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Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov arrive wearing yellow and blue flight suits at the International Space Station after docking their Soyuz capsule March 18, 2022 i a still image from video. Video taken Mar 18, 2022. (Photo: NASA TV/Handout via REUTERS) - 

Russia's space agency on Saturday (Mar 19) dismissed Western media reports suggesting Russian cosmonauts joining the International Space Station (ISS) had chosen to wear yellow suits with a blue trim in support of Ukraine.

"Sometimes yellow is just yellow," Roscosmos's press service said on its Telegram channel.

"The flight suits of the new crew are made in the colours of the emblem of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, which all three cosmonauts graduated from ... To see the Ukrainian flag everywhere and in everything is crazy."

Roscosmos Director-General Dmitry Rogozin was more acerbic, saying on his personal Telegram channel that Russian cosmonauts had no sympathy for Ukrainian nationalists.

In a live-streamed news conference from the ISS on Friday, veteran cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev, the mission commander, was asked about the suits.

"Every crew picks a colour that looks different. It was our turn to pick a colour," he said. "The truth is, we had accumulated a lot of yellow fabric, so we needed to use it up. That's why we had to wear yellow flight suits."

On Saturday evening, he was quoted on Roscosmos's Telegram channel as saying the suits had been made six months ago, and that the three cosmonauts had chosen the colours of their alma mater.

"Colour is just colour. It has nothing to do with Ukraine," he said. "In these days, even though we are in space, we are together with our president and people!"

Russia invaded Ukraine, which has a blue and yellow flag, on Feb 24. The ensuing fighting has killed thousands of people, devastated parts of cities and caused millions of Ukrainians to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.

Rogozin has suggested that US sanctions imposed in response to the invasion could destroy ISS teamwork and lead to the space station falling out of orbit.

Officials at the US space agency, NASA, have said US and Russian crew members are aware of events on Earth but that their work has not been affected by geopolitical tensions//CNA

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures during the Scottish Conservative Party conference in Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain Mar 18, 2022. (Photo: REUTERS/Russell Cheyne) - 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday (Mar 19) that Brexit showed British people loved freedom in the same way as Ukrainians fighting Russia's invasion, comments that were branded tasteless by opposition lawmakers and commentators.

With Ukraine's ambassador to Britain present, Johnson told a Conservative Party conference it was the instinct of British people, like Ukrainians, to choose freedom every time.

"I can give you a couple of famous recent examples. When the British people voted for Brexit, in such large, large numbers, I don't believe it was because they were remotely hostile to foreigners. It's because they wanted to be free to do things differently and for this country to be able to run itself," Johnson said.

Britons voted in June 2016 by a 52 per cent to 48 per cent margin to leave the European Union, which Ukraine made a formal request to join on Feb 28, four days after Russia sent its troops into the country.

On Friday, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights estimated that 816 Ukrainian civilians, including 36 children, had been killed since the invasion began.

"This is an utterly depraved argument," opposition Labour lawmaker Chris Bryant said of Johnson's speech. "Ukraine wants to join the EU. The people of (EU member states) France and Spain are also free."

Johnson said Britain stood with Ukraine and that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "terrified" that a democratic and free Ukraine would undermine his rule over Russia.

"To try to re-normalise relations with Putin after this, as we did in 2014, would be to make exactly the same mistake again," Johnson said.

Moscow refers to its actions in Ukraine as a "special operation" to weaken its southern neighbour's military capabilities and root out people it calls dangerous nationalists.

Ukrainian forces have mounted stiff resistance and Western countries have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in an effort to force it to withdraw its forces//CNA

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's visit to the United Arab Emirates has been strongly criticised by Washington. (Photo MANSOORI) - 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's visit to the United Arab Emirates left the US "profoundly disappointed", it said Saturday (Mar 19), urging allies to avoid normalising ties with a regime accused of "horrific atrocities".

Assad's surprise trip on Friday was his first official visit to an Arab country since civil war erupted in his country in 2011, killing close to half a million people.

It was the latest sign of warming relations between Syria and energy-rich UAE - a key US ally which also normalised ties with Israel in 2020.

"We are profoundly disappointed and troubled by this apparent attempt to legitimise Bashar al-Assad," US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement sent to AFP on Saturday.

Assad, he said, "remains responsible and accountable for the death and suffering of countless Syrians, the displacement of more than half of the pre-war Syrian population, and the arbitrary detention and disappearance of over 150,000 Syrian men, women and children".

As US Secretary of State Antony "Blinken has reiterated, we do not support efforts to rehabilitate Assad, and we do not support others normalising relations," Price said.

"We have been clear about this with our partners... (and) we urge states considering engagement with the Assad regime to weigh carefully the horrific atrocities visited by the regime."

Friday's visit by Assad to the UAE came as Russia - a key Damascus backer which also has solid ties with the Emirates - pressed its war on Ukraine.

Syria's war erupted in March 2011 after the brutal repression of anti-government protests, and a year later the UAE, like most Arab countries, broke ties with Damascus.

But the UAE reopened its embassy in the Syrian capital in December 2018, suggesting an effort to bring Assad's regime back into the Arab fold.

On Friday, Assad and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE's de facto ruler, discussed the "fraternal relations" between the two countries, the official news agency WAM reported.

Talks also centred on efforts to "contribute to the consolidation of security, stability and peace in the Arab region and the Middle East", said WAM.

Sheikh Mohammed said he hoped the visit would "pave the way for goodness, peace and stability to prevail in Syria and the entire region", it added.

The pair also discussed ways of "preserving the territorial integrity of Syria and the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country," it said, as well as means of providing "political and humanitarian support for Syria".

Syria's state news agency SANA said the meeting had helped to "strengthen cooperation" between the two sides.

Photographs released by Syria's presidency showed Assad also meeting with Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, during the one-day visit.

Syria's complex war drew in numerous players, including jihadists and foreign players such as Iran and Russia, and battered its economy.

In September 2015, Russia began launching air strikes in support of Syria's regime, a turning point in the conflict that eventually helped Assad regain control of most of the country.

Assad has praised the invasion Russia launched against Ukraine on Feb 24 as a "correction of history".

The UAE hosts American troops and has been a strategic partner to the United States for decades, but its economic and political ties with Russia are growing.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia, two of the world's biggest oil exporters, have so far avoided taking a position against Russia.

Russia's war on Ukraine has impacted Gulf-US relations, experts say, as oil giants like the UAE and Saudi Arabia resist appeals by Washington and other Western capitals to raise oil output in a bid to rein in prices.

Last year, the UAE called for Syria's return to the Arab League, which had suspended its membership after the onset of the war.

And in November, the UAE's top diplomat met Assad in Damascus for the first time since the conflict started, a move slammed by the US.

Syria's war has killed about half a million people, displaced millions and devastated its infrastructure.

A UN commission of inquiry this month called for "a review of the implementation and impacts of sanctions currently imposed on Syria" in light of deteriorating living conditions.

But State Department spokesman Price said on Saturday that the US would maintain sanctions on Syria "until there is irreversible progress toward a political solution"//CNA

Pertamina energy plant (ANTARA FOTO/ADWIT B PRAMONO/ADWIT B PRAMONO) - 

State-owned oil giant Pertamina has outlined its strategic initiatives for developing environmentally friendly and sustainable energy to reduce emissions and overcome environmental problems.

"Pertamina will prioritize the development of new and renewable energy to overcome environmental problems, which is in line with the National Energy Mix in 2030," President Director and CEO of Pertamina Nicke Widyawati said during a virtual media briefing on the Pertamina-Dubai Expo on Friday.

The strategies include the development of green refineries, development of bioenergy, and commercialization of hydrogen, she informed.

There are several other strategies that Pertamina is pursuing to develop environmentally friendly energy, such as gasification, initiating an integrated battery and energy storage ecosystem, as well as increasing installed geothermal capacity.

Widyawati said that Indonesia’s geothermal resources are abundantly spread across the Ring of Fire.

Hence, she said, she believed that the abundant resources could be a strong backbone to accelerate the energy transition, which is in line with the government’s goal to achieve net-zero emissions.

Furthermore, in the power plant sector, Pertamina has continued to increase the use of new and renewable energy as well as implement carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) to increase production in several fields, she informed.

As part of the Business 20 Task Force on Energy, Sustainability, and Climate, Pertamina has the same priorities as the Indonesian government in its capacity as President of the G20, namely prioritizing energy transition.

"We have the same priorities as G20 Indonesia, where we must be a strong catalyst for green recovery and go hand in hand with the principles of energy security, energy equity, and environmental sustainability," she said.

The Energy, Sustainability, and Climate Task Force will center its policy recommendation based on three priority issues. First, accelerate the transition to sustainable energy use by ensuring that global warming is limited to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Second, ensure a just and affordable transition, and last, increase global cooperation for increasing energy security, especially for households and MSMEs, as a means of ending extreme poverty and accelerating the transition to sustainable energy use.

"We believe that by realizing strategic programs in collaboration with many partners across countries, energy sustainability is not merely just a discussion, but also a concrete action in which the impacts can be experienced by everyone," Widyawati remarked//ANT