Five things to know to start your Wednesday

The House of Reps is demanding a reversal of telcos’ tariff hike

Telcos in Nigeria had just started putting in place a 50% price increase that was approved by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), but lawmakers are now trying to stop it because of the financial pressure on citizens.

The price rise was meant to start across the country on Monday. By Tuesday, MTN, Nigeria’s biggest telco, had already started charging the new higher rates. However, the other main companies – Glo, Airtel, and 9mobile – hadn’t yet announced their new prices.

The House of Representatives told Nigeria’s telecoms regulator and the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy on Tuesday to stop these companies from raising their prices. They said Nigerians can’t pay more for phone services when prices are already rising quickly and fuel is getting more expensive after government subsidies were removed.

Elon Musk tried to buy OpenAI, but Altman said ‘no’ and called him “insecure”

The long-running conflict between Elon Musk and OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman seems to be getting worse.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Musk led a group of investors who made an unexpected $97.4 billion offer to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI. Altman quickly dismissed the offer on social media platform X on Tuesday.

“No thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want,” Altman wrote.

Musk fired back by calling Altman a “swindler,” continuing his use of the nickname “Swindly Sam” that he’s used before.

When Bloomberg Television asked Altman if Musk’s offer showed insecurity about his own AI company, xAI, Altman made it personal: “Probably his whole life is from a position of insecurity, I feel for the guy.”

“I don’t think he’s, like, a happy person,” Altman added. “I feel for him.”

Trump is pressing Jordan to take in Palestinians from Gaza

Donald Trump tried on Tuesday to convince Jordan’s King Abdullah to take in Palestinians who would lose their homes under Trump’s plan for the US to control Gaza, even though the king clearly said no.

During their White House meeting, Trump stood firm on his idea to move Gaza’s residents out and turn the war-damaged area into what he called a “Riviera of the Middle East.”

Trump has angered Arab nations by saying Palestinians wouldn’t be allowed to go back to their homes under his plan to rebuild Gaza, which has been heavily damaged by Israeli attacks.

Read Also: Israel threatens to end Gaza ceasefire unless Hamas releases hostages

“We’re going to take it, We’re going to hold it, we’re going to cherish it. We’re going to get it going eventually, where a lot of jobs are going to be created for the people in the Middle East,” Trump said in the Oval Office, claiming his plan would “bring peace” to the region.

King Abdullah later posted on social media that he had told Trump again about Jordan’s firm stand against forcing Palestinians to leave Gaza or the occupied West Bank, which shares a border with Jordan.

“This is the unified Arab position,” he wrote. “Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all.”

Despite the king’s clear opposition, Trump said he believes Jordan and Egypt would eventually agree to house people forced to leave Gaza. Both these countries depend on Washington for money and military support.

China launched a new rocket crucial to challenging Elon Musk’s Starlink

China has successfully launched a new rocket, taking a big step forward in its plan to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network.

The first Long March 8A rocket took off from Wenchang Space Launch Site on Hainan, an island in the South China Sea, at 5:30 p.m. local time, according to Chinese state media.

On this first flight, the rocket carried several low-Earth orbit satellites to space. Low-Earth orbit, or LEO, is the area in space where SpaceX has sent more than 7,000 of its Starlink satellites.

Song Zhengyu, a senior rocket scientist at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, told the state-run China Daily newspaper that “In the near future, the Long March 8A will be used to deploy large numbers of satellites for China’s massive space-based internet networks.”

The China Daily added that “China now has multiple internet satellite networks under construction, but keeps low-key about those projects.”

Brazilian gangs are making more money from fuel than cocaine

Brazilian criminal gangs are earning much more money from selling fuel and other legal goods than they do from cocaine, making it harder for authorities to fight organized crime as it moves into regular business activities.

According to a new report from the Brazilian Forum of Public Security due out Thursday, criminal groups made about 146.8 billion reais ($25.4 billion) in 2022 from selling fuel, gold, cigarettes and drinks. This is far more than the 15 billion reais they made from cocaine.