WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

'Pissed off' at Putin, Trump threatens tariffs on Russian oil if Moscow blocks Ukraine deal

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was "pissed off" at Russian President Vladimir Putin and will impose secondary tariffs of 25% to 50% on buyers of Russian oil if he feels Moscow is blocking his efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump told NBC News he was very angry after Putin last week criticized the credibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's leadership, the television network reported, citing a telephone interview early on Sunday.

Since taking office in January, Trump has adopted a more conciliatory stance towards Russia that has left Western allies wary as he tries to broker an end to Moscow's three-year-old war in Ukraine.

His sharp comments about Putin on Sunday reflect his growing frustration about the lack of movement on a ceasefire.

"If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault ... I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said.

“That would be, that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” Trump said. “There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.”

Trump later reiterated to reporters he was disappointed with Putin but added: "I think we are making progress, step by step."

Trump said he could impose the new trade measures within a month.

There was no immediate reaction from Moscow. Russia has called numerous Western sanctions and restrictions “illegal” and designed for the West to take economic advantage in its rivalry with Russia.

Trump, who spent the weekend at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, told NBC News he planned to speak with Putin this week. The two leaders have had two publicly announced telephone calls in recent months but may have had more contacts, the Kremlin said in video footage last week.

The White House had no immediate comment on when the call would take place, or if Trump would also speak with Zelenskiy.

Trump has focused heavily on ending what he calls a "ridiculous" war, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but has made little progress.

Putin on Friday suggested Ukraine could be placed under a form of temporary administration to allow for new elections that could push out Zelenskiy.

Trump, who himself has called for new elections in Ukraine and denounced Zelenskiy as a dictator, said Putin knows he is angry with him. But Trump added he had “a very good relationship with him” and “the anger dissipates quickly ... if he does the right thing.”

GROWING PRESSURE TO END WAR

Trump's comments followed a day of meetings and golf with Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Saturday, during Stubb's surprise visit to Florida.

Stubb's office on Sunday said he told Trump a deadline needs to be set for establishing a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire to make it happen and suggested April 20 since Trump would have been in office then for three months.

U.S. officials have been separately pushing Kyiv to accept a critical minerals agreement, a summary of which suggested the U.S. was demanding all Ukraine's natural resources income for years. Zelenskiy has said Kyiv's lawyers need to review the draft before he can say more about the U.S. offer.

Trump told reporters on Air Force One he thought Zelenskiy was "trying to back out of the rare earth deal.... if he's looking to renegotiate the deal, he's got big problems." Trump also told reporters that Ukraine would never be part of NATO.

Trump's latest tariff threats would add to the pain already facing China, India and other countries through trade measures imposed during his first two months in office, including duties on steel, aluminum and cars. More duties on imports from the countries with the largest trade surpluses are slated to be announced on Wednesday.

William Reinsch, a former senior Commerce Department official now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the haphazard way Trump was announcing and threatening tariffs leaves many questions unanswered, including how U.S. officials could trace and prove which countries were buying Russian oil.

Trump set the stage for Sunday's news with a 25% secondary tariffimposed last week on U.S. imports from any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela.

His remarks to NBC suggest he could take similar action against U.S. imports from countries that buy oil from Russia, a move that could hit China and India particularly hard.

The U.S. has not imported any Russian barrels of crude oil since April 2022, according to U.S. government data. Before that, U.S. refiners bought inconsistent volumes of Russian oil, with a high of 98.1 million barrels in 2010 and low of 6.6 million in 2014, according to a review of EIA data since 2000.

India has surpassed China to become the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude, which comprised about 35% of India's total crude imports in 2024.

Trump on Sunday also said he could hit buyers of Iranian oil with secondary sanctions if Tehran did not reach an agreement to end their nuclear weapons program.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Intel sharing and ‘boots on the ground’: Takeaways from NYT investigation into ‘secret’ US-Ukraine partnership

A New York Times investigation has found that the administration of former US President Joe Biden provided Ukraine with support that went far beyond arms shipments – extending to daily battlefield coordination, intelligence sharing, and joint strategy planning that were indispensable in Kiev’s fight against Russia.

The report, which was prepared based on more than 300 interviews with Ukrainian and Western government and military officials, takes a deep dive into the cooperation between Washington and Kiev from the early days of the conflict through late 2024.

Attempt at Vietnam rematch

Following the outbreak of the hostilities in February 2022, the US and Ukraine gradually moved towards an “extraordinary partnership of intelligence, strategy, planning and technology” that became Kiev’s “secret weapon” in fighting Russia, the investigation said.

The outlet noted that Washington’s campaign to support Ukraine reached such a scale that it became “a rematch in a long history of US-Russia proxy wars – Vietnam in the 1960s, Afghanistan in the 1980s, Syria three decades later.” 

'Points of interest,' not 'targets'

The US Army garrison in Wiesbaden, Germany, became the nerve center of the cooperation, according to the report. American and Ukrainian officers worked jointly each day to select Russian targets – although they avoided using the phrase, using instead the euphemism “points of interest” out of fear that the phrase could be deemed too provocative. Intelligence flowed from satellite imagery and intercepted communications directly into Ukrainian targeting decisions.

Since mid-2022, Ukraine heavily relied on US data to attack Russian command and control centers and other high-value targets. Targeting sheets contained dozens of objectives listed in order of priority, the NYT said.

Some of the massive strikes made using Western-supplied long-range missiles were aimed at targets in Crimea, including Russian warships. Some of the strikes have resulted in civilian casualties.

One unnamed European official told the paper that he was shocked by the extent of the involvement. “They are part of the kill chain now,” he was quoted as saying.

‘Boots on the ground’ after all

While early into the conflict the Biden administration promised that the US would not “put boots on the ground” in Ukraine, the cooperation in Wiesbaden ended up leading to an easing of this prohibition, the report claims.

Under Biden, the US “authorized clandestine operations,” and “American military advisers were dispatched to Kiev and later allowed to travel closer to the fighting,” NYT said, estimating their number in the dozens.

Walking over ‘red lines’

As the conflict progressed, the Biden administration gradually relaxed the self-imposed restrictions on supplying Kiev with arms, particularly long-range missiles. In 2024, the US extended its permissions to allow Ukraine to carry out limited long-range strikes using American-supplied weapons into internationally recognized Russian territory while providing Kiev with the relevant targeting data.

Tensions over strategy

While cooperation with the US provided Ukraine with invaluable data and resources to fight Russia, the sides at times had major disagreements over strategy and objectives, the NYT noted.

“Where the Americans focused on measured, achievable objectives, they saw the Ukrainians as constantly grasping for the big win, the bright, shining prize,” the report said.

The contradictions became particularly apparent during Ukraine’s botched counteroffensive in the southern sector of the front in the summer of 2023. The Ukrainian leadership was split between competing objectives – pursuing an assault toward Melitopol, and prioritizing the area of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut).

What now?

While describing the cooperation as a “secret weapon” in Kiev’s arsenal, the NYT noted that the arrangement now “teeters on a knife edge”as US President Donald Trump is pushing for talks with Russia and seeking to end the conflict.

“For the Ukrainians, the auguries are not encouraging… the American president has baselessly blamed the Ukrainians for starting the war, pressured them to forfeit much of their mineral wealth and asked the Ukrainians to agree to a ceasefire without a promise of concrete American security guarantees,” the outlet summarized, adding that Trump has already started to wind down some elements of the partnership.

Reuters/RT

Numan, the town that lends its name to one of the 21 Local Government Areas in Adamawa State in north-east Nigeria, is home to the Bwatiye (Bachama), a transnational identity group stretching into parts of Cameroon. Located in the basin of Benue River and one of its tributaries, River Taraba, Numan’s fecund lands play host to vast energies in sedentary agriculture. Fulbe pastoralists have for long also found it welcoming for grazing their herds.

These factors have made Numan a major frontier in the murderous livelihood conflict that has pitted sedentary farmers against armed pastoralists in the Middle Belt of Nigeria. Described as a crisis “over scarce land and water resources,” this conflict is estimated to have “claimed the lives of around 10,000 Nigerians” in the period since about 2013. It is widely recognised as the second most deadly conflict in Nigeria after the Boko Haram crisis.

For nearly three years until 2018, Numan was the site of a murderous war between sedentary farmers and armed pastoralists. No one knows the number of those who have lost their lives in this conflict. James Courtright, who researched the situation, wrote in 2023 that “by the time the crisis ended in January 2018, around 150 people were dead, a dozen villages burned to the ground and hundreds of Fulbe who had called Numan home had fled.” Tens of thousands were reportedly displaced. This crisis even became the subject of litigation before the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Court of Justice).

On 5 December 2017, then Vice President Yemi Osinbajo visited Adamawa State to see things for himself. Subsequently, the Federal Government arranged to distribute emergency relief materials to affected communities, including Dong, Lawaru, and Kukumso in Demsa LGA; as well as “Shafaron, Kodomti, Tullum, Mzoruwe and Mararraban Bare in Numan Local Government Area.” Amidst these developments, the Federal Government launched what ultimately proved to be an inconclusive “series of national consultations with all relevant groups designed to find a lasting solution to the farmers-herders conflict in parts of the country.”

The events in Kodomti village during this crisis were to become the subject of prosecutorial interest, which worked its way up to the Supreme Court, coming to a decision on 7 March. On 27 January 2015, an incident occurred in a farm in Kodomti belonging to Sunday Jackson. By the time the dust had settled, Ardo Bawuro lay dead, a victim of three stab wounds in the neck in the hands of Jackson.

The Adamawa State Director of Public Prosecutions arraigned Jackson on one count of culpable homicide punishable with death (murder) for the killing of Bawuro. On 10 February 2021, the High Court of Adamawa State convicted and sentenced Sunday Jackson to death. The Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal on 20 July 2022. From there he appealed to the Supreme Court.

The evidence relied on by the courts was straightforward. There was a coroner’s report but the judgment does not mention a pathologist’s report. According to Jackson’s statement to the police:

“On Tuesday, 27/01/15 at about 11:10 hrs, I left my village and was cutting thatching grasses (sic) in a bush located in Kodomti village in Numan LGA when the deceased, Buba Bawuro as identified attacked me after loosing (sic) sight of some persons alleged to be pursuing (sic) for killing his cattle. He attacked me in frustration and wanted to stab me with a dagger then we engaged in a wrestling encounter. I succeeded in seizing the dagger from him which I used to stab him thrice on his throat. When the deceased collapsed and was rolling down in a pool of his blood, I took heels and escaped.”

In its judgment on 7 March delivered by Baba Idris, the Supreme Court determined that this statement was a confession and simultaneously also raised issues of self-defence, which had to be considered.

In Nigeria, self-defence is a constitutionally guaranteed right. In criminal law, it is also total exoneration to a charge of murder.

According to the court, four conditions must be present for self-defence to succeed. First, the accused must be free from fault in bringing about the encounter leading to death. Second, there must be present an impending peril to life or of grievous bodily harm. Third, there must be no safe or reasonable mode of escape. Fourth, there must be a necessity for taking of life.

The Supreme Court found that the first and second conditions were fulfilled in the case of Sunday Jackson. As to the last two conditions, the court said that “there was a reasonable mode of escape by retreat and there was no necessity to take the life of the deceased.” It did so, notwithstanding that there was nothing in evidence about how safe it was to retreat. Consequently, the court held that “the defence of self-defence is not available on a closer consideration of the evidence, and in the light of the circumstances of this particular case.” The court also dismissed any possibility of a defence of provocation, which would have reduced the crime to manslaughter.

In his concurring judgment, Haruna Tsammani said: “on the facts as narrated…., I am of the view that [Jackson] inflicted more harm than was necessary for the purpose of defending himself. Having overpowered the deceased and collected the dagger from him, a stab would not be considered excessive. It is also my view that [Jackson] acted in a vengeful manner by stabbing the deceased trice (sic) in the neck; a person he had overpowered.”

This statement by Tsammani is at the heart of the three flaws with this judgment. One is a matter of law and evidence: The Supreme Court believed it was alright for Sunday Jackson to have stabbed Ardo Bawuro once, but not thrice. But there was no evidence before the court as to which of the three stab wounds killed Ardo Bawuro.

It is possible that it was the first stab wound; or the second; or the third. That determination is a matter of evidence and, in criminal law, establishing what killed the Ardo Bawuro was the responsibility of the prosecution. If he was killed by the first stab, then the claim by the court that three stab wounds were too many is demonstrably gratuitous, and self-defence would have availed. In the absence of that kind of evidence, the court had no basis for excluding self-defence.

Second, the court imposed an unreasonable standard of assessment, requiring a person whom it found to be in real peril of loss of his life from an assailant with murder or grievous bodily harm on his mind to make assessments that are beyond the capability of any human in the throes of a fight-or-flight struggle.

Third, in suggesting that Jackson had a reasonable means of escape, the Supreme Court showed almost blissful lack of awareness of the nature of the conflict on the floodplains of the Benue River (and its tributaries). This case arose in a conflict zone between livelihood and identity groups. The standard of evidentiary assessment deployed by the Supreme Court required Jackson to possess almost divine knowledge of the surrounding circumstances. Asking him to run in the middle of this required him to be certain that there was no other danger around him. There was no way that he or anyone could in the middle of an active conflict zone have attained that degree of knowledge or awareness.

The miracle in this case is how the court reached a unanimous judgment.

The Supreme Court, we are reminded, is the last bus-stop on legal disputes. Yet, in nearly every case presented for judicial resolution, we find ourselves not merely before the court of law but also before courts of public opinion, of precedent, and of posterity. The judgment in Jackson’s case is bad law, bad precedent, and bad policy. It is perverse on the scale of a miscarriage of justice. Jackson is eminently deserving of the exercise of the prerogative of mercy by the Governor of Adamawa State.

** Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, a professor of law, teaches at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and can be reached through This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Tom Huddleston Jr.

People who start a new business often make one “fatal mistake” that″ll likely doom their venture before it even starts, says Steve Blank.

The mistake: not researching your prospective customers or clients before deciding what kind of company you want to build, and the products or services you’ll offer. ”[I’ve] seen this a million times,” says Blank, an adjunct professor at Stanford University who has written four books on the subject of entrepreneurship and helped build eight different tech startups, of which he co-founded four.

Coming up with an idea for a business first, and then determining how to sell that product or service — before you’ve confirmed it’s something your prospective customers actually desire, is a recipe for failure, Blank says.

“The most important [question] is: ‘Well, who are my customers?’ And the second one is: ‘What do they want?’” adds Blank, who sold his final startup, business software company Epiphany, sold to SSA Global Technologies for $329 million in 2005. “It’s not: ‘Here’s what I’m building. Can I sell it to someone?’”

For years, Blank has told his students to “get the heck outside” of the office or classroom and hear from actual potential customers, he says. He’s not alone: Talking to customers as early as possible is necessary to ascertain the best product-market fit, putting founders on the path to building a successful business, according to the Small Business Administration.

Alberto Perlman, co-founder and CEO of Zumba Fitness, says the “biggest mistake” entrepreneurs make is thinking they “know more than their customer.”

“You have to always be listening, and listening between the lines, to your customer,” Perlman told CNBC Make It in 2020.

Not listening to your customers “can make the difference between a business that thrives and one that fades,” investor and co-star of ABC’s “Shark Tank” Robert Herjavec wrote in a recent LinkedIn post. “It’s natural to get attached to your product or service, but success hinges on seeing its value through the customer’s eyes.”

Blank points toward his own entrepreneurial track record — specifically, one of his biggest failures — as an example. He co-founded a video game company called Rocket Science Games in 1993 and raised $35 million for it. The company made a cover of Wired magazinethat dubbed them Silicon Valley’s next hot startup.

Rocket Science Games had talented engineers and its initial line of games created buzz with polished trailers, but Blank found out too late that customers thought the games “sucked,” and sales never materialized, he told Fast Companyin 2014.

The company shuttered in 1997, becoming a high-profile tech industry flop. Blank probably would never have started it, or “definitely changed its trajectory,” if he’d followed his current advice and sought out customer feedback before it was too late, he says.

“The biggest killer for me, and the biggest failure, was hubris,” says Blank, bluntly adding: “Don’t believe your own bulls---. It’s really easy to get convinced about your passion and your vision.”

CNBC

Foreign investment inflows to Nigeria's equities market dropped by 29.66% in February 2025, falling to ₦18.05 billion from ₦25.66 billion in January.

The reduction in foreign participation was significant, with total foreign portfolio transactions on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) declining by 40.36% from ₦71.51 billion to ₦42.65 billion. Foreign outflows also decreased substantially, down 46.33% to ₦24.60 billion from January's ₦45.85 billion.

Overall trading activity on the exchange fell by 16.07% month-on-month, with total transactions dropping from ₦607.05 billion (approximately $410.84 million) in January to ₦509.47 billion (about $341.36 million) in February. However, compared to February 2024, trading volumes were up 42.36% year-on-year.

Domestic investors continued to dominate the market, accounting for 91.63% (₦466.82 billion) of all equity transactions in February, while foreign investors contributed just 8.37% (₦42.65 billion). This represents an increase in domestic market share from 88.22% in January.

Among domestic participants, institutional investors remained more active than retail traders, though both segments saw declines. Institutional transactions decreased by 5.92% to ₦252.31 billion, while retail investor activity fell more sharply by 19.76% to ₦214.51 billion.

Despite monthly fluctuations, cumulative domestic transactions for 2025 reached ₦1.002 trillion by the end of February, surpassing the ₦890.48 billion recorded during the same period in 2024. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio activity totaled ₦114.16 billion, slightly below the ₦118.92 billion seen in early 2024.

The declining foreign participation may reflect ongoing concerns about macroeconomic uncertainties and volatility in Nigeria's foreign exchange market.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Muhammad Abubakar Sa’ad, the Sultan of Sokoto and President of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), has announced the sighting of the Shawwal crescent, marking the end of Ramadan.

In a nationwide broadcast on Saturday, the Sultan confirmed that today Sunday, March 30, 2025, will be celebrated as Eid-el-Fitr, the festival marking the conclusion of the holy month of fasting.

“Today, the 29th of Ramadan 1446 AH, the crescent moon has been sighted, signifying the end of fasting. Consequently, Sunday, 30th March 2025, will be the first day of Shawwal and the day of Eid-el-Fitr,” the Sultan declared.

He extended prayers to Muslims, asking Allah to accept their fasting and grant them the blessings of sincere worship. The Sultan also offered supplications for leaders at all levels of government, urging divine guidance in their service to the nation.

Muslims worldwide have observed Ramadan since March 1, abstaining from food, drink, and other physical needs from dawn to dusk. The fasting period, lasting 29 or 30 days, is a time of spiritual reflection and devotion.

Earlier, the Federal Government had declared Monday, March 31, and Tuesday, April 1, as public holidays to allow Nigerians to celebrate Eid-el-Fitr.

Muslim faithful are expected to gather for Eid prayers today, followed by festivities, charity, and communal celebrations.

Myanmar's military rulers let in hundreds of foreign rescue personnel on Saturday after an earthquake killed more than 1,600 people, the deadliest natural disaster to hit the impoverished, war-torn country in years.

Friday's 7.7 magnitude quake, among the biggest to jolt the Southeast Asian nation in the last century, crippled airports, bridges and highways amid a civil war that has wrecked the economy and displaced millions.

The death toll in Myanmar climbed to 1,644, the military government said on Saturday, according to BBC Burmese news service.

In neighbouring Thailand, where the quake rattled buildings and brought down a skyscraper under construction in the capital Bangkok, at least nine people were killed.

Survivors in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-biggest city, dug with their bare hands on Friday in desperate attempts to save those still trapped, lacking heavy machinery and with authorities absent.

In Bangkok on Saturday, rescue operations continued at the site of the 33-story tower's collapse, where 47 people were missing or trapped under the rubble - including workers from Myanmar.

The U.S. Geological Service's predictive modelling estimated Myanmar's death toll could exceed 10,000 and losses could exceed the country's annual economic output.

A day after making a rare call for international assistance, Myanmar's junta chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, travelled to hard-hit Mandalay near the epicentre of the quake, which brought down buildings and triggered fires in some areas.

"The Chairman of the State Administration Council instructed authorities to expedite search and rescue efforts and address any urgent needs," the junta said in a statement on state media, referring to Min Aung Hlaing.

Graphic: A map showing location of Sagaing fault passing through Mandalay in Myanmar with circles depicting historical earthquakes in the region.

AIRPORTS CLOSED

An initial assessment by Myanmar's opposition National Unity Government said at least 2,900 buildings, 30 roads and seven bridges had been damaged by the quake.

"Due to significant damage, Naypyitaw and Mandalay international airports are temporarily closed," said the NUG, which includes remnants of the elected civilian government ousted by the military in a 2021 coup that triggered the civil war.

The control tower at the airport in Naypyitaw, Myanmar's purpose-built capital city, collapsed, rendering it inoperable, a person with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.

A Myanmar junta spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Hospitals in central and northwestern Myanmar were struggling to cope with the influx of injured people, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, warning that damage to roads was hindering access.

Seventeen cargo trucks of shelter and medical supplies were due to arrive on Sunday to address shortages of medicines, including blood bags and anaesthetics, the agency added.

A Chinese rescue team arrived at the airport in Myanmar's commercial capital of Yangon, hundreds of kilometres from Mandalay and Naypyitaw, and will travel upcountry by bus, state media said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone with the junta chief, China's embassy in Myanmar said on Saturday, and said Beijing would provide $13.77 million worth of aid, including tents, blankets and emergency medical kits.

The United States, which has a testy relationship with the Myanmar military and has sanctioned its officials, including Min Aung Hlaing, has said it would provide some assistance.

Relief supplies from India on a military aircraft also landed in Yangon, according to Myanmar state media, and India's government said it was also dispatching ships with 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid.

Russia, Malaysia and Singapore were also sending planeloads of relief supplies and personnel.

The graphic map shows shakemap intensity near the region of Mandalay.

'NO HELP COMING'

Residents in the hardest-hit areas are desperate for the help.

The quake, which hit around lunchtime on Friday, affected wide swathes of Myanmar, from the central plains around Mandalay to the hills of Shan in the east, parts of which are not completely under the junta's control.

Rescue operations in Mandalay could not match the scale of the disaster, one resident said by phone, asking not to be named because of security concerns.

"Many people are trapped but there is no help coming just simply because there isn't manpower or equipment or vehicles," he said.

In Bangkok, 1,000 km (620 miles) from the epicentre, authorities on Saturday pushed ahead with efforts to find construction workers trapped under the rubble of the collapsed tower, using excavators, drones and search-and-rescue dogs.

Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said all possible resources had been deployed to search for survivors and to bring out bodies of the deceased.

"We always have hope," he told reporters. "We're still working around the clock."

Chanpen Kaewnoi, 39, said she rushed over on Friday afternoon after seeing news reports that the under-construction building where her mother and younger sister were working had collapsed.

"I called my sister, but no matter how many times I tried to call her there was no connection," she said after a sleepless night at the site.

"I want to wait for my mother and sister," said Chanpen, herself a construction worker, "I want to see their faces again."

Across the sprawling metropolis, where such quakes are rare, there may be up to 5,000 damaged buildings, including residential towers, said Anek Siripanichgorn, a board member of Council of Engineers Thailand, which is helping municipal authorities.

"We are going through hundreds of cases," he said. "If we see cases where there is potential danger, we will immediately send engineers."

Reuters

Hamas agrees to Gaza ceasefire proposal, the group's chief says

Hamas has agreed to a Gaza ceasefire proposal it received two days ago from mediators Egypt and Qatar, the Palestinian militant group's chief said on Saturday.

"Two days ago, we received a proposal from the mediators in Egypt and Qatar. We dealt with it positively and accepted it," Khalil al-Hayya said in a televised speech.

"We hope that the (Israeli) occupation will not undermine (it)," said Hayya, who leads the Hamas negotiating team in indirect talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza that erupted in October 2023.

Security sources told Reuters on Thursday that Egypt had received positive indications from Israel over a new ceasefire proposal that would include a transitional phase.

The proposal suggests Hamas release five of the Israeli hostages it is holding each week, the sources said.

The Israeli prime minister's office said it had held a series of consultations according to the proposal that was received from the mediators, and that Israel had conveyed to the mediators a counter-proposal in full coordination with the United States.

Reuters asked the prime minister's office if it had also agreed to the ceasefire proposal but it did not immediately respond.

PHASED CEASEFIRE

The first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into force on Jan. 19 after 15 months of war and involved a halt to fighting, the release of some of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, and the freeing of some Palestinian prisoners.

Phase two of the three-phase deal is intended to focus on agreements on the release of the remaining hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Hamas says any proposals must allow the launch of the second phase, while Israel has offered to expand the first 42-day phase.

In response to calls on Hamas to disarm by Israel and the United States, Hayya said the group's arsenal was a red line and that it would not disarm as long as the "Israeli" occupation exists.

Israel and the U.S. say Hamas must not have a role in post-war Gaza arrangements.

Israeli military strikes on Gaza continued on Saturday, killing at least 20 Palestinians across the enclave, health authorities said.

The Israeli military said it had begun "ground activity" in the Jneina neighbourhood of the Rafah area to expand what it described as the security zone in southern Gaza.

On March 18, Israel resumed bombing and ground operations in Gaza, which it said were intended to increase pressure on Hamas to free hostages.

It has since issued evacuation orders to tens of thousands of residents in several areas in the northern and southern Gaza Strip, citing rocket firing into Israeli territories.

More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli offensive in Gaza, Palestinian officials say.

Israel began its offensive after thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian drone attack kills two in Ukraine's Kharkiv, officials say

Russian drones struck a military hospital, shopping centre, apartment blocks and other targets in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, late on Saturday, killing two people and injuring at least 25, local officials and the Ukrainian military said.

"According to preliminary information, there were injuries among the servicemen undergoing treatment in the medical centre," the military's General Staff said on the Telegram messaging app.

It denounced the "deliberate, targeted shelling" of the facility which it said "added to the long list of vile and cynical crimes committed by the Russians since the beginning of the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine".

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said one of the dead had been pulled out from under rubble. He put the overall number of injured at 27.

Terekhov said an office building was also among the targets, with one drone triggering a fire.

Oleh Syniehubov, the regional governor, said 25 people were hurt, including a 15-year-old girl who is in serious condition.

Prosecutors, quoted by public broadcaster Suspilne, put the number of injured at 30. Suspilne posted photos of rescue teams in protective equipment sifting through rubble as well as piles of twisted metal and construction materials outside buildings.

Kharkiv, located in northeastern Ukraine, resisted capture in the early weeks of Russia's February 2022 invasion.

But as Russian forces focused their attention on capturing large swathes of eastern Ukraine, the city has been a frequent target of air attacks.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Thousands march in Paris against military aid to Ukraine

Thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of Paris on Saturday, protesting French President Emmanuel Macron’s and NATO’s militaristic approach to the Ukraine conflict.

On Wednesday, Macron announced a new €2 billion ($2.16 billion) military aid package for Ukraine, after weeks of attempting to drum up support for his initiative to send Western troops as peacekeepers to the country. The new arms will include surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles and drones, the French leader said.

Saturday’s anti-war rally was organized by former right-wing National Rally politician Florian Philippot and his party, The Patriots.

Thousands of protesters could be seen marching through the French capital, chanting slogans such as “Macron, we don’t want your war!”and “Let's quickly leave NATO!” in video captured by RT.

Many could also be seen waving placards with the motto “Macron, we will not die for Ukraine.”

“A mad crowd for #Peace… Thousands and thousands of French people are shouting ‘Macron, resign!’ in the streets of Paris right now!” Philippot wrote on X on Saturday.

The Patriots protested in the French capital earlier this month after Macron proposed deploying France’s nuclear weapons in other European allied states, citing uncertainty over Washington’s commitment to the continent.

On Thursday, following an international summit in Paris, Macron announced a French-British plan to push for the deployment of troops to Ukraine as a “reassurance force” in the event of a ceasefire between Kiev and Moscow. Macron first touched on the idea of sending Western troops into Ukraine last February.

Russia has categorically ruled out agreeing to NATO troops being deployed to the conflict zone. Troops from the US-led military bloc, even under the guise of peacekeepers, would amount to direct NATO participation in the conflict, according to Moscow.

Reuters/RT

Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air ~ Job 28:20-21.

Preamble:

Times come when we are faced with tough decisions that could eventually define some important details of our future in our family life, career, ministry, business, etcetera. If we get it right in such instances, we could be reaching forth to stardom, but if we get it wrong, the consequences might be catastrophic.

The bottom line is that real life isn't always straight-jacketed, and we must get used to that fact. However, if we diligently followGod’s wisdom, we cannot live like paupers in life, but make headway, come what may.

Wisdom teaches us what to do to get results. Wisdom distinguishes, and once you get it, you’ll begin to outsmart even the principalities and powers in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:8-10).

More so, wisdom makes you truly tactical; pure wisdom enables you to make your points without duress. Albeit, true wisdom is quite hard to come by; hence, many people don’t have it.

Anyone who desires to obtain divine wisdom will have two elemental hurdles to cross and overcome, viz: divine wisdom is priceless, and it is characteristically hiddenfrom mortal men/women (Job 28:13-22).

How then can we obtain wisdom, especially the wisdom from above? Basically, the fact that wisdom is priceless isn’t bad news. It only suggests that the rich has no special advantage over the poor, and the poor shouldn’t admit any special disadvantage when it comes to getting divine wisdom.

Again, the fact that wisdom is not confined to any particular geographical location on earth also means that our education, acquired knowledge of exact science and profound research may not help us to obtain real wisdom. Hence, even egg-heads aren’t always wise, just like money and organizational positions don’t necessarily confer on anyone the wisdom from above.

How To Attract And Obtain The Wisdom of God

Fundamentally, it’s sheer foolishness to start seeking someone or something whose identity you don’t even know, and cannot recognize. It’s expedient, therefore, to first fully know and understand who or what divine wisdom is before seeking it.

In our previous article on this subject, we articulated the fact that God’s wisdom is a divine personality: Jesus Christ(1Corinthians 1:23-24). And, in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).

Thence, the believers can draw from, explore and harness the treasures of divine wisdom in three primary ways: the Word of God, our affinity/sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and various other practical lifestreams of wisdom and inspiration.

The Word of God is the divine and perfect revelation of God’s mind, will, and counsel to mankind (Psalm 19:7-8). No one should expect to be wise and right in all dealings and judgments without prayerfully, diligently, and constantly imbibing, and applying God’s principles in His Word (Psalm 119:98-100).

We should regularly delve into the Word, and ask God for wisdom several times daily (James 1:5). Some decisions will comerightly once we pray for God's wisdom(Proverbs 2:6). Other difficult ones will require extended seasons of prayer and fasting.

We also can draw from the treasures of divine wisdom by listening to and obeying the Voice, the leading or prompting of the Holy Spirit. He’s the“Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD” (Isaiah 11:2). When we wholeheartedly abide and walk in God’s Word, and submit to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we’ll be enabled to operate in the fullness of divine wisdom.

Meanwhile, the place of character and personality traits shouldn’t be ignored in our course towards divine wisdom (Job 28:28; Psalms 111:10; Proverbs 9:10). Be aware that every idol in the heart is a stumbling-block to the will of God (Ezekiel 14:4).

In addition, you must qualify the people who have close access to your life-space, especially your inner, core group. This is very important because you will seldom rise above the quality of people who surround you. For instance, people who are stuck in the past can't embrace their future, and they won't want you to find yours either.

Take a careful look at your closest friends.How spiritual, experienced, mature, disciplined, diligent, focused or successful are they? Who are your counselors and advisers? Whose books are you reading? All these are vital to your streams of wisdom.

Yes indeed, your present experiences areimportant parts of your life’s journey. You may not always be able to change the direction of the wind, but you can always readjust your sails to reach your destinationthrough the various streams of experiences, both yours and from other people.

The more you learn, the more you earn! Nevertheless, you can’t know it all. That’s why we have consultants, engineers, physicians, parents, pastors, financial planners, lawyers, etcetera, to support us with their experiences which we don't have, but which we badly need.

Very importantly, there’s also a stream of wisdom that flows directly from pain. Every great success story has a hidden chapter, and every person faces battles no one else notices. Those unseen challenges and/or emotional exhaustion don’t get celebrated, but they are very crucial to our growth and development.

They’re sometimes the needed foundation of success, especially when they’re well padded with pure patience (Romans 5:3-5). Pain is a powerful teacher in wisdom, bothyour own pain and that of others. However,it's always better to learn from the pain of others.

For instance, when you see the troublesthat others are facing because they had poor boundaries, burned their candles at both ends, became uncharitable and unteachable, cut corners, chose to be wise-after-events, are incorrigible or became impervious to corrections, you’ll quickly avoid those paths at all costs.

Beloved friends, when these streams of wisdom flow into your lives, they form a mighty river of wisdom that can bless every aspect of your destinies, and indeed, the entire world around you (Psalm 46:4).

Happily, you’re probably just a step of faith away from divine wisdom. God, knowing that we can never deserve, or pay for His wisdom, offered Jesus Christ — the Wisdom of God — to us as a free gift (John 3:16; Romans 5:8).

It costs absolutely nothing in terms of monetary, intellectual, moral or spiritual capital to receive Christ; He’s freely available to all mankind (Ephesians 2:8). Nevertheless, God will not compel anyone to receive or embrace Him.

Anyone who desires to attract, obtain and retain God’s wisdom must be willing to repent of his/her sinful ways, and receive Jesus Christ by faith, confessing Him as his/her Lord and Saviour, and walking in His footsteps (Romans 10:7-13).

Thereafter, such a believer will now have hidden within him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ Jesus. You won’t miss this, in Jesus name. Amen. Happy Sunday!

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Archbishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

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