They contradict the counsel of the Lord without batting their eyelids. They plant church parishes like supermarkets on every street corner. They build cathedrals and church monuments like World Trade Centres, each one striving to be the biggest and most splendiferous in the universe. They gather thousands, even millions, of “worshippers” in front of television cameras every so often in the mountains of Kilimanjaro. They are the new spiritual superstars; the mega-pastors of the mega-churches.

In this conceit, one of my former churches takes the cake. While its emphasis on branch networking and exponential growth might be a wonderful policy for a fast-food chain, as a framework for a Christian organisation, it has tended to produce half-baked pastors who exhibit flagrant disregard for godly propriety.  

Carnal Growth

In the world today, success in “Churchianity” is measured by the size of the congregation and not by changed lives. Accordingly, highfalutin mega-pastors have fine-tuned church-growth strategies. It is all a question of numbers, numbers and more numbers. Numbers determine how much money is fleeced from the flock. Numbers determine the extent of pastoral control and captivity of men. When pastors meet, the unspoken question is “How big is your church?”  The answer determines social status. Like Mordecai to Haman, the mini-pastors must bow down to the mega-pastors.

One of these putative timber and calibre pastors even maintains God specifically gave him the mandate to establish mega-churches. He claims God said to him: “I am about to raise up a mega-church in Europe, at this end time and I am calling people who will establish those churches. Some people have already responded to my call. Your destiny and that of millions of other people depend on whether or not you will obey me. The primary assignment is to raise up a mega-church.”

However, God does not raise up churches. He has only one church. He does not ask men to build churches for Him. Jesus says: “I will build My church.” (Matthew 16:18). Moreover, God despises what men esteem. (Luke 16:15). Therefore, He prefers the mini to the mega. He says: “Woe to the multitude of many people who make a noise like the roar of the seas.” (Isaiah 17:12). Jesus identifies God’s flock as little, as opposed to large. He says: “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32). Thus, Zechariah asks rhetorically: “Who has despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10).

Deceitfulness of Riches

The Lord says: “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey.’” (Matthew 21:5). Daughter of Zion, Jesus was not husband-material. He did not drive around in a Mercedes-Jeep but on a donkey. He did not even build His own house. Instead, He said: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Matthew 8:20).

Think of a woman of great and dazzling beauty. Our very own Agbani Darego easily comes to mind. She blazed the trail as Nigeria’s first Miss World; for a season the acclaimed most beautiful woman in the world. But if we were to seek God’s opinion, he would regard her beauty as ugly. For this reason, Jesus had to be an ugly man; that his beauty might be exclusively divine. Isaiah says of Jesus: “He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” (Isaiah 53:2).

However, because Jesus was ugly according to the values of this world, He was handsome according to the values of the kingdom of God. The beauty of the Lord is the beauty of holiness. (2 Chronicles 20:21). His beauty is the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit that is of great price in the eyes of the Lord. (1 Peter 3:4).

Kingdom Dynamics

Indeed, according to Jesus’ kingdom dynamics, the popularity of a church is an eloquent testimony of failure and not success. Jesus told His disciples: “The world would love you if you belonged to it; but you don’t- for I chose you to come out of the world, and so it hates you.” (John 15:19). However, the world loves today’s mega-pastors. Nothing rubbished the ministry of a popular pastor more than Newsweek Magazine’s declaration that he is one of the world’s most respected men. Jesus says: “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26).

The wisdom of God is contrarian. “She calls aloud in the street; she raises her voice in the public squares.” (Proverbs 1:20). “No king is saved by the multitude of an army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.” (Psalm 33:16-17).

 When applied to our vainglorious mega-churches, this means no man is saved by the size of a church. Neither are the wicked delivered by the great charisma of a pastor. When we play the numbers game in churches, we are guilty of trusting in the multitude of our mighty men. (Hosea 10:13). “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!’” (Zechariah 4:6-7).

One of the great mountains before Zerubbabel was Solomon’s temple. Those charged with rebuilding it were intimidated that the new temple would not have the splendour and majesty of the old. But God is not concerned with size and other externalities. Through Haggai, he notes that, despite its physical shortcomings, “the glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former.” (Haggai 2:9). Before Zerubbabel, the great mountain of Solomon’s temple would become a plain.    

When the disciples extolled the splendour of the Jerusalem temple to Jesus, He replied: “All these buildings will be knocked down, with not one stone left on top of another!” (Matthew 24:2). The same fate awaits the magnificent cathedrals of today. However, the real temple of God, the body of Christ, remains impregnable. Jesus said: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19).

God’s Verdict

In the kingdom of God, it is the stone that the builders reject that becomes the headstone. (Psalm 118:22). This prophecy is bad news for mega-churches and their mega-pastors because it predicts they will ultimately be rejected. According to Jesus, the first will become last and the last first. (Mark 10:31). So today’s “first-class” pastors and their majestic churches will eventually be humbled.

Isaiah says: “Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low.” (Isaiah 40:4). This indicates that, in the day of the Lord, we are likely to discover that the big church is small in the sight of the Lord and the small church is big. Mega-church “wanna-be’s” readily sacrifice the doctrine of Christ on the altar of the imperatives for a large following. But we are not called to empire-building but to righteousness. Indeed, Jesus says to popular mega-churches across the ages: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.” (Revelation 3:1).  

David got into trouble with God when he became preoccupied with size. When pride moved him to conduct a census in Israel to glory in the size of his kingdom, God responded by decimating it with pestilence which killed seventy-thousand men. (2 Samuel 24:1-15). Jesus himself was not the product of a big “church,” but of little Bethlehem Ephrathah. (Micah 5:2).

Why are Christians still so sinful?  Why is so little of the character of Christ evident in the churches?  One major reason is that too much emphasis is placed on numerical growth and too little on spiritual growth. Indeed, the messages that promote numerical growth often impede spiritual growth. Everywhere, pastors are engaged in church-planting, for the primary purpose of increasing their dominion and finances. The outcome is the mushrooming of churches that are impressive to men, but contemptible to God.

Isaiah warns: “Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold, therefore you will plant pleasant plants and set out foreign seedlings; in the day you will make your plant to grow, and in the morning you will make your seed to flourish; but the harvest will be a heap of ruins in the day of grief and desperate sorrow.” (Isaiah 17:10-11).

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Venting when angry seems sensible. Conventional wisdom suggests expressing anger can help us quell it, like releasing steam from a pressure cooker.

But this common metaphor is misleading, according to a recent meta-analytic review. Researchers at Ohio State University analyzed 154 studies on anger, finding little evidence that venting helps. In some cases, it could increase anger.

"I think it's really important to bust the myth that if you're angry you should blow off steam – get it off your chest," said senior author and communication scientist Brad Bushman when the results were published in April.

"Venting anger might sound like a good idea, but there's not a shred of scientific evidence to support catharsis theory."

That doesn't mean anger should be ignored. Reflection can help us understand why we get mad and address underlying problems. It can also aid emotional validation, an important first step towards healthily processing emotions.

Venting, however, often goes beyond reflection into rumination. The study suggests that many people also try to exorcize anger with physical exertion, which can offer health benefits but may not lighten the mood in the moment.

The studies reviewed included a total of 10,189 participants, representing a variety of ages, genders, cultures, and ethnicities. The findings show the key to curbing anger is reducing physiological arousal, the authors say, from anger itself or from the otherwise beneficial physical activity it might inspire.

"To reduce anger, it is better to engage in activities that decrease arousal levels," Bushman said. "Despite what popular wisdom may suggest, even going for a run is not an effective strategy because it increases arousal levels and ends up being counterproductive."

The research was inspired partly by the popularity of 'rage rooms', where people pay to smash objects in hopes of releasing anger, said first author Sophie Kjærvik, a communication scientist at Virginia Commonwealth University.

"I wanted to debunk the whole theory of expressing anger as a way of coping with it," explained Kjærvik. "We wanted to show that reducing arousal, and actually the physiological aspect of it, is really important."

The team designed the review based on the Schachter-Singer two-factor theory, which describes anger (and all other emotions) as a two-part phenomenon, each comprising a physiological and a cognitive component.

Previous research has often focused on the cognitive angle, according to Kjærvik and Bushman, like examining how cognitive behavioral therapy can help people adjust the mental meanings underpinning their anger.

Research shows that can work, they say, but the review also sheds important light on an alternate pathway for defusing fury. What's more, standard cognitive behavioral therapies are not effective for all brain types.

Their study examined both arousal-increasing and arousal-reducing activities, from boxing, cycling, and jogging to deep breathing, meditating, and yoga.

Calming activities reduced anger in the lab and the field, they found, and across other variables like methods of instruction or participant demographics. Effective arousal-reducing activities included slow-flow yoga, mindfulness, progressive muscle relaxation, diaphragmatic breathing, and taking a timeout.

"It was really interesting to see that progressive muscle relaxation and just relaxation in general might be as effective as approaches such as mindfulness and meditation," Kjærvik said.

"And yoga, which can be more arousing than meditation and mindfulness, is still a way of calming and focusing on your breath that has the similar effect in reducing anger."

Rather than trying to vent anger, the researchers recommend undermining it by turning down the heat. Calming tactics already proven to ease stress may also rob anger of physiological fuel.

"Obviously in today's society, we're all dealing with a lot of stress, and we need ways of coping with that, too," Kjærvik said. "Showing that the same strategies that work for stress actually also work for anger is beneficial."

The review found that most arousal-boosting activities didn't reduce anger, and some increased it, with jogging most likely to do that.

Ball sports and other physical activities involving play seemed to reduce physiological arousal, suggesting exertion might be more useful for reducing anger if it's fun.

"Certain physical activities that increase arousal may be good for your heart, but they're definitely not the best way to reduce anger," saidBushman. "It's really a battle because angry people want to vent, but our research shows that any good feeling we get from venting actually reinforces aggression."

More research is needed to clarify these findings, but for now, the researchers say calming techniques – even just taking a timeout or counting to 10 – offer the best options for taming a temper.

"You don't need to necessarily book an appointment with a cognitive behavioral therapist to deal with anger. You can download an app for free on your phone, or you can find a YouTube video if you need guidance," Kjærvik said.

Science Alert

Governors from both the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) have clarified that the N570 billion recently mentioned by President Bola Tinubu as support to states was not a direct grant from the Federal Government, but rather a World Bank loan.

Tinubu had stated during a national broadcast on Sunday that "more than N570 billion has been released to the 36 states to expand livelihood support to their citizens." This statement came amidst widespread protests over economic hardship in the country.

However, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State (PDP) countered this claim, explaining that the funds were actually part of the World Bank-assisted NG-CARES (Nigeria Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus) project. "The Federal Government did not give any State money; they were simply the conduit through which the reimbursements were made to States for money already spent," Makinde clarified.

Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State (APC) corroborated Makinde's explanation, stating that the loan predated the current administration and was specifically tied to certain projects. "The money is not for rice, it is not for palliatives, it is not for anything in that line," Sule emphasized during an interview with Arise Television.

Both governors explained that the NG-CARES programme, initiated in 2020, was designed to help states recover from the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The funds were disbursed in tranches, with states receiving reimbursements for approved projects in areas such as infrastructure, healthcare, and cash transfers to vulnerable citizens.

Sule revealed that Nasarawa State received N13.6 billion in the second tranche, while Makinde reported that Oyo State received N5.98 billion in the first instance and N822 million in the second.

The governors stressed that this was a loan, not a grant, and would need to be repaid by the states. They also highlighted that the funds were strictly regulated by the World Bank and tied to specific, pre-approved projects aimed at poverty alleviation and economic recovery.

This clarification comes as many Nigerians, including prominent figures like human rights lawyer Femi Falana, had called for accountability on how the purported N570 billion in federal support was being utilized by state governments.

A heavy downpour has cut off the Kano-Maiduguri expressway in Bauchi state, leaving many motorists and pedestrians stranded.

The incident occurred between the Malori and Guskuri villages in Katagum LGA of Bauchi state.

The highway is one of the major roads connecting north-west and north-east.

Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi, who visited the scene for an assessment, told journalists that he would inform the federal government about the condition of the road.

“This is a major highway; the north-east highway and the dual carriageways have been completely washed away,” the governor said.

“We are calling on the federal government to assist. We will report this issue to Abuja through the controller of works.

“If they are unable to address the problem, we will take action to implement remedial or permanent measures, as we did during the last rainy season.”

In April, the federal government said 148 LGAs in 34 states of the country were at risk of severe flooding from April to November.

The federal government listed Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross-River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, and Kogi states as those at risk of severe flooding.

Others are Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, and Yobe.

The Cable

A passenger plane crashed into a gated residential community in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state Friday, killing all 61 people aboard and leaving a smoldering wreck, officials and the airline said.

Officials did not say if anyone was killed on the ground in the neighborhood where the plane landed in the city of Vinhedo, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of the metropolis of Sao Paulo. But witnesses at the scene said there were no victims among local residents.

The airline Voepass said that its plane, an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop, was headed for Sao Paulo’s international airport Guarulhos with 57 passengers and 4 crew members aboard when it crashed in Vinhedo. It provided a flight manifest with passenger names, but not their nationalities. A prior statement had said there were 58 passengers.

“The company regrets to inform that all 61 people on board flight 2283 died at the site,” Voepass said in a statement. “At this time, Voepass is prioritizing provision of unrestricted assistance to the victims’ families and effectively collaborating with authorities to determine the causes of the accident.”

It was the deadliest airline crash since January 2023, when 72 people died on board a Yeti Airlines plane in Nepal that stalled and crashed while making its landing approach. That plane also was an ATR 72, and the final report blamed pilot error.

At an event in southern Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva asked the crowd to stand and observe a minute of silence as he shared the news. Friday evening, he declared three days of mourning.

The state’s firefighters, military police and civil defense authority dispatched teams to the location. Sao Paulo’s public security secretary Guilherme Derrite spoke to reporters and confirmed that no survivors had been found. He also said the plane’s black box was recovered.

“I thought it was going to fall in our yard,” a resident and witness who gave her name only as Ana Lucia de Lima told reporters near the crash site. “It was scary, but thank God there were no victims among the locals. It seems that the 62 people inside the plane were the real victims, though.”

Parana state’s Gov. Ratinho Júnior told journalists in Vinhedo that many of the passengers were doctors from his state attending a seminar.

“They were people who were used to saving lives, and now they lost theirs in such tragic circumstances,” Júnior said, adding he had friends aboard. “It is a sad day.”

Video obtained from a witness by The Associated Press and verified shows at least two bodies strewn about flaming pieces of wreckage.

Brazilian television network GloboNews showed aerial footage of an area with smoke coming out of an obliterated plane fuselage. Additional footage on GloboNews earlier showed the plane plunging in a flat spin.

A report from television network Globo’s meteorological center said it “confirmed the possibility of the formation of ice in the region of Vinhedo,” and local media cited analysts pointing to icing as a potential cause for the crash.

But aviation expert Lito Sousa cautioned that meteorological conditions alone might not be enough to explain why the plane fell as it did.

“Analyzing an air crash just with images can lead to wrong conclusions about the causes,” Sousa told the AP by phone. “But we can see a plane with loss of support, no horizontal speed. In this flat spin condition, there’s no way to reclaim control of the plane.”

And Marcelo Moura, director of operations for Voepass, told reporters Friday night that, while there were forecasts for ice, they were within acceptable levels for the aircraft.

Likewise, Carlos Henrique Baldi, of the Brazilian air force’s center for the investigation and prevention of air accidents, told reporters in a late afternoon press conference that it was still too early to confirm whether ice caused the accident.

The plane is “certified in several countries to fly in severe icing conditions, including in countries unlike ours, where the impact of ice is more significant,” said Baldi, who heads the center’s investigation division.

In an earlier statement, the center said that the plane’s pilots didn’t call for help nor say they were operating under adverse weather conditions.

In a separate statement, Brazil’s Federal Police said it already had begun its investigation, and had dispatched specialists in plane crashes and the identification of disaster victims.

Authorities began transferring the corpses to the morgue on Friday, and called on victims’ family members to bring any medical, X-ray and dental exams in order as a means to help identify the bodies.

French-Italian plane manufacturer ATR said in a statement that it had been informed that the accident involved its ATR 72-500 model, and said company specialists are “fully engaged to support both the investigation and the customer.”

The ATR 72 generally is used on shorter flights. The planes are built by a joint venture of Airbus in France and Italy’s Leonardo S.p.A. Crashes involving various models of the ATR 72 have resulted in 470 deaths going back to the 1990s, according to a database of the Aviation Safety Network.

The Capela neighborhood where the plane crashed Friday sits in a district far from the center of the prosperous city that’s home to 77,000 residents. It had departed from Cascavel, in Parana state.

AP

Israeli strike kills senior Hamas figure in south Lebanon

An Israeli airstrike on a car deep inside Lebanon killed a senior figure from Palestinian armed group Hamas on Friday evening, a Hamas source and two other security sources told Reuters.

The strike, on the southern edges of the Lebanese port city of Sidon some 60 kilometres (nearly 40 miles) from the frontier, killed Samer al-Hajj, a Hamas security official who works in the nearby refugee camp for Palestinians, Ain al-Hilweh. His bodyguard was critically wounded, the three sources said.

The Israeli military has been carrying out strikes against members of Hamas, allied Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and other factions in Lebanon over the last 10 months, in parallel with the Gaza war.

Those armed groups have launched rockets, drones and artillery attacks across the border into northern Israel.

While most of the hostilities have been limited to the strip of border between Israel and Lebanon, Israeli strikes targeting senior figures in Hezbollah, Hamas and other groups have taken place further north.

An Israeli strike on the outskirts of Beirut in January killed Hamas's deputy chief Saleh Arouri. Another Israeli strike on the same area last week killed Hezbollah's top military commander Fuad Shukr.

Hours after Shukr was killed, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran. Iran and its allies in the region, including Hezbollah and Hamas, have blamed Israel and vowed retaliation.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia reinforces Kursk region, videos show Ukrainian presence, evidence of attack

Russia moved extra tanks, artillery and rocket systems to its southern Kursk region and imposed anti-terrorism measures in border areas as it battled a shock incursion by Ukraine's military.

Ukrainian forces, meanwhile, posted a video purporting to show them in control of a town near the border, the first pictorial evidence of their cross-border advances.

In new evidence of the damage inflicted in the Ukrainian counter-offensive, another video posted on social media and verified by Reuters showed a convoy of about 15 burnt-out Russian military trucks spaced out along a highway in the Kursk region.

Some contained dead bodies.

The acting governor of Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, said drone debris had fallen on a power substation near Kurchatov, site of one of Russia's largest nuclear power stations with four reactors. Power to the area was cut for a time.

The head of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency urged both sides to show restraint in view of the proximity of the conflict to the station, 60 km (35 miles) from the border.

Russian diplomats in Vienna told the IAEA that fragments, possibly from downed missiles, had been found, though there was no evidence of an attack on the station.

Ukrainian forces broke across the border on Tuesday in a thrust that caught the Russian military by surprise after months of gradual advances in eastern Ukraine by Moscow's forces.

Politicians and the military are referring to a Ukrainian "invasion", nearly two and a half years after Russia launched its own full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

Early on Saturday, Russian news agencies said the National Anti-Terrorism Committee had imposed anti-terror measures in Kursk region and in nearby Bryansk and Belgorod regions.

The statement said the decision, taken by Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB intelligence service, was in response to Ukraine's "unprecedented attempt to destablise the situation in a series of regions".

RIA news agency said the measures included possible displacement of residents, limits on transport, beefed-up security around sensitive sites and wire taps.

Two days after Military Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to President Vladimir Putin that the advance had been halted, Russia's defence ministry said its forces "continue to repel an attempted invasion by the Armed Forces of Ukraine".

Interfax news agency quoted the ministry as saying that Russia was sending in columns of reinforcements with Grad multiple-launch rocket systems, artillery and tanks.

VIDEO SAID TO BE IN RUSSIAN GAS FACILITY

The Ukrainian video purported to show Ukrainian forces in control of a gas measuring facility run by Russian concern Gazprom in the town of Sudzha.

"The town is controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the town is calm, all buildings are intact," a soldier in the video said, adding that the "strategic Gazprom facility" was under the control of a Ukrainian battalion.

Reuters could not verify this video and the Ukrainian military's General Staff made no comment. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has maintained a strict silence on the operation, though he dropped some clear hints on Thursday, without referring to Kursk.

He praised his army's ability "to surprise". And in his nightly video address, he thanked army units who had taken Russian servicemen prisoner, to be used in later negotiations.

"This is extremely important and has been particularly effective over the past three days," he said.

Ben Barry, land warfare analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that while its wider strategic goals remained unclear, Ukraine had exposed Russian shortcomings and overturned the conventional wisdom on the war that neither side could advance without heavy losses.

"They clearly have achieved a degree of surprise which suggests that Russia's ability to do intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance is inadequate," he said in a phone interview.

A Ukrainian Telegram channel that posted the video of the destroyed Russian trucks said they had been hit by a U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket system. Russian bloggers also blamed a HIMARS strike.

Reuters was not able to establish how the vehicles were destroyed.

The United States announced a new $125 million package of aid for Ukraine, including Stinger missiles, artillery ammunition, and anti-armour systems. Zelenskiy said the package was "vital for our forces to counter Russian assaults".

Russia's defence ministry released its own video which it said showed a drone destroying a Ukrainian tank and howitzer near Sudzha. Reuters was able to verify the location.

ADVANCING INTO RUSSIAN TERRITORY

The ministry said that in the previous 24 hours, Russian troops, air strikes and artillery had "suppressed raid attempts by enemy units deep into Russian territory in the Kursk direction".

It said that Ukraine had lost up to 945 soldiers and 102 armoured vehicles in total, while mentioning no Russian losses.

Reuters could not verify the battlefield accounts. On Wednesday, Gerasimov had said the Ukrainian attack was mounted by up to 1,000 troops.

The Institute for the Study of War said in an overnight report that geolocated footage and Russian accounts indicated that Ukrainian forces had "continued rapid advances".

There were unconfirmed reports from Russian sources of Ukrainians pushing as deep as 35 km (22 miles) from the border.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian heavy weaponry destroyed in border clashes

Videos released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday morning showcase the use of Lancet loitering munitions against Ukrainian heavy weapons deployed for the incursion into Kursk Region.

Kiev this week launched a major offensive into Russian territory, claiming that it would help it achieve a “just peace” sooner.

The Russian military said its opponents have suffered significant casualties and lost dozens of pieces of heavy weaponry in their cross-border push.

One of the new videos was filmed in a border area of Kursk Region and shows the destruction of a tank and an armored vehicle of the Ukrainian army amid the fighting, according to the description. Lancet kamikaze drones were reportedly used in both strikes.

Another one shows a Polish-made Krab 155mm howitzer, which was spotted by Russian recon teams as the Ukrainians were hiding it in a small forest. A Lancet damaged the self-propelled weapon and set it on fire, the ministry said.

Reuters/RT

Washing fruit and veg before eating them is common practice in most British households. 

But new research suggests that this might not be enough to eliminate potentially harmful pesticides from your produce. 

Writing in the journal Nano Letters, they concluded: 'The risk of pesticide ingestion from fruits cannot be avoided by simple washing other than peeling.

'We believe that the peeling operation can effectively avoid the hazards of pesticides in the fruit’s epidermis [skin] and near-epidermal pulp, thereby reducing the probability of ingesting pesticides.' 

But is peeling our fruit and veg really crucial for protecting our long-term health? 

For the new study, the researchers sprayed the fruit they tested with pesticides thiram and carbendazim.

They then washed them to mimic the everyday practices of millions of families who buy such items every day.  

However, using their special film, they demonstrated that washing wasn't enough to remove the presence of these pesticides could still be detected at 'low concentrations'.

They then replicated the study on other foods including cucumbers, shrimp, chili powder and rice which produced similar results showing these also had pesticide contamination. 

Carbendazim has been shown, in some animal studies, to increase the risk of liver cancers developing. Thiram has also been linked to developmental problems in  unborn children, and is irritating to the skin, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.      

High exposure to carbendazim is linked to headache, dizziness, nausea and vomiting as well as movement issues.

However, neither thiram nor carbendazim are approved for use in the UK.

While food imported into the UK can be grown using them and sold on supermarket shelves, traces of the chemicals are too low to ilicit any of the ill-effects found in studies.

Separate studies, on pesticides in general have linked pesticides exposure to increased risk of cancers in people.

One recent study even claimed pesticides had a greater impact on cancers like Hopkins lymphoma, leukaemia, and bladder cancer than smoking.

However, experts say the health benefits of eating fruit and vegetables hugely outweigh the risks posed from consuming food with negligible amounts of pesticides.  

Daily Mail

Italian fashion label Dolce & Gabbana is taking the canine  perfume world by storm with Fefé, an “olfactory masterpiece” created by a master perfumer that will leave your pooch smelling like a million bucks.

Priced at an eye-watering €99 ($108) per 100 ml, Fefé comes in a “sleek green lacquered glass bottle, adorned with a vibrant red metal cap and a precious 24-carat gold-plated paw.” Smell-wise, it features “the cocooning and warm notes of Ylang, the clean and enveloping touch of Musk, and the woody creamy undertones of Sandalwood.” Inspired by D&G founder Domenico Dolce’s “unconditional love for his loyal  dog Fefé,” the new designer perfume for canines is safe pet cosmetics certified, approved by vets, safety tested, and “enjoyed by dogs.”

“Spray Fefé on your hands or on a brush and proceed by rubbing or brushing your dog’s fur from the middle of the body towards the tail to give them a moment of scented pampering,” the Dolce & Gabbana website suggests.

News of Dolce & Gabbana’s foray into canine toiletries has received some criticism from veterinarians despite the company’s claims that Fefé is alcohol-free and completely safe for dogs. The price of the designer perfume is one of the strongest points of contention, with some animal experts claiming that it is disappointing for such a product to be released at a time when many people are struggling economically.

“Dog  perfume with ylang-ylang and sandalwood scents is a waste of money with the potential to annoy dogs,” one veterinarian said.

“The dogs’ sense of smell is so sophisticated that they will still be able to check each other’s natural scent even if they wear perfume,” Fabian Rivers, welfare ambassador for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), explained. “But, I will not be surprised to find that dogs become distracted or annoyed by the smell of perfume.”

If a designer perfume for dogs is something you’ve always dreamed of, you can pre-order Fefé on the Dolce & Gabbana website.

Oddity Central

In what appears a major shift from previous claim by the Dangote Refinery company, the Group Chief Strategy Officer, Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Company, Aliyu Suleiman on Wednesday, stated that 60 per cent of the crude supplied to the refinery was done by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL.

Aliyu made the submission during an interactive session organised by the Senate Ad-hoc committee to investigate alleged sabotage in the Nigerian petroleum industry.

This supersedes the position of the Group Chief Commercial Officer, Dangote Industries Limited, Rabiu A. Umar, who had claimed that the NNPC has been supplying insufficient crude oil for its production demand.

Umar had said that NNPC supplied only 33 per cent of crude to the refinery, disclosing that it had to look elsewhere to source the remaining 67 per cent to meet its production capacity.

He added that the refinery, which has the capacity of refining 650,000 per day, could not depend on short supply from Nigeria’s oil company.

But during his presentation, Suleiman stated that out of the five million barrels of crude oil they got in recent time, “NNPC gave them 60 per cent, 20 per cent was imported, and 20 per cent was purchased”.

Aliyu expressed gratitude for the strong partnership between the Dangote Refinery and the NNPC Ltd, and for making the huge supply to Dangote.

He described the refinery as a baby that should be supported by all relevant stakeholders “in order to grow and not die”.

Daily Post