Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
On March 14, International Pi Day, the Polytechnicians received a gift: after a small renovation, the beloved Pyshki café officially opened.
The opening day of the donut shop turned out to be quite cold — winter suddenly returned to St. Petersburg. It seems that the pancakes on Maslenitsa failed to drive it away. Perhaps the hot polytechnic donuts will cope with this task better?
The symbolic green ribbon in front of the entrance was cut by Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Communication Technologies Maxim Pasholikov and Vice-Rector for Organizational and Economic Work Stanislav Vladimirov.
We have several symbols of the Polytechnic University: the coat of arms, the logo, the “Black Bear” … And a few years ago, a new beautiful symbol appeared, embodied in many student memes – the Polytechnic donut. We support this tradition, we are reopening our donut shop, let it work for the benefit of students for many, many years! – said Maxim Pasholikov.
It was warm inside the café, there was a delicious smell of donuts, and they themselves stood in an appetizing, ruddy mound on a large platter for everyone to enjoy.
Teresa has been working at the donut shop for 13 years, and her friendliness and cheerful manner of communicating with customers have also become legendary. The owner shared that the cafe has new equipment, buns and pies are baked right on the spot, and the range of coffee and cakes has expanded.
The Polytechnic donuts are indeed extremely popular among students – they launched a Telegram channel about them, filmed a report, and even jokingly awarded two Michelin stars. And during the competition for campus improvement projects “Polytech is a territory of attraction” The Alligators team, which took second place, seriously proposed installing an art object called the Silver Donut on campus.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
The spring fashion show was held at the Dobro.Center “Harmony” of SPbPU. The event was held for the first time, it was organized by the Humanitarian and Civil Engineering Institutes with the participation of the St. Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design.
The fashion show was attended by honored guests: Deputy Chief of Staff of the regional branch of “Yunarmiya” of St. Petersburg, veteran of combat operations of the SVO Sergei Skoriantov, head of the adolescent and youth center “Ligovo” Anzhelika Kanayan and deputy director of the charity fund “Nevsky Front” Elizaveta Orlova.
Polytechnic University is a place of attraction for talented youth and unlimited opportunities for creation for the benefit of society, for harmonious development and formation of human capital, – noted in her welcoming speech the director of the SPbPU Dobro.Center Tatyana Nam.
The students presented collections made from a wide variety of materials, from natural fabrics to oilcloth and plastic.
In total, the designers showed five signature collections. “Winter Tale” by Ekaterina Krikopole embodies the magic of winter and the festive charm of the New Year. When creating the “Mezen” collection, Elena Moshkina was inspired by the original Mezen painting and the culture of the Russian North. Eliza Badalyan presented the “Yerevan” collection, in which you can see bright ethnic motifs, patterns of old carpets and decorative elements.
“Legend in Fabrics” by Angelina Vasilyeva is a harmony of the past and the present, where ancient myths and legends come to life in a combination of ethnic patterns and modern design solutions. Elizaveta Goloton created the collection “Morena, the Sea Princess”, in which elegance, comfort and bright shades are intertwined, creating images for real sea princesses and kings. By the way, before the fashion show, Elizaveta held a master class for models on the catwalk.
At the master class, I tried to help the Polytechnic students immerse themselves in the world of modeling, learn to try on new images, and feel like real queens of the ball. I hope the girls have become more confident, and the experience of working in a team will be useful to them. It is very pleasant when two completely different universities unite and create something new, — shared the organizer of the event, a student of SPbGUPTD Elizaveta Goloton.
The fashion show was supported by activists of the military-historical club “Our Polytechnic”. Representatives of the role-playing club “Engineering Alliance” together with the leader Daniil Porozov demonstrated combat skills of conducting a medieval duel in knightly armor, and the guys from the “Historical Dance” direction performed numbers in the style of the 1950s – 1960s.
I really liked all the collections, each designer put a lot of effort and time into their creation. It is nice that not only our students participated, but also representatives of another university. I hope that the event will be held annually, – shared 2nd year student Daria Koval.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
The spring cycle of seminars on artificial intelligence at the Polytechnic opened with a presentation of a project to improve the quality of plants and transition to green farming.
Alexander Fedotov, a leading researcher at the laboratory “Modeling of Technological Processes and Design of Power Equipment”, told the seminar participants about how artificial intelligence helps in processing multidimensional spatial data from remote sensing of natural and technical systems. Natural and technical systems are important for sustainable development, since they allow the efficient use of natural resources, minimizing damage to the environment.
Results were presented on the use of deep learning algorithms for recognizing objects in 3D scenes from laser scanning point clouds. This development is interesting because segmentation of 3D scenes is always a labor-intensive and non-trivial task.
The system for detecting phytosanitary threats based on artificial intelligence developed by a team of scientists allows determining the condition of plants and identifying their diseases at the earliest stage. To carry out the research, the scientists, together with colleagues from the All-Russian Research Institute for Plant Protection, created their own datasets of spectral portraits of diseased and healthy plants based on hyperspectral images.
Another relevant area is the analysis of transactions in blockchain networks. It plays an important role in the fight against money laundering. One of the key areas in this area is the classification of addresses, which allows identifying suspicious transactions and distinguishing between legitimate and illegal transactions. Using big data technologies, graph structure analysis, expert rules and machine learning methods (gradient boosting, such as LGBM, XGBoost, CatBoost, as well as interpretable AI methods (xAI SHAP), scientists were able to effectively track anomalous transactions. Through active learning, the model is constantly being improved. According to Alexander Fedotov, foreign solutions in this area are still inferior in efficiency, which emphasizes the need to develop domestic technologies for analyzing blockchain transactions.
Associates in the field of AI in pharmacology presented associate professors of the Higher School of Biomedical systems and technologies: the head of the nano-and microcapsulation of biologically active substances Alexander Timin and researchers of the laboratory Sergey Shipilovsky and Andrei Makashov. Scientists talked about world trends in solving the problem of manifestation of side effects from different drugs using the example of antitumor drugs. Currently, emphasis is on targeted use of drugs. Scientists of SPBPU, using a retrosynthetic analysis of large data arrays (Big Data), establish a dependence between the structure and biological activity. A trained neural network generates potential structures with the required properties and predicts the affinity of binding with targeted molecules. The proposed approach allows you to calculate the properties based on the structure, create training samples (more than 40,000 molecules), predict the structure of leading formations in the space of experimental samples. These decisions and the developed neural network filter, which monitors the effect of molecules on the body, significantly reduce temporary and material costs on preclinical studies. Answering the questions of the seminar about the reality of ambitions ten times to reduce the cost of new drugs to the market, young scientists replied that in the conditions of the possibilities that appeared with the departure of foreign companies from the Russian market and the interest of domestic manufacturers, their search technologies for the lead structure have already been studied by industrial partners and received approval. At the same time, Sergey Shipilovsky noted that their development is precisely the search for the most effective drugs, and not their creation, since artificial intelligence cannot be engaged in synthesis, it can only treat data, predict the properties of drugs.
Summing up the results of the seminar, the Head of the Department of Scientific Projects and Programs Natalia Leontyeva emphasized that cases involving industrial partners are of great interest, and invited to continue the topic at the next seminar, which will take place on March 26 at 14.00 in the Kapitsa Hall.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
On March 17, the director of the Department of Economics and Finance of SPbPU, Doctor of Economic Sciences Elena Vinogradova, celebrates her anniversary.
We congratulate Elena Borisovna and take this opportunity to say that the university is proud of such a specialist – passionate, purposeful, talented.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
On March 20, 2025, the 1/8 finals of the Debate Knockout Candidates Tournament will take place, in which 16 of Moscow’s strongest orators will take part, including students from the State University of Management.
“Debate Knockout” is a show where debaters act like real fighters, and the victory is determined with the help of a noise meter. This is a place where oratory and the ability to win over the audience rule.
We invite you to support two speakers from the State University of Management, who will prove that managers are the most charismatic!
When: March 20 at 18:00 Where: Development Center, Taganskaya St., 40-42
Nikita Kolesnichenko, a representative of the Student Parliamentary Club of the State University of Management, will discuss the topic “Is Clip Thinking a Problem?” with a student of the Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Agricultural Academy named after K.A. Timiryazev, Sofia Grishina. And our Anna Smirnova will argue with Mikhail Molokanov from the National Research University Moscow State University of Civil Engineering on the topic “Increasing the Average Life Expectancy on the Planet: an Achievement of World Medicine or a Direct Path to Global Overpopulation?”
Go to the conversation to get all the rest of the information: https://t.me/ Qj2ip0oGvm0yZDky
Subscribe to the tg channel “Our State University” Announcement date: 03/17/2025
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: Rosneft – Rosneft – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Bashneft (part of Rosneft) allocated 9.5 billion rubles for environmental projects in 2024. Over the past five years, Bashneft’s green investments have exceeded 37.6 billion rubles.
Preservation of the environment for future generations is an integral part of the corporate culture of Rosneft Oil Company. The activities of all the Company’s enterprises are aimed at achieving leadership positions in the field of minimizing the impact on the environment and improving the environmental friendliness of production.
One of the significant areas of Bashneft’s environmental activities is the restoration of forests and aquatic bioresources. In 2024, the Company’s employees planted almost 750 thousand trees on an area of more than 200 hectares in the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. This figure exceeds the results of the previous period by 45%.
As part of initiatives to preserve ecosystems and maintain biodiversity in the regions where it operates, Bashneft is implementing projects to reproduce aquatic bioresources. Oil workers have released more than 160,000 sterlet, muksun and salmon fry into the water bodies of Bashkortostan, the Khanty-Mansiysk and Nenets Autonomous Okrugs. The releases were carried out under the supervision of employees of the departments of state control, supervision and protection of aquatic biological resources, who select suitable water bodies based on optimal conditions for reproduction and restoration of the population.
The biological treatment facilities of the Ufa group of oil refineries have processed 157 million m3 of wastewater since their launch in 2019. The biological treatment facilities serve not only the Bashneft oil refineries, but also treat wastewater from more than 50 enterprises in the northern industrial zone of Ufa and stormwater. The treatment facilities provide the highest level of purification of industrial, stormwater and domestic wastewater, which increases the volume of reused water in technological processes by 2.5 times. Thanks to the membrane reactor technology, all impurities and microorganisms are removed from the wastewater. As a result, the water quality meets the standards for water bodies used for fisheries.
Reference:
ANK Bashneft is one of the oldest enterprises in the country’s oil and gas industry, operating in the extraction and processing of oil and gas. The company’s key assets, including an oil refining and petrochemical complex, are located in the Republic of Bashkortostan. Oil and gas exploration and production are also carried out in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra, the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the Orenburg Region, the Perm Territory and the Republic of Tatarstan.
Department of Information and Advertising of PJSC NK Rosneft March 17, 2025
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
The 3rd All-Russian Interdepartmental Scientific and Practical Conference “Current Issues of Security of the Russian Federation” was held at the State University of Management. Its holding was initiated by the management of the Institute of Distance Education of the State University of Management with the active participation of the non-profit organization “Innovation Fund”.
In addition to an impressive number of representatives of the scientific community and experts from various ministries and departments, for the first time the Conference was attended by the former Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, and now the Inspector General of the Russian Ministry of Defense, General of the Army Yuri Baluevsky, as well as Doctor of Military Sciences, Colonel General Vladimir Moltenskoy, and representatives of military command bodies and veteran organizations.
On the eve of the event, a meeting of military leaders with the management of the State University of Management represented by Rector Vladimir Stroyev and Advisor to the Rectorate Nikolay Mikhailov took place. During the conversation, Yuri Baluevsky spoke warmly about the university’s centuries-old traditions and the university’s major role in training industry managers for the country, and also outlined the need to develop cooperation in the area of training modern management personnel, taking into account the main trends in the development of modern society.
Yuri Nikolaevich also spoke with university students and expressed a desire to have an “open conversation about something important” with them in the near future.
During the Conference, issues of military and economic security, the current state and prospects of the fight against terrorism and extremism, theoretical and legal problems of comprehensive security of society, information, industrial and environmental security were considered and, of course, much attention was paid to issues of youth policy and its role in ensuring state security.
Director of the Institute of Distance Education Sergey Lenshin, in his welcoming speech to the Conference participants, drew attention to the multipolarity of the tasks that go far beyond the issues outlined in the Conference program, but which need to be addressed today.
Of great interest was the speech by Army General Yuri Baluevsky, who shared his many years of experience and drew the audience’s attention to the fact that “Russia has not had, does not have, and never will have allies other than its army and navy, that the Central Military District has demonstrated the need to improve many aspects of military development and has required a reassessment of the role and place of different types of weapons in armed confrontation.”
Almost all participants of the Conference emphasized the relevance of issues related to the continuity of generations, the transmission and preservation of the heroic traditions of our country, the preservation of the historical memory of its military glory and the need for spiritual and moral education of youth.
At the end of the Conference, high-ranking guests were given tours of the university and the halls of the State University of Management Museum.
Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 03/17/2025
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –
The Koltsovo Manege hosted two interregional track and field competitions: the Koltsovo Mayor’s Prize and the National Student Cup among students of higher education institutions of the Siberian Federal District. These were the last starts of the winter season, and NSU students showed good results.
In the Mayor’s Prize competition in the 800 m race, 2nd place was taken by Nika Sigunova (EF), the result of 2.10.78, and 3rd place by Nikita Bosak (MMF), the result of 1.56.27. The top six in the same distance included Alexey Chviruk (MMF) and Miron Gaskov (FIT), and Yana Stepanchuk (FEN) became fifth in the long jump.
12 universities from different cities of Siberia took part in the National Student Cup, and the NSU team took 5th place in the team standings.
In the individual championship, FIT student Miron Gaskov managed to win the 600 m race with a record of the arena!
The team also included:
Danil Kasyanov, Gleb Mamonov, Daria Zavalishina and Olga Trofimova (MMF), Alexander Lapushinsky and Irina Katsuk (FIT), Andrey Birkin and Danil Merzaev (EF), Ksenia Zubareva (FEN), Arseniy Tikhanchik (IFP) and Artem Golovin (GI)
Congratulations to the winners of the medals of the interregional status competitions! We thank the team and the coach – teacher of the KAFV Anton Mamekov for a good performance and wish you success in the upcoming summer competition season!
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
A fire at a nightclub in North Macedonia has killed at least 59 people and injured more than 150. The blaze broke out at the Pulse nightclub in Kočani, where around 500 people were attending a concert.
Witnesses reported that pyrotechnics used during the performance ignited the ceiling, causing flames to spread rapidly.
Authorities have arrested 20 people so far, including the club’s manager. Investigations continue. The North Macedonian government has declared a seven-day mourning period.
While building fires are not limited to nightclubs, many of the most devastating building fires in history have happened in nightclubs around the world. So why are nightclubs such a risky place for deadly fires?
A long history of nightclub fires
A look at past nightclub fires shows just how common and deadly they’ve been in the past 100 years. We identified at least 24 nightclub fires where ten or more people died since 1940.
Collectively, these 24 incidents account for at least 2,800 deaths, with nearly 1,300 in the 21st century alone.
Now, North Macedonia’s Pulse nightclub joins this long list.
Why are nightclubs so risky for fires?
A review of past nightclub fires we’ve collated in our database reveals common patterns. Two key factors have contributed to the frequency and severity of these fire disasters.
1. Pyrotechnics, fireworks and flammable materials
One of the most common causes of nightclub fires has been the use of pyrotechnics in enclosed spaces. Pyrotechnics are controlled chemical reactions designed to produce flames, smoke, or light effects.
They have been involved in at least six of the deadliest nightclub fires, including the recent Pulse nightclub fire in North Macedonia, as well as The Station (United States, 2003), Kiss (Brazil, 2013), Colectiv (Romania, 2015), Lame Horse (Russia, 2009) and República Cromañón (Argentina, 2004).
In some cases, fireworks – which are different from stage pyrotechnics and sometimes illegally used indoors – have played a role. The Lame Horse nightclub fire, which killed 156 people in Russia in 2009, was caused by a spark from fireworks igniting a low ceiling covered in flammable plastic decorations.
Foam insulation, wooden panelling, plastic decorations and carpeted walls have all been key factors in past nightclub fires. In Cocoanut Grove (Boston, 1942), artificial palm trees and other flammable decorations accelerated the blaze.
2. Overcrowding and blocked or insufficient exits
Evacuation failures have been a factor in nearly every major nightclub fire.
In some instances, crowds may not immediately recognise the severity of the situation, especially if they mistake alarms for false alarms or special effects (for example, smoke machines, loud music).
Further, patrons could be intoxicated due alcohol or other drugs. Intoxication combined with potential disorientation due to dim lighting can further reduce judgement during an evacuation.
Clearly, the best way to protect patrons is to prevent a fire from breaking out in the first place. But in settings where fire risks are inherently high, the ability to evacuate people swiftly is crucial.
Nightclubs are among the most crowded indoor spaces. While crowd density is part of a nightclub’s design and atmosphere, overcrowding beyond legal capacity is common.
A crowd that has gradually gathered over several hours must suddenly evacuate in seconds or minutes to survive a fire. This is made more difficult by narrow hallways and limited exits, which quickly become bottlenecks when hundreds of people attempt to escape at once.
What’s more, not all exits are always accessible during a fire. In several past nightclub disasters, locked or obstructed emergency exits have significantly worsened the death toll.
Minimising the risks
Nightclubs are uniquely vulnerable to fires due to a combination of structural risks, unsafe materials, overcrowding and regulatory failures.
While human behaviour plays a role in how fires unfold in confined spaces such as nightclubs, people should be able to go for a night out and expect to come home safely.
Regulatory oversight must ensure strict compliance with fire codes. Venues should have fire suppression systems (such as sprinklers, fire extinguishers and smoke detectors) to control or contain fires before they spread, and adequate exits.
Nightclubs should ban indoor pyrotechnics and fireworks, as history has repeatedly shown their deadly consequences.
Capacity limits must be enforced, and emergency exits should always be accessible.
Public awareness is also key. Patrons need to understand the real risk of fires in nightclubs, and be prepared to evacuate swiftly but calmly if danger arises.
Ruggiero Lovreglio receives funding from Royal Society Te Apārangi (NZ) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA).
Milad Haghani does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –
The Olympiad was held on February 26-28 at the Novosibirsk State Medical University. Talented students from all over the Siberian Federal District came to the event to compete in more than twenty contests, including tying surgical knots, kidney and nerve transplants, and operations on experimental animals.
The Olympiad lasted three days. Two of them were devoted to performing various operations, and on the last day, participants were tested on their ability to tie knots at speed, and also looked through creative business cards.
— In the future, I plan to connect my life with neurosurgery, and the Olympiad is a great place to meet colleagues and mentors, as well as further hone my skills, learn weak points in order to work on them. The most difficult thing was not even the operations themselves, since we worked on them for a long time, but in the moment to cope with anxiety, calm my hands so that they do not shake, find a way out if I made a mistake, but the team helps a lot with this, — admits Ekaterina Vasenina, a 4th-year student Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, NSU, which became a prize winner in the nominations “Plastic Surgery” and “Microvascular Anastomosis” as an operator.
— I decided to take part because I dream of becoming a trauma surgeon, and since childhood, thanks to my father, I have been surrounded by the attributes of surgery in one way or another — surgical instruments were used at home on par with construction ones, medical cases were discussed at the table. When I found out that I had become a prize winner, to be honest, I squealed with joy and hurried to brag to my parents, grandparents. For me, participating in an Olympiad of this format was a debut, so I am very proud of myself and my team! Despite the fact that we gathered for training before the Olympiad, we never performed the entire operation “from start to finish” before the Olympiad, which is why our success was also a surprise. My team — Sergey and Yaroslav — are great, they got together and did what we had never managed to do during training. I am proud of them! We all tried hard, and this was reflected in the result we got – we deserved the prize place, said Sofia Eksharova, a 4th year student. Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, NSU, which became a prize winner in the nomination “Osteometallosynthesis” as an operator.
Individual results for competitions in which NSU students won prizes:
— Plastic surgery PSO: operator — E. Vasenina, assistant — D. Akhtyrtseva.
— Osteometallosynthesis: operator — S. Eksharova, assistant — S. Balasov, nurse — Ya. Rusanov.
— Microvascular anastomosis: operator — E. Vasenina, assistant — D. Akhtyrtseva.
— It was both unexpected and joyful. I was an operator at 3 stages, but I was completely satisfied with my work only at one operation, it was with it that I took first place, in the remaining two I understood that there were moments that needed to be worked on, but for one of them I received third place, which, of course, was a pleasant moment, — shared Ekaterina Vasenina.
For Ekaterina and Sofia, this was the first experience of participating in an Olympiad of such a scale, which gave them a ton of impressions, acquaintances and motivation to develop skills and knowledge.
Congratulations to the guys on their victories!
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
While blueberry bushes in most parts of China are just beginning to bloom, early-ripening varieties in southwestern Yunnan Province are already being harvested.
Farmers are currently working tirelessly to pick and pack the fresh berries, which swiftly make their way to markets across China and beyond.
Originally native to North America, blueberries have found a second home in China.
In 2024, the country’s blueberry cultivation area surpassed 73,000 hectares, yielding around 500,000 tonnes of berries, making China one of the fastest-growing blueberry producers in the world. Yunnan Province, with its ideal climate and extended growing season, has emerged as a leading production hub, contributing about 30 percent of the national output.
Thanks to its unique geographical conditions, abundant sunlight, significant temperature variations between day and night, Yunnan offers an optimal environment for blueberry cultivation. “Yunnan is a natural habitat for blueberries,” said He Jiawei, head of the Institute of Alpine Economic and Botany, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Science.
The province is home to 46 wild blueberry species — more than half of China’s total, making it one of the best production areas worldwide.
The city of Mengzi in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture is home to over 2,300 hectares of greenhouse-grown blueberry cultivation space, generating over 3 billion yuan (about 418.48 million U.S. dollars) in revenue and improving incomes and livelihoods for more than 20,000 local farmers.
Min Hongwei set up a 12-hectare blueberry plantation base in Mile, another city in Honghe, last year. “During peak harvest season, our workforce jumps to over 150 people, most of whom are local villagers. They can earn at least 150 yuan per day, and some make as much as 300 yuan,” he said.
Yunnan’s blueberry boom has attracted over 100 domestic and international companies to Honghe, creating jobs for more than 100,000 people. According to the province’s agricultural department, Yunnan’s blueberry cultivation area reached 16,660 hectares in 2024, producing 171,000 tonnes with an estimated industry value of 17 billion yuan.
While Chinese blueberries were initially grown for domestic consumption, they are now making their mark on the international stage.
Chen Canling, sales manager of Anmei, an agriculture and technology company, said the company had successfully entered the Malaysian market this year.
“To meet export standards, we’ve implemented precision management throughout the supply chain from harvesting techniques to packaging and international logistics,” Chen said. “Our goal is to export 300 tonnes of blueberries this year.”
“Every four days, we airfreight two tonnes of blueberries to Dubai,” said Wang Rui, chairman of Fengji, an agricultural development company, adding that customers in Dubai can enjoy fresh blueberries from Yunnan in about 40 hours.
China’s blueberry exports are rapidly gaining momentum. According to Kunming Customs, in 2024, the customs office in Mengzi supervised the export of 1,425 tonnes of blueberries, accounting for over half of China’s total blueberry exports and making it the country’s top blueberry exporter.
“Since China first exported homegrown blueberries to Russia in 2020, they have reached more than 10 countries and regions, highlighting the immense market potential of Chinese blueberries,” said Li Yadong, a professor at Jilin Agricultural University.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor & Principal Fellow in Urban Risk & Resilience, The University of Melbourne
A fire at a nightclub in North Macedonia has killed at least 59 people and injured more than 150. The blaze broke out at the Pulse nightclub in Kočani, where around 500 people were attending a concert.
Witnesses reported that pyrotechnics used during the performance ignited the ceiling, causing flames to spread rapidly.
Authorities have arrested 20 people so far, including the club’s manager. Investigations continue. The North Macedonian government has declared a seven-day mourning period.
While building fires are not limited to nightclubs, many of the most devastating building fires in history have happened in nightclubs around the world. So why are nightclubs such a risky place for deadly fires?
A long history of nightclub fires
A look at past nightclub fires shows just how common and deadly they’ve been in the past 100 years. We identified at least 24 nightclub fires where ten or more people died since 1940.
Collectively, these 24 incidents account for at least 2,800 deaths, with nearly 1,300 in the 21st century alone.
Now, North Macedonia’s Pulse nightclub joins this long list.
Why are nightclubs so risky for fires?
A review of past nightclub fires we’ve collated in our database reveals common patterns. Two key factors have contributed to the frequency and severity of these fire disasters.
1. Pyrotechnics, fireworks and flammable materials
One of the most common causes of nightclub fires has been the use of pyrotechnics in enclosed spaces. Pyrotechnics are controlled chemical reactions designed to produce flames, smoke, or light effects.
They have been involved in at least six of the deadliest nightclub fires, including the recent Pulse nightclub fire in North Macedonia, as well as The Station (United States, 2003), Kiss (Brazil, 2013), Colectiv (Romania, 2015), Lame Horse (Russia, 2009) and República Cromañón (Argentina, 2004).
In some cases, fireworks – which are different from stage pyrotechnics and sometimes illegally used indoors – have played a role. The Lame Horse nightclub fire, which killed 156 people in Russia in 2009, was caused by a spark from fireworks igniting a low ceiling covered in flammable plastic decorations.
Foam insulation, wooden panelling, plastic decorations and carpeted walls have all been key factors in past nightclub fires. In Cocoanut Grove (Boston, 1942), artificial palm trees and other flammable decorations accelerated the blaze.
2. Overcrowding and blocked or insufficient exits
Evacuation failures have been a factor in nearly every major nightclub fire.
In some instances, crowds may not immediately recognise the severity of the situation, especially if they mistake alarms for false alarms or special effects (for example, smoke machines, loud music).
Further, patrons could be intoxicated due alcohol or other drugs. Intoxication combined with potential disorientation due to dim lighting can further reduce judgement during an evacuation.
Clearly, the best way to protect patrons is to prevent a fire from breaking out in the first place. But in settings where fire risks are inherently high, the ability to evacuate people swiftly is crucial.
Nightclubs are among the most crowded indoor spaces. While crowd density is part of a nightclub’s design and atmosphere, overcrowding beyond legal capacity is common.
A crowd that has gradually gathered over several hours must suddenly evacuate in seconds or minutes to survive a fire. This is made more difficult by narrow hallways and limited exits, which quickly become bottlenecks when hundreds of people attempt to escape at once.
What’s more, not all exits are always accessible during a fire. In several past nightclub disasters, locked or obstructed emergency exits have significantly worsened the death toll.
Minimising the risks
Nightclubs are uniquely vulnerable to fires due to a combination of structural risks, unsafe materials, overcrowding and regulatory failures.
While human behaviour plays a role in how fires unfold in confined spaces such as nightclubs, people should be able to go for a night out and expect to come home safely.
Regulatory oversight must ensure strict compliance with fire codes. Venues should have fire suppression systems (such as sprinklers, fire extinguishers and smoke detectors) to control or contain fires before they spread, and adequate exits.
Nightclubs should ban indoor pyrotechnics and fireworks, as history has repeatedly shown their deadly consequences.
Capacity limits must be enforced, and emergency exits should always be accessible.
Public awareness is also key. Patrons need to understand the real risk of fires in nightclubs, and be prepared to evacuate swiftly but calmly if danger arises.
Ruggiero Lovreglio receives funding from Royal Society Te Apārangi (NZ) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA).
Milad Haghani does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The US government has sent a 36-point questionnaire to some Australian researchers who are working on joint projects with US colleagues.
ABC Radio National reports at least eight Australian universities are involved. Their research areas include foreign aid, medicine, vaccines and defence. The New York Times reports a similar document has also been sent to other overseas organisations with US funding links.
The questions are wide-ranging and cover academics’ links to China as well as their projects’ focus on topics such as diversity, inclusion and gender identity, as well as climate change.
Some of the specific questions include:
Can you confirm that your organisation has not received ANY funding from PRC People’s Republic of China, Russia, Cuba or Iran?
Can you confirm that this is no DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] project or DEI elements of the project? [sic]
Does this project take appropriate measures to protect women and to defend against gender ideology as defined in the below Executive Order?
Can you confirm this is not a climate or “environmental justice” project or include such elements?
The survey also covers issues such as secure borders with Mexico, ending government waste, terrorism, the war on opioids, and “eradicating anti-Christian bias”.
Concern and anger
In response, the Group of Eight (which represents Australia’s top research universities) and Australian Academy of Science have separately raised concerns with the Australian government about the survey and its impact on Australian research.
The Group of Eight says the US has already suspended or terminated research grants with six of its eight member universities.
The National Tertiary Education Union also labelled the survey “blatant foreign interference”.
A spokesperson for Education Minister Jason Clare says Australia is
“engaging with the US government to understand what these measures mean for future funding and collaboration”.
Are Trump’s orders legal?
Trump’s executive orders are currently the subject of numerous lawsuits in the US. Plaintiffs say Trump’s orders violate the First and Fifth Amendments – those dealing with protection of free speech, equal protection and “due process of law” when depriving a citizen of property.
Whether Trump’s orders are legal or not is a tricky question, and will likely come down the judges hearing each case.
US involvement in Australian research is significant. According to the Academy of Science, US government research funding involving Australian research organisations was $A386 million in 2024.
It is arguable Trump’s orders infringe Australian sovereignty. But the US has always had the capacity to interfere in Australian university research – it just hasn’t actually done it until now.
Research contracts signed between universities and funding bodies can contain all kinds of requirements, so US law can end up applying to Australian researchers. When the AUKUS deal was announced in 2021, a huge question was how universities would comply with notoriously harsh US export control laws.
The survey indicates it was issued by the US Office of Management and Budget and appears to be supported by the US CHIPS and Science Act (which authorises certain research investments) and National Science Foundation policies. So, while Australian researchers could potentially ignore these questionnaires, that would legally give a US funding body grounds to cancel the funding contract.
Our foreign interference laws also weren’t designed for situations like this. Even if they did, Trump is the current head of the US government, and is likely to be immune from prosecution
Statutory tests for foreign interference – including criteria that such acts are covert, and/or involve threats of harm – simply don’t apply to a US president like Trump.
So legally, it doesn’t look like there is much Australia can do about Trump’s orders.
What can Australia do?
Some newly unemployed researchers are now poised to leave the US, taking their research with them. This poses a potential security risk, with countries such as China and Russia both keen to capitalise on Trump’s decisions.
But other nations are also aware of the possibilities. The European Union has already offered displaced US scientists a more “sympathetic place to work”. South Korea and Canada are also marketing themselves as attractive options. Australia could follow suit.
The federal government is currently doing a strategic review of Australia’s research and development system. This could make diversifying our research partners a national priority.
Either way, given such radical changes in the US, Australia needs to seriously reconsider how it is funding and structuring research.
Brendan Walker-Munro has consulted for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, and is also an Adjunct Expert Associate of the National Security College. He has received funding from the Social Cyber Institute and Active Cyber Defence Alliance.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday ruled out any territorial concessions to Russia as a potential step towards a ceasefire, the UNIAN news agency reported.
“Our position is that we do not recognize the occupied Ukrainian territories as Russian under any circumstances,” Zelensky told reporters.
He confirmed that potential territorial concessions were discussed during a March 11 meeting between Ukrainian and U.S. delegations in Saudi Arabia.
Zelensky noted that Washington took into account Kiev’s stance on the issue.
He stressed that the territorial issues are “complex” and should be addressed later at the negotiating table.
SPECIAL REPORT:By Peter Cronau for Declassified Australia
Australia is caught in a jam, between an assertive American ally and a bold Chinese trading partner. America is accelerating its pivot to the Indo-Pacific, building up its fighting forces and expanding its military bases.
As Australia tries to navigate a pathway between America’s and Australia’s national interests, sometimes Australia’s national interest seems to submerge out of view.
Admiral David Johnston, the Chief of the Australia’s Defence Force, is steering this ship as China flexes its muscle sending a small warship flotilla south to circumnavigate the continent.
He has admitted that the first the Defence Force heard of a live-fire exercise by the three Chinese Navy ships sailing in the South Pacific east of Australia on February 21, was a phone call from the civilian Airservices Australia.
“The absence of any advance notice to Australian authorities was a concern, notably, that the limited notice provided by the PLA could have unnecessarily increased the risk to aircraft and vessels in the area,” Johnston told Senate Estimates .
Johnston was pressed to clarify how Defence first came to know of the live-fire drill: “Is it the case that Defence was only notified, via Virgin and Airservices Australia, 28 minutes [sic] after the firing window commenced?”
To this, Admiral Johnston replied: “Yes.”
If it happened as stated by the Admiral — that a live-fire exercise by the Chinese ships was undertaken and a warning notice was transmitted from the Chinese ships, all without being detected by Australian defence and surveillance assets — this is a defence failure of considerable significance.
Sources with knowledge of Defence spoken to by Declassified Australia say that this is either a failure of surveillance, or a failure of communication, or even more far-reaching, a failure of US alliance cooperation.
And from the very start the official facts became slippery.
Our latest investigation –
AUSTRALIA’S DEFENCE: NAVIGATING US-CHINA TENSIONS
We investigate a significant intelligence failure to detect live-firing by Chinese warships near Australia, has exposed Defence weaknesses, and the fact that when it counts, we are all alone.
— Declassified Australia (@DeclassifiedAus) March 7, 2025
What did they know and when did they know it The first information passed on to Defence by Airservices Australia came from the pilot of a Virgin passenger jet passing overhead the flotilla in the Tasman Sea that had picked up the Chinese Navy VHF radio notification of an impending live-fire exercise.
The radio transmission had advised the window for the live-fire drill commenced at 9.30am and would conclude at 3pm.
We know this from testimony given to Senate Estimates by the head of Airservices Australia. He said Airservices was notified at 9.58am by an aviation control tower informed by the Virgin pilot. Two minutes later Airservices issued a “hazard alert” to commercial airlines in the area.
The Headquarters of the Defence Force’s Joint Operations Command (HJOC), at Bungendore 30km east of Canberra, was then notified about the drill by Airservices at 10.08am, 38 minutes after the drill window had commenced.
When questioned a few days later, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appeared to try to cover for Defence’s apparent failure to detect the live-fire drill or the advisory transmission.
“At around the same time, there were two areas of notification. One was from the New Zealand vessels that were tailing . .. the [Chinese] vessels in the area by both sea and air,” Albanese stated. “So that occurred and at the same time through the channels that occur when something like this is occurring, Airservices got notified as well.”
But the New Zealand Defence Force had not notified Defence “at the same time”. In fact it was not until 11.01am that an alert was received by Defence from the New Zealand Defence Force — 53 minutes after Defence HQ was told by Airservices and an hour and a half after the drill window had begun.
The Chinese Navy’s stealth guided missile destroyer Zunyi, sailing south in the Coral Sea on February 15, 2025, in a photograph taken from a RAAF P-8A Poseidon surveillance plane. Image: Royal Australian Air Force/Declassified Australia
Defence Minister Richard Marles later in a round-about way admitted on ABC Radio that it wasn’t the New Zealanders who informed Australia first: “Well, to be clear, we weren’t notified by China. I mean, we became aware of this during the course of the day.
“What China did was put out a notification that it was intending to engage in live firing. By that I mean a broadcast that was picked up by airlines or literally planes that were commercial planes that were flying across the Tasman.”
Later the Chinese Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, told ABC that two live-fire training drills were carried out at sea on February 21 and 22, in accordance with international law and “after repeatedly issuing safety notices in advance”.
Eyes and ears on ‘every move’ It was expected the Chinese-navy flotilla would end its three week voyage around Australia on March 7, after a circumnavigation of the continent. That is not before finally passing at some distance the newly acquired US-UK nuclear submarine base at HMAS Stirling near Perth and the powerful US communications and surveillance base at North West Cape.
Just as Australia spies on China to develop intelligence and targeting for a potential US war, China responds in kind, collecting data on US military and intelligence bases and facilities in Australia, as future targets should hostilities commence.
The presence of the Chinese Navy ships that headed into the northern and eastern seas around Australia attracted the attention of the Defence Department ever since they first set off south through the Mindoro Strait in the Philippines and through the Indonesian archipelago from the South China Sea on February 3.
“We are keeping a close watch on them and we will be making sure that we watch every move,” Marles stated in the week before the live-fire incident.
“Just as they have a right to be in international waters . . . we have a right to be prudent and to make sure that we are surveilling them, which is what we are doing.”
Around 3500 km to the north, a week into the Chinese ships’ voyage, a spy flight by an RAAF P-8A Poseidon surveillance plane on February 11, in a disputed area of the South China Sea south of China’s Hainan Island, was warned off by a Chinese J-16 fighter jet.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded to Australian protests claiming the Australian aircraft “deliberately intruded” into China’s claimed territorial airspace around the Paracel Islands without China’s permission, thereby “infringing on China’s sovereignty and endangering China’s national security”.
Australia criticised the Chinese manoeuvre, defending the Australian flight saying it was “exercising the right to freedom of navigation and overflight in international waters and airspace”.
Two days after the incident, the three Chinese ships on their way to Australian waters were taking different routes in beginning their own “right to freedom of navigation” in international waters off the Australian coast. The three ships formed up their mini flotilla in the Coral Sea as they turned south paralleling the Australian eastern coastline outside of territorial waters, and sometimes within Australia’s 200-nautical-mile (370 km) Exclusive Economic Zone.
“Defence always monitors foreign military activity in proximity to Australia. This includes the Peoples Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) Task Group.” Admiral Johnston told Senate Estimates.
“We have been monitoring the movement of the Task Group through its transit through Southeast Asia and we have observed the Task Group as it has come south through that region.”
The Task Group was made up of a modern stealth guided missile destroyer Zunyi, the frigate Hengyang, and the Weishanhu, a 20,500 tonne supply ship carrying fuel, fresh water, cargo and ammunition. The Hengyang moved eastwards through the Torres Strait, while the Zunyi and Weishanhu passed south near Bougainville and Solomon Islands, meeting in the Coral Sea.
This map indicates the routes taken by the three Chinese Navy ships on their “right to freedom of navigation” voyage in international waters circumnavigating Australia, with dates of way points indicated — from 3 February till 6 March 2025. Distances and locations are approximate. Image: Weibo/Declassified Australia
As the Chinese ships moved near northern Australia and through the Coral Sea heading further south, the Defence Department deployed Navy and Air Force assets to watch over the ships. These included various RAN warships including the frigate HMAS Arunta and a RAAF P-8A Poseidon intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance plane.
With unconfirmed reports a Chinese nuclear submarine may also be accompanying the surface ships, the monitoring may have also included one of the RAN’s Collins-class submarines, with their active range of sonar, radar and radio monitoring – however it is uncertain whether one was able to be made available from the fleet.
“From the point of time the first of the vessels entered into our more immediate region, we have been conducting active surveillance of their activities,” the Defence chief confirmed.
As the Chinese ships moved into the southern Tasman Sea, New Zealand navy ships joined in the monitoring alongside Australia’s Navy and Air Force.
The range of signals intelligence (SIGINT) that theoretically can be intercepted emanating from a naval ship at sea includes encrypted data and voice satellite communications, ship-to-ship communications, aerial drone data and communications, as well as data of radar, gunnery, and weapon launches.
There are a number of surveillance facilities in Australia that would have been able to be directed at the Chinese ships.
Australian Signals Directorate’s (ASD) Shoal Bay Receiving Station outside of Darwin, picks up transmissions and data emanating from radio signals and satellite communications from Australia’s near north region. ASD’s Cocos Islands receiving station in the mid-Indian ocean would have been available too.
The Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) over-the-horizon radar network, spread across northern Australia, is an early warning system that monitors aircraft and ship movements across Australia’s north-western, northern, and north-eastern ocean areas — but its range off the eastern coast is not thought to presently reach further south than the sea off Mackay on the Queensland coast.
Of land-based surveillance facilities, it is the American Pine Gap base that is believed to have the best capability of intercepting the ship’s radio communications in the Tasman Sea.
Enter, Pine Gap and the Americans The US satellite surveillance base at Pine Gap in Central Australia is a US and Australian jointly-run satellite ground station. It is regarded as the most important such American satellite base outside of the USA.
The spy base – Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap (JDFPG) – showing the north-eastern corner of the huge base with some 18 of the base’s now 45 satellite dishes and covered radomes visible. Image: Felicity Ruby/Declassified Australia
The role of ASD in supporting the extensive US surveillance mission against China is increasingly valued by Australia’s large Five Eyes alliance partner.
A Top Secret ‘Information Paper’, titled “NSA Intelligence Relationship with Australia”, leaked from the National Security Agency (NSA) by Edward Snowden and published by ABC’s Background Briefing, spells out the “close collaboration” between the NSA and ASD, in particular on China:
“Increased emphasis on China will not only help ensure the security of Australia, but also synergize with the U.S. in its renewed emphasis on Asia and the Pacific . . . Australia’s overall intelligence effort on China, as a target, is already significant and will increase.”
The Pine Gap base, as further revealed in 2023 by Declassified Australia, is being used to collect signals intelligence and other data from the Israeli battlefield of Gaza, and also Ukraine and other global hotspots within view of the US spy satellites.
It’s recently had a significant expansion (reported by this author in The Saturday Paper) which has seen its total of satellite dishes and radomes rapidly increase in just a few years from 35 to 45 to accommodate new heightened-capability surveillance satellites.
Pine Gap base collects an enormous range and quantity of intelligence and data from thermal imaging satellites, photographic reconnaissance satellites, and signals intelligence (SIGINT) satellites, as expert researchers Des Ball, Bill Robinson and Richard Tanter of the Nautilus Institute have detailed.
These SIGINT satellites intercept electronic communications and signals from ground-based sources, such as radio communications, telemetry, radar signals, satellite communications, microwave emissions, mobile phone signals, and geolocation data.
Alliance priorities The US’s SIGINT satellites have a capability to detect and receive signals from VHF radio transmissions on or near the earth’s surface, but they need to be tasked to do so and appropriately targeted on the source of the transmission.
For the Pine Gap base to intercept VHF radio signals from the Chinese Navy ships, the base would have needed to specifically realign one of those SIGINT satellites to provide coverage of the VHF signals in the Tasman Sea at the time of the Chinese ships’ passage. It is not known publicly if they did this, but they certainly have that capability.
However, it is not only the VHF radio transmission that would have carried information about the live-firing exercise.
Pine Gap would be able to monitor a range of other SIGINT transmissions from the Chinese ships. Details of the planning and preparations for the live-firing exercise would almost certainly have been transmitted over data and voice satellite communications, ship-to-ship communications, and even in the data of radar and gunnery operations.
But it is here that there is another possibility for the failure.
The Pine Gap base was built and exists to serve the national interests of the United States. The tasking of the surveillance satellites in range of Pine Gap base is generally not set by Australia, but is directed by United States’ agencies, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) together with the US Defense Department, the National Security Agency (NSA), and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Australia has learnt over time that US priorities may not be the same as Australia’s.
Australian defence and intelligence services can request surveillance tasks to be added to the schedule, and would have been expected to have done so in order to target the southern leg of the Chinese Navy ships’ voyage, when the ships were out of the range of the JORN network.
The military demands for satellite time can be excessive in times of heightened global conflict, as is the case now.
Whether the Pine Gap base was devoting sufficient surveillance resources to monitoring the Chinese Navy ships, due to United States’ priorities in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa, North Korea, and to our north in the South China Sea, is a relevant question.
It can only be answered now by a formal government inquiry into what went on — preferably held in public by a parliamentary committee or separately commissioned inquiry. The sovereign defence of Australia failed in this incident and lessons need to be learned.
Who knew and when did they know If the Pine Gap base had been monitoring the VHF radio band and heard the Chinese Navy live-fire alert, or had been monitoring other SIGINT transmissions to discover the live-fire drill, the normal procedure would be for the active surveillance team to inform a number of levels of senior officers, a former Defence official familiar with the process told Declassified Australia.
Inside an operations room at the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) head office at the Defence complex at Russell Hill in Canberra. Image: ADF/Declassified Australia
Expected to be included in the information chain are the Australian Deputy-Chief of Facility at the US base, NSA liaison staff at the base, the Australian Signals Directorate head office at the Defence complex at Russell Hill in Canberra, the Defence Force’s Headquarters Joint Operations Command, in Bungendore, and the Chief of the Defence Force. From there the Defence Minister’s office would need to have been informed.
As has been reported in media interviews and in testimony to the Senate Estimates hearings, it has been stated that Defence was not informed of the Chinese ships’ live-firing alert until a full 38 minutes after the drill window had commenced.
The former Defence official told Declassified Australia it is vital the reason for the failure to detect the live-firing in a timely fashion is ascertained.
Either the Australian Defence Force and US Pine Gap base were not effectively actively monitoring the Chinese flotilla at this time — and the reasons for that need to be examined — or they were, but the information gathered was somewhere stalled and not passed on to correct channels.
If the evidence so far tendered by the Defence chief and the Minister is true, and it was not informed of the drill by any of its intelligence or surveillance assets before that phone call from Airservices Australia, the implications need to be seriously addressed.
A final word In just a couple of weeks the whole Defence environment for Australia has changed, for the worse.
The US military announces a drawdown in Europe and a new pivot to the Indo-Pacific. China shows Australia it can do tit-for-tat “navigational freedom” voyages close to the Australian coast. US intelligence support is withdrawn from Ukraine during the war. Australia discovers the AUKUS submarines’ arrival looks even more remote. The prime minister confuses the limited cover provided by the ANZUS treaty.
Meanwhile, the US militarisation of Australia’s north continues at pace. At the same time a senior Pentagon official pressures Australia to massively increase defence spending. And now, the country’s defence intelligence system has experienced an unexplained major failure.
Australia, it seems, is adrift in a sea of unpredictable global events and changing alliance priorities.
Peter Cronau is an award-winning, investigative journalist, writer, and film-maker. His documentary, The Base: Pine Gap’s Role in US Warfighting, was broadcast on Australian ABC Radio National and featured on ABC News. He produced and directed the documentary film Drawing the Line, revealing details of Australian spying in East Timor, on ABC TV’s premier investigative programme Four Corners. He won the Gold Walkley Award in 2007 for a report he produced on an outbreak of political violence in East Timor. This article was first published by Declassified Australia and is republished here with the author’s permission.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
A national Freshwater poll for The Financial Review, conducted March 13–15 from a sample of 1,051, gave the Coalition a 51–49 lead by respondent preferences, a one-point gain for Labor since the late February Freshwater poll.
Primary votes were 39% Coalition (down two), 31% Labor (steady), 14% Greens (up one) and 16% for all Others (up one). By 2022 election preference flows, this would be about a 50–50 tie.
Anthony Albanese’s net approval improved one point to -10, while Peter Dutton’s slid four points to -12. In the last two months, Albanese is up eight and Dutton down eight. It’s the first time since May 2024 that Albanese has had a better net approval than Dutton in this poll.
Albanese led Dutton by 45.9–42.5 as preferred PM, his best lead in this poll since last September. By 42–40, respondents thought Dutton better suited to negotiate with US President Donald Trump than Albanese (47–36 in November).
The Coalition leads on important issues, but Labor has gained seven points on economic management and three points on cost of living since February.
There has been improvement for Labor across a range of polls in the last few weeks, and the graph below has Labor leads in three of the last five national polls (two YouGovs and a Morgan), with the Coalition still ahead in Newspoll and Freshwater.
In analyst Kevin Bonham’s aggregate, Labor now leads by 50.5–49.5 using 2022 election flows, while it’s a 50–50 tie adjusting for a likely pro-Coalition shift in One Nation preferences.
Last Wednesday Trump imposed 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports into the US, including on Australia. I believe this will assist Labor as the tariff imposition will appear unjustified to most Australians, and the Coalition is the more pro-Trump party. If the stock market continues to fall, this will undermine support for Trump’s economic agenda.
Trump has been threatening Canada with tariffs for much longer than Australia, and the centre-left governing Liberals have surged back in the polls to a near-tie with the Conservatives from over 20 points behind, and have taken the lead since Mark Carney’s March 9 election as Liberal leader.
Labor retains lead in YouGov
A national YouGov poll, conducted March 7–13 from a sample of 1,526, gave Labor a 51–49 lead, unchanged from the February 28 to March 6 YouGov poll. YouGov is conducting weekly polls, and the previous poll was the first Labor lead in YouGov since July 2024.
Primary votes were 36% Coalition (steady), 31% Labor (steady), 13.5% Greens (up 0.5), 7.5% One Nation (up 0.5), 1% Trumpet of Patriots (steady), 9% independents (down one) and 2% others (steady). YouGov is using weaker preference flows for Labor than occurred in 2022, and by 2022 flows Labor would have a lead above 52–48.
Albanese’s net approval improved three points to -6, with 49% dissatisfied and 43% satisfied, while Dutton’s net approval slid two points to -6. Albanese led Dutton as better PM by an unchanged 45–39.
Since the first weekly YouGov poll in late February, Albanese has gained six points on net approval while Dutton has slid four points. This is the first time Dutton has not had a better net approval than Albanese in YouGov since March 2024.
On the ongoing conflict caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 69% of Australians thought we should stand with Ukraine President Zelensky, while 31% wanted us to stand with Trump.
Labor regains lead in Morgan poll
A national Morgan poll, conducted March 3–9 from a sample of 1,719, gave Labor a 51.5–48.5 lead by headline respondent preferences, a two-point gain for Labor since the February 24 to March 2 poll. This is Labor’s second lead in the last three Morgan polls, after they had trailed in this poll since November.
Primary votes were 37% Coalition (down three), 30% Labor (up 1.5), 13.5% Greens (steady), 5% One Nation (up one), 10.5% independents (steady) and 4% others (up 0.5). By 2022 election flows, Labor led by 52–48, a two-point gain for Labor.
By 51.5–33, respondents said the country was going in the wrong direction (52–31.5 previously). Morgan’s consumer confidence index was down 0.8 points to 86.9.
Poll of teal-held seats has the teals struggling
Freshwater took a poll for the News Corporation tabloids of six seats held by teal independents. These are Curtin in WA, Goldstein and Kooyong in Victoria and Mackellar, Warringah and Wentworth in NSW. The poll was conducted March 5–7 from an overall sample of 830.
Across the six seats polled, the Liberals had a 51–49 lead, representing a 5% swing to the Liberals since the 2022 election. On these figures, the Liberals would gain four of these teal seats (Curtin, Goldstein, Kooyong and Mackellar).
Primary votes were 41% Liberals (up two since 2022), 33% teals (steady), 7% Labor (down six), 7% Greens (down two) and 12% others (up six). Albanese and Dutton were tied at 39–39 on better PM. By 47–42, respondents opposed their local MP backing an Albanese Labor minority government.
The YouGov MRP poll that was conducted between late January and mid-February from a sample of over 40,000 had all the teals holding their seats. At the March 8 Western Australian election, swings to the Liberals were lowest in affluent Perth seats.
WA election late counting
With 70% of enrolled voters counted for the WA election, the ABC is calling 43 of the 59 lower house seats for Labor, six for the Liberals, four for the Nationals and six seats remain undecided. The Poll Bludger has Labor ahead in 47 seats, with the Liberals and Nationals ahead in six seats each.
On election night, it had appeared likely that an independent would win Labor-held Fremantle. However, the independent has performed badly on absent and postal votes, and Labor will retain.
In the upper house, all 37 seats are elected by statewide proportional representation with preferences, and a quota for election is just 2.63%. With 63% of enrolled counted, Labor has 15.8 quotas, the Liberals 10.5, the Greens 4.1, the Nationals 2.1, One Nation 1.35, Legalise Cannabis and the Australian Christians 1.0 each, an independent group 0.48 and Animal Justice 0.43.
On current figures, Labor will win 16 seats, the Liberals ten, the Greens four, the Nationals two, One Nation, Legalise Cannabis and the Christians one each and two seats are unclear (Liberals, independent group and Animal Justice contesting). Counting of absents in the lower house has hurt the Liberals, so their vote is likely to drop further. Labor and the Greens will have a combined upper house majority.
Liberals hold Port Macquarie at NSW byelection
A byelection occurred on Saturday in the New South Wales Liberal-held state seat of Port Macquarie. Labor did not contest after finishing third behind the Nationals and Liberals at the 2023 NSW election with 19.2%.
With 59% of enrolled counted, The Poll Bludger is projecting that the Liberals will defeat the Nationals by 52.8–47.2, a 7.9% swing to the Nationals since 2023. Current primary votes are 34.2% Liberals (down 4.1%), 31.2% Nationals (up 5.5%), 12.8% for an independent (new), 10.7% Greens (up 3.7%) and 7.9% Legalise Cannabis (up 3.4%).
Adrian Beaumont does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olga Boichak, Senior Lecturer in Digital Cultures, Australian Research Council DECRA fellow, University of Sydney
More than three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a 30-day ceasefire between the two warring countries may be imminent. But much more needs to happen before a just and lasting peace is achieved.
The Russian-Ukraine war is one of the most visible, analysed and documented wars in human history. Since the night of February 24 2022, millions of Ukrainian citizens, military personnel, journalists, officials and civil society activists have shared first-hand eyewitness accounts, updates, commentaries and opinions on the war.
Around the world, many online communities have also sprung into action to counter Russian propaganda and raise awareness of what is happening inside Ukraine.
We have been studying these communities for the past three years, conducting hours of interviews with members and observing their activity on social media. To conduct much of this research and connect with members, we had to join some of these communities – a common requirement for researchers working in online settings.
Our work reveals a range of skills and strategies activists use in the online fight against Russia. More broadly, it shows how social media users can mobilise during times of war and other international crises and have a material impact offline.
In some cases, social media platforms have aided the Russian cause. At the same time, they have suppressed evidence of war crimes.
For example, in the first year of the Russian invasion, independent investigative journalism organisations such as Disclose documented thousands of war crimes committed by Russian soldiers against Ukrainian civilians. These crimes included murder, torture, physical and sexual violence, forced relocation, looting, and damage to civilian infrastructure such as schools and hospitals.
Much of this content included graphic imagery, violence and offensive language. As a result, it was permanently removed from platforms such as Instagram and YouTube.
On the other hand, content containing disinformation evaded moderation. For example, a 2023 investigation by the BBC revealed thousands of fake TikTok accounts created as part of a Russian propaganda campaign spreading lies about Ukrainian officials.
This often led to a distorted information environment online. Russian disinformation was visible, while the true extent of Russian violence against Ukrainians was hidden.
Boosting Ukrainian voices
In this context, thousands of internet users formed online communities to creatively support Ukraine without attracting the attention of content moderators.
This isn’t new or unique to the war in Ukraine. For example, in 2019, US TikToker Feroza Aziz shared a makeup tutorial in which she subtly raised awareness of China’s treatment of the Uyghurs – a topic that is often suppressed on the Chinese-owned platform.
It started in May 2022 when a young man with the online name Kama mashed up a Reddit meme of a Shiba Inu dog nicknamed Cheems and a picture of a dilapidated Russian tank. This was a celebration of a Ukrainian battlefront victory. It was only intended to mock Russia.
But as Kama changed his profile picture to the meme, the trend started spreading quickly to his followers on X (formerly Twitter). They quickly grew into an online collective dedicated to fighting Russia online. Members – or “fellas”, as they are known – from many regions around the world were brought together by its rituals using internet and popular culture memes.
Calls to action
In many similar posts across Facebook, X and TikTok, users share selfies or other images to achieve high visibility while calling followers to action. In most cases, this involves raising funds for urgent military or humanitarian efforts to benefit Ukraine.
Another common strategy is storytelling. Some users share amusing or ridiculous anecdotes from their lives before closing with a donation request.
These requests often have a clear target and beneficiary. They are also often time-sensitive. For example, they may be aimed at purchasing a particular model of a drone for a particular brigade of Ukraine’s armed forces that will be delivered to the battlefront within days.
Through collaborations with Ukraine’s official fundraising platform, the North Atlantic Fella Organisation has collected more than US$700,000 towards Ukraine’s defence.
Combatting propaganda
Members of the North Atlantic Fella Organisation also try to combat Russian propaganda and disinformation.
Instead of arguing in good faith with highly visible disinformation-spreading accounts (often controlled by the Russian government), members try to derail the disinformation campaigns. They highlight their ridiculousness by responding with memes and jokes. They call this practice “shitposting”.
People spreading Russian disinformation often find themselves annoyed by the swarms of “meme dogs” in their replies. This has led some to respond aggressively. In turn, this has allowed North Atlantic Fella Organisation members to report them for violation of X’s terms of service and have their accounts suspended, as our forthcoming research documents.
However, from late 2022 onward, North Atlantic Fella Organisation members we interviewed as a part of our research reported decreased effectiveness of X’s response to problematic user conduct. This was soon after tech billionaire Elon Musk bought the social media platform.
Despite this, members continue to support each other and develop playful tactics to ensure they remain visible on the platform.
It seems war will continue online for as long as Russia wages its war on Ukraine’s territory.
Olga Boichak has received funding from the Australian Research Council. She is a director of the Ukrainian Studies Foundation in Australia and an executive committee member of the Ukrainian Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand. She has been a member of the North Atlantic Fella Organisation since 2022 for research purposes.
Kateryna Kasianenko has been a member of the North Atlantic Fella Organisation since 2022 for research purposes.
Yet, despite this widespread patriotism, some Canadians may have a relative or friend in the contrarian 10 per cent of citizens who welcome annexation.
From peacekeepers to politicians to ordinary civilians, I have seen how cognitive biases can cause rational, intelligent people to ignore valuable evidence, even at great peril.
Humans often react to unsettling evidence by denying, minimizing or re-interpreting the information to restore their cognitive ease. Everyone in a conflict-prone part of the world experiences cognitive distortions and denial at some point. Psychological security often overrides physical security.
The tricky part is that challenging a person’s denial can provoke defensiveness, even rage. But allowing denial to persist leaves them dangerously unprepared to face real-world threats.
On balance, the safer choice is to rip off these psychological Band-aids.
Denial through confirmation bias
Except for a small percentage of extremists, the 10 per cent who are in favour of American annexation are ordinary Canadians. What makes them different are two interrelated cognitive biases: confirmation bias and belief perseverance.
For Canadians who hold Trump in high esteem, acknowledging his threats creates cognitive dissonance. Some people find dissonance so distressing that it feels easier to reject or reinterpret the contrary information in a way that protects prior-held ideas and restores cognitive ease.
These confirmation biases allow the 10 per cent to redefine the word “annexation” to mean something else, such as peaceful political unification. That imagined definition turns Trump’s threat into a friendly proposal leading to greater prosperity and security.
That reinterpretation may reduce psychological distress, but it’s delusional.
Many of the 10 per cent are simply unaware of what “annexation” truly means, and could rationally change their position once they understand the facts. But a smaller subset of that group may reject the evidence entirely.
Belief perseverance causes some people to aggressively hold their original position, even when presented with disconfirming evidence.
While denial helps them feel safe in the moment, it also makes them dangerously unprepared to deal with real threats.
Denial through normalcy bias
Patriotic “elbows up” Canadians must also be wary of denial. For them, the issue is not identifying the threats, but comprehending their full implications.
Even among informed citizens, NATO, NORAD and the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance are not easy to relate to. Trade wars show up on grocery bills, but these defence organizations keep peace in the background, which is harder to notice.
Canadians may intellectually understand that North American security is deteriorating, but that crisis may not seem as real as tariffs.
For the majority of Canadians who already take Trump’s threats seriously, the first step in countering the normalcy bias is to pay attention to new risks and fractures in existingsecurity co-operation.
There is no time to argue with people who remain cognitively confused. The majority of Canadians are ready to have a laser-focused discussion about the real security challenges on the horizon.
The good news is that Canada can fortify its security and deter threats in this perilous new world.
The rangeofoptions may not be as comfortable as the bygone era of friendly alliances and NATO supremacy. But through intelligentdebate, Canadians can develop realistic new approaches to national defence, and quickly.
Acceptance and adaptation are the keys to survival.
Aisha Ahmad receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Cyclone Alfred will cost the March 25 budget at least A$1.2 billion, hit growth and put pressure on inflation, Treasurer Jim Chalmers says.
In a Tuesday speech previewing the budget, Chalmers will also say that on preliminary estimates, the cyclone’s immediate hit to GDP is expected to be up to $1.2 billion, which could wipe a quarter of a percentage point off quarterly growth.
“It could also lead to upward pressure on inflation. From building costs to damaged crops raising prices for staples like fruit and vegetables,” Chalmers says in the speech, an extract of which has been released ahead of delivery.
The treasurer says the temporary shutting of businesses due to the cyclone lost about 12 million work hours.
By last Thursday, 44,000 insurance claims had been lodged. Early modelling indicated losses covered by the Cyclone Reinsurance Pool were about $1.7 billion.
The estimated costs to the budget, which are over the forward estimates period, are preliminary.
The government has already co-sponsored with the states $30 million in support for immediate recovery costs, Chalmers says. Millions of dollars are being provided in hardship payments.
“The budget will reflect some of those immediate costs and we’ll make sensible provisions for more to come,” he says.
“I expect that these costs and these new provisions will be in the order of at least $1.2 billion […] and that means a big new pressure on the budget.”
This is in addition to the already budgeted for disaster relief.
“At MYEFO, we’d already booked $11.6 billion for disaster support nationally over the forward estimates.
“With all of this extra funding we expect that to rise to at least $13.5 billion when accounting for our provisioning, social security costs and other disaster related support.”
Chalmers will again argue in the speech his recent theme – that the economy has turned a corner. This is despite the global uncertainty that includes the Trump tariff policies, the full extent of which is yet to be spelled out.
Australia is bracing for the possibility our beef export trade could be caught in a new tariff round to be unveiled early next month.
Despite last week’s rebuff to its efforts to get an exemption from the aluminium and steel 25% tariffs, the government has vowed to fight on for a carve out from that, as well as trying to head off any further imposts on exports to the US.
In seeking the exemption, Australia was unsuccessful in trying to leverage its abundance of critical minerals, which are much sought after by the US.
Trade Minister Don Farrell told Sky on Sunday:
What we need to do is find out what it is that the Americans want in terms of this relationship between Australia and the United States and then make President Trump an offer he can’t refuse.
In Tuesday’s speech, Chalmers is expected to say the budget will contain fewer surprises than might be the case with other budgets.
This is because this budget – which would have been avoided if the cyclone had not ruled out an April 12 election – comes after the flurry of announcements already made this year and before further announcements in the campaign for the May election.
Those announcements already made include:
$8.5 billion to boost Medicare
$644 million for new Urgent Care Clinics
a multi-billion dollar package to save Whyalla Steelworks
$7.2 billion for the Bruce Highway and other infrastructure
funds for enhanced childcare and to provide some
student debt relief
new and amended listings for contraception, endometriosis and IVF on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Deloitte Access Economics in its budget monitor predicts the budget will have a deficit of $26.1 billion for 2024-25.
Deloitte’s Stephen Smith said that although a $26.1 billion deficit was slightly smaller than forecast in the December budget update, the longer-term structural deterioration should be “a reality check for politicians wanting to announce election sweeteners in the weeks ahead”.
Deloitte projects a deficit of nearly $50 billion in 2025-26.
Open to a ‘small’ Ukraine peacekeeping role
Over the weekend, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took part in the “coalition of the willing” virtual meeting convened by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in support of Ukraine.
The meeting also included Ukraine, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Greece, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, the Scandinavian countries, Canada and New Zealand. The United States did not participate. President Donald Trump is trying to force an agreement between Ukraine and Russia to end the conflict.
Albanese reiterated after the meeting: “Australia is open to considering any requests to contribute to a future peacekeeping effort in support of the just and lasting peace we all want to Ukraine”.
He added the obvious point: “Of course, peacekeeping missions by definition require a precondition of peace”.
Albanese said that any Australian contribution to a Ukraine peacekeeping force would be “small”.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has opposed sending Australians to a peacekeeping force.
Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Federico Donelli, Assistant Professor of International Relations, University of Trieste
The civil war in Sudan that began in April 2023 involves several external actors. The conflict pits the Sudanese Armed Forces against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in a quest for political and economic power. The situation has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Various foreign states have picked a side to support. They include Chad, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In particular, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are providing financial and military support to the warring parties, although they have denied it. Political scientist Federico Donelli, who has studied the influence of these Gulf monarchies in Sudan, unpacks the implications of their intervention.
How did the UAE and Saudi Arabia get involved in Sudan?
Domestic factors within Sudan were the primary triggers for the outbreak of the civil war. Framing the Sudanese conflict as a proxy war may underestimate or overlook important internal variables.
But it’s also important to highlight the indirect involvement of other states. In the Horn of Africa region, Sudan has interacted the most with Middle Eastern states over the past two decades. Among these states, two Gulf monarchies – Saudi Arabia and the UAE – stand out.
Political relations between Saudi Arabia and Sudan date back to the independence of the Sudanese state in 1956. And people-to-people links have flourished over centuries. This is largely because Sudan is geographically close to Saudi and the two Muslim holy cities of Mecca (Makkah) and Medina.
The case of the UAE is different. Since the beginning of the new millennium, the Emirates have expanded their economic and financial influence in Africa, investing in niche sectors such as port logistics. Sudan in particular came to the fore for the Emirates at the end of the 2010s when regional balances shifted before and after the Arab uprisings.
Between 2014 and 2015, Saudi Arabia and UAE influence in Sudanese politics increased under President Omar al-Bashir. Both monarchies wanted to counter Iran’s ability to project power into the Red Sea and in Yemen. In 2015, after breaking off relations with Iran, Sudan contributed 10,000 troops to a Saudi-led military operation in Yemen to fight Houthi rebels. Both the Sudanese army and paramilitary forces took part, and personal links were forged.
In the post-Bashir era that began in 2019, Saudi and UAE influence has continued to grow, thanks to those direct links.
In general, both monarchies are status seekers. In a changing international context, Sudan is a testing ground for their ability to influence and shape future political settlements.
Seeing the post-2019 transition as an opportunity to influence Sudan’s regional standing, the two monarchies chose to support different factions within Sudan’s security apparatus. This external support exacerbated internal competition.
Riyadh, in conjunction with Egypt, maintained close ties with army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Abu Dhabi aligned itself with the head of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Dagalo, or Hemedti.
Since 2019, the relationship between the UAE and Saudi Arabia has changed. After more than a decade of strategic convergence, especially on regional issues, the two Gulf monarchies began to diverge on issues like their view on political Islam. This divergence has been evident in various crisis scenarios, including in Sudan.
Although both countries jointly supported the initial Sudanese transition after Bashir’s ouster, the deterioration of relations between Hemedti and al-Burhan created conditions for a showdown between the two monarchies.
However, the conflict in Sudan didn’t break out because of the rift between the UAE and Saudi Arabia. But Sudan’s local actors felt able to go to war because they were aware of external support. And once the conflict broke out, both monarchies were reluctant to withdraw local support lest they appear weak in the eyes of their regional counterpart.
Why is Sudan important to these countries?
My recent study with political scientist Abigail Kabandula shows that the UAE and Saudi Arabia gradually increased their presence in Sudan after the 2011 Arab uprisings. The fall of some regimes, including Egypt, made the two Gulf monarchies fear that instability could entangle them.
Our analysis identifies two main reasons for the two countries’ influence in Sudan:
changes to the regional power structure
the strategic importance of the Horn of Africa.
The US pivot to Asia – shifting resources from the Middle East to the Pacific – and the Arab Spring protests increased uncertainty among Gulf states. This led to a realignment of regional power dynamics and the formation of rival blocs. As a result, the UAE and Saudi Arabia sought closer ties with African countries. In Sudan, the relationship has developed through both military and political engagement.
Our analysis shows an increase in both countries’ interest in Sudan between 2012 and 2020. However, our research also highlighted some key differences in their growing influence.
In the early years after the Arab uprisings, the UAE’s influence grew rapidly, driven by concerns about the spread of protests. This was particularly important given Sudan’s proximity to Egypt.
Saudi Arabia maintained a more stable level of influence from 2010 to 2020. This was despite Riyadh also initially fearing the spread of the protests.
Both Gulf states were wary of al-Bashir’s growing ties with Turkey and Qatar, which they feared would strengthen a pro-Islamist bloc in the region. However, after Bashir’s overthrow in 2019, their approaches began to diverge.
The two Gulf monarchies view Sudan as a key country because of its geographical location.
Sudan is situated between two major regions – the Sahel and the Red Sea – characterised by instability and conflict. These regions face interconnected challenges: political instability, poverty, food insecurity, and internal and external wars. They also face population displacement, transnational crime and the threat of jihadist groups.
Moreover, Sudan is an important link between the Mediterranean and sub-Saharan Africa. The country is a crossroads, influencing current and future geostrategic dynamics in the region.
The Gulf monarchies, including Qatar, have also invested heavily – between US$1.5 billion and US$2 billion – in Sudan’s agri-food sector, which is vital to their food security. Sudan, with its abundant water resources, offers a large amount of fertile land, making it attractive to Gulf companies.
What can we expect to see next?
Similar to other current global crises – such as those in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Democratic Republic of Congo – the conflict in Sudan seems difficult to resolve through negotiations. Two main factors contribute to this difficulty.
First, both parties see the victory of one side as entirely dependent on the defeat of the other. Such logic leaves no room for a win-win solution. Second, the current international context supports the continuation of hostilities. The global shifting balance of power provides both warring parties with opportunities for external support. This complicates efforts to find a peaceful solution.
There are now two centres of power and governance in the country. It is likely that this division will become more pronounced.
– Middle Eastern monarchies in Sudan’s war: what’s driving their interests – https://theconversation.com/middle-eastern-monarchies-in-sudans-war-whats-driving-their-interests-251825
The civil war in Sudan that began in April 2023 involves several external actors. The conflict pits the Sudanese Armed Forces against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in a quest for political and economic power. The situation has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Various foreign states have picked a side to support. They include Chad, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In particular, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are providing financial and military support to the warring parties, although they have denied it. Political scientist Federico Donelli, who has studied the influence of these Gulf monarchies in Sudan, unpacks the implications of their intervention.
How did the UAE and Saudi Arabia get involved in Sudan?
Domestic factors within Sudan were the primary triggers for the outbreak of the civil war. Framing the Sudanese conflict as a proxy war may underestimate or overlook important internal variables.
But it’s also important to highlight the indirect involvement of other states. In the Horn of Africa region, Sudan has interacted the most with Middle Eastern states over the past two decades. Among these states, two Gulf monarchies – Saudi Arabia and the UAE – stand out.
Political relations between Saudi Arabia and Sudan date back to the independence of the Sudanese state in 1956. And people-to-people links have flourished over centuries. This is largely because Sudan is geographically close to Saudi and the two Muslim holy cities of Mecca (Makkah) and Medina.
The case of the UAE is different. Since the beginning of the new millennium, the Emirates have expanded their economic and financial influence in Africa, investing in niche sectors such as port logistics. Sudan in particular came to the fore for the Emirates at the end of the 2010s when regional balances shifted before and after the Arab uprisings.
Between 2014 and 2015, Saudi Arabia and UAE influence in Sudanese politics increased under President Omar al-Bashir. Both monarchies wanted to counter Iran’s ability to project power into the Red Sea and in Yemen. In 2015, after breaking off relations with Iran, Sudan contributed 10,000 troops to a Saudi-led military operation in Yemen to fight Houthi rebels. Both the Sudanese army and paramilitary forces took part, and personal links were forged.
In the post-Bashir era that began in 2019, Saudi and UAE influence has continued to grow, thanks to those direct links.
In general, both monarchies are status seekers. In a changing international context, Sudan is a testing ground for their ability to influence and shape future political settlements.
Seeing the post-2019 transition as an opportunity to influence Sudan’s regional standing, the two monarchies chose to support different factions within Sudan’s security apparatus. This external support exacerbated internal competition.
Riyadh, in conjunction with Egypt, maintained close ties with army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Abu Dhabi aligned itself with the head of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Dagalo, or Hemedti.
Since 2019, the relationship between the UAE and Saudi Arabia has changed. After more than a decade of strategic convergence, especially on regional issues, the two Gulf monarchies began to diverge on issues like their view on political Islam. This divergence has been evident in various crisis scenarios, including in Sudan.
Although both countries jointly supported the initial Sudanese transition after Bashir’s ouster, the deterioration of relations between Hemedti and al-Burhan created conditions for a showdown between the two monarchies.
However, the conflict in Sudan didn’t break out because of the rift between the UAE and Saudi Arabia. But Sudan’s local actors felt able to go to war because they were aware of external support. And once the conflict broke out, both monarchies were reluctant to withdraw local support lest they appear weak in the eyes of their regional counterpart.
Why is Sudan important to these countries?
My recent study with political scientist Abigail Kabandula shows that the UAE and Saudi Arabia gradually increased their presence in Sudan after the 2011 Arab uprisings. The fall of some regimes, including Egypt, made the two Gulf monarchies fear that instability could entangle them.
Our analysis identifies two main reasons for the two countries’ influence in Sudan:
changes to the regional power structure
the strategic importance of the Horn of Africa.
The US pivot to Asia – shifting resources from the Middle East to the Pacific – and the Arab Spring protests increased uncertainty among Gulf states. This led to a realignment of regional power dynamics and the formation of rival blocs. As a result, the UAE and Saudi Arabia sought closer ties with African countries. In Sudan, the relationship has developed through both military and political engagement.
Our analysis shows an increase in both countries’ interest in Sudan between 2012 and 2020. However, our research also highlighted some key differences in their growing influence.
In the early years after the Arab uprisings, the UAE’s influence grew rapidly, driven by concerns about the spread of protests. This was particularly important given Sudan’s proximity to Egypt.
Saudi Arabia maintained a more stable level of influence from 2010 to 2020. This was despite Riyadh also initially fearing the spread of the protests.
Both Gulf states were wary of al-Bashir’s growing ties with Turkey and Qatar, which they feared would strengthen a pro-Islamist bloc in the region. However, after Bashir’s overthrow in 2019, their approaches began to diverge.
The two Gulf monarchies view Sudan as a key country because of its geographical location.
Sudan is situated between two major regions – the Sahel and the Red Sea – characterised by instability and conflict. These regions face interconnected challenges: political instability, poverty, food insecurity, and internal and external wars. They also face population displacement, transnational crime and the threat of jihadist groups.
Moreover, Sudan is an important link between the Mediterranean and sub-Saharan Africa. The country is a crossroads, influencing current and future geostrategic dynamics in the region.
The Gulf monarchies, including Qatar, have also invested heavily – between US$1.5 billion and US$2 billion – in Sudan’s agri-food sector, which is vital to their food security. Sudan, with its abundant water resources, offers a large amount of fertile land, making it attractive to Gulf companies.
What can we expect to see next?
Similar to other current global crises – such as those in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Democratic Republic of Congo – the conflict in Sudan seems difficult to resolve through negotiations. Two main factors contribute to this difficulty.
First, both parties see the victory of one side as entirely dependent on the defeat of the other. Such logic leaves no room for a win-win solution. Second, the current international context supports the continuation of hostilities. The global shifting balance of power provides both warring parties with opportunities for external support. This complicates efforts to find a peaceful solution.
There are now two centres of power and governance in the country. It is likely that this division will become more pronounced.
Federico Donelli is Senior Research Associate at the Istituto di Studi di Politica Internazionale, ISPI (Milan) and Non-Resident Fellow at the Orion Policy Institute, OPI (Washington, DC).
NASA and SpaceX launched a new crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday to bring home two NASA astronauts who have been stranded in space since last June.
The spacecraft lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in the state of Florida at 7:03 p.m. Friday Eastern Time (2303 GMT), according to a NASA live broadcast.
About two and a half minutes after the launch, SpaceX confirmed the successful separation of the rocket’s first stage. The first stage booster landed at Landing Zone 1 located near the launch pad.
The spacecraft is currently en route to the ISS. It will take about 28.5 hours for the spacecraft to autonomously dock to the space station, scheduled at 11:30 p.m. Saturday Eastern Time (0330 GMT Sunday), NASA said.
The new mission, codenamed Crew-10, carries NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi, and cosmonaut Kirill Peskov with Russian state space corporation Roscosmos to the ISS.
During their mission, Crew-10 is scheduled to conduct material flammability tests to contribute to future spacecraft and facility designs, NASA said, adding that the crew will engage with students worldwide via the ISS ham radio program and use the program’s existing hardware to test a backup lunar navigation solution.
Also, one crew member will conduct an integrated study to monitor and analyze physiological and psychological changes in the human body, providing valuable insights for future deep space missions.
Following the arrival of Crew-10 to the orbital laboratory, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission — which includes NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov — will return to Earth.
Williams and Wilmore have been stuck in space since last June due to technical problems of Boeing’s Starliner which took them to the ISS.
The two astronauts were initially scheduled for an eight-day mission in space, but numerous issues were detected during their trip to the ISS, including helium leaks and propulsion issues. As a result, NASA deemed the Starliner spacecraft unsafe to return with astronauts on board.
While the Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth last September, Williams and Wilmore remained aboard the ISS for several additional months.
Source: The White House
President Donald J. Trump’s executive order on Friday will ensure that taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda.
Dan Robinson, a 34-year veteran of Voice of America and its former White House correspondent, wrote last year: “I have monitored the agency’s bureaucracy along with many of its reporters and concluded that it has essentially become a hubris-filled rogue operation often reflecting a leftist bias aligned with partisan national media. It has sought to avoid accountability for violations of journalistic standards and mismanagement.”
Voice of America’s management told staff not to call Hamas and its members terrorists, “except when quoting statements.”
Daily Caller: “Multiple Voice Of America Reporters Have Posted Anti-Trump Content On Social Media”
“Multiple Voice of America (VOA) reporters have repeatedly posted anti-Trump comments on their professional Twitter accounts, despite a social media policy requiring employee impartiality on social media platforms.”
Rep. Scott Perry wrote in a 2022 letter that Voice of America has “grown exceedingly partisan over the past several years.”
A 2016 report from Office of Personnel Management cited by Rep. Perry revealed that Voice of America Persian employees said that outlet tolerated “coercion for partisan political purposes.”
The Washington Free Beacon: “VOA Misallocates Funds and Suppresses Negative Stories About Iran. This Lawmaker Wants To Investigate.”
Voice of America: “What Is ‘White Privilege’ and Whom Does It Help?”
“Today, the phrase is used passionately and widely in the context of racial profiling — police treatment of people as criminal suspects based on their race.”
A 2022 lawsuit claimed Voice of America has “been infiltrated by anti-American, pro-Islamic state interests, and that the message of VOA had been compromised in a manner that was biased toward the Islamic state factions in Iran.”
In October 2020, Voice of America wrote that the “allegations that Russia played a role in perpetuating the scandal to benefit Trump could undermine the emails’ credibility” downplaying the validity of the Hunter Biden laptop story.
In July 2020, Voice of America faced criticism for “sharing a story and video appearing too favorable to presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.”
In September 2019, the Daily Caller reported that Voice of America employed a Russian anti-U.S. propagandist.
In May 2019, Voice of America fired reporters for their roles in canceling a broadcast midstream after pressure from the Chinese government.
In March 2019, Voice of America ran a segment about transgender migrants seeking asylum in the United States.
Maxim Liksutov reported that over the past year the number of female train drivers in the Moscow Metro has increased by 30%.
Moscow Metro – women are train drivers too.
Moscow metro – women are also drivers.
Today they operate modern Moskva trains on two metro lines: lines 4 and 15.
Before becoming drivers, each of them completed training at the Corporate University of Moscow Transport.
Interesting fact: on Line 4, all train drivers – both men and women – work together with assistants. This is the only metro line that is not equipped with the ALS-ARS system (automatic locomotive signaling with automatic speed control), which requires two drivers to operate the train.
Women returned to the profession of Moscow Metro train drivers in January 2021, and their numbers continue to grow. Today, there are 120 female train drivers and their assistants. We create comfortable working conditions for all employees in accordance with the initiative of Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, added Maxim Liksutov.
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The work is being carried out on the instructions of the President.
Document
Order of March 14, 2025 No. 601-r
2.4 billion rubles have been allocated from the Cabinet’s reserve fund for recapitalization of the state industrial development fund in the Kursk region. The order to this effect was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
The funds will be used to finance measures to support affected industrial enterprises.
“The decision taken will speed up the resumption of production in border areas and ensure the observance of social guarantees for our citizens,” Mikhail Mishustin noted atat the Government meeting on March 13.
The head of the Cabinet recalled that, on the instructions of the President, a whole range of support measures have been envisaged in the border regions, including the provision of subsidies to organizations and individual entrepreneurs for partial compensation of expenses for paying employees for forced downtime, an annual deferment of taxes and insurance premiums for citizens and organizations, grants for the restoration or relocation of production, the supply of vehicles for mobile trade, benefits for equipment leasing, and free economic zones with special conditions for entrepreneurial activity are also in effect.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
I want to thank Chief Adviser Yunus, Foreign Adviser Hossain, the interim government and the people of Bangladesh for your warm welcome.
And I want to send my heartfelt greetings to Muslims across Bangladesh and around the world observing the Holy Month of Ramadan.
Ramadan is a time of reflection, spiritual renewal, and unity.
Every year, I undertake a solidarity visit and spend time with Muslim communities living in difficult circumstances, to observe the fast with them, and to help shine a global spotlight on their plight.
This year, I decided to come to Bangladesh to express my solidarity with Rohingya refugees and the Bangladeshi people that host them.
Fasting and having an Iftar together with the Bangladesh communities and Rohingya communities are the proof of my deep respect for the religion and the culture they represent.
And I had an extremely moving visit to Cox’s Bazar yesterday.
Ramadan reminds us of the universal values that connect humanity: compassion, empathy, and generosity.
Bangladesh is a living symbol of these values through your commitment to peace, development, and humanitarian relief.
Bangladesh is among the largest contributors to United Nations peacekeeping.
I want to pay tribute to the sacrifices and dedication of Bangladeshi peacekeepers, who serve in some of the most difficult and dangerous environments in the world.
I am particularly pleased to be in Bangladesh at this important moment in your national journey.
As the country undergoes a significant transition under the leadership of Chief Adviser Yunus, I recognize the people’s hopes for a future of greater democracy, justice, and prosperity.
This is a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, and the international community must play its part in supporting your efforts towards a just, inclusive, and prosperous future.
As the country undergoes important reforms and transitions, I want to assure you that the UN stands ready to assist in fostering peace, national dialogue, trust and healing.
You can count on the UN to be your steadfast partner, working alongside the Government and the people of Bangladesh to help build a sustainable and equitable future for all.
Ladies and gentlemen of the media,
I want to underscore Bangladesh’s extraordinary generosity in responding to the Rohingya crisis.
It is a testament to your enduring humanitarian spirit.
For years, the people of this nation, especially the communities in Cox’s Bazar, have hosted over a million refugees fleeing violence and persecution.
By offering Rohingya refugees sanctuary, Bangladesh has demonstrated solidarity and human dignity, often at significant social, environmental and economic cost.
The world must not take this generosity for granted.
I will continue to urge the international community to take greater responsibility and provide the necessary financial and political support for both the refugees and their host communities.
But as I mentioned yesterday in Cox’s Bazaar, we are on the verge of a deep humanitarian crisis.
With the announced cuts in financial assistance, we are facing the dramatic risk of having only 40 per cent in 2025 of the resources available for humanitarian aid in 2024. This would have terrible consequences, starting with the drastic reduction of food rations.
That would be an unmitigated disaster. People would suffer and people would die.
I strongly appeal to the international community to allow us to avoid this tragedy.
More funding is absolutely essential to guarantee the minimum support to the Rohingya population in Bangladesh.
The United Nations is fully committed to working with Bangladesh and others in finding a lasting solution to the Rohingya crisis that enables their safe, voluntary, dignified, and sustainable return to Myanmar as all the Rohingyas I met yesterday expressed to me.
I know that planning is also underway by UN Member States for a High-Level Conference on the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar.
We know the situation there continues to deteriorate. The escalation of violence and human rights violations across Myanmar, including in Rakhine State, are causing civilian casualties and driving displacement internally and across borders.
I call on all parties in Myanmar to exercise maximum restraint, prioritize the protection of civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law, and prevent further incitement of communal tension and violence – paving the way for democracy to take root and creation of conditions for the dignified return of the Rohingya community.
Ladies and gentlemen of the media,
As we come together in this sacred month of Ramadan, it is more important than ever to focus on solidarity and shared humanity.
In this spirit, we will continue standing with the people of Bangladesh as you navigate the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Once again, I am deeply honoured to share this moment with you.
May this Ramadan bring peace, blessings, and renewed hope to all.
And I thank you.
***
Question: My question is for you Excellency, the UN Secretary-General. As you mentioned, there is an escalation of violence in Myanmar, particularly in Rakhine, and our Foreign Advisor also have mentioned […] But my question is that how do you address a famine-like situation in Rakhine. Do you think this instability in Rakhine, by any way, will affect respectful, peaceful and dignified repatriation of Rohingyas? What is your take on the issue?
Secretary-General: The present situation is a situation in which there is heavy fighting between the Myanmar army and the Arakan army, and obviously in these circumstances it would be extremely difficult to have an immediate, dignified return of the Rohingya refugees. It is absolutely essential to mobilize the whole international community, all the neighbours of Bangladesh, all the neighbours of Myanmar, to put pressure to make things move in relation to the need to find a solution, starting by ceasing the violence and at the same time, creating the mechanisms of dialogue leading to a true democratic solution in Myanmar that would naturally facilitate the return of the Rohingya refugees. At the same time, we need to intensify the humanitarian aid inside Myanmar to create the conditions for that return to be successful. And that is the reason why one of the discussions we had was about the possibility, if the circumstances allow, to have also humanitarian aid channeled from Bangladesh. But that is, obviously, a matter that would require the authorization and the cooperation of the parties to the conflict.
Question: I’m from the Financial Express. My question is that the UN envoys who visited Dhaka recently, they told us that they’re in touch with all the stakeholders of the crisis. I mean including the Arakan army. So, do you think that the Arakan army is more favourable in resolving the Rohingya crisis repatriation? And my second question is, when you talk about the international pressure on Myanmar, do you suggest more vigorous sanctions like the Europeans do against Russia or elsewhere, against Myanmar? Thank you.
Secretary-General: First of all, the Arakan army is an entity with which, I believe, a necessary dialogue must take place. We know that in the past, the relations between the Rakhine and the Rohingya communities were not easy, and so, I think it’s important to engage the Arakan army in order for the full respect of the rights of the Rohingya population in Rakhine. In relation to, the second question was?
Question: On sanctions against Myanmar.
Secretary-General: I believe that sanctions are one possible instrument. Of course we would need, and it is difficult to obtain, a Security Council approval for sanctions in relation to Myanmar, but those sanctions not being possible, I think it’s essential to increase the pressure of all the neighbours in relation to Myanmar, in order to guarantee that the fighting ends and that a way towards democracy is finally established.
PM statement at press conference on the Coalition of the Willing: 15 March 2025
The Prime Minister’s statement at a press conference on the Coalition of the Willing.
Good afternoon.
This morning I convened the largest, strongest group of countries yet behind a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
Now a huge amount has happened since I brought leaders together at Lancaster House here in London, just two weeks ago.
President Zelenskyy has shown once again, and beyond any doubt, that Ukraine is the party of peace.
Volodymyr has committed to a 30-day unconditional ceasefire.
But Putin is trying to delay – saying there must be a painstaking study before a ceasefire can take place.
Well, the world needs action. Not a study, not empty words and conditions.
So my message is very clear.
Sooner or later, Putin will have to come to the table.
So, this is the moment, let the guns fall silent, let the barbaric attacks on Ukraine, once and for all, stop and agree to a ceasefire now.
And let’s be clear why this is so important – Russia’s appetite for conflict and chaos undermines our security back here at home.
It drives up the cost of living. It drives up energy costs.
So this matters deeply to the United Kingdom.
That is why now is the time to engage in discussions on a mechanism to manage and monitor a full ceasefire and agree to serious negotiations towards not just a pause but a lasting peace, backed by strong security arrangements through our Coalition of the Willing.
And we won’t sit back and wait for Putin to act.
Instead we will keep pushing forward.
So the group I convened today is more important than ever.
It brings together partners from across Europe as well as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with backing from others too – including Japan.
We agreed we will keep increasing the pressure on Russia, keep the military aid flowing to Ukraine and keep tightening the restrictions on Russia’s economy to weaken Putin’s war machine and bring him to the table.
And we agreed to accelerate our practical work to support a potential deal.
So we will now move into an operational phase.
Our militaries will meet on Thursday this week here in the UK to put strong and robust plans in place to swing in behind a peace deal and guarantee Ukraine’s future security.
President Trump has offered Putin the way forward to a lasting peace.
Now we must make this a reality.
So this is the moment to keep driving towards the outcome we want to see, to end the killing.
A just and lasting peace in Ukraine and lasting security for all of us.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Press release
Chair’s Statement: Leaders call on Ukraine, 15 March 2025
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s statement as Chair for the Leaders call on Ukraine in London on 15 March 2025.
Today, I hosted a call with counterparts from across Europe, as well as the NATO Secretary General and the leaders of the EU Commission, EU Council, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to discuss our support for Ukraine.
We underlined our unwavering commitment to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine, both now and long into the future.
We welcomed the efforts of President Trump, President Zelenskyy and their negotiating teams to secure the remarkable breakthrough on the peace agreement in Jeddah this week, and President Zelenskyy’s commitment to the US proposal for an immediate and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, subject to agreement by Russia.
We agreed that now the ball was in Russia’s court, and President Putin must prove he is serious about peace and sign up to a ceasefire on equal terms. The Kremlin’s dithering and delay over President Trump’s ceasefire proposal, and Russia’s continued barbaric attacks on Ukraine, run entirely counter to President Putin’s stated desire for peace.
We reaffirmed our commitment to Ukraine’s long-term security, and agreed that Ukraine must be able to defend itself and deter future Russian aggression.
Robust and credible security arrangements are the best way to ensure that any deal ends in a lasting peace. We agreed military planners would convene again in the UK this week to progress practical plans for how our militaries can support Ukraine’s future security. We will build up Ukraine’s own defences and armed forces, and be ready to deploy as a ‘Coalition of the Willing’ in the event of a peace deal, to help secure Ukraine on the land, at sea, and in the sky.
In the event of a ceasefire, we emphasised the need for strong monitoring arrangements, to ensure that any violations of a deal are identified and called out.
We agreed that in the case that President Putin refused to agree to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, we would need to increase our efforts to strengthen Ukraine, weaken Russia’s war machine, and ratchet up pressure on President Putin to convince him to come to the negotiating table. To deliver this, we will accelerate our military support, tighten our sanctions on Russia’s revenues, and continue to explore all lawful routes to ensure that Russia pays for the damage it has done to Ukraine.
We agreed to continue these discussions as a group in the coming days to ensure a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Press release
PM remarks on call with the Coalition of the Willing: 15 March 2025
The Prime Minister held a call with international leaders in the Coalition of the Willing this morning.
Good morning colleagues.
Can I just start by thanking you all for making time for this important meeting this morning.
We’ve got a lot to discuss because since we last met in person in London just under two weeks ago a lot has happened, particularly in the last week.
So it’s very important we catch up to move forward.
I think what this week has shown, particularly the developments and progress on Tuesday, is that President Zelenskyy, who is with us this morning, has shown once again, that Ukraine is the party of peace because he has agreed to and committed to a 30-day unconditional ceasefire.
Now what we see, and this is the centrepiece for our discussions today, is that Putin is the one trying to delay.
And in a sense, and you all know this, if Putin is serious about peace, it’s very simple: he has to stop his barbaric attacks on Ukraine and agree to a ceasefire.
And the world is watching.
And my feeling is that sooner or later Putin is going to have to come to the table and engage in serious discussions.
But, and this is a big but, for us this morning in our meeting, we can’t sit back and simply wait for that to happen.
We have to keep pushing ahead, pushing forward and preparing for peace.
And a peace that will be secure and that will last, and I think that means strengthening Ukraine so they can defend themselves, and strengthening obviously in terms of military capability, in terms of funding and in terms of the provision of further support from all of us to Ukraine.
Secondly, being prepared to defend any deal ourselves through a Coalition of the Willing. We’ve begun that process this morning and we can take it forward.
Thirdly, and very importantly given the developments of the past few days, to keep the pressure on Putin to come to the table and I think that collectively we’ve got a number of ways that we can do that.
And so it’s those three areas we’ll focus on in this meeting: strengthening Ukraine, being prepared to defend any deal ourselves through a Coalition of the Willing, and keeping that pressure on Russia at this crucial time.
The UK must close the loopholes in the sanctions placed on Russia.
More in External Affairs
The UK Government must take action to end the operations of a Glasgow-based company key to Russia’s gas exports says Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer.
Writing to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds MP, Greer accused unethical businesses of exploiting loopholes in the sanctions placed on Russia and supporting their brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Raising the example of Seapeak Maritime Ltd, based in Glasgow and London, Greer noted that the company operates seven oil tankers which export Russian liquified natural gas from Siberia to Europe.
Mr Greer said:
“It’s been three years since Russia launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine, and over a decade since they seized Crimea. Their brutal and illegal war has left hundreds of thousands dead or wounded and forced many more to flee for safety.
“Scotland has taken a firm position in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, but Seapeak operating from an office in Glasgow shames and undermines our efforts.
“The Russian war machine is dependent in no small part on the profits made by their gas exports. I’m glad the UK Government has sanctioned many individuals and companies who have aided the Kremlin, but for some reason Seapeak remains untouched. They’ve made a fortune from shipping gas out of Russia, throwing a lifeline to Putin’s war economy as a result.
“It’s time for Seapeak’s operations here to be shut down and their ships sanctioned. Ukraine desperately needs our help if it is to survive the Russian onslaught and Trump’s betrayal. The least we do is stop companies based here from enabling Putin’s regime.”
The Green MSP has worked with Ukrainian NGO Razom We Stand since the full-scale invasion began and it was through their efforts that Seapeak’s activities were uncovered.
Speaking on behalf of Razom We Stand, founder and executive director of the organisation, Svitlana Romanko says:
“Three years into Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine, we are disheartened to see that the UK and Scottish governments still allow Glasgow-based Seapeak to bring Russian gas to Europe and profit from this ongoing gas trade.
“Let’s be brutally honest – the fossil fuel industry choosing blood money over basic human decency comes as no surprise to anyone. Every tanker of Russian gas that sets sail spits in the face of both morality and global security. They’re just counting their cash while Ukraine burns.
“With Seapeak’s vessels openly trading Russian LNG on the spot market, without constraints, both the UK and Scottish governments’ continued inaction is nothing short of complicity. There’s no grey area here – this is brazen war profiteering happening in Glasgow, right inside Britain itself.
“Each day the British and Scottish governments hesitate to curtail this home-based trade only serves to strengthen Putin’s ability to wage his war against Ukraine and Europe.
“This Arctic gas that Seapeak transports, represents a double catastrophe; funding Russian aggression in Ukraine and unleashing enormous carbon emissions making a mockery of our climate commitments.
“And it’s not only about Ukraine. The Kremlin’s continued efforts to expand its gas export infrastructure in the Arctic leads to environmental devastation and massive carbon emissions, directly undermining the urgently needed response to the climate crisis.”
Letter to Secretary of State for Business and Trade
Jonathan Reynolds MP Secretary of State for Business and Trade By Email
7th March 2025
Ending indirect support for Russia via LNG exports
Dear Jonathan,
As I’m sure you are aware, Russia’s brutal and illegal war against Ukraine is dependent to a significant extent on the economic returns generated by the export of fossil fuels. Three years into this war governments and businesses across the world, including our own, have adopted a wide range of measures to ensure that they are not complicit in Putin’s horrific crimes through engagement with the Russian energy industry. These measures remain incomplete however, and loopholes are being exploited by businesses who have no objection to supporting the Russian war economy.
Last year my office was made aware of the case of Seapeak Maritime Ltd, operating out of Glasgow and London. Seapeak is involved with Yamal LNG, Russia’s largest LNG plant, as well as private joint stock company Novatek, their largest LNG exporter and second-largest gas producer.
Seven LNG tankers, the Yakov Gakkel, Eduard Toll, Nikolay Yevgenov, Vladimir Voronin, Georgiy Ushakov, Rudolf Samoylovich and Seapeak Yamal appear to have been travelling from the Yamal LNG port at Sabetta in Siberia to different European destinations. The Sabetta port is a joint venture of Novatek and the Russian state. All seven of these ships are managed and operated by Seapeak Maritime Ltd and Seapeak Maritime Glasgow Ltd.
Last year I worked with the Ukrainian NGO Razom We Stand and with Sky News to break this story. To my knowledge, Seapeak’s activities since then have not changed and they continue to play a key role in Russian LNG exports by operating roughly one third of all the tankers used for this work. I commend your expansion of sanctions against Russia’s so-called ‘shadow fleet’ and would urge you to take similar action against Seapeak and its fleet immediately.
I would be happy to provide your officials with further information compiled by my office and Razom We Stand, if that would be of use.