Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a deadly stampede in Yemen, Ukraine’s latest bid to join NATO, and a Russian-Pakistani crude oil deal.

A devastating stampede in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, killed at least 78 people and injured 77 more on Wednesday. The crush occurred at an event to distribute financial aid donations of $9 per person to celebrate the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Hundreds of people were gathered outside the back gate of a school building to receive the charity gifts when armed Houthi soldiers fired warning shots into the air to control the crowd. When one of the bullets hit an electrical wire that caused a small explosion, panic ensued. Government officials have detained the two merchants responsible for organizing the event, and an investigation is underway.

Although $9 may not seem like a lot to some people, in Yemen it can be the difference between life and death. Yemen faces one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world: 80 percent of the population, or around 21.6 million people, are in need of aid, and 6 million Yemenis are on the brink of starvation. Women and girls face some of the greatest risks as child marriage, human trafficking, and child labor continue to plague the country. And more than 4.5 million people have fled their homes due to violence and the country’s failing economy, which has only worsened from the global food crisis sparked by Russia’s war in Ukraine. (Yemen imports 90 percent of its food, and 45 percent of its wheat comes from Ukraine and Russia.)

Yemen’s humanitarian disaster is due to its civil war, which began in late 2014. The country’s internationally recognized government, backed by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has spent almost nine years fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels for control of the country. An initial truce established in April 2022 lapsed in October, renewing violence between the warring coalitions.

But prospects for hope inched toward optimism last month, when Saudi Arabia and Iran reestablished diplomatic ties for the first time in seven years. Now, Riyadh and the Houthis are engaged in peace talks to kick-start a six-month cease-fire and lift Saudi blockades on Yemeni ports. Both developments would offer major relief to the war-torn nation.

• Ukraine’s Longest Day by Franz-Stefan Gady

• The West Is Preparing for Russia’s Disintegration by Anchal Vohra

• Ukraine and Russia Need a Great-Power Peace Plan by Stephen M. Walt

NATO stands by Ukraine. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg visited Kyiv on Thursday in his first trip to the European nation since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. While there, he pledged the West’s support, adding that “Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO.” Among the many justifications Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered for the invasion was that he wanted to prevent Ukraine from joining the alliance, which the Kremlin reiterated on Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used the trip to request warplanes, artillery, and armored equipment in preparation for Kyiv’s impending spring counteroffensive. Denmark and the Netherlands, both NATO members, have already agreed to provide 14 new Leopard 2 battle tanks.

The meeting comes just one day after the United States pledged its continued support for Sweden joining the military alliance. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin traveled to Stockholm on Wednesday to discuss cementing Sweden’s membership bid before the July NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania—a deadline Stoltenberg is also aiming for.

A new oil outlet. While much of the Western world places strict sanctions on Russian oil exports, Pakistan is making a different type of deal. Islamabad has placed its first order for discounted Russian crude oil under a new agreement that will allow imports of 100,000 barrels per day, Reuters reported on Thursday. The deal is for Russian crude oil only, not refined oil, and one known shipment will dock at Karachi Port in May.

Moscow sees the deal as a new outlet to skirt Western sanctions over its war in Ukraine. For Pakistan, the move is also a sign of tight economic constraints. Pakistan’s economy is nearing a catastrophic meltdown, partly due to the repercussions of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s many political controversies. This deal is therefore Islamabad’s latest effort to manage its broken system.

No end in sight. Fighting continues to decimate Sudan’s capital of Khartoum as violence between the Sudanese military and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia hits its sixth day. Even enlisted soldiers are losing faith. At least 320 Sudanese troops fled to neighboring Chad this week to escape the bombardments. However, Chad has maintained its neutrality, saying it will not allow the Sudanese military to operate against the RSF from within its borders. As many as 20,000 Sudanese civilians have also fled to eastern Chad to escape the fighting.

Western governments are readying new sanctions on both Sudanese army and RSF members, FP’s Robbie Gramer reports. But some U.S. officials said the sanctions may be too little, too late—reflecting a growing consensus that the Biden administration’s Africa policies are too timid. The administration has “cried wolf too many times now—they’ve threatened sanctions in the past and not made good on them, or the sanctions they’ve implemented are totally feckless,” Cameron Hudson, an Africa expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Gramer.

A 24-year-old shoe salesman pleaded guilty this week to trafficking in archeological resources for stealing the clay thumb of a terra-cotta warrior from the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia in 2017. The heist—if it can be called that—occurred during an ugly sweater party hosted by the science and technology museum. The thief, whose lawyer described him as just “a drunk kid in a bright green ugly Christmas sweater,” will likely be charged with a misdemeanor, which can result in up to one year in prison and a $10,000 fine. Even so, he may have gotten off lightly: In the 1980s, a man was sentenced to death in China for stealing a terra-cotta warrior head from a museum warehouse.