RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Putin calls for ‘complete end’ to Ukraine conflict

Russia wants to fully resolve the Ukraine conflict, rather than just agreeing a ceasefire or freezing the hostilities, President Vladimir Putin has said.

The statement came after Putin met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Moscow on Friday. Orban traveled to the Russian capital to discuss ways of finding a peaceful and diplomatic resolution to the conflict.

Speaking at a joint press conference following their meeting, Putin stated there should not be a “ceasefire or some kind of pause that the Kiev regime could use to recover losses, regroup, and rearm. Russia is in favor of a complete and final end of the conflict.”

Putin noted, however, that the conflict can only end once a number of conditions are met. Specifically, the Russian leader stressed that Kiev must withdraw its forces from Donbass as well as the former Ukrainian regions of Zaporozhye and Kherson, all of which officially became part of Russia after voting in public referendums.

There are other conditions, Putin added, but said that these are a subject for “fairly detailed consideration in the course of possible joint work.”

Previously, Putin proposed an immediate ceasefire on condition that Ukraine agree to a number of terms. These include the aforementioned withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from all Russian territories, as well as legally binding guarantees that Kiev would not seek membership in NATO.

Kiev, as well as its Western backers, have rejected the plan, although Putin has nevertheless stated that the offer remains “on the table.” The Kremlin has encouraged the Ukrainian leadership to take time to consider it.

During Friday’s press conference, Orban noted that Moscow’s and Kiev’s positions on the conflict are far apart, and that it will require significant effort to bring an end to the fighting.

Putin suggested that judging by the attitude of the Ukrainian authorities and the current state of affairs, it seems evident that Kiev “is still not ready to give up waging war to a victorious end.”

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Time running out for Ukrainians fleeing Russia's advance

In the devastated eastern Ukrainian town of Toretsk, time is running out for anyone wanting to leave.

Russian forces are advancing slowly but surely, pummelling the town night and day with rockets, artillery fire and air attacks, part of a broad advance in the Donetsk region that Ukraine has been unable to stop.

Piles of rubble lie where buildings once stood, burned out apartment blocks have become unliveable, a church tower has fallen and plumes of smoke rise in the near distance from incoming shells.

In a residential courtyard a group of mainly elderly residents gather to listen to Ivan, a police officer in camouflage fatigues who is trying to convince them to leave Toretsk with his evacuation team.

Hundreds of officers like him and Ukrainian volunteers are trying to do the same in towns and villages along the frontline before they are reduced to rubble and subsumed into territory held by the Russians.

"Are you all staying?" he asked, speaking firmly and quickly. "Can you not see how the situation is changing? If you think you will sit it out - this is not going to happen."

His offer has been taken up by some and turned down by others. Many people who remain do not want to leave for an uncertain life in safer parts of Ukraine. Others refuse to be separated from elderly relatives and friends.

"It is just me that is left, everyone else is buried," said Valentyna, a former school headmistress who gave only her first name. "Planes are flying in every night and attacking, especially the last two days," added the 75-year-old, crying.

'ALL COVERED IN BLOOD'

A woman next to her shouted: "God has given us earth and sky, and they (the Russians) trampled all over it, covered it in blood. It is all covered in blood. And the young boys..."

Some 5,000 people remain in Toretsk, according to Tetyana Nikonova, a representative of the local military administration, speaking as residents wanting to evacuate gathered around minivans with a few personal belongings.

That compares with an estimated population of some 35,000 a decade ago.

"Many people refuse to leave. We talk to them, the boys try to convince them, but they do not want to go," she said. "We offer them all that we can, accommodation, transport, all for free, but people hide in basements."

Oleksandr is going to evacuate, but before he does he and members of the police force release the chickens from their coop in his yard and a dog and goats off their leashes.

Valentyna Natyazhko, 88, fled Toretsk earlier, but is back briefly to collect the refrigerator from her apartment because she needs it in her new home in the nearby town of Kostiantynivka.

"All the food got spoiled there, I had to throw away sausage, mayonnaise, butter," she said. "I came to take this fridge. Fridges are expensive, where will I get money to buy one?"

Sergiy and Iryna, a couple sitting together on a bench outside their apartment, discussed whether or not to leave. Police officers told them to be at the same place the following morning to be collected if they decided to go.

"I worry we will not be able to come back, no one will let us back here," said Sergiy, 65.

"But we will leave, Sergiy Yuriyevych, won't we?" asked Iryna in tears, turning to him and touching his hand.

"We'll leave," he sighed. We'll leave."

RT/Reuters

Envy and jealousy, according to psychologists, are complex emotions that have fascinated writers, poets, and thinkers for centuries. While they are often portrayed negatively, they also offer insights into human nature and relationships.

Experts say envy arises when we desire something that someone else possesses. It is a feeling of discontent or resentment triggered by another person’s success, possessions, or advantages. Unlike jealousy, which involves a fear of losing what we already have, envy focuses on what we lack.

Envy can be both motivating (spurring us to improve) and destructive (leading to bitterness and hostility). Jealousy on the other hand emerges from a fear of losing something we value—whether it’s a relationship, status, or possession. It often occurs in intimate relationships when we perceive a threat to our connection with a partner. Jealousy can be sometimes protective (alerting us to potential dangers) or possessive (leading to controlling behaviour).

Both envy and jealousy are in most parts, destructive. Envy can poison relationships, erode self-esteem, and breed resentment while jealousy on the other hand can lead to suspicion, insecurity, and even violence. The two emotions often damage trust and create rifts between individuals.

Certainly, envy is the worse of the two emotions and it is generally long-lasting and it shows in the behaviour, the demeanor and even the speech peculiarities of the afflicted person. Envy is a disease, an affliction and almost incurable, simply because an enviable person is inherently not contented with his state in life. An envious person is not happy with his or her own face, not happy with his or her body structure; height, physique, and features like legs, lips, nose, mouth, forehead, breasts and buttocks, and may not even be happy with his home background. And because those who happen to be more blessed are always around, their mere sight is a tormenting reminder of the envious person’s deficiencies.

Nigerian philosopher, song-writer and musician Ebenezer Obey Fabiyi put it succinctly in his celebrated song ‘The man, his son and his donkey’ where he opines with air of finality that success in one breeds envy and resentment in the other. A brilliant person who tops his class in examinations is automatically the subject of envy to, especially the dullards in his class or the lazy ones who never apply themselves to serious studies. The same goes to all professions; lazy lawyers who are incurably envious of their more successful colleagues and contemporaries and indolent civil servants who are forever miserable because others with proven productivity have climbed the ladder faster.

A professor-friend’s wife, a medical doctor, affirmed several years ago that ‘it takes the special grace of God for someone to embrace the success of another person’! It may sound alarming but life experience has taught all successful individuals that their roaring successes have always been source of sadness to most of their friends, colleagues, associates and even relations who have not been as lucky or successful.

Someone [a university graduate, but out of job] was taking me to Mississauga in Canada to inspect a franchise in 1996, half way to our destination, he stopped his car and parked by the roadside. “Egbon”, an endearing word for an elder, “I have a confession to make and I need your prayers” he said. “Go ahead, what’s it?” I was curious. “I don’t know how to say it. Do you know I always feel sad whenever a friend’s achievement is brought to my notice? I have never attended any house-warming ceremony. It is that bad. If I visit a friend and his furniture is better than mine, I will not go to that friend’s house again!” he said, looking morose with wickedness written all over his face. “But you are a religious leader in this country”, I didn’t know what exactly to tell him. He started the engine again and his car hit the road.

The malady of envious people is due to their inability to appreciate the fact that human beings are wired differently and the Creator of the universe endows his/her/its creations and creatures differently and apportions luck, favour, and grace to individuals in varying degrees. Unquestionably so! Aside that, attitude and character, major ingredients in the determinant agency of success or failure are attributes that follow individuals in their path to success or ruin in life.

Envious people are madly desirous of what others have, and because they don’t have what it takes to have that which they crazily crave, they turn their failure to anger, resentment or even cruelty and arrant unreasonableness. And this leads them to bad-mouthing and character-assassinating the object of their paranoia.

“You can’t really blame envious people. People who are envied are the beneficiaries because being envied spurs people to better themselves. Nobody envies failure. The more outstandingly successful you are, the more the envy and jealousy you incur”, a younger colleague and financial expert Tunji Asiwaju explained while discussing the subject of envy.

Envious people are petty, mean, very mean, always brooding and senselessly critical of others, permanently sad and generally unpleasant to be with. They contrast their ugliness with the beauty of others, contrast their verbosity and incoherence with the oratory of others, contrast their awkwardness and gracelessness with the sunny nature of others, contrast their meanness of spirit with the largeness of others and generally contrast their lack of taste and heartwarming aesthetics with others who are blessed. With the closed and clogged mindset inherent in the envious person it is always difficult for such wretched characters in society to ever wean themselves of this terrible anti-social cancer.

All of us must develop a brighter and more positive attitude to life and recognize the fact that although we might all have been created equal because of the commonality [until coning technology and artificial insemination came in] in the process of procreation, all other extraneous factors make us unequal and that throughout life all of our efforts are geared towards creating equality. Competitiveness rather than envy and pulling othersdown is the better way of bridging gaps.

Jealousy as bad as it is, pales into insignificance when compared with envy. Jealousy, as earlier mentioned may propel one to ensure not losing something/someone dear, envy on the otherhand poisons both the envious and the envied, simply because the envious has no other desire than to frustrate, destroy or pull down the envied with poisonous tongue. Or rat poison.

Shakespeare has a description for both the envious and the jealous, and details of his characterisation of both overflows in his plays and poetry. Brilliant man. Clever man. Even though he says there is no art to tell a man’s character by reading his face, he still tells us in ‘Julius Caesar’ Act 1, Scene 2, the relationship of Cassius’s ‘lean and hungry look’ with his jealousy and hatred for Julius Caesar and the invocation of the ambition and in-built envy of Brutus and his gang.  

It may therefore be appropriate to take a clinical look at the spiteful envious people and their perennially jealous kinsmen whenever and wherever you meet them.

Hear them speaking of the brilliant career-woman who has just been appointed the CEO of a major Commercial Bank “Don’t mind her. That Stella, she’s my childhood friend. She slept her way to the top” exclaimed the envious smelly Theresa, her friend.

“No. I’m going to stop you from night-shift. That your doctor in your Ward. Or I stop you from working altogether” the lousy possessive jealous husband, screaming at his hospital matron shapely wife!

You can’t mistake them.

Death, wretched death is always the ultimate of all envious people simply because they can never be happy or contentedwith their lot in life and there would always be people around them who are more resourceful, more successful, more prosperous, and more famous, more admired, more popular, more articulate than they are or can ever be. As long as the objects/subjects to be envied are in abundant supply the more the pain and anguish of the envious people. Hence, all little-minded and pathologically mean-spirited envious people die of frustration after living a wretched life.

Envy, man’s worst affliction!

** Tola Adeniyi, syndicated columnist, author, playwright, poet, dramatist, philosopher and mystic.

A very unfortunate Florida man was having breakfast in a diner when a sneeze caused his guts to pop out of his body.

The 63-year-old man, who had recently had abdominal surgery, found himself eviscerated after sneezing and coughing, with several loops of his large intestine flopping out of his gut at the diner table.

The man had had the operation 15 days prior to the incident, with his wound staples only having been removed that very morning, according to a new paper in the American Journal of Medical Case Reports.

"During breakfast, the man sneezed forcefully, followed by coughing. He immediately noticed a "wet" sensation and pain in his lower abdomen. Looking down, he observed several loops of pink bowel protruding from his recent surgical site," the researchers wrote in the paper.

"He later related that he was unsure of how to proceed, so he covered the exposed intestines with his shirt. He initially decided to drive himself to the hospital, but concerned that changing his position might injure his bowel, his wife requested an ambulance."

"He and his wife went to breakfast to celebrate" his having his staples removed that morning, the researchers said.

The ambulance arrived at the diner rapidly and found that "large amounts of bowel" were poking through about 3 inches of his wound, with very little bleeding. According to the paper, a paramedic had considered pushing the guts back inside the man but decided against this to avoid any possible injuries to the bowel. Instead, she covered the intestines with a pad and secured it to the man, giving him painkillers for the journey to the hospital.

The urology service was consulted immediately when he arrived at the emergency department. His vital signs were within normal limits, and preoperative blood tests were obtained and noted to be unchanged from recent comparisons. A nasogastric tube was inserted, and the patient consented to receive an exploratory laparotomy.

"Three Urologic surgeons carefully reduced the eviscerated bowel back into the abdominal cavity. They inspected the full length of the small bowel and noted no evidence of injury," the researchers wrote. "The suture line was noted to have dehisced at its center and was closed with a variety of sutures."

Sneezing is a reflex action of the body to expel irritants from the nasal cavity. When foreign particles like dust, pollen, smoke, or strong smells enter the nasal passages, they can irritate the mucous membranes. The body responds by sending a burst of air to be expelled forcefully through the nose and mouth, which can travel at up to 100 miles per hour.

This isn't the only type of injury that can occur from sneezing: there have been previous reports of lung herniations through the ribs, lung tearing, and even brain tissue tearing after a sneeze. The increased blood pressure during a sneeze has previously led to tearing of the aorta, which can be deadly, as well as fracturing bones in the face.

In this case, the man was suffering from wound dehiscence, which occurs when a wound doesn't heal properly, causing the edges to separate. It is a common complication of the operation that the man had received, with around 7 percent of cystectomies resulting in dehiscence of some form, according to a 2023 paper.

"While wound dehiscence is a well-known complication, this case is important because evisceration through the abdominal surgical site after cystectomy is poorly described in the medical literature. A PubMed search for 'cystectomy AND evisceration' performed in May 2024 provided only 7 results related to evisceration through the abdominal wall after cystectomy," the researchers wrote.

Newsweek

Nigeria's debt to petrol suppliers has surpassed $6 billion - doubling since early April - as state oil firm NNPC struggles to cover the gap between fixed pump prices and international fuel costs, six industry sources said.

President Bola Tinubu announced an end to expensive fuel subsidies last year, allowing pump prices to triple. But state oil company NNPC capped pump prices shortly afterward as citizens chafed under rising cost of living.

The cap, coupled with a naira crash, allowed the subsidy to creep back. Tinubu's government expects the subsidy to cost at least $3.7 billion this year.

Analysts, NGOs and even government officials have slammed the subsidy for years as wasteful and corrupt. But Nigerians, who get few government services, have long seen cheap fuel as their right, especially in the current cost-of-living crisis.

Last week, deadly riots forced Kenya's debt-burdened government to cancel planned tax rises, casting a shadow over efforts elsewhere to inflict any further pain on citizens stung by rising inflation.

Senegal's energy subsidy bill remains high, at 3.3% of GDP, while Egypt and Angola are also trying to axe subsidies to shore up state finances.

NNPC began struggling early this year when late gasoline payments surpassed $3 billion.

The company has still not paid for some January imports, traders said, and the late payments amount to $4 billion to $5 billion. Under contract terms, NNPC is meant to pay within 90 days of delivery.

NNPC declined to comment.

"The only reason traders are putting up with it is the $250,000 a month (per cargo) for late payment compensation," one industry source said.

At least two suppliers already stopped participating in recent tenders after hitting self-imposed debt exposure limits to Nigeria, the sources said, meaning they will not send more gasoline until they receive payments.

Traders thrive in risky environments, but they place limits on how much credit they allocate per trade in order to avoid too much exposure on one borrower. These limits vary by company based on their size and where they operate.

As a result, Nigeria's tenders to buy gasoline in June and July were smaller, traders said. NNPC will import via tender about 850,000 tonnes in July, two of the sources said, down from the typical 1 million tonnes in previous months.

Fresh fuel queues have already started to form in Lagos and Abuja this week, and some Abuja stations stopped selling gasoline.

Nigeria, Africa's largest oil exporter, imports virtually all its fuel due to years of neglect at its state-owned oil refineries. The newly opened 650,000 barrel-per-day Dangote refinery has not yet produced marketable gasoline, and is selling other fuels abroad.

The country has few savings to fall back upon as corruption and wasteful spending have eaten up decades of oil revenues. Cash-strapped NNPC has also mortgaged much of its spot oil cargoes, limiting what it can sell for cash.

In late 2023, NNPC secured its biggest-ever oil-backed loan worth $3.3 billion from Afreximbank and a consortium of traders, including Gunvor, to shore up the country's foreign exchange.

Reuters

PRESS RELEASE

On 28 June 2024, Nigeria signed the Samoa Agreement at the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) Secretariat in Brussels, Belgium.

The partnership agreement is between the EU and its Member States on one hand, and the members of the OACPS on the other.

Negotiations on the agreement started in 2018, on the sidelines of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly. It was signed in Apia, Samoa on the 15th of November 2018 by all 27 EU Member states and 47 of the 79 OACPS Member states.

The agreement has 103 articles comprising a common foundational compact and three regional protocols, namely: Africa –EU; Caribbean-EU, and Pacific-EU Regional Protocols with each regional protocol addressing the peculiar issues of the regions.

The African Regional Protocol consists of two parts. The first is the Framework for Cooperation, while the second deals with Areas of Cooperation, containing Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth and Development; Human and Social Development; Environment, Natural Resources Management, and Climate Change; Peace and Security; Human Rights, Democracy and Governance; and Migration and Mobility.

Nigeria signed the Agreement on Friday 28 June 2024. This was done after extensive reviews and consultations by the Interministerial Committee, convened by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning (FMBEP) in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMOJ). It was ensured that none of the 103 Articles and Provisions of the Agreement contravenes the 1999 Constitution as amended or the laws of Nigeria and other extant Laws.

In addition, Nigeria’s endorsement was accompanied by a Statement of Declaration, dated 26th June 2024, clarifying its understanding and context of the Agreement within its jurisdiction to the effect that any provision that is inconsistent with the laws of Nigeria shall be invalid. It is instructive to note that there is an existing legislation against same-sex relationships in Nigeria enacted in 2014.

It is necessary to assure Nigerians that the President Bola Tinubu Administration, being a rule-based government will not enter into any international agreement that will be detrimental to the interest of the country and its citizens. In negotiating the Agreement, our officials strictly followed the mandates exchanged in 2018 between the EU and the OACPS for the process.

The Samoa Agreement is nothing but a vital legal framework for cooperation between the OACPS and the European Union, to promote sustainable development, fight climate change and its effects, generate investment opportunities, and foster collaboration among OACPS Member States at the international stage.

Mohammed Idris
Minister of Information and National Orientation.

The signing of the $150 billion Samoa Agreement by the federal government, which implicitly mandates the recognition of LGBTQ+ rights, is a grave misstep that contravenes the nation's 2014 law prohibiting such acts. While the dire state of Nigeria’s economy undeniably necessitates substantial financial support, it is imperative that this assistance does not come at the expense of the country’s laws and the deeply held cultural values of the Nigerian people.

The Samoa Agreement, named after the Pacific Island where it was signed, requires participating countries to support LGBTQ+ rights in exchange for financial aid and other supports from more advanced nations. This is a blatant challenge to the cultural and religious beliefs prevalent in Nigeria, where both Islamic and Christian teachings strongly oppose same-sex relationships. The government’s attempt to downplay the implications of this agreement by asserting that it only pertains to economic development is misleading and disingenuous.

According to reports, the agreement includes clauses that fundamentally alter Nigeria’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights, making this financial aid conditional on the acceptance and support of these rights. This directly contradicts the assurances given by officials that the deal does not mandate support for LGBTQ+ rights. It is a clear deviation from the spirit of the 2014 law, which was enacted to reflect the moral and cultural values of the Nigerian populace.

Civil society organizations, clerics, and legal experts have rightly expressed their outrage over this development. The signing of the Samoa Agreement undermines Nigeria’s sovereignty and threatens to erode the moral fabric of its society. It is essential for the National Assembly to withhold approval for this agreement and for President Bola Tinubu to repudiate it unequivocally. The government's priority should be to uphold the laws and values of Nigeria, not to succumb to external pressures that compromise the country’s national integrity.

Moreover, the concerns raised about the hasty and uninformed manner in which international agreements are often signed by Nigerian officials must be addressed. There needs to be a thorough review process involving all relevant stakeholders to ensure that such agreements align with national interests and values.

In conclusion, while economic support is crucial, it should never come at the cost of compromising the country’s legal and cultural standards. The Samoa Agreement is a dangerous precedent that must be rescinded. The government should seek alternative means of financial support that do not undermine Nigeria’s sovereignty or the deeply held beliefs of its people. President Tinubu must take a firm stand and ensure that Nigeria’s laws and cultural values are respected and preserved.

KuCoin, a cryptocurrency exchange, says it will commence collection of a 7.5 percent value-added tax (VAT) on transaction fees for users in Nigeria.

The company said a regulatory update in Nigeria led to KuCoin’s decision to introduce the VAT.

In a statement on July 3, the cryptocurrency platform said the deduction of the VAT would be effective from July 8.

KuCoin said for every trade, the 7.5 percent VAT will be applied to the transaction fee — not the total transaction amount.

“We are writing to inform you of an important regulatory update that impacts our users from Nigeria,” the company said.

“Starting from July 8th, 2024, we will begin collecting a Value-Added Tax (“VAT”) at a rate of 7.5%  on transaction fees in each trade for users whose KYC information is registered in Nigeria.

“Nb: The 7.5% is only charged on the 0.1%/0.05% transaction fee and not your total amount which will be remitted.”

According to KuCoin, if a user buys $1,000 worth of bitcoin with a 0.1 percent fee rate, the transaction fee would be $1.

The VAT, the crypto platform said, would be 7.5 percent of the fee which is $0.075 — the net amount for the transaction would be $998.925.

“Please note that the VAT will be applied to the transaction fees in each trade, not the transaction amount, and covers all transaction types on KuCoin platform,” the crypto exchange said.

In 2022, Zainab Ahmed, former minister of finance, budget, and national planning, had initially hinted at government’s plans to tax cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. 

In the 2023 Finance Act, the government imposed a 10 percent tax on profits from digital assets, including cryptocurrencies.

However, the particular provision of the act was not enforced.

In May, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced plansto delist naira from all peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms.

SEC said the decision was taken to avoid the level of “manipulation” happening in the cryptocurrency space.

The Cable

Israel sends delegation to negotiate hostage release deal with Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday he has decided to send a delegation to resume stalled negotiations on a hostage release deal with Hamas, their administrations said.

A source in the Israeli negotiating team, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was a real chance of achieving agreement after Hamas made a revised proposal on the terms of a deal.

"The proposal put forward by Hamas includes a very significant breakthrough," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Israeli response to the Hamas proposal, submitted via mediators, was in marked contrast to past instances during the nearly nine-month war in Gaza, where Israel has said the conditions attached by Hamas were not acceptable.

An Israeli official said the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency would lead the Israeli delegation for the talks.

Netanyahu was scheduled later on Thursday to have consultations with his negotiating team, then discuss the hostage release talks with his security cabinet.

The White House said Biden and Netanyahu, on a phone call, discussed the response received from Hamas on possible terms of a deal.

"The president welcomed the prime minister’s decision to authorize his negotiators to engage with U.S., Qatari, and Egyptian mediators in an effort to close out the deal," it said in a statement.

In the phone call, Netanyahu repeated his position that Israel would only end its war in Gaza when all its objectives had been achieved, his office said in a statement.

The source in the Israeli negotiating team said: "There’s a deal with a real chance of implementation."

The source cautioned, though, there was a risk a deal could be scuppered by "political considerations".

Some far-right partners in Netanyahu's ruling coalition have indicated they may quit the government if the war ends before Hamas is destroyed. Their departure from the coalition would likely end Netanyahu's premiership.

HAMAS FLEXIBILITY

Israel received Hamas' response on Wednesday to a proposal made public at the end of May by Biden that would include the release of about 120 hostages held in Gaza and a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.

A Palestinian official close to the mediation effort told Reuters that Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, has shown flexibility over some clauses that would allow a framework agreement to be reached should Israel approve.

Two Hamas officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Hamas has said any deal must end the war and bring a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel maintains it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting until Hamas is eradicated.

The plan entails the gradual release of Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza and the pullback of Israeli forces over the first two phases, and the freeing of Palestinian prisoners. The third phase involves the reconstruction of the war-shattered territory and return of the remains of deceased hostages.

It was not clear where the Israeli delegation would go to resume the talks. Prior efforts to end the Gaza conflict were mediated by Egypt and Qatar, with talks held in both locations.

On Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the nearly nine months of war had passed 38,000, with 87,445 wounded. The health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its figures.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killed 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages back into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH'

In Gaza, Palestinians reacted cautiously to the prospect of renewed talks.

"We hope that this is the end of the war, we are exhausted and we can't stand more setbacks and disappointments," said Youssef, a father-of-two, now displaced in Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave.

"Every more hour into this war, more people die, and more houses get destroyed, so enough is enough. I say this to my leaders, to Israel and the world," he told Reuters via a chat app.

An Israeli strike hit a school in Gaza City and the Civil Emergency Service said five Palestinians were killed and others wounded, while other Israeli strikes on Gaza City's old town on Thursday killed a woman and wounded several others, medics said.

The Israeli military said it had been operating to dismantle Hamas' military and administrative capabilities. It said it was acting in accordance with international law and taking feasible precautions to minimise civilian casualties.

Israeli tanks also shelled several areas on the eastern side of Khan Younis after the army issued evacuation orders on Tuesday, but there has been no movement by the tanks into those areas, residents said.

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Putin makes missile announcement

The Russian defense industry is ready to start producing intermediate and shorter-range missiles that had been banned under a now-defunct treaty with the US, President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday.

The Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) had prohibited these systems, but the US withdrew from it in 2019. Moscow chose to maintain the ban so long as Washington abided by it as well.

“As I’ve said, in connection with the US withdrawal from this treaty and the announcement that they are starting production, we also consider ourselves entitled to start research, development, and in the future, production,” Putin said on Thursday at a press conference following the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.

“We are conducting this R&D, and we are ready to start production. We have already, in principle, given the relevant instructions to our industry,” he added.

Putin mentioned during a meeting of the National Security Council in Moscow last week the possibility that Russia might resume production of previously banned missile systems, citing the “hostile actions” of the US.

“We now know that the US is not only producing these missile systems, but has also brought them to Europe, Denmark, to use in exercises. Not long ago, it was reported that they were in the Philippines,” Putin explained at the time.

Washington’s moves left Moscow with no choice but to revive its intermediate-range and short-range programs, he said, adding that they would be deployed “based on the actual situation, if necessary.”

The 1987 INF treaty had banned both the US and Soviet Union from producing and fielding ground-based ballistic and cruise missiles – as well as their respective launchers – with ranges of 500 to 5,500 km (310 to 3,420 miles). The treaty did not affect air- or sea-based systems with the same range. This helped lower the tensions over the deployment of nuclear weapons in Europe.

Russia as the successor to the USSR continued to adhere to the treaty, while raising concerns that US installations in Eastern Europe – ostensibly designed as missile defenses – violated the treaty because their launchers were capable of deploying ground-attack munitions as well. In 2019, Washington pulled out of the treaty, accusing Moscow of having violated it without offering evidence to back up that claim.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian attacks kill two, wound 26 in Ukraine

Russian strikes killed two people and wounded 26 on Thursday in Ukrainian regions stretching from the south to the east and northeast, local authorities said.

A missile strike in southern Odesa region killed a woman, injured seven people and damaged port infrastructure, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram.

In northeastern Kharkiv region, a second woman was killed and a man wounded in a strike by a Russian guided bomb on the village of Ruska Lozova, according to regional governor Oleh Syniehubov.

Nine others, including four children, were wounded in a drone attack and shelling in the town of Novohrodivka, in the frontline Donetsk region, governor Vadym Filashkin said.

Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Serhiy Lysak reported seven wounded in the southern town of Nikopol. He had said earlier that Russian forces had attacked areas near Nikopol with drones and artillery on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.

Lysak later reported that a woman died of injuries sustained on Wednesday in the region's main city, Dnipro. Seven people died in that attack.

Two civilians in the southern city of Kherson were wounded in a drone strike, the local administration said.

All the affected regions have been subjected to repeated attacks since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russia denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure, but thousands of people have been killed and wounded.

RT/Reuters

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak came to the job as an afterthought, yet his days in Number 10 were numbered before he received the ceremonial blessings of King Charles III.

For a long time after Brexit, the Tories and sections of the British public, still in post-Brexit ecstasy, were madly in love with Boris Johnson. He was incompetent and a congenital liar but a good poster boy of that era. After David Cameron fell on his sword, the Brits wanted someone to extend the comedy of post-Brexit, and Johnson was a good fit.

Then came Covid-19, a global crisis that tested the leadership of nations. Johnson, US President Donald Trump, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro wereperhaps among the world’s most incompetent leaders of the pandemic era. Their denial and mishandling of the situation took a tragic toll on their citizens.

The former Sunak

In Britain, Sunak was Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time. While he let his appetite for beer get the better of his judgment once or twice during the lockdown, his boss, Johnson, observed lockdown rules only in the breach. As the British economy – like economies around the world – reeled under the effects of Covid-19, Johnson, the sailor of the British ship, was floating on his sea of beer in garden parties while, at the same time, asking people to keep the rules he was breaking.

Much of the credit for steering Britain through that problematic time must go to Sunak, whose programmes, including £330 billion in emergency support for businesses and a furlough scheme, helped keep the country afloat.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before the chaotic Johnson era ended. You would think Sunak would naturally step in, given his outstanding role in managing the Covid-19 crisis and his sound knowledge of the economy.

But no. The mild air of xenophobia, which was also partly responsible for Brexit, had heavily infected Tory backbenchers, too. Even though Sunak’s parents (with Pakistani and Indian roots) immigrated to Britain from East Africa in the 1960s, in a world where you discount identity politics at your own risk, there was still a certain “otherness” about Sunak’s ancestry, his family fortuneand his Hindu religion, that made the British establishment uncomfortable.

Britainistan

With Sadiq Khan as London Mayor, Suella Braverman in the Tory top brass and Hamza Yousaf highly placed in Scotland – not to mention Savid Javid and Priti Patel – therising profile of Indians and Pakistanis, the Raj-anisationof British politics, real or imagined, was a concern. But there was even a more profound concern – the rising economic clout of these ethnic minorities.

In 2017, the Indian diaspora in the UK was estimated to contribute around six percent of the country’s GDP, and by 2019 the combined wealth of this ethnic nationality was estimated at £338 billion. With an average income of £34,300 in that same year, British Indians had the highest average income among ethnic nationalities in that country.

When it was time to replace Boris Johnson, the country that copied Piper’s art from Egypt and popularised it didn’t need anyone to tell the Tory party that handing over the keys of Number 10 to Sunak could signal the echo of an unfamiliar tune. They kicked the idea of having Piper Sunak further down the road.

Liz mishap

Instead, they settled for Liz Truss, a former rebel and basher of the Crown, but a Brit, through and through, to lead the party. Truss didn’t last; her incompetence threatened to bring Britain to its knees. The Tories soon got rid of her, but apart from further endangering the British economy, her brief reign had also emboldened the Labour Party. Keir Starmer, Labour leader and the next British Prime Minister is a gift to Britain from Tory hubris.

After the fall of Truss, with the Tories bereft of options and confronting the threat of an early election, backbenchers exhumed Sunak to clean up the Augean stable. Things were so bad two years ago when Sunak was chosen to lead the Tories that The Economist’sOctober 19, 2022 edition likened the situation to Britaly, a sarcastic reference to the carnage in Italy in the 1940s.

Inflation in Britain was at a record high, with basic foodstuffs and energy prices going through the roof. About 33 percent of the population outside fixed mortgage contracts was struggling to pay, and the British economy, which was 90 percent the size of the German economy, had shrunk to 70 percent.

Sunak record

The story is different today. Inflation is down 2.8 percent, compared to around 8 percent two years ago, and unemployment is also down. The British economy is more robust than two years ago, and fewer people outside fixed mortgages struggle to pay. All of that would hardly matter now. As Britain goes to the polls, Sunak has onlyone in four chances of keeping his seat, and the Tories are bracing for one of the worst defeats ever in nearly two centuries.

Fourteen years of Tory reign have tested the party’s ingenuity and revealed its resilience, especially in the wake of Covid-19 and the aftermath of Russia’s war in Ukraine. But the years have also revealed Tory dark racial underbelly and brought upon it the inevitable consequences of overstay and familiarity. The party was rotting from the inside. Sunak only managed to defer its eventual collapse.

But Sunak was not a saint. He was not altogether blameless. Those who cheered the rise of the first non-Caucasian to Number 10 are shocked that the pair of Sunak and Braverman, both ethnic minorities, hasinflicted a human repatriation policy worse than anything known in recent history.

Weep not Africa

Africa will not shed a tear at his departure. The continent owes him nothing. In his two-year premiership, he only used “Africa” when discussing the UK-Rwanda asylum repatriation in Parliament. His nearest visit to the continent where he was born in 1980 was at the English Channel, from where immigrants were bundled off to Rwanda in defiance of the rulings by the European Court of Human Rights (EUHR) and the UK Supreme Court.

His penchant for dodging Parliamentary scrutiny, the perception that he lacks the common touch, and his inability to rein in party rebels have also combined to put a nail in his political coffin.

But Britain will remember him as a godsend in its hour of need. I’m not too worried about what’s next for Sunak. A brief look at what far less gifted former British Prime Ministers are doing shows that he’ll be all right.

Next life

Boris Johnson earns significant amounts from speaking and writing, as do Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Teresa May. Tony Blair, unfairly despised as the poodle of George Bush because of the war in Iraq, even earns up to £200k for a single speech and has the Tony Blair Institute, which advises governments worldwide.

This must feel like a funeral moment for the Tories and the obsequies of the third prime minister in five years. But Sunak is young and immensely gifted. He is not finished quite yet. His death might have been slightly exaggerated.

** Ishiekwene is the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the new book Writing for Media and MonetisingIt.