Iran and Israel targeted each other with missiles and airstrikes early on Saturday after Israel launched its biggest-ever air offensive against its longtime foe in a bid to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

Air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel's two largest cities, sending residents rushing into shelters as successive waves of Iranian missiles streaked across the skies. The military said its air defence systems were operating.

"In the last hour, dozens of missiles have been launched at the state of Israel from Iran, some of which were intercepted," the Israeli military said.

It said rescue teams were working at a number of locations across the country where fallen projectiles were reported, without commenting on casualties.

In Iran, several explosions were heard in the capital Tehran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

The Fars news agency said two projectiles hit Tehran's Mehrabad airport, and Iranian media said flames were reported there. Close to key Iranian leadership sites, the airport hosts an air force base with fighter jets and transport aircraft.

Israeli media said a suspected missile came down in Tel Aviv, and a Reuters witness heard a loud boom in Jerusalem. It was unclear whether Iranian strikes or Israeli defensive measures were behind the activity.

The Fars news agency said Tehran launched waves of airstrikes on Saturday after two salvos on Friday night. One of the waves targeted Tel Aviv before dawn on Saturday, with explosions heard in the capital and Jerusalem, witnesses said.

Those were in response to Israel's attacks on Iran early on Friday against commanders, nuclear scientists, military targets and nuclear sites. Iran denies that its uranium enrichment activities are part of a secret weapons programme.

In central Tel Aviv, a high-rise building was hit, damaging the lower third of the structure in a densely populated urban area. An apartment block in nearby Ramat Gan was destroyed.

Israel's ambulance service said 34 people were injured on Friday night in the Tel Aviv area, most with minor injuries. Police later said one person had died.

The U.S. military helped shoot down Iranian missiles headed for Israel on Friday, two U.S. officials said. Israel's military said Iran fired fewer than 100 missiles on Friday and that most were intercepted or fell short. Several buildings in and around Tel Aviv were hit.

The Israeli strikes on Iran throughout the day and the Iranian retaliation raised fears of a broader regional conflagration, although Iran's allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been decimated by Israel.

TRUMP SAYS: NOT TOO LATE

Iran's state news agency IRNA said Tehran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel after Israel blasted Iran's huge Natanz underground nuclear site and killed its top military commanders. Iran says its nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes.

Israeli officials said it may be some time before the extent of damage at Natanz was clear. Western countries have long accused Iran of refining uranium there to levels suitable for a bomb rather than civilian use.

The above-ground pilot enrichment plant at Natanz has been destroyed, U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council on Friday. He said the U.N. was still gathering information about Israeli attacks on two other facilities, the Fordow fuel enrichment plant and at Isfahan.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Israel of starting a war. A senior Iranian official said nowhere in Israel would be safe and revenge would be painful.

Iran's U.N. envoy Amir Saeid Iravani said 78 people, including senior military officials, were killed in Israel's strikes on Iran and more than 320 people were wounded, most of them civilians.

He accused the U.S. of being complicit in the attacks and said it shared full responsibility for the consequences.

Israel's U.N. envoy Danny Danon said intelligence had confirmed that within days Iran would have produced enough fissile material for multiple bombs. He called Israel's operation "an act of national preservation."

Iran has long insisted its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. The U.N. nuclear watchdog concluded this week that it was in violation of its obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty.

U.S. President Donald Trump said it was not too late for Tehran to halt the Israeli bombing campaign by reaching a deal on its nuclear programme.

Tehran had been engaged in talks with the Trump administration on a deal to curb its nuclear programme to replace one that Trump abandoned in 2018. Tehran rejected the last U.S. offer.

The talks are due to resume in Oman on Sunday but Iran signalled it might not join.

"The other side (the U.S.) acted in a way that makes dialogue meaningless," Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday. "You cannot claim to negotiate and at the same time divide work by allowing the Zionist regime (Israel) to target Iran's territory."

Reuters

Ogoni activists on Friday rejected a posthumous pardon for nine members executed three decades ago by a military dictatorship, criticising President Bola Tinubu's move as inadequate and perpetuating injustice.

To commemorate Nigeria's Democracy Day on June 12, Tinubu pardoned the men, known as the "Ogoni Nine", including writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, who were hanged after being tried by a military tribunal for their protests against Shell's pollution in the oil-rich Niger Delta, which is home to the Ogoni ethnic group.

The executions sparked international condemnation against Nigeria's then-military junta and continue to be a contentious issue in the nation's history.

"You cannot pardon someone that has not committed an offense; we are demanding total exoneration," said Celestine Akpobari, coordinator of the Ogoni Solidarity Forum.

"To say 'pardon', I think it is insulting. If there is any group who needs pardon, it is the Nigerian government that has committed so much crime against the Ogoni people," he told Reuters.

Tinubu's spokesperson rejected such criticism.

"The president has done what is normal. They can make an argument for exoneration and the president will look into it," Bayo Onanuga told Reuters.

Shell, which halted oil drilling in the area in the early 1990s and later sold its assets there, has denied any responsibility or wrongdoing.

Tinubu's efforts to resume oil drilling in Ogoniland have drawn fresh criticism from environmental activists.

Alagao Morris, deputy executive director of the Environmental Defenders Network, an interest group in the Niger Delta, said the pardon appeared to be an attempt to mollify the Ogoni people in the face of the region's continued environmental devastation.

"The pollution that ought to be addressed has not been addressed," Morris said. He said the issue of oil drilling should be decided by the Ogoni people, but the complete exoneration of Saro-Wiwa and other executed activists should come first.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, relies on oil for more than 90% of export earnings and around two-thirds of government earnings, exposing its economy to global price shocks.

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian air defenses down Neptune missile, 1,582 Ukrainian drones in past week

Russian air defense forces shot down a Neptune missile, 18 JDAM bombs, nine HIMARS rockets and 1,582 Ukrainian UAVs over the week, the Defense Ministry said.

"In the past week, air defense forces shot down a Neptune long-range guided missile, 18 JDAM guided aerial bombs and nine US-made HIMARS rockets, as well as 1,582 fixed-wing drones," the ministry said.

Russian troops also liberated five settlements in the Donetsk People's Republic and one in the Sumy Region over the past seven days, the Defense Ministry added.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Residents weigh their chances as Russian troops approach Ukrainian city

Vladyslav Solomko, a 29-year-old French language tutor, is having trouble convincing his parents it would be better not to be in their home in Sumy if rapidly-advancing Russian forces capture the northeastern Ukrainian city.

"I keep asking them to leave," Solomko said on Friday, standing in front of a concrete air raid shelter that had been installed in the street to protect people from Russian drone and missile attacks that have grown in intensity.

For now, he said, his parents are not budging. But he added: "If the situation gets worse, there is no discussion: we will have to leave."

Sumy, a city of around 250,000 people, is located just 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the border with Russia. It was briefly encircled by Russian forces at the start of 2022 when they launched their full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russian forces soon pulled out and since then, despite its proximity to the border, Sumy has been relatively quiet, as the focus of the Russian fighting has been further east and south in areas Moscow claims as its own without having full control.

However, that changed earlier this year when Russian forces pushed across the Ukraine-Russian border. Since the start of June, their advance has accelerated. Displaced peoplefrom outlying villages have been given refuge in public buildings.

The Russian advance also means the city is now within range of their artillery. On June 3, four people were killed and nearly 30 were injured when a Russian short-range battlefield rocket landed in the centre of Sumy.

Olha Kalchenko, a 29-year-old on maternity leave from her job as an accountant, said the question of whether to stay or leave was now a major topic of debate among her social circle.

"It is a bit scary," she said as she pushed her seven-month-old daughter, Oleksandra, in a stroller.

"Yes, there are thoughts about leaving but there is nowhere to go, so we stay here." she said.

"As long as they (Russian troops) are still a bit further away, it is still ok to live here. But if they get closer we will start thinking and planning to leave, that's for sure. At least me and the baby."

But another resident, Sergiy Petrakov, 63, said he would stay put in Sumy, even if Russian forces reached the city limits.

He said he trusted Ukraine's armed forces to push back the Russian advance, and would be willing to help build barricades and man checkpoints, adding: "We shall overcome, I think."

Reuters

I've just watched a four-minute video clip of Alex Otti, the Abia State Governor, commissioning a humongous haul of 14 road projects in one day in Aba, the major commercial hub in the state. My interest was not in the ceremonial cutting of tapes and ribbons at every turn during the exercise. More than that, I was swayed by the bonding, the connectivity of Otti with regular folks, his kinsmen and women. As Otti walked the streets of the famous Enyimba City, his people, evidently overwhelmed by the good works of their leader, wanted to touch him, to hug him, to take photographs with him. Whenever his excited constituents tried to get close to him just to touch him, they were, expectedly restrained by the protective wall around Otti. On each such occasion, Otti overruled his aides, allowing such people reach and embrace him. There was this particular point in the video clip under review, where a woman trader wanted to gift Otti a pack of bottled water, most probably in her appreciation of Otti's endeavours.

The security perimeter around Otti tried to kick the pack aside and block her from accessing the Governor. He read the situation, slowed down and even asked that the allowed near him and indeed be photographed with him. He equally directed that her gift of water be thankfully received and taken to his car. The 14 roads which Otti opened up for public use on that occasion are part of a bigger plan for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of 55 roads across Abia State. Otti is an Aba boy like the cerebral doyen of the national  parliament, Enyinnaya Abaribe, whose book titled *Made in Aba* released in 2021, underscores how deeply the lionised city impacted his makeup. Otti knows how much a good network of roads can make life better and business easier for his distinctively industrious people. A functional Aba will accelerate productivity in the city and mitigate unemployment in a commercial nexus which prides itself a rival to Onitsha and Nnewi both in Anambra State. Both towns are renowned for commerce and manufacturing.

Not one of the 14 roads which Governor Otti recently commissioned, nor any of the 44 others which are at various stages of completion, has been renamed after him. Some of them indeed still bear their colonial designations, a constant reminder of our history and antecedents. In Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), there was pomp and pageantry, Wednesday June 10, 2025, as President Bola Tinubu "commissioned" the International Conference Centre, (ICC), built and activated by the administration of former military President Ibrahim Babangida, 34 years back, in 1991. Nigeria was bestowed, at very short notice, the hosting rights of the Summit of the Organisation of African Unity, (OAU), as it was then referred to. Abuja spontaneously became a massive construction site within the period under consideration.

As the ICC was being readied, so were accommodation facilities built across various districts in Abuja, to house delegates to the OAU Summit. Till date, several residential complexes, mostly blocks of flats across Abuja are known by the name OAU Quarters, even though many residents of the various mini- OAU housing estates barely know the etymology of their present abodes. Babangida "stepped aside" in August 1993. Ernest Shonekan; Sani Abacha; Abdulsalami Abubakar; Olusegun Obasanjo; Umaru Yar'Adua; Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari have all come after him as Head of Interim National Government, (ING); military Heads of State and civilian Presidents. None of them christened the ICC or any other national asset for that matter, after himself. A standard, stately edifice, the ICC has remained the Numero Uno events destination in Abuja over the years. It has serially hosted world class dignitaries and functions across time and space. As serving President of the United States, the charismatic Bill Clinton was hosted to a state banquet at ICC in 2000. In similar fashion, Queen Elizabeth II of England topped the bill at the 2003 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, (CHOGM), hosted by President Olusegun Obasanjo. A record 51 out of 54 Heads of State of member countries of the Commonwealth attended the four-day event. Such is how treasured, how valued this national monument is.

That Tuesday June 10, 2025, an excitable Nyesom Wike, Tinubu’s Minister of FCTA, renamed the International Conference Centre, (ICC), the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre. The edifice which Babangida built from the preliminary stages of earthworks for N240 million in 1991, was whitewashed for re-inauguration at a whooping *N39 Billion, in 2024. Typically, there was no competitive bidding. It was a direct award to a concern preferred by the FCT Minister. The ICC, by the way is the eighth monument, known to me, thus far christened after Tinubu within his first two years in office. Before it were the: Tinubu International Airport, Minna, Niger State; Tinubu Polytechnic, Gwarimpa, Abuja and Tinubu National Assembly Library, Abuja. There are also the Tinubu Immigrations Technology Building, Airport Road, Abuja; the Tinubu Barracks, Asokoro, Abuja; the Tinubu Way, (formerly Southern Parkway), Abuja, and also the Bola Tinubu Centre for Islamic Affairs, Kaduna, built by the Department of State Services, (DSS).

Tinubu seems to be lapping up blandishment, magnification and laudation as they coalesce towards his eventual deification. This is a path potentially laden with veritable landmines. We are never bound to accept and adopt every souvenir or memorabilia thrust at us. We can always ask our doctors questions about medications prescribed for us. Let's indulge Wike that he probably doesn't know the history of ICC. Tinubu does. He was Senator in 1992 and functioned alongside his colleagues, from the very same ICC, in Abuja, in the absence of a purpose-built parliamentary complex. I would, if I were Tinubu, have thanked Wike for his thoughtful gesture. I would have reminisced over Nigeria's political evolution and reminded him that Babangida in his time, it was, who conceived and erected the mega-structure which sits regally at the bosom of Abuja today. I would have enlightened Wike that just a few months ago, Babangida stepped forward to take responsibility for the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election which produced MKO Abiola as President.

I would have drawn Wike's attention to the fact that Babangida will be 84 on Sunday August 17, 2025. It would not be out of place to honour him with the ribbons and flowers of the ICC which was indeed his baby. Like or loathe him, Babangida has several positives against his eight year regime, from August 27, 1985 to August 26, 1993. He ensured the physical, effective relocation of Nigeria's seat of government from Lagos to Abuja, in 1991. This was 15 years after Abuja was so proclaimed by General Murtala Mohammed, in February 1976, just days before his assassination. He built the eyeful, sprawling State House, Abuja, a tourist monument in its own right. To enhance better governance and developmental coverage of the country, Babangida's government created Akwa Ibom and Katsina states in 1987, taking the number of states in the country from 19 to 21. On the sixth anniversary of his administration August 27, 1991, Babangida established an additional nine states, including Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Delta, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kogi, Osun and Yobe, which brought the number of states in Nigeria to 30.

Babangida established the Federal Road Safety Corps, (FRSC), to instil discipline on our highways and curb carnage, and built the ambitious Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos, to ease traffic in the water-constrained state. He continued Nigeria's anti-apartheid campaign against White domination in South Africa, despite being a military leader. Under him, Nigeria had very strong foreign affairs profile in the eyes of the international community under his leadership. The Technical Aid Corps Scheme, (TACS), under which auspices Nigeria sent teachers and professionals to needy African and Caribbean countries, was initiated under Babangida. Nigeria intervened in troubled West African countries from possible dismemberment arising from civil strife, under Babangida's watch. Nigeria initiated, led and substantially funded a multinational military peacekeeping corps under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States, (ECOWAS), under him. We can go on.

Interactions between the State House and various states, ministries, departments and agencies, (MDAs) ahead of every programme to be attended by the President, must be painstaking, detailed and explicit. Pleasant "ambushes," detours away from agreed runs of events, and surprises of any kind are totally intolerable. This is the way it was in our time between 1999 and 2007. You cannot come to a high profile public event, especially the types Wike loves to telecast real-time on the network services of various television stations, to embarrass the President with such proclamations, in the name of springing surprises. Except of course if Tinubu himself is sucked into such ego-massaging and vainglorious labelling. Except if the President is indifferent to order and conformity, consisting with extant rules and regulations. Or indeed, the ultimate verdict of history.

Tinubu will do well to be very circumspect about the manner he consents to every other national treasure or government facility being named or renamed after him. He needs to rein in his officials so they can guide him aright. They shouldn't just be follow follow officials, to appropriate a phrase from the immutable lyrics of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. They shouldn't be content with just floating around as members of the President’s ring of "principal officers," without adding desired value. Once it becomes the vogue that state governments and government departments catch the bug, it will become a ridiculously unending practice, inimical to the person and office of the President. For context, a famous rubbish dump on the Aba- Port Harcourt expressway was named after a former Governor of the state who craved adulation at every opportunity. At the rate things are unravelling courtrooms; prison blocks; rehabilitation centres for substance indulgents; psychiatric hospitals, and similar institutions may hereafter don  Tinubu-esque appellations. Let's hope Tinubu wouldn't wake up one day only to discover that he has become the President of the Federal Republic of Bola Tinubu!

Not even Field Marshal Idi Amin Dada of Uganda* pulled off such a stunt.

Rosalio Culit, also known as Datu Kamandag among his fellow Manobo tribe members in Surigao del Norte, Mindanao, the Philippine, is a controversial healer who uses viper venom to treat various ailments. He claims that he only discovered the curative properties of snake venom by accident, after being bitten by one of his pet pit vipers many years ago. At the time, he was battling several illnesses, but just days after being bitten by the snake, he felt a lot better, so he deduced that the bite had cured him. He has been preaching the benefits of the North Philippine temple pit viper (Tropidolaemus subannulatus) venom ever since, and has made a name for himself as a snake healer.

Culit recently went viral after being featured in an RT video showcasing his unusual healing process, but he has been selling snake bites to people looking for a miraculous cure for over a decade now. In 2014, GMA Networkwrote about the Manobo chieftain and his menagerie of pit vipers, many of which roamed freely around his house. Even back then, he had frequent patients who asked to be bitten by his pets to cure various conditions, including heart problems or urinary tract infections. The snake healer reportedly also prescribes patients venom-infused fermented wine that he prepares himself in large jars, but despite his claims, experts say that there is no evidence of Tropidolaemus subannulatus venom having curative properties. In fact, it could prove dangerous, especially for people who are allergic to it. Jovy Tero, Culit’s daughter, told RT that the North Philippine temple pit viper is a “safe snake” whose venom isn’t deadly and doesn’t cause the flesh around the bite to rot. That’s because the snake’s venom is primarily neurotoxic, with a much smaller percentage of hemotoxic venom peptides. The snake’s bite is not known to be fatal, but calling it safe is a bit of an exaggeration.

Oddity Central

Oil prices surged more than 9% on Friday, hitting their highest in almost five months after Israel struck Iran, dramatically escalating tensions in the Middle East and raising worries about disrupted oil supplies.

Brent crude futures jumped $6.29, or 9.07%, to $75.65 a barrel by 0315 GMT after hitting an intraday high of $78.50, the highest since January 27. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up $6.43, or 9.45%, at $74.47 a barrel after hitting a high of $77.62, the loftiest since January 21.

Friday's gains were the largest intraday moves for both contracts since 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, causing energy prices to spike.

Israel said it targeted Iran's nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders on Friday at the start of what it warned would be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon.

"This has elevated geopolitical uncertainty significantly and requires the oil market to price in a larger risk premium for any potential supply disruptions," ING analysts led by Warren Patterson said in a note.

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Several oil traders in Singapore said it was still too early to say if the strike will affect Middle East oil shipments as it will depend on how Iran retaliates and if the U.S. will intervene.

"It's too early to tell but I think the market is worried about shutting off of the Strait of Hormuz," one of the traders said.

MST Marquee senior energy analyst Saul Kavonic said the conflict would need to escalate to the point of Iranian retaliation on oil infrastructure in the region before oil supply is materially impacted.

He added that Iran could hinder up to 20 million barrels per day of oil supply via attacks on infrastructure or limiting passage through the Strait of Hormuz, in an extreme scenario.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel will receive "harsh punishment" following Friday's attack that he said killed several military commanders.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday called Israel's strikes against Iran a "unilateral action" and said Washington was not involved while also urging Tehran not to target U.S. interests or personnel in the region.

"Iran has announced an emergency and is preparing to retaliate, which raises the risk of not just disruptions but of contagion in other neighbouring oil producing nations too," said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova.

"Although Trump has shown reluctance to participate, U.S. involvement could further raise concerns."

In other markets, stocks dived in early Asian trade, led by a selloff in U.S. futures, while investors scurried to safe havens such as gold and the Swiss franc.

Reuters