By Francesca Hangeior

Senior US and Israeli officials will meet in early December to address American concerns over harm to civilians caused by military operations in Gaza, the State Department said Tuesday.

The United States has regularly voiced concerns to key ally Israel over American-supplied weapons being used in strikes that have killed civilians in the Gaza Strip.

However, it has only once exercised the ultimate US leverage — holding some of the billions of dollars in military aid to Israel.

The State Department has also opened several investigations into Israeli strikes using US-supplied weapons that killed Gaza civilians. But no conclusions have been made public, and US military aid has continued to flow.

The December meeting will be the first of a new channel designed to “inform the ongoing work that the State Department has to do to make assessments about the use of US-provided weapons,” spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Israel’s use of the weapons would breach US law if it were determined the country had deliberately targeted and killed civilians, and US authorities are looking at specific instances to see whether that is the case.

“There are a number of incidents that we have had questions about and we’ve had concerns about,” Miller said.

He added that “we set up this new channel because we wanted to formalize a mechanism for getting answers to some of these questions.”

Miller declined to specify where the meeting would take place.

The Biden administration has long called for such a channel, which was included in a letter Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent to Israel in mid-October.

The letter additionally gave Israel a month to allow more assistance into Gaza or face cutoffs of some US weapons.

By Francesca Hangeior

BBNaijaAllStar, Venita Akpofure, told Entertainment Jamboree that her fmr bf, Adekunle Olapade, lyi to her just to get her att£nti0n.

According to Venita, she said, while we were in Biggies House as Housemates in the Big Brother Naija show, a lot of discussions took place between us. Adekunle agreed to be with me and be mine forever, despite that he knows about me having two daughters.

Little did I know he lied. He wanted to use me as a strategy to win the show. But when his plans fail£d and he was ev!cted from the show, he sudd£nly turned his back at me. He makes me look fool and disapp0inted.

As we speak, not a single word from him as per was his reason why our discussions didn’t work out. Instead he distance himself far away from me. Discussing reationship with him was the worst conversation I ever embarked on, and regrrtted it with my full chest.

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has officially started exporting refined petroleum products tot neighbouring West African nations, a move that could reshape the regional fuel market.
A Bloomberg report on Tuesday, referencing data from Vortexa, Kpler, Precise Intelligence, and other sources, revealed that a tanker recently transported a shipment of gasoline from the Dangote Refinery to waters near Togo.

LgosTimes Nigeria reports that this development aligns with earlier remarks by Chairman of Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, who announced plans for Ghana to source petroleum products from the Dangote Refinery.

Speaking at the OTL Africa Downstream Oil Conference in Lagos, Abdul-Hamid explained that importing fuel from Nigeria instead of Europe could save Ghana up to $400 million monthly and reduce freight costs, which would, in turn, lower the prices of goods and services.

“If the refinery reaches 650,000bpd a day capacity, all that volume cannot be consumed by Nigeria alone, so instead of us importing as we do right now from Rotterdam, it will be much easier for us to import from Nigeria and I believe that will bring down our prices,” Abdul-Hamid noted.

Similarly, The PUNCH recently reported that the refinery is gearing up to export fuel to other African countries, including South Africa, Angola, and Namibia.

Negotiations are also underway with Niger Republic, Chad, Burkina Faso, and the Central African Republic.

A source close to the refinery disclosed that talks with several countries are at advanced stages.

“I can confirm to you that talks are actually at the advanced stage with Ghana, Angola, Namibia, and South Africa, while the initial discussion is coming up with Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, and the Central African Republic,” the source said.

The gasoline shipment mentioned in the report is currently anchored off the coast of Lome, Togo, a hotspot for ship-to-ship fuel transfers.

It remains unclear where the cargo will ultimately be delivered, as such transfers often redirect fuel to other destinations.

While the shipment is relatively small by global standards, it signals the refinery’s growing production capacity and potential to disrupt fuel markets across the region.

The refinery had previously shipped its first gasoline cargo to Lagos, marking the start of its domestic fuel distribution.

Whether a significant portion of the refinery’s gasoline output will be exported in the future remains uncertain.