The Nigerian naira recorded its highest depreciation against the dollar this week at the official foreign exchange market amid United States of America President, Donald Trump’s tariff announcement.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s exchange data showed that it dropped to N1,552.53 per dollar on Thursday from N1,531.25 traded on Wednesday.

This means that the naira slumped by N21.28 against the dollar on Thursday compared to N1,531.25 exchanged the previous day.

This is the highest depreciation against the dollar on a single day since March 22, when the currency dropped by N18.96 weekly at the official market.

Similarly, at the black market, the naira weakened by N5 on Thursday to N1,560 per dollar from N1,555 traded on Wednesday.

The development comes despite CBN’s announcement that the country’s Net Foreign Exchange Reserve (NFER) as of the end of 2024 stood at $23.11 billion, the highest level in over three years.

The drop in the naira at both official and parallel foreign exchange markets follows Trump’s administration’s tariff announcement on Wednesday, which sparked outrage across the world.

Economic experts said Trump’s 10 percent baseline tariffs would affect US-Nigeria trade worth $10 billion.

The chief executive officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf on Thursday in a statement said Trump’s tariff would affect Nigeria’s economy because it has brought an end to the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

The Israeli Defense Forces, IDF, in collaboration with the Shin Bet, conducted a precise airstrike on a Hamas command centre in Jabaliya, eliminating four senior terrorists.

One of the notorious terrorists killed was Shadi Diab Abd Al-Hamid Falouji, a key figure in the October 7 massacre.

The operation, which targeted a Hamas command and control centre on Wednesday, was carried out after a thorough intelligence investigation.

Jabaliya, a key hub for the terrorist organisation’s operations in the area, was the location of the strike.

“Following an intelligence investigation, it has been confirmed that Shadi Diab Abd al-Hamid Falouji, who took part in the murderous October 7 massacre, was eliminated in the strike,” the statement read in part on Thursday.

The three other senior Hamas terrorists killed were Mohammed Sharif, a member of Hamas’ General Security Apparatus, who took part in the cynical hostage release ceremony for returning Israeli soldier Agam Berger; Mohammed Hani Atiya Daour, who headed a Hamas rocket cell; and Mohammed Issa Mahmoud Askari, a member of the Northern Brigade’s rocket unit and of Hamas’ General Security.

The latest operation underscores Israel’s ongoing efforts to dismantle Hamas’s infrastructure amid heightened tensions in the northern Gaza region.

A powerful 7.7 earthquake hit central Myanmar on Friday, close to the country’s second city of Mandalay, home to around 1 million people and historic temple complexes, with tremors shaking buildings as far away as the Thai capital of Bangkok.

Video posted online from both countries showed panicked residents running from swaying residential towers as dust fills the air, and traffic comes to a sudden stop on busy city streets.

Myanmar is already reeling from more than four years of civil war sparked by a bloody and economically destructive military coup, with has seen military forces battle rebel groups across the country.

It remains one of Asia’s poorest nations and is ill-equipped to deal with major natural disasters.

One resident in Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial hub and around 380 miles away from the epicenter, told CNN: “We felt the quake for about one minute and then we ran out of the building.”

“We saw other people running out of the buildings too. It was very sudden and very strong.”

Another resident said phone networks in the city home to around 8 million people were briefly down following the quake but were now running again.

Video obtained by CNN from Myanmar appeared to show a road bridge spanning the Irrawaddy River that runs through Mandalay, collapsing into the river in a cloud of dust and water.

The epicenter was in nearby Sagaing region, which has been ravaged by the civil war, with the junta, pro-military militia and rebel groups battling for control and all running checkpoints, making travel by road or river extremely difficult.

In an early indication of the quake’s strength, tremors were felt not just in Thailand, but also China’s southwestern Yunnan province.

Video posted to X showed the collapse of a building in Chatuchak Park, Bangkok. The building, which appeared to be under construction, fell in a matter of seconds, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The National Institute for Emergency medicine says 43 people were trapped in the building while seven others have been injured.

A resident in Thailand’s northern city of Chiang Mai, who also did not want to be named, said “I felt it for about ten seconds in my room then I figured out I couldn’t stay inside. So I rushed out on to the street.”

CNN