Dpharisee:
ukraine has been striking Russian targets with Western weapons for long, this approval changes nothing, ukraine has lost the war, they keep losing territory daily to Russian forces, time to call for peaceful negotiations by Zelensky whose official tenure ended on May 20

Nigeria drops to fourth position on IMF's list of largest economies in Africa 2024

#TheCableIndex

Nigeria’s economy, which ranked as Africa’s largest in 2022, is set to slip to fourth place this year and Egypt, which held the top position in 2023, is projected to fall to second behind South Africa after a series of currency devaluations, International Monetary Fund forecasts show.

(Bloomberg) — Nigeria’s economy, which ranked as Africa’s largest in 2022, is set to slip to fourth place this year and Egypt, which held the top position in 2023, is projected to fall to second behind South Africa after a series of currency devaluations, International Monetary Fund forecasts show.

The IMF’s World Economic Outlook estimates Nigeria’s gross domestic product at $253 billion based on current prices this year, lagging energy-rich Algeria at $267 billion, Egypt at $348 billion and South Africa at $373 billion. 

Africa’s most industrialized nation will remain the continent’s largest economy until Egypt reclaims the mantle in 2027, while Nigeria is expected to remain in fourth place for years to come, the data released this week shows. Nigeria and Egypt’s fortunes have dimmed as they deal with high inflation and a plunge in their currencies.

Bola Tinubu has announced significant policy reforms since he became Nigeria’s president at the end of May 2023, including allowing the currency to float more freely, scrapping costly energy and gasoline subsidies and taking steps to address dollar shortages. Despite a recent rebound, the naira is still 50% weaker against the greenback than what it was prior to him taking office after two currency devaluations.

Egypt, one of the emerging world’s most-indebted countries and the IMF’s second-biggest borrower after Argentina, has also allowed its currency to float, triggering an almost 40% plunge in the pound’s value against the dollar last month to attract investment.

The IMF had been calling for a flexible currency regime for many months and the multilateral lender rewarded Egypt’s government by almost tripling the size of a loan program first approved in 2022 to $8 billion. This was a catalyst for a further influx of around $14 billion in financial support from the European Union and the World Bank. 

Unlike Nigeria’s naira and Egypt’s pound, the value of South Africa’s rand has long been set in the financial markets and it has lost about 4% of its value against the dollar this year. Its economy is expected to benefit from improvements to its energy supply and plans to tackle logistic bottlenecks.

Algeria, an OPEC+ member has been benefiting from high oil and gas prices caused first by Russia’s invasion of ukraine and now tensions in the Middle East. It stepped in to ease some of Europe’s gas woes after Russia curtailed supplies amid its war in ukraine. 

YouAreNobody:


You're totally wrong. And don't say "the world", US and NATO are only 45% of countries in the world so they don't make up the world😃

If you check the early months of the war, Russia was advancing rapidly. They even made entreaties into Kiev but changed course. That wasn't a mistake. They don't want ukraine to fall as western media would make you think. A totally inept ukraine will be a load on Russia considering the fact that they share borders.
Also, this isn't a ukraine - Russia war as you seem to think. This is a proxy way between Russia and NATO. ukraine is only the battleground.

You say Russia had the choice of not going to war. Actually, this war should've started as far back as 2014 when ukraine started hobnobbing with US and NATO despite the Minsk agreement.
Remember what caused the Cuban missiles crisis? It was this exactly scenario; Cuba and Russia were allies and when Russia wanted to build a missile base in Cuba, US invaded Cuba. The crazy thing is Cuba doesn't border US in any way except that it's close to the US mainland.

Contrary to what you think, this war has actually shown that Russia is far stronger than NATO expected. Even, despite all the sanctions (more than 200 from different countries so far) they've grown their economy by more than 14%. This is something unprecedented as economies are expected to retrogress during wartime. Even the US economy hasn't grown up to 3% since the past 3 years. This should tell you something 😀

DystopianMuse:
132 Su-34 and at least 17 Su-34M in service as of 2023. A total of 40 Su-34M on order.[1][10][11][12][13][14]

As of 21 January 2024 at least 24 Su-34 and one Su-34M have been lost in the Russian Invasion of ukraine.

DystopianMuse:
132 Su-34 and at least 17 Su-34M in service as of 2023. A total of 40 Su-34M on order.[1][10][11][12][13][14]

As of 21 January 2024 at least 24 Su-34 and one Su-34M have been lost in the Russian Invasion of ukraine.

DystopianMuse:
132 Su-34 and at least 17 Su-34M in service as of 2023. A total of 40 Su-34M on order.[1][10][11][12][13][14]

As of 21 January 2024 at least 24 Su-34 and one Su-34M have been lost in the Russian Invasion of ukraine.

JessicaRabbit:


I have already written two detailed posts full of links to the relevant articles rebutting this recent comment of yours but due to the unexplained ridiculousness of this forum's spambot, I couldn't get them through. I'll limit the length of my rejoinder and cut to the chase here. After reading this particular comment, it has become obvious to me that you're totally willing to indulge in mendacity and fraud. Of course I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt, but your desperation to cling onto this sinking ship, while admirable, only lends credence to your unrelenting dishonesty.

#1 Reid Hoffman is not paying anyone's bills. He only chipped in some cash to the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund, which backs up survivors of sexual harassment and assault.

#2 Clinton has been accused of sexual assault and/or sexual misconduct by several women, but none of them have been proven conclusively in court.

#3 Lewinsky had a consensual affair with Bill Clinton. She hid the dress from the public, while Carroll wore the dress openly several times. These are not opinions, these are verifiable facts. Do your research.

#4 Hillary Clinton did not label Lewinsky or others as "bimbo eruptions". That term was coined by Betsey Wright, a former aide to Bill Clinton, in 1992, long before the Lewinsky scandal. Hillary Clinton did not orchestrate a scheme to damage Lewinsky's reputation. She was just a scorned wife who stood by her cheating hubby in the face of political drama.

#5 You claim that you watched Lewinsky's TED Talk, but did you really listen to what she said? She said that she was a victim of cyberbullying and public shaming, not of Bill Clinton. She said that she regretted her involvement with him, but that she also forgave him.

#6 Tara Reade was exposed as a liar and fraud. She did not have a written complaint against Biden, but a criminal complaint against an unnamed person. Plus her allegation has been contradicted by several people who knew her or worked with Biden at the time, and by the lack of evidence or corroboration.

#7 The FBI raid on Guilani's home and office in April 2021 had nothing to do with the defamation case, but with his shady dealings with ukraine. The raid did not strip him of all his gadgets, neither did it stop him from producing evidence. These are pathetic excuses!

#8 Blasey Ford bravely faced the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2018 and never backed down from her allegation. It was Trump who played fast and loose with the truth by conveniently leaving out which accuser had changed her story (check out the screenshot below). And she was not a Democrat, but a card-carrying Republican.

#9 Halina Kuta, the ex-guard at Bergdorf Goodman who claimed to witness something scandalous while working there between 1975 and 2001 was exposed to be a liar and bluff. She wasn't even there when it supposedly happened. She confessed that she was a fan of Trump and that she got a nice $500 tip from his buddy to lie. Talk about fake news!

The rest of your post is just more gas-lighting, and clutching at irrelevant straws like the colour of Carroll's dog. You're clearly out of your depth on this topic but you insist on trudging on like a lost donkey. Of course, fanatics like you will thrive on spurious statements like "Justice is served to those suing Republican" which only serve to foster hatred and division. Justice is not a partisan issue, but a universal value.

In this discussion, you have only proven yourself to be a liar, a manipulator and a fraud with an ego the size of America. You obviously know next to nothing about these cases, but rather than educate yourself accordingly, you've intentionally limited yourself to regurgitating nonsensical far-right soundbites you've heard from your colleagues.

WrriterNig:
⚡Russian Defence Minister Shoigu:

Russian Army today is the most prepared and combat-ready in the world.

The West supplied ukraine with 5,220 tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, 28 aircraft, 87 helicopters, 23,000 UAVs, over 1,300 artillery systems.

During its counter-offensive, launched on June 4, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost 121 aircraft, 766 tanks, including 37 Leopards.

The cumulative losses of the Armed Forces of ukraine in equipment since the beginning of Special Military Operation are 14,026 tanks and armored fighting vehicles, 8,510 guns, mortars, self-propelled guns and MLRS, 553 aircraft, 259 helicopters.

Kyiv lost 159,000 people killed/wounded as part of the counteroffensive. The losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces since the beginning of Special Military Operation increased to 383,000 killed/wounded.

1.530 tanks, 2.518 armored fighting vehicles, 237 aircraft and helicopters, 86 air defense systems, 67 radar stations were supplied to the army. 1,700 crews of UAV operators and 1,500 FPV drone operators were trained.

The manufacturing sector suffered a 400 percent increase in net foreign exchange loss to N466 billion in nine months ending September, reflecting the severe impact of the foreign exchange (Forex) market regime.

Sector operators said the current forex situation has compounded the pressures emanating from the removal of oil subsidy, Russia/ ukraine war among other adverse developments.

The operators said the sector now bleeds from multiple points as a result of exchange rate revaluation losses.

Consequently, information contained in the financial reports of the top 17 manufacturing companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX , indicated that while their gross earnings rose as they increase the prices of their products, their profits crashed as a result of the multiple pressure points eroding their financial stability.

Data sourced by Financial Vanguard from the financials of the big manufacturing firms on the Exchange showed a net foreign exchange loss of N466.02 billion in the nine months ended September 2023 (9M’23) representing an overwhelming increase of almost 400% from N93.219 billion loss recorded in 9M’22.

The data showed that while the combined gross earnings of the firms grew by 23.4% to N4.4 trillion in 9M’23 as against N3.6 trillion in 9M’22, the companies recorded a 24.6 percent decline in combined Profit Before Tax, PBT, to N505.148 billion in 9M’23 as against N670.089 billion in 9M’22.

Cost of consumer goods
The trend is reflected in the increased cost of producing consumer goods, which are mostly essential commodities used regularly by households.

These include foods and beverages, toiletries, over-the-counter medicines, cleaning and laundry products, plastic goods, and personal care products, among others.

Financial Vanguard findings reveal that while the companies increased the prices of their products in response to the inflationary pressures on their operating cost, this has resulted in low volume of patronage from the consumers whose income has equally been eroded by inflation.

The situation has now combined with losses they recorded in foreign exchange revaluation just as the higher exchange rate also increased the cost of foreign input forcing them to either close some production lines or scale down output below break-even points.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the inflation rate in Nigeria closed 9M’23 at 26.72%. The figure has since risen to 27.3 %percent as at the month of October 2023 and is projected to rise further this month, possibly sustained to year end.

Also, the Naira value against the US Dollar which stood at N448.04/US$ at the beginning of the year (2023) crashed to N832.32/US$ as at end 9M’23 following the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) foreign exchange reforms in mid-June.

Foreign investors in manufacturing pulling out

The protracted foreign exchange scarcity which affected Cadbury Nigeria on raw material imports, has forced its management to pass on costs to consumers by hiking prices.

The same goes for GlaxoSmithKline, GSK, Nigeria. But this has already proved unsustainable, forcing the company to announce plans by its parent company, GSK UK Group, to end manufacturing operations in Nigeria. The Company said further that it would explore a third-party direct distribution model for its pharmaceutical products.

Unilever Nigeria is another multinational consumer goods company discontinuing the manufacturing of its homecare and skin-cleansing brands.

Just last week, Procter & Gamble, P&G, an American multinational involved in manufacturing of fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs), announced its plan to discontinue their manufacturing operations in Nigeria due to the harsh operating environment.

Blue chips bleeding
The blue chip manufacturing companies, most of which are multinationals suffered more from forex revaluation losses.

Leading the pack in this adversity is Nestle Nigeria which lost N127.5billion to forex revaluation loss, thereby eroding its profitability. Consequently, the company recorded loss before tax of N56.7 billion as against profit of N58.4 billion in 9M’22. This is despite the company’s 18.9% increase in gross earnings to N396.6 billion from N333.5 billion in 9M’22.

Dangote Cement recorded a huge forex revaluation loss of N99billion which seems to have dampened what would have been a supper profit in the 9M’23. It however made a surprising 20.5% rise in profit to N404.9billion as against N335.900 billion in 9M’22, at the backdrop of a rise in gross earnings to N1.5 trillion in 9M’23 from N1.2 trillion in 9M’22,

A forex revaluation loss amounting to N86.8 billion eroded Nigerian Breweries’ profitability as giant beverage multinational declared a total loss amounting N78.2 billion during the period despite a modest 2.1% growth in gross earnings to N401.7 billion from N393.3 billion.

Another brewer, International Breweries was hit with N39.9 billion forex revaluation loss which escalated the company’s operating losses before tax to N43.5 billion as against N2.8 billion it recorded last year. This is despite the 14.6% increase in gross earnings to N183.8 billion from N160.4 billion in 9M’22.

BUA Foods reported a forex revaluation loss of N33.3billion which moderated what would have become a super profit growth at 50% to N111.4bilion from N74.3billion in 9M’22, at the backdrop of 81.0% increase in gross earnings to N524.4billion as against N289.8billion in 9M’22.

Similarly, its sister company, BUA Cement posting N24.8 billion in forex revaluation loss which dampened its profitability with a 3.4% decline N85.7 billion from N88.8 billion despite the rise in gross earnings to N335.9billion as against N262.6billion in 9M’22.

Other significant forex revaluation losses were recorded by Cadbury Nigeria which reported N20.7billion revaluation loss which eroded its profit forcing the firm to declare a loss of N10.2 billion as against a profit of N4.0 billion it recorded in 9M’22. This is despite the 39.2% increase in gross earnings to N59.2 billion from N42.5 billion in 9M’22.

GloxoSmithKline seems to be showing heavy bleeding on all fronts. It posted a forex revaluation loss amounting N11.3 billion and its PBT declined 0.8% to N0.722 billion from N0.716 billion just as gross earnings went down massively to N10.9 billion from N20.4billion,

Similarly Lafarge Cement reported forex revaluation loss amounting to N9.4 billion. But the firm also reported increase in gross earnings at N289.1 billion as against N269.9 billion in 9M’22 , with PBT growing by 13.4% to N61.2 billion from N53.9 billion.

Unilever Nigeria recorded forex revaluation loss of N2.9billion as the company’s profitability was making a rebound by 937.4% to N4.9billion from N0.5 billion on the backdrop of a rise in gross earnings to N81.6billion from N64.8billion in 9M’22,

Vitafoam recorded a forex revaluation loss of N3.8billion which contributed to the 14.4% profit decline to N6.2billion from N7.2billion in 9M’2 despite a rise in gross earnings to N52.8billion from N46.3billion in 9M’22,

Okumu Oil also recorded forex revaluation loss amounting to N2.9billion. But its PBT grew by18.7% to N29.2billion from N24.6billion in 9M’22 at the backdrop of a rise in gross earnings.

Guinness Nigeria reported that its profit went down 5.6% to N3.8billion from N4.04 billion at the backdrop of N1.9billion forex revaluation loss, despite growth in gross earnings at N59.5 billion as against N52.849 billion in 9M’22.

Notore Chemical recorded a forex revaluation loss of N1.8billion which added to its massive rise in losses amounting N66.2billion as against N0.95billion loss in 9M’22. The bad result also came with a massive decline in gross earnings to N12.7billion as against N32.9billion in 9M’22, and recorded

Nascon Allied reported a slim forex revaluation loss of N.6million and its profit grew massively by 282.0% to N16.3billion from N4.3billion in 9M’22 at the backdrop 45.6% increase in gross earnings to N59.1billion as against N40.6billion in 9M’22.

One of the surprising results is Dangote Sugar which did not record any forex loss, and its gross earnings increased by 7.4% to N309.713 billion from N288.320 billion in 9M’22, but it ended up posting a loss before tax of N41.3billion as against a profit of N36.3billion in 9M’22.

Analysts /Experts react
Reacting to this development, Tajudeen Olayinka, who is the CEO, Wyoming Capital and Partners said: “A long the local foreign exchange market continue to react to the vagaries of demand and supply side imbalances, so long economic agents with net dollar liabilities will continue to be impacted negatively by depreciation and foreign exchange losses.

“This was responsible for the huge losses suffered by those manufacturing companies you mentioned. And it will remain so until the affected companies are able to put measures in place to recover losses through necessary hedging and repricing of earning assets.”

On the implication of these losses, he said: “ The implication of these losses to the companies and economy in general is a continued elevation in inflation and further deceleration in output growth.”

Also reacting, David Adonri, the Executive Vice Chairman, HIGHCAP Securities Limited said: “The nine months increase in forex losses by manufacturing companies in 2023 is due to the huge depreciation of the Naira following deregulation of the foreign exchange market in June 2023.

“The loss was transmitted to the manufacturing account of manufacturers through their outstanding forex liability to foreign suppliers of manufacturing inputs. Notwithstanding the improvement in their revenue, the FX losses overwhelmed their Profit.

“The losses were so colossal that some of the manufacturers have lost their shareholders fund. Many others have wound down their businesses and are at the verge of exiting the country. The losses have become a threat to the existence of many of the manufacturers.”

On the implication of the losses, he said: “Government should not expect to receive income tax from the wounded companies this year. Loss of capital will definitely take a toll on the capacity utilization of the manufacturers affected, resulting in layoffs and scarcity of their products.”

Solution
On the way forward, he said: “Government needs to engage with the manufacturers to address this threat to their existence. However, the losses will be recovered in due course as the economy adjusts to the new market reforms and price level.”

Reacting, Victor Chiazor, The Head of Research of Research and Investment said: “Most of the manufacturing companies suffered severe Forex losses because most of them import their raw materials for production from outside the country.

“And given the floating of the Naira which happened in the second quarter most were forced to provide more Naira to accommodate their production inputs. This exchange rate difference was significant enough to weaken their profit levels and even throw some of the manufacturers into loss after tax for the 9 months period.”

Going forward, he said: “We may see a direct transfer in the cost differential as most manufacturers will have no option than to pass this cost to the final consumer which will eventually lead to lower sales volume and most likely lower profitability for the company.

“This would also slow down activity level in the economy as a continuous rise in the price of goods and services will weaken the purchasing power of the consumer and overall weaken consumption.

“The government will need to find a way to stabilise the FX market to enable businesses plan as well as find incentives for some critical manufacturing businesses all of which would assist in keeping these businesses afloat.”

The Dome Of War...
Cartoon published 14/10/2023


THE DOME OF WAR

Israel has a defence system known as the 'Iron Dome,' which fires missiles to destroy incoming rockets. About 90 percent effective, it doesn't deter terrorist groups from firing such rockets. Israel's dome can't compete with the 'Dome of War.' We’re seeing it in action right now. Here are some things that cannot penetrate that dome:

FREE SPEECH:

Trump recently commented that Hezbollah was 'very smart.' Outrage instantly rained down from the corporate media as well as politicians on both sides of the aisle as the media took it out of content. Trump was not trying to compliment the leaders of Hezbollah—he was merely saying something that is true. He also said President Xi was smart. It's acknowledging reality, but the Dome of War tends to discourage an alignment with reality.

Similarly, many at the US far-left universities are anti-Semitic. They actually praised Hamas and defended Palestine. They were met with similar outrage and many students who dared to voice their support of Palestine were threatened. The powers that be wanted to make sure such students never receive employment once they graduated. This is anti-free speech measure. I've said a lot of stupid things in college that I regret, and I know what it feels like to be threatened because I used my free speech. Some on the left told me they'd make sure I got fired. It was disturbing, but I was self-employed. Still, I lost a lot of commercial work due to their reaction to my cartoons. The ability to make a living should not depend on having politically correct opinions.

We must remain free to discuss what's going on in Israel. It doesn't mean we support 'the terrorists.' We should be able to question why Israel failed to detect the massive attack. Apparently Egypt warned them. Our own intelligence operations should have known, but I guess they’re too busy spying on Trump-supporting Americans.

LESSONS OF HISTORY:

Hamas and their Palestinian supporters don't ever seem to learn their lesson. Their goal is to drive all Jews out of the territory and into the sea. They do not recognize Israel—instead they claim the Jews are 'occupiers' who need to be eliminated completely from Palestine. Anyone who knows a bit of history has learned that Jews have always lived there—they've certainly been there a lot longer than Islam has existed. The Jews could rightly claim that Israel existed long before anyone heard of Palestine—and if anyone needs to be driven to the sea it's the Muslims. Israel won't do that because they are far more civilized than Hamas.

If one could go back in time and warn the Romans not to fall into the trap at Cannae, I doubt they would still go ahead and allow Hannibal's forces to destroy 50,000 of their men. If someone warned Hamas not to keep making the same mistake of attacking Israel, they would ignore it and keep doing that very same thing—even though it means the death of thousands of Palestinians! Palestinian terrorists are so brainwashed by hate that they can't learn the lessons of their own history. Herodotus would be wincing.

LOGIC AND REASON:

After the monstrous attack on Israeli civilians—including children, the corporate media did not care much about honest reporting. They cared about beating the war drums as loudly as they could. Mark Levin's already high voice reached an even higher pitch. He could have exploded a wine glass. Loudmouth Sean Hannity and his tough-talking sidekick and chicken hawk, Lindsey Graham, all demanded more US aid to Israel—both in the form of billions of US tax dollars as well as munitions. Something is not logical with this, though—but similar to suppressing free speech, one is not supposed to apply logic to the situation—only the emotion of anger, which everyone knows can be leveraged to further the goals of the powerful. (Think of 9-11).

America is already sending Israel $3 billion annually and it was actually codified into law. They are a prosperous, industrious, and smart nation, but apparently they need constant help from the US. They should be able to take care of themselves, but the war means we must send them even more. Israel is NOT our 51st state, even though many US politicians hold dual citizenship. (Maybe the US is Israel’s subsidiary.) What beggars logic is the Biden administration has also sent Hamas many millions of dollars in 'aid.' Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan meant Hamas got US weapons from the Taliban! Even worse, it is said that ukraine has sold arms they received from US to Hamas. To make matters still worse, Biden has sent Iran many billions of dollars! Funding both sides of the war is not logical.

Do not dare employ logic and reason, though—you need only to stay mad! What Hamas did was abhorrent. End of story. Don't look deeper—just do as your told! The war mongers want to leverage what happened and get us into a war against Iran. Israel wants that war too, but they need US help. A nuclear-armed Iran is too much of a threat to them. It can be argued that this may be why the far-right Netanyahu 'allowed' the attack by Hamas.

PEACE:

The Dome of War repels the desire for peace. Any Palestinian that proposed peace will most likely be assassinated. Don't you dare talk about peace! Jihad!

There can be no peace with people who have been so thoroughly brainwashed to hate Israel. To be sure, the Palestinians will soon be crying for another ceasefire to buy them time. They will portray themselves as victims. Critics will urge that Israel 'go easy' on Palestinian civilians while Hamas terrorists shield themselves by hiding in schools and hospitals. (They would use their own children as human shields if they could). The terrorists possess neither honour nor dignity. Only hate. Peace stands little chance with such people.

NEGOTIATION:

This doesn't mean Palestine won't negotiate to buy time. In the year 2000, it looked like Clinton would make a landmark achievement by hammering out a peace deal between Israel and the leader of the Palestinians, Yasser Arafat. I followed the developments and it struck me that Israel was doing its best to settle a deal that favoured Palestine. Peace seemed to be at hand. But no, Arafat changed his mind! He wanted ALL the Jews out of the region. I remember hearing him barking, "Jihad, Jihad, Jihad!" Arafat bought time for the terrorists to regroup and attack again.

EMPATHY:

The War Dome prevents empathy and understanding between the combatants. Both sides paint their enemies as inhuman monsters. It happened in the US when nuclear bombs were dropped on innocent men, women, and children in Japan. If there's one thing that's especially not allowed within the Dome of War, it's empathy. Love is not allowed, only war.

THE LAW:

International Humanitarian Law supposedly regulates conduct during armed conflict. The Geneva Convention established these laws and Israel is expected to follow them. Hamas, of course, does not. They are murderers who have no problem attacking Israeli schools or killing Jewish babies. Israel has every right to destroy Hamas, but that means destroying a great many so-called 'innocent' Palestinians as well. We are already hearing how Israel's strikes should be 'proportional.' This is music to Palestinian ears. It means that they will be allowed to recover, regroup, and strike Israel again and again.

All of this only underscores our Founding Father's very sound advice: Avoid foreign entanglements.

— Ben Garrison

Continue Reading

AntiChristian:
These days people go to hell and came back!

Christians that don't pray for hell themselves are praying hell on earth for the people of Gaza!

May Allah punish Israel for their illegal occupation of Palestinian lands!

May Allah crush, burn and annihilate USA, Biden and all their supporters and propaganda machinery against Palestine and others they oppressed!

And to you Christians supporting the oppressions of Israel because Israel was mentioned in your Bible, your hypocrisy will keep drawing you backwards!

1. Having a large desert means that you'll have a harder time trying to invade the country. Do you think Vietnam and Afghanistan won against the USA because of its troops? No they won mainly due to their geographical location

patriotic007:
Putin supporters are funny in my opinion.....They said Ukrainian president is a comedian and wants to kill is country men and I ask should he just allow his country to be overan and taken over by another country because he wants to satisfy you people's hatred for America's world dominance?.......They said American and NATO are using ukraine to fight Russia and I ask did you see any American soldier or NATO troops on the battle field of ukraine? Is it not the same way America,NATO,UK and Europe are supplying ukraine with weapons and aid that Iran,China, North Korea,South Africa, and many Arab countries are also supplying Russia with weapons,And Aid?.......They said Russia is Dominating American because they invaded their smaller neighbor and I ask how does invading your smaller neighbor translate to being a world power?.......They even compare Palestine to ukraine and I ask was Palestine ever a sovereign nation? Did isreal invade Palestine as a sovereign nation? Didn't UN give Palestine the chance to exist along with isreal as a sovereign nation in 1948 and they rejected it to go to war with isreal which they eventually lost thereby bringing an end to the two state solution and the possibility of a Palestinian state?........ America still remains the world power and I am also not happy with it but it's the reality and I can manage it because I will prefer a lesser evil to be world power....... America values freedom of expression....... America values democracy...... America allows other voices to speak.......If the world power shifts to Russia,China,Iran,North Korea then story will be different because these countries don't practice democracy and they are run by tyrants that even their own citizens don't have freedom of speech, expression,and sometimes movement.......how will I allow such kind of countries dominate world politics?.......the lesser evil( USA,UK,NATO,CANADA, EUROPE,) is manageable for now to keep the world sane for the mean time abeg.

How Emefiele, Nigeria’s powerful central bank chief lost his seat

Godwin Emefiele was the second-longest-serving governor of Nigeria’s central bank, and oversaw its biggest economic downturn.

Lagos, Nigeria – Last Friday Nigeria’s new President Bola Tinubu suspended the country’s Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele. On Saturday, Nigeria’s secret police confirmed the erstwhile top banker has been arrested and is in custody for interrogation.

The charges have not been made public, but a government press release cited “an ongoing investigation of his office and planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy” as reasons for the suspension.

This caps the fall of arguably one of the most powerful men in the Nigerian government.

Appointed in 2014 by then-President Goodluck Johnathan to head the central bank of Africa’s biggest economy, Emefiele became the second-longest-serving governor of the bank after his tenure was renewed by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Buhari’s administration between 2015 and 2023 led Nigeria into two recessions. Inflation hit an 18-year record high of 22.22 percent, and the country’s debt profile soared to more than $150bn, also a record and more than three times the debt left by the previous government, according to the Debt Management Office.

Emefiele served under Buhari for eight years, overseeing Nigeria’s biggest economic downturn.

“He had no vision for the monetary policy of the country. He had risen to the top of his career as a yes-man to those who put him in position,” Cheta Nwanze, lead partner at SBM Intelligence, a geo-political consultancy, told Al Jazeera.

‘Emperor Meffy’
By convention, central bank governors operate in the shadows, maintaining a distance from politics. But analysts say Emefiele played an outsized role in both politics and the economy as the governor of the apex bank.

“The phrase I will use to characterise the CBN [Central Bank of Nigeria] in this period is all-powerful,” said Michael Famoroti, the head of intelligence at business and economic insights firm Stears and former chief economist at Vetiva Capital. “For the first time in Nigeria’s economic history, we have a central bank that was essentially the most powerful form of economic authority in the country … That [power] is normally between the Ministry of Finance, the budget office or the presidential economic council.”

But Nigeria’s economic fortunes would put the country on a precipice, and Emefiele’s status would become stratospheric.

In 2015, as foreign reserves took a hit, the CBN placed 41 items including staple commodities like rice, cement and clothes on foreign exchange restriction. The idea was not only to encourage local production of these products, but also to prevent the importers of these commodities from accessing the increasingly scarce United States dollars in the official market.



But the move backfired as it precipitated a black market for US dollars and multiple exchange rates, which analysts say has wrecked the naira and pushed ordinary Nigerians to buy the greenback at higher rates while the sellers enjoy the arbitrage.

“This was a critical point. There was so much pressure on the system and [the black market] started operating as a separate market with a life of its own,” said Wilson Erumebor, senior economist at Nigeria Economic Summit Group.

To arrest the slump of the naira, Emefiele took several unorthodox steps. He ordered the cutting of trees where black market vendors worked in the capital; placed a ban on cryptocurrency trading, a burgeoning alternative initiative popular among young people hedging their money against rising inflation; and banned a website that reported the value of the dollar in the black market, among several other measures.

CBN’s weekly circulars over the years became prominent among Nigerians as more items were banned or tighter restrictions were imposed on financial transactions, earning him the governor the moniker “Emperor Meffy”, a corruption of his name.

“People were not sure of what the policy direction would be on the exchange rate. What is the next policy that would come out tomorrow? What will be banned tomorrow? All of those inconsistencies created panic in the market and people started moving to the unofficial market,” Erumebor said.

Inflation kept rising year after year and with the naira losing value, statistics show Nigerians became poorer. Some 133 million of the country’s 220 million people now live in multidimensional poverty – where they are not just monetarily poor, but also have less access to education and basic infrastructure services, according to a 2022 report from the National Bureau of Statistics.

External factors like the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in ukraine have no doubt impacted the economy and contributed to inflation, but experts argue that the direction of the monetary policies from the central bank also led inflation to rise from single-digit increases (between 6 percent and 9 percent in 2014) to permanent double-digit increases of 22 percent and higher so far this year.

‘Destruction of the independence of the central bank’
Emefiele’s CBN lent the government 22.7 trillion naira ($49bn) under the Ways and Means Advances clause that can be activated only if the government has a temporary revenue deficiency. The move led local media to dub the apex bank as a “printing press” for the government.



Moreover, the CBN Act only allowed for a loan of five percent of the government’s previous year’s revenue, but the bank illegally exceeded the benchmark every year, sometimes up to 30 percent. This contributed to inflation, experts say.

At the end of President Buhari’s tenure, the country’s parliament changed the law to allow the loan to the government to be up to 15 percent and converted the loan into a 40-year bond.

“When we cut things down to the basic level, the central bank has been funding the government for the last couple of years to the point that without that central bank financing the government would not have been able to meet its liabilities,” said Stears’s Famoroti.

But Emefiele’s reputation would go beyond his monetary policies. As Nigeria’s economy hit new lows in the past six years, it became difficult to separate Emefiele from politics as he became more prominent.

When thousands of youth took to the streets to protest police brutality in October 2020, the central bank ordered the freezing of the bank accounts of select protest leaders without a court order.

But the arc of Emefiele’s ambition would lead to a squashed, unprecedented attempt for the presidency in May 2022 in contravention of the country’s constitution, which states that a central bank governor, to protect the independence of the central bank, cannot participate in partisan politics.

“I think that the real disaster of Emefiele was not necessarily in monetary policy, but in the destruction of the independence of the central bank,” said SMB Intelligence’s Nwanze. “In the foreseeable future, the office will be a political tool and that really is Emefiele’s legacy.”

His biggest undoing turned out to be a widely criticised currency redesign.

Earlier this year, the governor changed the design of the higher denominations in the build-up to the general elections, invalidating the old currency within a period of six weeks. The official reasons were to bring excess cash back into the banking system and institute a cashless system in line with the introduction of the ill-fated eNaira, its digital currency, in 2021.

“The argument was not really clear. The complaint was that too much was outside the banking system. But why should we be so worried that we have cash outside the banking system when cash in circulation against the GDP [gross domestic product] appears to be the lowest when compared with other countries that have made so much progress with cashless policies?” Erumebor asked.

With elections around the corner, the currency redesign was deemed political. Government officials said the move would void stockpiles of money believed to be in the custody of politicians to be used to sway voters.

The plan backfired and led to a naira black market. The policy was later suspended, but not before it had spurred crises within the banking system. According to an SBM report, the cashless policy had a widespread impact as people and businesses could not access cash coupled with several internet downtimes.

Prices of goods and services shot up in urban centres between December 2022, when the policy kicked in, and the time of national elections in March 2023. The consequences were especially severe in rural areas, where people without access to banks could not buy basic items.

With Emefiele suspended and an acting governor appointed in his stead, there are hopes that the apex bank charts a new course.

“I would expect that going forward in this new administration, we see things go a little bit back to normal,” Famoroti said. “I don’t expect a full reversion, but I would be surprised [if] whoever comes after [Emefiele] will wield the same sort of power and influence over the economy as he has done over the last four to six years because that was an aberration.”

Tryitnow:
Our today's games are already here;

*ukraine Premier League
1. LNZ Cherkary Vs Karpaty Lviv (Un 3.5) 12pm
2. MFC Metalurh Vs Fc Epitsentr (Un 3.5) 12pm

*Vietnam V League
3. Ha Noi Vs SHB Da Nang (Home win) 1:15pm

*Bulgaria Second Professional League
4. Fc Krumovgrad Vs Etar Veliko (Un 3.5) 1:30pm

*Azerbaijan Premier League
5. Sabah Vs Zira (Ov 1.5) 1:30pm
6. Shamakhi Vs Qabala (Un 3.5) 1:30pm
7. Turan Vs Sabail (Ov 1.5) 1:30pm
8. Obolon' Kyiv Vs Polissya (Un 3.5) 3pm

*Uzbekistan Super League
9. Bunyodkor Vs Navbahor (Ov 1.5) 3:30pm

*Latvia Virsliga
10. Valmiera Vs BFC Daugavpils (Un 3.5) 3:30pm

*Armenia Premier League
11. Ararat-Armenia Vs Van (Home win) 1:45pm
12. Urartu Vs BKMA (Un 3.5) 4pm

*Ethiopia Premier League
13. Wolkite City Vs Dire Dawa (Ov 1.5) 4pm

*Italy Serie A
14. Roma Vs Salernitana (Un 3.5) 5:30pm
15. Empoli Vs Juventus (Ov 1.5) 7:45pm

Remember; 2 odd is the target

Good luck Guys!!!

-Maradona, Bebeto, Xavi, Messi and Pogba swaggered into an elite group
-Saviola and Haaland registered outrageous goalscoring statistics
-An almighty crowd and ‘The Miracle of Dammam’ also made headlines

127,000
A mind-blowing 127,000 spectators watched the 1991 final between hosts Portugal and Brazil – a record crowd for a FIFA U-20 World Cup™ game. Sixteen future senior internationals featured at the Estadio da Luz including Manuel Rui Costa, Luis Figo, Joao Pinto, Roberto Carlos, Paulo Nunes and Giovane Elber. Carlos Queiroz’s Portugal ultimately won on penalties to make it back-to-back titles.

The best-attended U-20 World Cup based on a spectators-per-game ratio was Mexico 1983, where an average crowd of 36,099 turned out to watch the likes of Bebeto, Dunga, Paul McStay, Toni Polster, Oleg Protasov, Tab Ramos and Marco van Basten.

15
Fifteen winners of this youth tournament have gone on to conquer the FIFA World Cup™: Diego Maradona (won the U-20 World Cup in 1979), Bebeto, Dunga, Jorginho (1983), Muller, Taffarel (1985), Dida (1993), Iker Casillas, Carlos Marchena, Xavi (1999), Lionel Messi (2005), Angel Di Maria (2007), Alphonse Areola, Paul Pogba, Florian Thauvin and Samuel Umtiti (2013).

14
Monday Odiaka boasts the fastest goal in U-20 World Cup history, having scored for Nigeria against Canada after only 14 seconds in 1985. His compatriot, John Owoeri, netted the second-quickest in 2005, four seconds shy of the record.

13
Jason Byrne remains the youngest player in U-20 World Cup history, having represented Republic of Ireland against Korea Republic in 1991 at the age of 13 years and three months. Freddy Adu, in second, was 14 years and six months when he appeared for USA against Germany in 2003.

The American is one of two males to play in three editions of the tournament (2003, 2005, 2007) along with Saudi Arabian Abdulrahman Al Roomi (1985, 1987, 1989).

12
Argentina and Brazil share the record for the most consecutive victories. Bebeto, Dunga, Geovani, Jorginho, Muller, Silas, Taffarel and Cesar Sampaio helped A Seleção register 12 straight wins between 1983 and ’87 – a figure La Albiceleste equalled thanks to the likes of Maxi Rodriguez, Andres D’Alessandro, Leandro Romagnoli, Javier Saviola, Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez from 2001 to 2003.

11
Argentina’s Javier Saviola holds the record for most goals in one edition: 11 in 2001. Adailton hit a next-best 10 for Brazil in 1997. At those 2001 finals, Saviola’s haul helped Argentina score 27 times – a total that has never been matched.

9
Erling Haaland astonishingly scored nine times – more than any player has ever scored in a FIFA-competition match – against Honduras in 2019. It helped Norway win 12-0 and register the biggest victory in U-20 World Cup history, though it was insufficient to save the Scandinavians from group-stage elimination.

Brazil’s 10-0 reverse of Belgium in the last 16 in 1997 – one inspired by future Fenerbahce legend Alex – is the tournament’s second-biggest win.

8
Les Scheinflug led Australia at eight editions of the tournament. The man with the second-most participations as coach is Chus Pereda, who was in charge of Spain at five. For his part, Jose Pekerman returned with a winner’s medal from three of the four U-20 World Cups to which he took Argentina

7
Seven successive U-20 World Cups have now kicked off without the tournament's reigning champions. ukraine, the last winners in 2019, failed to qualify for Argentina 2023, following in the footsteps of England in 2019, Serbia in 2017, France in 2015, Brazil in 2013, Ghana in 2011 and Argentina in 2009.

4
Yuri Sivuha astonishingly saved more penalties during shootouts at Tunisia 1977 than he played minutes during the tournament (three). Thirty-seven years before Louis van Gaal sent on Tim Krul, shortly before the Netherlands and Costa Rica went to penalties in the Brazil 2014 quarter-finals, Sergei Mosyagin ushered his reserve goalkeeper from the bench after 119 minutes of Soviet Union’s semi-final against Uruguay.

Sivuha duly repelled two spot-kicks to clinch Soviet Union a 4-3 shootout victory. Then, in the final, after his coach had repeated the same tactic two minutes before the end of extra-time, Sivuha saved two penalties – and scored himself – to inspire a 9-8 shootout victory and the title.

4
Nigeria incredibly reversed a four-goal deficit to eliminate Soviet Union in the Saudi Arabia 1989 quarter-finals. No other team has rallied from being more than three goals down to avoid defeat in a U-20 World Cup game. Oleg Salenko and Co led 4-0 with half-an-hour remaining, but four goals in 21 minutes sent the contest to extra-time. The Nigerians ultimately prevailed on penalties in a tie known as ‘The Miracle of Dammam’.

0
Not one foreign coach has won the U-20 World Cup. Only two have reached the final: Brazilian Evaristo de Macedo’s Qatar side lost to West Germany in 1981, before Frenchman Philippe Troussier’s Japan team fell to Spain in 1999.