page as “incumbent governor” from November!

Kwankwaso has fought many wars but this battle may redefine the rest of his political days, and those of the Kwankwasiyya movement. His first significant defeat was 20 years ago, when he failed his second term bid for governorship. In the wave of political sharia sweeping the North at the time, Kwankwaso had positioned himself as a moderate.

His opponent, Ibrahim Shekarau, did two things: he latched onto the Muhammadu Buhari bandwagon, under the flag of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP); and more important, played the sharia card. He succeeded big, not only in dislodging Kwankwaso, but also becoming the first two-term governor in Kano.

Shekarau defeated Kwankwaso again in the contest for a senatorial seat in 2019, after latter’s first tenure as senator. The leader of the Kwankwasiyya

movement was caught in the maelstrom of the APC presidential primaries, but in the run-up to the 2019 elections, he decamped back to the PDP. To be fair, during APC’s 2015 presidential primaries, Kwankwaso was the preferred candidate of the APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu, at the time, before a strong Northern lobby pressed Buhari into the race.

Shekarau exploited the accumulated rage of the pro-Buhari crowd, kindled against the leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement for daring to challenge Buhari’s talismanic hold on Kano.

But Kwankwaso has matured since, especially after his eventful second term as governor, during which he was widely acclaimed for paying serious attention to education, health and infrastructure. Also, leveraging the crucial place of Kano as the Nigeria’s largest political vote bank, he played a decisive role, along with four other governors of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015, that led to the fall of President Goodluck Jonathan’s government.

Perhaps the most significant marker of his political maturity was the formation of the NNPP only months to the last general elections and yet carrying one state – the most politically significant in the North West – and coming fourth in an election contested by 18 political parties. This legacy is now threatened.

If Shekarau was his nemesis in the past, his nemesis for the last eight years has been his former deputy and Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje. In the battle at the Supreme Court, Yusuf and Gawuna are, in a manner of speaking, pawns. The chess masters are Kwankwaso and Ganduje.

After the last general elections, Kwankwaso seemed to have the aces. He had literally secured a third term in Kano and Tinubu, the winner of the presidential election, needed to court him. Not just because he proved himself in present reckoning, but also because anyone in charge of Kano would be indispensable in future political calculations.

After the elections, while Ganduje was still looking for a second address, Kwankwaso was already on Tinubu’s speed dial. He held several exploratory meetings with the President both in the country and in Paris for a potential role in the new government. I’m told that he was, in fact, considered for either the Ministry of Education or FCT.

Ganduje and a few other influential politicians close to Tinubu panicked. But Ganduje, a man who looks incapable of hurting a fly, but doesn’t mind hunting a lion for game, waited for his time to pounce. Once he was appointed APC chairman, in spite of Kwankwaso, he slowly clawed himself back and swung the wrecking ball in cahoots with a few insiders who were also uncomfortable with Kwankwaso.

Ganduje also consolidated his hold on the President after Gawuna won the first round of victory at the tribunal. Then Kwankwaso, whether out of frustration or defiance, made what was potentially a serious mistake. He held a closed-door meeting with Atiku in Abuja and left the press and politicians to pour petrol into the fire by making wild guesses about the motive for the meeting.

The battle has now entered its final phase. If the Supreme Court bucks the trend and rules in favour of Yusuf, Kwankwaso would have used one judicial stone to vanquish Shekarau and Ganduje, two of his most potent longstanding enemies. If, on the other hand, the Supreme Court upholds the ruling of the lower courts, Kwankwaso’s decline will start in earnest, sucking his cult and scattering his sheepfold.

Inconclusive is an unlikely outcome. But who knows?

** Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP. More: www.azuishiekwene.com

One of the world’s most widely used cargo planes completed an entire flight with no one on board for the first time.

Lasting approximately 12 minutes in total, the flight departed from Hollister Airport, in Northern California, and was operated by Reliable Robotics, which has been working since 2019 on a semi-automated flying system in which the aircraft is controlled remotely by a pilot.

The company recently announced that the 50-mile flight took place in November. The plane was a Cessna Caravan, a robust single-engine aircraft that is a popular choice for flight training, tourism, humanitarian missions and regional cargo.

“Cessna has made 3,000 Caravans — it’s the most popular cargo plane you’ve never heard of,” says Robert Rose, CEO of Reliable Robotics. “Pilots will tell you it’s the workhorse of the industry.

“But the challenge with this aircraft is that it flies at lower altitudes and more adverse weather conditions than many large aircraft do today. So operating it is much more dangerous, and automation is going to go a long way to improve the safety of these operations.”

Consultancy firm AviationValues told CNN there are currently 900 Caravans in active service, and FedEx — which has been using the type since 1985 — is the largest operator with about 200 of them. Reliable Robotics is now working with the Federal Aviation Administration to certify its technology for commercial operations, and expects that process to be complete in as little as two years.

Not a video game

The remote operator — a real pilot who must be certified to fly the aircraft exactly as if they were sitting in the cockpit — sends commands to the plane via encrypted satellite signals, but does not pilot the aircraft in real time nor gets any visual feed from the plane itself.

The interface they use is closer to those used by air traffic controllers than drone pilots. “This is not a video game,” says Rose. “There’s no joystick and you don’t have the ability to hand-fly the plane remotely. There’s no video feed that gives you real-time feedback. The way they control the aircraft is essentially a menu of options: you can think of it like a ‘choose your own adventure’ based on where the aircraft is, and there’s a set of buttons to allow the pilot to redirect the plane somewhere else.”

Each command sent to the plane includes all instructions required to land, so the aircraft always knows what to do even if communications are lost. “You could say that the aircraft is autonomous,” Rose explains. “If you tell it to do nothing else, or if you lose communications with it, it’s going to do the last thing you told it to do, which is the definition of autonomy. It has no direct human control.”

Compared to a traditional autopilot, the Reliable Robotics system is able to perform all phases of a flight, including moving out of the gate and towards the runway, as well as taking off and landing. But as far as other aircraft or air traffic controllers are concerned, this is just like any other plane, Rose says, because the remote operator will respond to radio calls and handle voice communications in such a way that it’s impossible to tell they’re not aboard.

W hat if something goes wrong? According to Rose, there’s at least one advantage in handling emergencies remotely: if a pilot loses control of the plane, they can immediately inform air traffic control of its position and last command. “In many ways this is better than the way aircraft operate today, because if you’re flying around in the sky and you lose radio communications, or something goes wrong with the plane, you have to do something and air traffic control has no idea what you’re going to do. So they have to clear the airspace all around you because nobody knows what your intentions are.”

Larger planes

Once the system becomes commercially available, other security measures will come into effect, including a smart card that will be required to operate any aircraft. In addition, pilots will work from a control center where other people will be watching over them.

For now, Reliable Robotics is looking to certify the system for the Caravan, but is already testing it on a larger aircraft with the US Air Force — the KC-135 Stratotanker, a military refueling plane based on the old Boeing 707 — and hopes to start testing on jet cargo aircraft within five to 10 years.

According to Rose, remotely controlled regional cargo planes would have positive effects on both safety and the ongoing pilot shortage. “The pilot shortage is putting pressure on smaller aircraft operations, because the larger planes are sucking up all the pilots, and it’s becoming much more difficult to sustain operations with smaller aircraft fleets.

“We see remote piloting as a way to solve that problem in the near future.” He adds that airlines will be able to streamline their operations because layovers will no longer be required, as pilots will be able to work from a single location.

As for safety, Rose says that the system will prevent common types of accidents that are linked to human error, such as “unintentional collisions with terrain” and loss of control in flight, which account for the majority of fatal crashes. Rose explains that the Reliable Robotics system has been designed to prevent them, for example by cross-checking against a terrain and obstacle database in case the plane is erroneously programmed to fly into something.

“Significant milestone”

The history of pilotless aircraft goes back to the early years of aviation, with the first examples of unmanned planes developed in the US and Britain during World War I. Most unmanned aerial vehicles today are categorized as drones, performing a range of functions from military action to search and rescue and photography.

Merlin Labs and XWing, both in the US, and Volant in the UK, are among the companies developing similar systems to Reliable Robotics, with a similar attention to the cargo sector.

In recent years, the concept of pilotless air taxis has also gained interest, with a first historic flight performed by German company Volocopter in Dubai in 2017; the Emirate is now planning to inaugurate its first “vertiport” for flying taxis within three years, albeit using vehicles manned by human pilots. In China, urban air mobility company EHang was the first to obtain, in October, full certification from the local authorities to fly a pilotless passenger-carrying UAV — the result of over 40,000 test flights.

According to Jack W. Langelaan, a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Penn State University, who’s not involved with Reliable Robotics, the company has achieved a significant milestone by completing a flight from hangar to hangar without an on-board pilot.

“ There are lots of hard things in robotic aircraft,” he told CNN. “Two of them are dealing with the unexpected and fitting into the existing air traffic control system. The unexpected includes things like mechanical and sensor failures.

“We can’t anticipate everything and we need to prove that the robotic ‘pilot’ is at least as competent as a good human pilot. Fitting into the air traffic control system is also tricky: at the moment it’s managed by humans talking to each other by radio, so Reliable used a remote pilot to manage this aspect of the flight. And of course, the human remote pilot was also ready to step in to deal with the unexpected.”

Gary Crichlow, head of commercial analysts at consultancy firm AviationValues, agrees that the technology to enable uncrewed operations is impressive. “That being said, the jump between crewed operations and uncrewed operations on a global scale is an extremely large one,” he cautioned. “It’s not just about the technology, it’s also about the economics and politics of replacing a highly skilled group of people with that technology. If anything, I’d expect those barriers to be even more difficult to overcome than the technological hurdles.”

CNN

Debt Management Office (DMO) says Nigeria’s total public debt rose to N87.91 trillion in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023.

DMO disclosed this on Wednesday.

The latest figure represents a 0.61 percent or N530 billion increase compared to N87.38 trillion recorded in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023.

In the previous quarter, the total debt stock had increased by 75.29 percent.

According to DMO, the surge was occasioned by the N22.71 trillion ways and means advances obtained by the federal government from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). 

“The total public debt as at September 30, 2023, was N87.91 Trillion or $114.35 billion. The amount represents the domestic and external debts of the federal government of Nigeria (FGN), the thirty-six (36) state governments, and the federal capital territory,” DMO said. 

“At N87.91 trillion, the total public debt stock represents a marginal increase of 0.61% when compared to the June 30, 2023 figure of N87.38 trillion.

“This trend is explained by the decrease in external debt from $43.16 billion as at June 30, 2023, to $41.59 billion as at September 30, 2023, and a relatively moderate increase of N1.80 trillion in the domestic debt.”

The debt agency added that external debt decreased due to the redemption of a $500 million eurobond and the payment of $413.859 million as the first principal repayment of the $3.4 billion loan obtained from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2020 during Covid-19.

“The servicing of these debts in addition to other debts, are clear demonstrations of the FGN’s commitment to its debt obligations. Notwithstanding, Mr President’s initiatives and actions towards revenue generation remain important for Nigeria’s overall fiscal balance,” DMO said.

In the 2024 budget proposal of N27 trillion, the federal government plans to borrow N7.83 trillion as part of measures to bridge the budget deficit of N9.18 trillion.

The Cable

Israel uncovers major Hamas command center in Gaza City as cease-fire talks gain momentum

The Israeli military on Wednesday said it had uncovered a major Hamas command center in the heart of Gaza City, inflicting what it described as a serious blow to the Islamic militant group as pressure grows on Israel to scale back its devastating military offensive in the coastal enclave.

The army said it had exposed the center of a vast underground network used by Hamas to move weapons, militants and supplies throughout the Gaza Strip. Israel has said destroying the tunnels is a major objective of the offensive.

The announcement came as Hamas’ top leader arrived in Egypt for talks aimed at brokering a temporary cease-fire and a new deal for Hamas to swap Israeli hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Israeli leaders have vowed to press ahead with the two-month-old offensive, launched in response to a bloody cross-border attack by Hamas in October that killed some 1,200 people and saw 240 others taken hostage.

The offensive has devastated much of northern Gaza, killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians, and driven some 1.9 million people — nearly 85% of the population — from their homes. The widespread destruction and heavy civilian death toll has drawn increasing international calls for a cease-fire.

Hamas militants have put up stiff resistance lately against Israeli ground troops, and its forces appear to remain largely intact in southern Gaza. It also continues to fire rockets into Israel every day.

The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has continued to support Israel’s right to defend itself while also urging greater effort to protect Gaza’s civilians.

But in some of the toughest American language yet, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday called on Israel to scale back its operation.

“It’s clear that the conflict will move and needs to move to a lower intensity phase,” Blinken said. He said the U.S. wants to see “more targeted operations” with smaller levels of forces focused on specific targets, such as Hamas’ leaders and the group’s tunnel network.

“As that happens, I think you’ll see as well, the harm done to civilians also decrease significantly,” he said.

His comments were more pointed than statements by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who in a visit to Israel this week said the U.S. would not dictate any timeframes to its ally.

TUNNEL NETWORK

The Israeli military escorted Israeli reporters into Palestine Square in the heart of Gaza City to show off what it described as the center of Hamas’ tunnel network.

Military commanders boasted that they had uncovered offices, tunnels and elevators used by Hamas’ top leaders. The military released videos of underground offices and claimed to have found a wheelchair belonging to Hamas’ shadowy military commander, Mohammed Deif, who has not been seen in public in years.

The army’s chief spokesman, Daniel Hagari, said the army had located a vast underground complex. “They all used this infrastructure routinely, during emergencies and also at the beginning of the war on Oct. 7,” he said. He said the tunnels stretched across Gaza and into major hospitals. The claims could not be independently verified.

Hagari also indicated that Israel was winding down its operations in northern Gaza, including Gaza City, where it has been battling Hamas militants for weeks. He said the army had moved into a final remaining Hamas stronghold, the Gaza City neighborhood of Tufah.

But the army also acknowledged a significant misstep. An investigation into its soldiers’ mistaken shooting of three Israelis held hostage in Gaza found that, five days before the shooting, a military search dog with a body camera had captured audio of them shouting for help in Hebrew.

Hagari said the recording was not reviewed until after the hostages were killed while trying to make themselves known to Israeli forces.

The incident has sparked an uproar in Israel and put pressure on the government to reach a new deal with Hamas. The military chief has said the shooting was against its rules of engagement.

The Israeli military campaign now is largely focused on southern Gaza, where it says Hamas’ leaders are hiding.

“We will continue the war until the end. It will continue until Hamas is destroyed, until victory,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement. “Whoever thinks we will stop is detached from reality.”

CEASE-FIRE TALKS GAIN MOMENTUM

As Netanyahu vowed to continue the war, there were new signs of progress in cease-fire talks.

Hamas’ top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, traveled to Cairo for talks on the war, part of a flurry of diplomacy. In recent days, top Israeli, American and Qatari officials have also held cease-fire talks.

“These are very serious discussions and negotiations, and we hope that they lead somewhere,” the White House’s national security spokesman, John Kirby, said aboard Air Force One while traveling with President Joe Biden to Wisconsin.

Biden, however, indicated a deal was still a ways off. “There’s no expectation at this point, but we are pushing,” he said. Asked about the rising death toll in Gaza, Biden said: It’s tragic.”

Hamas says no more hostages will be released until the war ends. It is insisting on the release of large numbers of Palestinian prisoners, including high-level militants convicted in deadly attacks, for remaining captives.

Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Beirut, said the efforts right now are focused on how to “stop this aggression, especially that our enemy now knows that it cannot achieve any of its goals.”

Israel has rejected Hamas’ demands for a mass prisoner release so far. But it has a history of lopsided exchanges for captive Israelis, and the government is under heavy public pressure to bring the hostages home safely.

Egypt, along with Qatar and the U.S., helped mediate a weeklong cease-fire in November in which Hamas freed over 100 hostages in exchange for Israel’s release of 240 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas and other militants are still holding an estimated 129 captives, though roughly 20 are believed to have died in captivity.

U.N. Security Council members are negotiating an Arab-sponsored resolution to halt the fighting in some way to allow for an increase in desperately needed humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza.

A vote on the resolution, first scheduled for Monday, was pushed back again on Wednesday in the hopes of getting the U.S. to support it or allow it to pass after it vetoed an earlier cease-fire call.

HUMANITARIAN CRISIS

Mobile phone and internet service was down across Gaza again on Wednesday. The outage could complicate efforts to communicate with Hamas leaders inside the territory who went into hiding after Oct. 7.

The war has led to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Tens of thousands of people are crammed into shelters and tent camps amid shortages of food, medicine and other basic supplies. Israel’s foreign minister traveled to Cyprus to discuss the possibility of establishing a maritime corridor that would allow the delivery of large amounts of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

At least 46 people were killed and more than 100 wounded early Wednesday after Israel bombarded the urban Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City, according to Munir al-Bursh, a senior Health Ministry official.

At least five people were killed and dozens injured in another strike that hit three residential homes and a mosque in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah Wednesday, health officials said.

The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Tuesday the death toll since the start of the war had risen to more than 19,600. It does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths.

Israel’s military says 134 of its soldiers have been killed in the Gaza ground offensive. Israel says it has killed some 7,000 militants, without providing evidence. It blames civilian deaths in Gaza on Hamas, saying it uses them as human shields when it fights in residential areas.

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian army proposal to call up more civilians gets mixed reaction in Kyiv

A Ukrainian army proposal to conscript up to 500,000 more civilians has produced mixed feelings in Kyiv, with many people saying more troops are needed to fight Russia but some suggesting it is pointless unless they get more weapons.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced the army's proposal on Tuesday but said he had not yet decided whether to back it.

Such a move would be intended to help replenish exhausted Ukrainian forces nearly two years of Russia's full-scale invasion, but could risk a backlash from those who oppose it.

Ukraine does not provide details of current troop numbers but has previously said it had around 1 million people under arms. Russia has expanded its army since its invasion of Ukraine last year, and said it plans to increase it to 1.5 million.

Anton Hrushetskyi, executive director of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, said closed polling data showed more than 65% of Ukrainians would strongly support or rather support a significant further mobilisation.

But he told Reuters the figure could be skewed by people wanting to give a "socially desirable" response in wartime.

Oleksandr, 27, a serviceman who declined to give his surname, welcomed the idea of a big mobilisation, saying frontline positions were thinly defended.

He told Reuters the army reserves should be strengthened as people fear being conscripted, assuming they would automatically be sent to hotspots.

"Most people are afraid now because they don't understand (the situation). They think they will join the forces and be killed instantly or tortured. Nothing of the sort goes on," he said on Wednesday in the Ukrainian capital.

QUESTIONS OVER MORALE, FOREIGN ASSISTANCE

Ukraine, which imposed martial law after Russia invaded, has been regularly drafting people into the army throughout the war.

The process is done largely out of view although some social media videos have shown draft officers handing out call-up papers on the street, at metro stations or at gyms, and in some cases using force against those who resist.

Rafael, a 40-year-old sculptor who declined to give his surname, said forcibly conducting a large-scale mobilisation could badly affect morale on the front lines.

"People's motivation is dying. If some are forced to fight against their will, our army won't be as (motivated) to fight," he said.

Tetiana, a 37-year-old office worker, said a more important matter than manpower was securing more military and financial assistance from abroad.

"I think (mobilising people) won't be enough (to win the war). We need the support of the West, the United States. Our soldiers will not suffice," she said.

Assistance packages totalling more than $100 billion from the United States and European Union have been held up by political concerns abroad.

"This (mobilisation) won't help the cause. There is no point in mobilising huge amounts of people, and then leaving them without equipment," said serviceman Denys, 21.

He said Ukrainian authorities were not spending enough money on weapons.

The military has not commented on Zelenskiy's statement about mobilisation. The military and government have been discussing ways to improve mobilisation for weeks.

On Monday, army chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi criticised a decision by Zelenskiy to fire the heads of the regional military draft offices this summer, describing them as "professionals" who were now gone.

He said the mobilisation programme did not need to be strengthened, but should be returned to the model that worked for the first phase of the war.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian paratroopers take Ukrainian armed forces stronghold near Artyomovsk

Russian paratroopers stormed a Ukrainian military stronghold north-west of Artyomovsk in the Peoples Republic of Donetsk, the Russian Ministry of Defense told TASS.

"In the Donetsk direction, assault units of Ivanovo paratroopers from the Battlegroup South, continued to improve the situation along the front line and with the support of artillery fire stormed another strong point northwest of Artyomovsk," the statement said.

During aerial reconnaissance of the Ukrainian armed forces' positions, the paratroopers discovered the enemy's main fire weapons and control points. Subsequently, the artillery of the formation suppressed the main fire weapons of the Ukrainian armed forces, disrupting their control system. Newly identified targets were destroyed by FPV drone crews.

Next, paratroopers from several directions captured the positions of the Ukrainian armed forces, after which they carried out a complete clearing of the stronghold. The enemy fled, leaving behind their wounded and dead.

Reuters/Tass

Stories of godfathers and godsons falling out in Nigerian politics are tales as old as Nigeria’s democratic time; there is no new angle to them. They all follow the same plot: a monied godfather sponsors a godson to political power; godson gets into power and resents being kept on a puppet string; godson triggers a showdown; both godfather and godson disgrace themselves in public until someone either gives or both exhaust themselves. The latest of such public dramas, between the immediate former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, and the stooge he thought he appointed to office, Siminalayi Fubara, has not quite departed from the standard fare. Wike, presumably old enough to know how arrangement between godfather and godson typically ends within the Nigerian democratic history, thought he could succeed where others have stumbled.

After being treated to what seemed like a battle of attrition between Wike and Fubara, the situation reached its climax when the presidency summoned the parties to the Presidential Villa to settle their matters. Like how the presidency supposedly resolved the Ondo situation by placing one of the key actors on a leash, beleaguered Fubara too had to sign an eight-point agreement to guarantee his survival. Some of the points the warring parties had to agree on to move forward are issues that should have been worked out through democratic processes, but those means were—once again—usurped by a president that seems to fancy itself as deus ex machina.

Going by the comments of presidential aide Ajuri Ngelale, Bola Tinubu will, from now on, be making a habit of resolving tense political situations in every part of the country. Ngelale said, “If he (Tinubu, that is) sees that peace is breaking down in any part of the country…(the) president…will take action…Nigerians are going to see that the difference between what we have seen from this president as against previous presidents of the past 24 years is that when something is wrong—whether it involves a political party or not in any part of the country—as the father of the nation, he is going to call everybody to the table and he is going to get everybody to a common resolution in the interest of the Nigerian people.” There you have it.

If you thought you voted for a president who would be devoting his energies to weighty national matters that should set the nation on the path of stability, development, and prosperity, you thought wrong. His priority now is micromanaging disputes, even if his mediation merely imposes solutions that contradict existing legal provisions and good judgment. For instance, why should the lawmakers who defected to the All Progressives Congress continue in office? They should have known better than to play a self-own card. Also, why should the commissioners in Rivers State who—of their own volition—resigned from their duty be reinstated? There is no possibility of them returning to work with the governor in good faith. Everything that has gone down in the past months will not only stand between them, but also impede their ability to work together for the good of the state. Rivers State deserves far better than being served by bile-filled politicians.

That brings me to another point: what are the uncounted material and moral costs of these political crises to the people? When crises like the one that unfolded in Rivers erupt, most of the attention is—understandably—focused on the main actors engaging in a contest of political wills. But what about the people? For the case of Rivers, the grass that suffers from two elephants fighting extends beyond the state precincts all the way to the Federal Capital Territory. Both sites have their respective administrators distracted from their official duties, which is unfair to those whose lives will need to be on hold while these men engage in a rope-measuring contest.

It is unfortunate that the people of the FCT were saddled with the proverbial dog that presumes that having enough ferocity qualifies it to guard two houses simultaneously. Wike is a politician whose two legs stand in two different political parties. He is presently in the FCT, working as a minister for one political party while maintaining a hold on another in his home state. Even by the incredibly shallow standards of our “home-grown” Nigerian democracy, his ideological cross-dressing is ridiculous. This is no longer the case of someone who wants to have his cake and eat it, but one who wants to hold the bakery hostage!

While Wike is busy running up and down scheming how to assert himself in Rivers State against the governor, we can safely conclude that the job he was given in the FCT is the last thing on his mind. Ask him what his vision for the FCT looks like and await an answer. You should not be surprised that he has not thought about it. Earlier in the year, when he was first appointed as the FCT minister, he—in his characteristic loud and extravagant manner—declared he was going on a demolition spree. A man of vision would not have stopped there but would have also gone further to highlight what he would build. Not Wike. The height of his imagination is the sadism of watching people’s sweat go down into rubble. Any fool can bring down buildings for any reason, justifiable or otherwise, but it takes a thinker to build, improve, and create. Wike has not given himself away as that man. He is where he is today, not because he articulated any significant idea that qualified him for FCT stewardship, but because he needed to be paid for his services.

For him to remain an APC darling and maybe even move higher in rank by 2026 when his services will be needed for the next general election, he must first survive. Once his paymasters find out that he no longer has the political network through which he came through for them in February, he will devalue faster than the Naira. In the Nigerian political economy, not having the political “structure” to deliver winning votes for your principal is the equivalent of a social death. His entire instincts are geared towards survival. While I almost understand his anxiety, I do not care if he survives. My sympathy rests with the residents of the FCT who bear the brunt of a distracted administrator.

The people of Rivers State do not have it better either. The affairs of their state must now be on hold while their governor slugs it out with a man of unmatchable buffoonery. Even if Fubara survives the contest, the trauma of fighting for survival will affect his administration of the state. Resolution or not, all his energies will remain fully channelled towards preempting another crisis by strategising, attacking, defending, and just surviving every successive day. There will be no mischief devious enough that will be posed to him now that he will not accommodate if it helps him defeat his archenemy. A government that can demolish the House of Assembly building will stop at nothing. Yes, I am aware they tried to justify their action as necessary because the structure had been compromised in the wake of an earlier fire incident, but the timing is too convenient. Unfortunately, it is the people of the state whose sweat and blood will be drawn to rebuild that structure.

Imagine going to the person who could do that to discuss issues of security in the state or asking him what his plans are regarding the rising cost of living. He will—at best—hear only with half an ear. He wants to survive, and he will, even if it comes at the expense of everything under his watch that also needs to live and thrive.

Punch

We’ve all had those moments when we wonder if we’re doing something that’s secretly annoying to others.

Ever thought about the habits you might have that people judge you for?

In this article, I’ve got a list of 11 things that might be causing hidden eye rolls.

So, let’s dig into these common public faux pas.

1. Loud Phone Conversations

We get it, your call could be important. But when you’re in a public space like a bus or a café, no one around you really wants to hear about your weekend plans or what you’re having for dinner.

Having a loud phone conversation can be really distracting and even annoying for some people.

So, next time you pick up your phone, maybe step outside or lower your voice. Trust us, the people around you will thank you!

2. Not Covering Your Mouth While Coughing or Sneezing

Especially in these times of heightened health awareness, not covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze can be seen as a major public offense.

People around you don’t want to risk getting sick because of your germs flying around.

Remember the elbow trick: when you feel a sneeze or cough coming on, do it into your elbow. It’s a simple gesture that shows respect for others’ health.

3. Listening to Music Without Headphones

I remember this one time, I was sitting in a park, trying to enjoy the peaceful scenery.

Suddenly, someone nearby started playing their music out loud. It was so distracting, I couldn’t concentrate on my book anymore.

And it wasn’t just me – I could see other people around looking a bit annoyed too.

We all have diverse music tastes, and what you jam to might not be someone else’s cup of tea.

Whenever you feel like listening to your favorite tunes in public, please pop in those headphones. It’ll keep your groove from being someone else’s gripe!

4. Littering

Tossing your empty coffee cup or snack wrapper on the ground might not seem like a big deal to you, but it’s a habit that really irks others.

Not only does it make our public spaces look messy, it’s also bad for the environment.

According to National Geographic, 91% of plastic waste isn’t recycled. This is a staggering number and a lot of this waste ends up in our oceans, harming wildlife and ecosystems.

When you have some trash, hold onto it until you can find a proper bin. It’s a small action that can make a big difference. 

5. Ignoring Those In Need

Seeing someone struggling with a heavy door or a mom with a stroller trying to navigate a flight of stairs and not offering to help, can be seen as quite heartless by others around you.

It doesn’t take much time or effort to lend a helping hand, but it can mean the world to the person in need.

We all have our struggles and challenges, and a little kindness can go a long way in making someone’s day better.

When you see someone in need, don’t hesitate to offer your help. After all, we’re all in this together.

6. Blocking the Sidewalk

This one takes me back. I was rushing to an important meeting one day, but got stuck behind a group of people who were walking very slowly and taking up the entire sidewalk.

I tried to get around them, but there was no space. It made me late and, honestly, a little frustrated.

When we’re out and about, it’s easy to forget that the sidewalk is a shared space. We might be enjoying a leisurely stroll, but there could be someone behind us who’s in a hurry.

So, try to stick to one side when you’re walking in a group or stop off to the side if you need to check your phone.

It keeps the way clear for others and helps keep the sidewalk traffic flowing smoothly. 

7. Cutting in Line

Cutting in line? Not cool, my friend. We’ve all been there – standing patiently in line, waiting our turn, and then someone just waltzes in and tries to sneak ahead.

It’s frustrating, right? It feels like they’re saying their time is more important than yours, and that just doesn’t sit right.

Here’s a simple rule: wait your turn. Whether you’re lining up for a coffee, waiting at the bus stop, or queuing for the restroom, don’t cut in. Respect the unwritten rules of the queue.

We’re all in a hurry, we all have places to be. But fairness is fairness. Let’s keep it civil out there. 

8. Not Cleaning Up After Your Pet

We all love our furry friends, but not everyone loves what they leave behind.

When you’re out and about with your pet and they do their business, it’s your job to clean up after them.

Leaving it behind is not just  rude, it’s also unsanitary.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, pet waste is classified as a harmful pollutant, in the same category as oil and toxic chemicals!

The waste can contaminate water bodies and even spread diseases.

So, always carry a bag with you when you walk your pet – the environment and your neighbors will thank you. 

9. Taking Up Extra Seats With Your Bags

I remember once I was on a crowded train, and I had been on my feet all day. All I wanted was to sit down for a bit.

As I looked around, I spotted an empty seat! But as I got closer, I saw it was occupied by someone’s bag.

The owner was too engrossed in their book to notice my tired eyes staring at the seat.

We’ve all been in situations where public transportation is packed, and every seat counts.

If you place your bag on the seat next to you, it might seem like you’re trying to avoid having someone sit next to you.

It’s always better to keep your belongings on your lap or under your seat, freeing up space for others.

After all, we’re all just trying to get where we’re going, right?

10. Taking Forever to Order

We’ve all been there, standing in line, stomach rumbling, waiting to order our food. Then someone steps up to the counter and takes an eternity to make a decision. It’s not a life-altering choice, folks!

A little consideration for the people in line behind you wouldn’t hurt.

Next time you’re queuing up, try to have your order ready before you reach the counter. It keeps the line moving and earns you points for being considerate!

11. Not Saying ‘Thank You’

This one might seem trivial, but it’s amazing how much a simple ‘thank you’ can mean.

Whether it’s to the barista who made your coffee or the stranger who held the door for you, acknowledging their effort goes a long way.

It’s not about being overly formal, it’s about showing basic human decency.

So don’t forget those two little words – they can make someone’s day!

Ideapod

Naira dropped to a record low against the dollar on the official market on Tuesday in thin trading, swinging widely to levels seen on the unofficial parallel market, where the currency trades freely.

The naira fell as low as 1,248 to the dollar, during mid-day trading, LSEG data showed after it opened at 927 naira on Tuesday. It later recovered to 845 naira.

Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Olayemi Cardoso has said he would allow market forces to determine exchange rates while setting clear, transparent and harmonised rules governing market operations.

The comments and chronic dollar shortages on the official market have prompted the naira's official exchange rate to drift towards the parallel market level.

The currency sold at around 1,225 naira on the parallel market on Tuesday, while it was quoted at 1,002.50 naira on the one month non-deliverable forwards market.

Reuters