Zelensky Suggests Jerusalem Host Negotiations Between Ukraine And Russia

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March 14, 2022

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested on Saturday that negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end the war could be held in Jerusalem.

The Ukrainian leader also told media he believed Israel could provide security guarantees for his country, and said he hoped Prime Minister Naftali Bennett would have a positive influence on negotiations.

Zelensky spoke at a special briefing for reporters from Kyiv, under heavy guard.

“We generally support mediation by anyone,” he said in an answer to a question about Israel’s potential role, posed by a reporter for Haaretz. “But I wouldn’t call Prime Minister Bennett ‘anyone.’ You can play an important role because Israel is a country with a rich history.”

Zelensky added that Ukrainian immigrants were among Israel’s founders, “who brought with them their history and their desire to build a great country, as it is now. So it’s not bad at all for us to have such mediation.”

He said he told Bennett he did not believe negotiations could take place in Russia, Ukraine, or Belarus.

“These are not places where we can come to any understandings on ending the war — I’m not talking about technical meetings but meetings between leaders. I believe Israel can be such a place, especially Jerusalem. I think so, and I said this to Bennett.”

US Says Russia Asking China for Military Equipment

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Elizabeth Williams

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March 14, 2022

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A US official said Russia asked China for military equipment in its invasion of Ukraine, a request it says will heightened tensions about the ongoing war ahead of a Monday meeting in Rome between top aides for the US and Chinese governments.

In advance of the talks, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan bluntly warned China to avoid helping Russia evade punishment from global sanctions that have hammered the Russian economy. “We will not allow that to go forward,” he said.

The prospect of China offering Russia financial help is one of several concerns for President Joe Biden. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said that in recent days, Russia had requested support from China, including military equipment, to press forward in its ongoing war with Ukraine.

The official did not provide details on the scope of the request. The request was first reported by the Financial Times and The Washington Post.

The Biden administration is also accusing China of spreading Russian disinformation that could be a pretext for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces to attack Ukraine with chemical or biological weapons.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put China in a delicate spot with two of its biggest trading partners: the US and European Union. China needs access to those markets, yet it also has shown support for Moscow, joining with Russia in declaring a friendship with “no limits.”

Cooling Systems To Operate Normally As Ukraine’s Retired Chernobyl Nuclear Power Electricity Is Restored

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Angel Gimalo

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March 13, 2022

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Electricity supply has been restored at Ukraine’s retired Chernobyl nuclear power plant that was seized by Russian forces in the first days of the invasion, energy officials in Kyiv said Sunday.

The restoration of power at the decommissioned site means that cooling systems will now operate normally and not have to use backup power.

Ukraine’s nuclear company Energoatom had earlier warned that radioactive substances could be released if a high-voltage power line to the plant were not repaired after it was damaged in fighting.

‘Today, thanks to the incredible efforts of Ukrainian energy specialists, our nuclear power engineers and electricians managed to return the power supply to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which was seized by the Russian occupiers,’ Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko said in a statement.

‘Our Ukrainian energy engineers, by risking their own health and lives, were able to avert the risk of a possible nuclear catastrophe that threatened the whole of Europe,’ he added.

On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine and seized the defunct Chernobyl plant, site of a 1986 disaster that killed hundreds and spread radioactive contamination west across Europe.

WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE 1986 CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR DISASTER?
On April 26, 1986 a power station on the outskirts of Pripyat suffered a massive accident in which one of the reactors caught fire and exploded, spreading radioactive material into the surroundings.

More than 160,000 residents of the town and surrounding areas had to be evacuated and have been unable to return, leaving the former Soviet site as a radioactive ghost town.

Rainbow-Colored Fish Discovered In Maldives

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Angel Gimalo

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March 13, 2022

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Far beneath the waves surrounding the Maldives, there’s a living rainbow in the ocean’s “twilight zone.”

Say hello to the rose-veiled fairy wrasse, a colorful species of fish that’s new to science.

The fish, which bears the scientific name Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa, was found living at depths ranging from 131 to 229 feet (40 to 70 meters) beneath the ocean’s surface.

The name honors the fish’s stunning pink hues, as well as the pink rose, the national flower of the Maldives.

“Finifenmaa” means “rose” in the local Dhivehi language.

While hundreds of species thrive in the waters near and surrounding the archipelago nation, this is the first fish to be described by a Maldivian scientist — Ahmed Najeeb.

Smart Agriculture Initiative To Engage 10 Million Nigerian Farmers By 2032

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Angel Gimalo

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March 13, 2022

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said its smart farming digital platform, under the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) would engage 10 million farmers across the agricultural value chain by the year 2032.

The Deputy Manager of department of Digital Economy, NITDA, Lukman Lamid, disclosed this at the launch of a platform, a Mobile App for farmers, held at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State.

According to Lamid, the App., which is developed by NITDA, is equipped with modern technology such as smart irrigation and smart brooding system, virtual accounts and loan facilities, among others for farmers.

At least 100 students of FUNAAB would be trained on the use of modern technologies for farmers at the five-day event.

He said at the end of the training, each beneficiary would be credited with the sum of N100,000 loan in their virtual account as startup capital for their enterprise.

Lamid disclosed that the platform, which is still at the pilot stage, had engaged more than 600 farmers from Gombe, Jigawa, Ekiti and Ogun states.

Exploring Le Trou De David, Beautiful Natural Hole In Saint Martin

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Angel Gimalo

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March 13, 2022

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Le Trou de David, or as the English translation would be David’s Hole, is a beautiful hole carved by the nature, located between the Baie Rouge and Pointe du Bluff on the French side Caribbean island of Saint Martin, which serves as a Collectivity of France.

This very interesting structure carved by the nature, is actually a collapsed sea cave chamber which has nearly vertical walls, and there is a pair of arches that are leading towards the sea.

The diameter of this phenomena is some 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter, with 10 meters (33 feet) in height from top of the cliffs to the bottom of the hole.

The person who has been in charge of collecting the topographic names on the island in the 1970s, sent there from the French Government, did not understand English very well and made the mistake believing that the place actually could belong to someone named David.

Nowadays everyone knows this amazing place as David’s Hole.

In addition, people can go inside this natural formation, and there is an even better place to snorkel around the arches of the hole.

There are submerged and semi-submerged caves in the side of the cliff, but also an abundance of large rock formations extending out from the cliff which are full of canyons and overhangs which hosted schools of blue tang and a small hawksbill turtle.

This fairly large reef extends to the open sea, where it ends at some 8 meters (25 feet) depth with a whitish sand, and it is considered to be one of the best places one could visit while in Saint Martin.

There are some unconfirmed reports that due to floods, Le Trou de David has fully collapsed, however, when zoomed in on a satellite map, one would be able to see that so far no damage has been done to the impressive sight.

Once Upon A Time – March 13 – 1903 – Fall Of Sokoto Caliphate In Northern Nigeria, British Claims Supremacy On Over 500,000 Square Miles

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Angel Gimalo

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March 13, 2022

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1591 Battle at Tondibi: Moroccan army under Judar defeats Sultan Askia Ishaq II of Songhai

1781 William Herschel sees what he thinks is a “comet” but is actually the discovery of the planet Uranus

1884 Siege of Khartoum, Sudan begins by Mahdist forces, lasts 10 months

1903 Fall of the Sokoto Caliphate in Northern Nigeria, the British claim supremacy on over 500,000 square miles

1930 Clyde Tombaugh announces discovery of Pluto at Lowell Observatory

2003 The journal Nature reports that 350,000-year-old footprints of an upright-walking human have been found in Italy

2019 US grounds all Boeing 737 Max aircraft after bans by others countries following the plane type’s second crash in Ethiopia

Historical Events Today
Today in Film & TV
1956 “The Searchers” American western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Natalie Wood is released

Today in Music
2004 Luciano Pavarotti performs in his last opera at New York Metropolitan Opera’s “Tosca”

Today in Sport
1894 J. L. Johnstone of England invents horse racing starting gate

2004 Luciano Pavarotti performs in his last opera at New York Metropolitan Opera’s “Tosca”

Do you know this fact about today?
1852 Uncle Sam cartoon figure made its debut in the New York Lantern weekly

Would you believe this fact about today?
1915 Dodgers manager Wilbert Robinson tries to catch a baseball dropped from an airplane, but the pilot substitutes a grapefruit

Police Launch Search For Lagos Dispatch Rider Over Alleged Baby Theft

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Henry Williams

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March 13, 2022

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The Lagos police has begun a search for unidentified dispatch rider over baby theft.

According to correspondents Lagos State Police Command on Saturday said it had begun a search for a yet-to-be identified dispatch rider who was caught with a baby in his dispatch box in the Sangotedo area of Lekki.

It also said it had intensified efforts to locate the whereabouts of the baby’s parents or guardian to enable it to investigate the incident.

There was pandemonium in the area when the rider was apprehended by some youths suspecting a case of child abduction.

In a video circulated on social media, commuters, motorists and passersby were seen expressing shock over the development when the baby clad in a singlet and a pair of shorts was allegedly rescued.

Angered by the action of the dispatch rider, a mob was seen beating the suspect while he was being taken away on commercial motorcycle to avoid being lynched.

But the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, said while the command was aware of the viral video, the case was not reported at any police station in the state.

PFN Supports RCCG – Urges Churches To Create Political Directorate

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Henry Williams

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March 13, 2022

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The Director, National Directorate of Politics and Governance of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Pastor Femi Emmanuel, has backed the Redeemed Christian Church of God over their newly-created politics directorate.

Correspondents report that In a statement by the Lead Pastor of Livingspring Chapel International, Emmanuel sent to Sunday PUNCH, termed the move by RCCG as an answered prayer and not support for any political candidate.

He said, “This appointment of the RCCG is not in support of any Political candidate at all. We asked for it. I trust other fathers and leaders of the faith would soon follow suit.

Chad Military Begins Talks With Opposition Groups

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Henry Williams

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March 13, 2022

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Chad’s military government has met some 44 armed rebel and opposition groups to hold peace talks in Qatar.

This first step is taken to work towards ending a rebellion and holding elections in the nation.

Some of the opposition groups were however missing at the opening on Sunday in Doha despite having delayed the meeting from February 27.

Albert Pahimi Padacke, Chad’s Prime Minister, and Moussa Faki Mahamat, African Union Commission head told the opening of the conference that both sides would have to make concessions for the talks to succeed.

However, the process risks being protracted and complicated.

Last April, the landlocked African nation was thrown into turmoil after the killing of longtime leader Idriss Deby Itno in battle with rebels in the country’s north.