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Former Shin Bet chief says Israel is losing war and risks end of Zionist project

Former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon has warned that Israel may be winning individual battles while losing the broader war, arguing that its military successes have failed to translate into a strategic victory.

In an interview on Rumble, Ayalon said Israeli forces had achieved significant battlefield gains against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, but argued that none of those victories had delivered the political outcome needed to end the conflict.

‘Israel is winning battles, but losing the war,’ Ayalon said.

He noted that Hamas and Hezbollah had suffered heavy losses but had not been dismantled and continued to represent strategic threats to Israel.

According to Ayalon, the fundamental problem is that Israel lacks a clear political objective for the war. Without such an objective, he said, military operations risk becoming an end in themselves rather than a means of creating a more secure political reality.

‘A war without a political objective does not end in victory,’ he said.

The former security chief also warned that Israel is losing the battle for international legitimacy and over the ideas shaping the conflict.

He described the war as being fought simultaneously on two fronts: the conventional military battlefield and a broader struggle over ideas and ideology.

Military force alone cannot defeat an idea or ideology, Ayalon argued, saying that Israel’s continued military campaign without offering Palestinians a credible political horizon could ultimately undermine the country’s long-term future.

‘If we continue this war without giving the Palestinians a political horizon, we are heading towards the end of the Zionist project,’ he warned.

Ayalon, who served as director of Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency from 2000 to 2002, has repeatedly advocated a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has been critical of approaches that rely primarily on military power.

Google is investing in AI infrastructure in Finland

Google plans to invest at least pound 13 billion ($15.1 billion) in the development of artificial intelligence infrastructure in Finland over the next two years.

The investments are planned for 2027-2028 and will be allocated to four facilities. The funds will be used to expand data centers and related infrastructure, support clean energy projects, and establish special funds aimed at protecting nature and supporting local communities.

‘This is Google’s largest one-time investment in Europe,’ the company said in a statement.

According to Google, the new digital infrastructure will strengthen Finland’s technological capabilities and contribute to the development of artificial intelligence and innovation across Europe. It will also support the operation of major Google services, including Gemini, Search, Maps, and YouTube.

As part of the project, Google will invest in new energy-generation capacity and the modernization of Finland’s electricity grid. The company will also support initiatives designed to improve access to reliable and affordable electricity.

Google has already signed agreements with Finnish suppliers of onshore wind power and reached a deal to install a large battery storage system connected to the national grid. The system will help balance fluctuations in electricity demand, improve grid stability, and potentially reduce pressure on electricity prices.

The investment is particularly significant because AI-powered services require enormous amounts of computing power and electricity. Data centers can consume as much energy as entire towns, making access to reliable and clean electricity one of the biggest challenges facing the rapidly growing AI industry.

Finland’s cold climate could also give Google an advantage. Cooler temperatures can reduce the amount of energy needed to cool data centers, making large computing facilities more energy-efficient. The project therefore combines two key trends: the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and the growing demand for cleaner, more sustainable digital infrastructure.

Kano Gov’s spokesman urges issue-based 2027 campaign, warns against violence

As political parties commence campaigns for the 2027 governorship election, the Kano State Government has called on candidates and their supporters to focus on policies, records and development programmes rather than personal attacks, hate speech and violence.

Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, Director General, Media and Publicity, Government House, Kano, appealed on Wednesday while addressing journalists on the official commencement of the 2027 governorship campaign.

Dawakin Tofa said the campaign period should provide candidates with an opportunity to explain their programmes and visions to voters, stressing that Kano residents deserved a political contest centred on how competing candidates intended to improve their lives.

He said the government, under Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, was committed to ensuring that political activities did not undermine the relative peace enjoyed in the state.

‘Let us compete on the basis of ideas, policies, records and programmes rather than insults, intimidation or violence,’ he said.

The government spokesperson urged governorship candidates and their supporters to conduct peaceful and responsible campaigns across the state, warning political actors against hate speech, provocation, character assassination, destruction of property and other actions capable of disrupting public order.

He also called on supporters of the ruling administration to remain disciplined and avoid being provoked into confrontations with supporters of rival political parties.

The appeal comes as the political atmosphere in Kano begins to intensify ahead of the 2027 elections, with the campaign season expected to increase public engagement and competition among political parties.

Dawakin Tofa also placed responsibility on the media, bloggers, influencers and social media users to prevent the campaign season from becoming a platform for the circulation of misinformation and inflammatory content.

He urged media practitioners and social media users to verify information before publication and avoid spreading rumours, fake news and materials capable of heightening political tension.

According to him, responsible information management would be critical to preserving peace as political parties intensify their campaigns and mobilise supporters across Kano’s 44 local government areas.

He further urged security agencies to maintain professionalism, impartiality and vigilance throughout the campaign period, while calling on political parties and campaign organisations to cooperate with security authorities and comply with lawful requirements.

Dawakin Tofa said the commencement of political campaigns would not distract the state government from its responsibility to provide services and pursue development projects.

He said the government would continue to discharge its responsibilities irrespective of the political season, maintaining that its commitment to development and good governance remained unchanged.

‘Kano is bigger than any political party or individual. Political competition will come and go, but we will continue to live together as one people after the election,’ he said.

The government therefore appealed to political parties and candidates to place the collective interest of Kano above partisan differences and protect the state’s social cohesion throughout the electioneering period.

Dawakin Tofa said candidates should be prepared to disagree politically without resorting to violence, while encouraging them to make the campaign a contest of ideas and competing visions for the state’s future.

He, however, ended the government’s message with an expression of confidence that candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) would emerge victorious across the various elective positions in the 2027 elections.

Phuket MP faces 3rd summons

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has summoned People’s Party MP for Phuket Somchart Techathavorncharoen to meet investigators next Monday in an inquiry into alleged foreign nominee arrangements.

Justice Minister Pol Lt Gen Rutthapon Naowarat said it was the third summons for Mr Somchart, who has been asked to provide information as a witness.

The DSI’s Security Crime Division is examining evidence indicating Mr Somchart may be involved as a shareholder and director in private companies that own property and condominium units in Phuket jointly with foreign nationals.

Investigators are checking whether the arrangements violated the Land Code, particularly rules prohibiting Thai nominees from holding assets on behalf of foreigners.

Mr Somchart was initially summoned to meet investigators on Aug 31 but said he had not received the summons by mail. He was then scheduled to report on Monday, but asked to postpone the meeting until the end of this month, citing parliamentary duties.

DSI investigators have now summoned him again for next Monday, Pol Lt Gen Rutthapon said, noting the agency needs to expedite the investigation after some companies in the area closed and land was put up for sale at unusually low prices.

He said the closures and sales below actual value could indicate that the owners are giving up possession, and the DSI has been instructed to examine the details further.

If the MP fails to appear for the third summons, investigators will proceed under Section 24 concerning failure to comply with a summons, the minister said.

Asked whether MPs could decline to report to the DSI while Parliament is in session, Pol Lt Gen Rutthapon said the summons was only for him to provide information as a witness.

“There is nothing to lose by coming to provide information. If there is evidence, he can bring it in. If anything is missing, he can come and provide information so investigators can seek additional evidence,” he said.

Addressing a separate probe into PP list-MP Pawoot Pongvitayapanu’s alleged involvement in an online forex investment scheme, Pol Lt Gen Rutthapon said the case was expected to be concluded and submitted to prosecutors by the end of this month.

The founder’s candle

A candle loses nothing by lighting another. Everyone has watched it happen at a vigil or a celebration: one flame leaning into a second wick, and the room growing brighter while the first candle burns undiminished. The physics is settled. Only the mindset is in dispute. Because in business, we behave as if light were finite.

And this is a dark season to be holding a candle. Bills owed by the biggest buyer in the economy sit unpaid. Tax regimes shift under our feet. Lending has tightened until working capital feels like a rumour. In rooms like these, the instinct is to cup the flame and let the neighbour find his own matches.

In a recent circle of founders challenging each other honestly, one admission kept surfacing. We are individualistic about success in a way we never audit. We tell ourselves the struggle was ours alone, that only we understood it, that only we climbed it.

It is a flattering story and a false one. Every founder’s candle was lit by somebody: the first client who took a risk on an unknown name, the banker who stretched a rule, the elder who made one phone call. Nobody’s flame is self-ignited. We simply stopped keeping the ledger.

Here is the harder diagnosis. Scarcity is being fed to us daily, and we are eating it. Our politics speaks scarcity fluently: every gain framed as someone else’s loss, every table too small, every conversation eventually tribal.

Many of us inherited a scarcity gene at the family table. And what shocks me most is that even the most successful founders I know still ration light, guarding introductions, hoarding information, treating a peer’s rise as a personal eclipse.

Scarcity as survival is understandable, but it cannot compound, because it is not built on generosity, and nothing built against the neighbour outlasts the builder.

The elders would put it plainly: being the only light in the village does not make you a king. It makes you a target of the darkness. Value was never created by the brightest solitary flame. It is created by collaborative capability.

Nations that compete bitterly are still huddling into blocs, because even giants have concluded they cannot face this century alone. In the age of artificial intelligence where capability spreads faster than any moat can hold it, the defensible asset is no longer what you know, but who builds with you.

Look at the evidence in our own market. The mergers quietly closing this year are abundance decisions: founders who did the arithmetic and accepted that together survives what alone cannot. The acquisitions, the shared warehouses, the consortiums bidding as one. These are not surrenders. They are candles agreeing to become a fire.

So the abundance call runs in two directions. Downward: the younger founder who needs the introduction, the honest hour, the door held open, the things that cost you an afternoon and would have saved you three years. And horizontally: the peer in your own sector, fighting your same storm, with whom building together beats glaring at each other across a shrinking market.

And showing up is not one gesture. Founders can light each other at every level of the operating system. Strategically: an introduction, a joint bid, a merged back office.

In mindset: telling a discouraged peer the truth that his equation still solves. Emotionally: the late-night call that asks nothing and simply listens. Socially: standing publicly beside a founder the market is doubting. Spiritually: reminding a builder in a dark season that the work still means something. Each costs little. Each relights a room.

I will not romanticise it. Abundance is not naivety. You will light candles for people who walk away with the flame and never look back. You will be burnt, and the scarcity voice will whisper that this is why we ration. Do not obey it.

Those moments are not evidence against generosity; they are the refining of it. Share the flame, not the candle, and keep lighting. The season always turns. The founder you lift in this downturn is often the hand that finds you in the next one. The loop always completes. It is never a zero sum game.

So here is the take-home for this last stretch of a brutal year. Look around your ecosystem this week and answer two questions in writing. Whose candle can I light downward? And which peer should I stop competing with and start building with? Then act on both before the quarter closes.

Where there is more light, there is more value. The village does not need a king of the darkness. It needs a fire.

A candle loses nothing by lighting another. Neither does a founder.

Thailand, Brazil push for stronger economic ties

Thailand and Brazil are seeking to deepen their partnership as diplomatic relations approach their 70th anniversary, with trade and investment high on the agenda.

Brazilian Ambassador André Odenbreit Carvalho said the two countries were entering a “new phase” in their relationship as they prepare to mark 70 years of bilateral ties in 2029.

Speaking at a Brazilian National Day reception in Bangkok on Monday, Mr Carvalho highlighted growing political engagement, including regular consultations and high-level visits.

Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira is due to visit Bangkok this week, after which a Thai trade mission is scheduled to travel to São Paulo. Thailand will also lead a business delegation to Brazil later this month to explore commercial opportunities.

Sarun Charoensuwan, vice-minister for foreign affairs, said the two countries had built their relationship on mutual respect, shared interests and a commitment to multilateralism and international cooperation.

He described Brazil as an important partner for Thailand as the country seeks to diversify its economic and diplomatic interests beyond the region.

Brazil is Latin America’s largest economy, with a population of more than 200 million, and plays a prominent role in groupings including Brics (a group of major emerging economies including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and the South American Common Market (Mercosur). It is also Thailand’s leading trading partner in Latin America, with bilateral trade exceeding US$6 billion (198 billion baht) for three consecutive years, he said.

Thai companies have established a presence in Brazil in sectors including chemicals, electronics, food and hospitality, while Brazilian businesses are exploring investment opportunities in Thailand.

The countries are also cooperating in agriculture, including soil development, genome editing and coffee production.

Obligations over family life: Yeng Constantino says not ready for motherhood

Singer-songwriter Yeng Constantino admitted that she is not yet ready to become a mother, saying she still has responsibilities to her family that she wants to fulfill.

Yeng opened up about motherhood during an interview on ‘Fast Talk with Boy Abunda,’ where host Boy Abunda asked if she was ready to have a child.

‘Marami pa po akong obligasyon,’ Yeng replied.

Yeng has been married to Yan Asuncion since February 2015. The couple tied the knot at Hacienda Isabella in Indang, Cavite, and have been together for more than a decade.

While Yeng said she remains open to becoming a mother in the future, she explained that her priorities are currently centered on her family.

‘My mom passed away five years ago. Noong bago po mamatay si Mama, ang talagang ibinilin po sa akin ay mga kapatid ko saka si Papa,’ she said.

Yeng recalled discussing the responsibility with her husband and how they viewed the blessings they had received as an opportunity to help their family.

‘So I talked to my husband. Love, alam mo, kasi tayo ‘yong bine-bless ni God, e. And ang daming dumarating na biyaya,’ she said.

‘I guess ‘yung way ng mama ko na ibinilin sa akin ang mga kapatid ko, kung bakit tayo binubuhusan ni Lord, mayroon siyang dahilan,’ she added.

Yeng also revealed that one of her siblings was diagnosed with cancer last year, prompting her and Yan to help shoulder the cost of the treatment.

Despite the challenges, Yeng said she is grateful for the opportunity to support her family.

‘Kung will ni God, kung mangyari po, okay. Pero right now, I’m just so happy na ako po ‘yung naka-assign sa family ko to help them,’ she said.

For now, Yeng is also taking on a new role in her career as one of the coaches of the returning ‘The Voice Kids’ on GMA 7, alongside Julie Anne San Jose and Gloc-9.

The singer-songwriter rose to fame after winning the first season of ‘Pinoy Dream Academy’ in 2006 and has since established herself as one of the country’s prominent pop-rock performers.

Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan plan to resume passenger ferry service across Caspian Sea

Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are working to resume passenger transportation across the Caspian Sea between the ports of Aktau and Baku, Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Alim Bayel said.

The initiative was proposed by Kazakhstan and has received support from Azerbaijan, with transport authorities from both countries now working to restore the passenger connection, according to the ambassador.

‘Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan will resume passenger transportation in the Caspian. I am pleased that Azerbaijan supports Kazakhstan’s proposal. Currently, the transport agencies of the two countries have begun work to restore passenger relations as soon as possible,’ Bayel said.

Passenger services between the two ports were suspended in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and have not resumed since.

Before the suspension, around 1,500 passengers a year travelled between the Kazakh and Azerbaijani ports by sea, according to Bayel.

The planned restoration of the route is expected to strengthen tourism links between the two countries and expand passenger connectivity across the Caspian Sea.

The initiative also comes as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan deepen cooperation on the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, or Middle Corridor, which connects Central Asia with the South Caucasus and European markets.

Opposition MP ‘Ice’ turns up heat on Bhumjaithai

People’s Party MP Rukchanok ‘Ice’ Srinork has questioned a budget request by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), while expressing concern that the person tipped to be the agency’s next chief might not act impartially in the investigation into money-laundering in the 2024 Senate election.

Her remarks prompted protests from Bhumjaithai Party MPs, who accused her of referring to people outside parliament and using inappropriate language.

The heated exchanges took place on Wednesday during a House session to consider the 2027 budget bill, chaired by Deputy Speaker Lertsak Pattanachaikul.

The Election Commission (EC) is scheduled to decide on Sept 14 whether election law violations occurred during the 2024 Senate poll, which could have huge implications for Bhumjaithai, and possibly for the DSI as well.

The DSI has separately been investigating criminal association, conspiracy and money laundering allegations linked to the poll, and has interviewed hundreds of people over the past two years.

Ms Rukchanok said she was concerned about whether the DSI had sufficient expertise to analyse financial trails and complex cases, particularly the case stemming from alleged fraud involving Senate candidates.

During the debate on Wednesday on the Justice Ministry budget, she said documents examined by a House subcommittee raised questions about whether the DSI’s proposed projects addressed its actual operational problems.

She said she welcomed the DSI’s request for 27 million baht to develop a system for mapping financial transactions and analysing money trails.

She speculated that the project would involve i2 software, comprising analysis and intelligence tools used by law enforcement agencies to uncover hidden patterns and complex connections, which the DSI had previously purchased about 10 years ago.

However, she said she was concerned about who would be at the helm of the DSI and whether the new DSI chief would ensure that the software would be used effectively to address the agency’s shortage of expertise. (Story continues below)

Airport encounter

Ms Rukchanok said she hoped the new chief would not be someone who had stood at Buri Ram airport to welcome a group of people who had been implicated by one of the two EC subcommittees that investigated the sprawling Senate collusion case.

She referred to the findings of the commission’s 26th inquiry panel, which recommended prosecution against 229 people, including 138 sitting senators and dozens more senior figures in the Bhumjaithai party.

A subsequent inquiry panel, the 36th, was formed to review those findings and decide whether to proceed with indictments. It voted in March this year to clear all 229 people named in the investigations.

When the seven-member EC meets on Sept 14, it will be deciding whether to accept or reject the findings of the 36th panel.

Ms Rukchanok pressed on, producing photographs of a group of people welcoming Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul at Buri Ram airport on March 1 this year. The faces in the photographs were blurred when they were shown on monitors in the House.

She then held up large and small printed versions of the same photographs, saying she did not intend to display them for any particular purpose but merely planned to put them in front of her computer.

Her remarks prompted repeated objections from Bhumjaithai MPs, who argued that she had strayed from the budget discussion and was referring to individuals outside the House.

Ms Rukchanok continued, saying that if the person in the photograph was Mr Anutin, he was an MP and could come to the House to explain who had stood and bowed to greet him.

Mr Anutin was not in the House on Wednesday as he was in Norway, representing His Majesty the King at the funeral of King Harald V.

DSI leadership

Ms Rukchanok then referred to Pol Lt Col Piya Raksakul, currently director-general of the Department of Probation, who has been widely tipped to become the next DSI director-general. He was also a member of the EC panel that recommended clearing all those accused of colluding in the Senate election.

Deputy Speaker Lertsak warned her against referring to individuals outside parliament and urged her to remain within the scope of the debate.

The tension escalated when Ms Rukchanok expressed concern that under a future DSI leadership, lower-ranking officials who did not ‘sell themselves or their souls’ to the ‘blue regime’ could face pressure or retaliation.

The remarks drew immediate protests from several Bhumjaithai MPs, who accused her of making speculative allegations and insulting DSI personnel.

Sanong Thepaksonnarong, a Bhumjaithai MP from Buri Ram, accused Ms Rukchanok of using disrespectful language that demeaned DSI officials. He said she had previously called for civility in parliamentary debate and thus should demonstrate the same standard herself.

In response, Ms Rukchanok exercised her right to defend herself against the objections, insisting she had maintained parliamentary decorum.

In a post on her X account later, Ms Rukchanok defended her actions, saying that the encounter at the Buri Ram airport had been widely reported earlier, as had the presence there of Pol Lt Col Piya.

Credit growth rebounds to 2-month high in July

Bank lending growth picked up to a two-month high in July as borrowing by businesses strengthened, offsetting a continued moderation in consumer credit amid weak household confidence.

Loans extended by universal and commercial banks grew by 10.4 percent year-on-year in July, accelerating from 9.8 percent in June, preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

The July pace was the fastest in two months or since the 12.1 percent growth recorded in May.

Bank lending refers to outstanding credit extended by the country’s universal and commercial banks to businesses, households and other borrowers. The BSP figures exclude reverse repurchase agreements with the central bank.

The total loan portfolio of big banks reached P14.98 trillion in July, up from P13.57 trillion a year earlier and P14.88 trillion in June.

The pickup was driven mainly by business lending, which accelerated to 9.8 percent in July from 9.2 percent in June. Outstanding loans used for production activities reached P12.62 trillion, equivalent to 84.3 percent of total bank credit.

Stronger credit growth was recorded across several major industries.

Loans to the electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply sector jumped by 24.4 percent to P2.11 trillion, while lending to wholesale and retail trade, including repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, rose by 8.8 percent to P1.64 trillion.

Manufacturing loans increased by 7.2 percent to P1.28 trillion, while credit to financial and insurance activities grew by 5.4 percent to P1.15 trillion.

Likewise, loans to the information and communication sector expanded by 7.1 percent to P761.16 billion.

Meanwhile, lending to real estate activities, the largest individual borrowing sector, increased at a more moderate pace of 5.5 percent to P2.89 trillion.

Some industries remained weak. Construction loans contracted by 13.3 percent to P447.49 billion, while lending to education slipped by 1.1 percent to P30.23 billion.

Agriculture, forestry and fishing loans grew by just 1.2 percent to P238.03 billion, a marked slowdown from the 15.1-percent expansion recorded in June.

On the household side, consumer loan growth continued to lose momentum.

Consumer loan growth slowed for an 11th straight month to 17.1 percent in July from 17.8 percent in June, extending a steady deceleration from the 23.9-percent expansion recorded in August 2025.

The BSP attributed the moderation to softer growth in credit card and motor vehicle loans as ‘consumer confidence remained weak.’

Credit card loans, which accounted for the biggest portion of consumer borrowing, still posted strong growth of 24.5 percent to P1.3 trillion, although this eased from 24.9 percent in June.

Motor vehicle loans expanded by seven percent to P542.85 billion, slower than the previous month’s 8.6-percent growth. Salary-based general-purpose consumption loans, meanwhile, grew by 9.9 percent to P179.66 billion, matching the pace recorded in June.

The BSP closely tracks lending because changes in borrowing are one way monetary policy works its way through the economy.

Looking ahead, the BSP said it would continue to ensure that bank lending and domestic liquidity conditions remain consistent with its price and financial stability mandate.

Separate central bank data showed that domestic liquidity grew by 10.3 percent to P20.5 trillion in July, slower than the revised 10.7 percent a month ago.