UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has issued an urgent appeal to governments worldwide to take action in light of the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

“Everyone in government needs to wake up to what is happening in Gaza.

“All those with influence must exert maximum pressure on Israel and Hamas, to put an end to this unbearable suffering,” Türk said at the opening of the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva on Monday.

He said that a lasting peace is only possible through a two-state solution, with Gaza forming part of a future Palestinian state.

Türk had delivered sharp criticism of Israel’s military campaign against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, saying its means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians.

He condemned what he described as “disturbing, dehumanising rhetoric” by Israeli officials and criticised the ongoing blockade of UN humanitarian aid deliveries, which has been in place since March.

He also called for an investigation into deaths linked to food distribution efforts coordinated through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial initiative backed by Israel and the United States.

Civilians are often forced to walk miles through active conflict zones to reach the limited number of GHF aid center’s, dozens have been killed in the process. (dpa/NAN)

An economist, Dr Muda Yusuf, says the outbreak of war between Israel and Iran portends a combination of risks and upsides for the Nigerian economy, amidst the challenges of an already floundering global economy.Yusuf, Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), made this known on Sunday in Lagos in a statement.

He noted that economies around the world currently grappled with elevated geopolitical tension triggered by the Russian Ukraine war and now the Israel -Hamas conflict. The expert said that energy cost escalation, high interest rate implications and money supply growth were the risks of the conflict.He noted that a major driver of energy prices in Nigeria was the global crude oil price and with the outbreak of the Israeli-Iranian war, crude oil prices surged to 75 dollars per barrel from 65 dollars per barrel a week before.“This is a 15 per cent jump within days and has obvious implications for petroleum product prices globally.“Economies around the world; Nigeria inclusive, would witness a surge in the price of petrol, diesel, jet fuel, gas and related products in the near term.“This would have far reaching implications for many economies and businesses,” he said.Yusuf added that there was a risk of high monetary growth with an increase in revenue from the oil sector.He noted that money supply increased in the Nigerian economy as oil revenue increases because of the monetisation of oil receipts.According to him, this can pose additional inflation risk and exchange rate depreciation risk.The economist noted that this might also provoke tighter monetary policy stance, which could result in difficult credit conditions for businesses.Yusuf, however, said the historically positive correlation between crude oil prices, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, and stock market performance.He said the outlook for the Nigerian stock market was therefore likely to be positive in the current context.As upsides for the Nigerian economy, Yusuf asserted that should the current conflict persisted and escalated, the surge in crude oil price would impact foreign exchange earnings with oil being the biggest earner for the country.“This would even be more impactful if output performance improves.“Crude oil price has surged to $75 per which is about 15 per cent higher than before the outbreak of the Israeli–Iran conflict.“This development would also positively impact the country’s foreign reserves, ensure better foreign exchange liquidity and ultimately the stability of the naira exchange rate,” he said.Yusuf added that the development would also positively impact the country’s revenue as the oil sector currently accounted for about 50 per cent of government revenue.According to him, an improvement in crude oil price would therefore have a significant impact on government revenue.He added that improvement in revenue would positively impact fiscal consolidation and hopefully moderate the growth of the fiscal deficit.“Investments in the oil and gas sector would post better returns if the conflict persists.“High oil price is good news for upstream oil and gas investors,” Yusuf said. (NAN)

 U.S. President Donald Trump has called on Iran to conclude an agreement with Washington on its controversial nuclear programme, amid a series of Israeli strikes on nuclear facilities and military leaders.

“There is still time to make this slaughter come to an end,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Friday.

“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire,” Trump continued.

“JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”

Observers consider it unlikely that Iran’s leadership would opt for a diplomatic approach in light of the Israeli attacks.

Israeli media reported that Tehran had retaliated with an attack involving about 100 drones, all of which were shot down.

“I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal,” Trump wrote.

“The U.S. makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come and they know how to use it,” Trump wrote. (dpa/NAN)