Trump says it was ‘stupid’ for Biden to let Ukraine use US weapons to strike deeper into Russia

This combination of pictures created on February 16, 2022 shows Former US President Donald Trump during a visit to the border wall near Pharr, Texas on June 30, 2021 and US President Joe Biden during a visit to Germanna Community College in Culpeper, Virginia, on February 10, 2022. (AFP)
This combination of pictures created on February 16, 2022 shows Former US President Donald Trump during a visit to the border wall near Pharr, Texas on June 30, 2021 and US President Joe Biden during a visit to Germanna Community College in Culpeper, Virginia, on February 10, 2022. (AFP)
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Updated 17 December 2024

Trump says it was ‘stupid’ for Biden to let Ukraine use US weapons to strike deeper into Russia

Trump says it was ‘stupid’ for Biden to let Ukraine use US weapons to strike deeper into Russia
  • “I think the Middle East will be in a good place,” Trump said, referring to the conflict in Gaza and an unsettled Syria following the ouster of Bashar Assad. “I think actually more difficult is going to be the Russia-Ukraine situation”
  • Trump’s relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin has been scrutinized since his 2016 campaign for president, when he called on Russia to find and make public missing emails deleted by Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent

PALM BEACH, Florida: President-elect Donald Trump on Monday suggested that he may reverse President Joe Biden’s recent decision to allow Ukrainian forces to use American long-range weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory.
Trump called the decision made by Biden last month “stupid.” He also expressed anger that his incoming administration was not consulted before Biden made the move. With the loosening of the restrictions, Biden gave Ukraine long-sought permission to use the Army Tactical Missile System provided by the US to strike Russian positions hundreds miles from its border.
“I don’t think that should have been allowed, not when there’s a possibility — certainly not just weeks before I take over,” Trump said during at a wide-ranging news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort. “Why would they do that without asking me what I thought? I wouldn’t have had him do that. I think it was a big mistake.”
Trump’s withering criticism of the Biden administration’s move comes as the Democratic administration aims to push every last dollar already designated for Ukraine out the door to help repel Russia’s invasion before Trump takes office on Jan. 20, with future aid uncertain.
But even as Biden tries to surge weaponry and other aid to Ukraine in his final five weeks in office, the moment underscored that it’s Trump who holds the most significant influence over how Ukraine can use its US-provided arsenal in the long run. It’s a critical piece of leverage he could use to try to follow through on his campaign pledge to bring about a swift end to the conflict.
Asked if he would consider reversing the Biden administration decision, Trump responded: “I might. I think it was a very stupid thing to do.”
The White House pushed back on Trump’s criticism, noting that the decision was made after months of deliberations that started before last month’s election.
“All I can assure you is that in the conversations we’ve had with them since the election, and we’ve had at various levels, we have articulated to them the logic behind it, the thinking behind it, why we were doing it,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said of the current administration’s coordination with the outgoing administration.
Trump’s relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin has been scrutinized since his 2016 campaign for president, when he called on Russia to find and make public missing emails deleted by Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent. Trump publicly sided with Putin over US intelligence officials on whether Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to help him, and Trump has praised the Russian leader and even called him “pretty smart” for invading Ukraine.
Vice President-elect JD Vance has said that while the US has differences with Russia, it was counterproductive to approach Moscow as an enemy.
Trump on Monday reiterated his call on both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war, calling the death and despair caused by the conflict “carnage.”
But Trump also appeared to acknowledge that finding an immediate endgame to the war — something he has previously said he could get done within 24 hours of taking office — could be difficult.
“I think the Middle East will be in a good place,” Trump said, referring to the conflict in Gaza and an unsettled Syria following the ouster of Bashar Assad. “I think actually more difficult is going to be the Russia-Ukraine situation.”
Trump declined to say whether he has spoken with Putin since the election.
Zelensky met with Trump in Paris earlier this month, while the president-elect was visiting France for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials have been making a forceful effort to get Trump to maintain support for Ukraine.
But the situation on the ground in Ukraine continues to remain complicated as both sides wrestle for a battlefield advantage that will give them leverage in any negotiations to end the nearly three-year war.
The Pentagon last week unveiled US intelligence that predicts Russia could again launch its lethal new intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine soon.
Putin deployed the missile for the first time last month days after Biden loosened the restrictions on Ukraine. Putin warned the West that Russia’s next use could be against Ukraine’s NATO allies who allowed Kyiv to use their longer-range missiles to strike inside Russia.
Biden agreed to loosen the restrictions after Zelensky and many of his Western supporters had pressed Biden for months. They argued that the US ban had made it impossible for Ukraine to try to stop Russian attacks on its cities and electrical grids.
The outgoing president ultimately made the decision last month amid concerns about Russia deploying thousands of North Korean troops to help it claw back land in the Kursk border region that Ukraine seized this year.


Norway wealth fund excludes Caterpillar and five Israeli banks

Norway’s $2 trillion wealth fund said on Monday it has divested from US construction equipment group Caterpillar. (File/Reuters)
Norway’s $2 trillion wealth fund said on Monday it has divested from US construction equipment group Caterpillar. (File/Reuters)
Updated 52 min 7 sec ago

Norway wealth fund excludes Caterpillar and five Israeli banks

Norway’s $2 trillion wealth fund said on Monday it has divested from US construction equipment group Caterpillar. (File/Reuters)
  • Five banks are Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, First International Bank of Israel and FIBI Holdings, the fund said in a statement

OSLO: Norway’s $2 trillion wealth fund, the world’s largest, said on Monday it has divested from US construction equipment group Caterpillar and from five Israeli banking groups on ethics grounds.
The five banks are Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, First International Bank of Israel and FIBI Holdings, the fund said in a statement.
The six groups were excluded “due to an unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war and conflict,” said the fund, which is operated by Norway’s central bank.
The companies did not immediately reply to requests for comment. The Israeli embassy in Oslo declined to comment.
Prior to its divestment, the fund held a 1.17 percent stake in Caterpillar valued at $2.1 billion as of June 30, its records showed.
The stakes in the five Israeli banks were valued at a combined $661 million, also as of June 30, according to fund data. The news was announced when the Tel Aviv and New York stock exchanges were closed.
Shares in Caterpillar were down 0.4 percent in pre-market trading at $430.61 per share on Tuesday.
FIBI Holdings shares were up 4 percent, putting them on course for their best day since early 2024. Hapoalim’s stock was up 3.3 percent and Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, and First International Bank of Israel were between 1.8 percent and 2.8 percent better off.
Israeli shares have soared since Hamas’ attacks in October 2023. Bank Leumi has risen 120 percent since then, while the rest of the banks the wealth fund has divested from have climbed between 48 percent and 70 percent.
Caterpillar
The fund’s ethics watchdog, called the Council on Ethics, said that “in the council’s assessment, there is no doubt that Caterpillar’s products are being used to commit extensive and systematic violations of international humanitarian law.”
Bulldozers manufactured by Caterpillar “were being used by Israeli authorities in the widespread unlawful destruction of Palestinian property,” it said.
The violations were taking place both in Gaza and the West Bank, the council said, adding that “the company has also not implemented any measures to pre­vent such use.”
“As deliveries of the relevant machinery to Israel are now set to resume, the council considers there to be an unacceptable risk that Caterpillar is con­tributing to serious violations of individuals’ rights in war or conflict situations.”
The council, a public body set up by the Ministry of Finance, checks that firms in the portfolio of the fund meet ethical guidelines set by Norway’s parliament. The fund is invested in some 8,400 companies worldwide.
It makes recommendations to the board of the central bank, which has the final say. The board agreed with the council’s recommendation. The Norwegian fund said on August 18 that it would divest from six companies as part of an ongoing ethics review over the war in Gaza and developments in the West Bank, but declined at the time to name any groups until the stakes were sold.
Banks

On the banks, the ethics watchdog initially scrutinized the Israeli banks’ practice of underwriting Israeli settlers’ housebuilding commitments in the region.
On Monday, the council said that all the banks excluded had, “by providing financial services that are a necessary prerequisite for construction activity in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem ... contributed to the maintenance of Israeli settlements.”
Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Many settlements are adjacent to Palestinian areas and some Israeli firms serve both Israelis and Palestinians.
The United Nations’ top court last year found that Israeli settlements built on territory seized in 1967 were illegal, a ruling that Israel called “fundamentally wrong,” citing historical and biblical ties to the land.


Denmark not excluding recognizing Palestinian state: PM

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. (File/Reuters)
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. (File/Reuters)
Updated 47 min 5 sec ago

Denmark not excluding recognizing Palestinian state: PM

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. (File/Reuters)
  • “We’re in favor of it. We have been for a long time. It’s what we want. But of course we have to be sure that it will be a democratic state,”Frederiksen said

COPENHAGEN: Denmark is not ruling out the possibility of recognizing Palestinian statehood as long as it is democratic, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Tuesday.
“We’re not saying no to recognizing Palestine as a state,” she told reporters.
“We’re in favor of it. We have been for a long time. It’s what we want. But of course we have to be sure that it will be a democratic state,” she added.
On Sunday, more than 10,000 people marched in a protest in central Copenhagen calling for an end to the war in Gaza and urging Denmark to recognize Palestinian statehood.
In an interview with the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten on August 16, Frederiksen said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “now a problem in himself,” and that his Israeli government was going “too far.”
“Netanyahu’s continued and very violent actions in Gaza are unacceptable,” she wrote on Facebook the same day, adding that she has, since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, supported Israel’s right to eliminate the “threat posed by Hamas.”
Recognition of a Palestinian state must serve “the right goal,” she stressed on Tuesday.
“It must come at a time when it genuinely benefits a two-state solution. And where a lasting and democratic Palestinian state can be guaranteed,” she said.
“And it must of course be done with (Hamas’s) mutual recognition of Israel.”
In the meantime, Denmark plans to use its current EU presidency to increase pressure on Israel.
“It will be difficult to rally the necessary support but we will do everything we can,” she said.
The October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas militants resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 62,744 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.


Hundreds of Afghan patients get eye surgery in KSrelief-funded campaign

Hundreds of Afghan patients get eye surgery in KSrelief-funded campaign
Updated 26 August 2025

Hundreds of Afghan patients get eye surgery in KSrelief-funded campaign

Hundreds of Afghan patients get eye surgery in KSrelief-funded campaign
  • 400 patients to get surgery and 4,000 to be screened during 5-day campaign
  • Afghanistan, country of 43 million, has fewer than 200 eye specialists

KABUL: Hundreds of the most vulnerable Afghan patients are set to receive free eye treatment, including surgery, in Kabul this week under a medical intervention program funded by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center.

The program is organized by the Afghan Red Crescent Society at the ARCS Central Hospital in Kabul from Aug. 24 to 28.

It is funded by KSrelief and Al-Basar International Foundation, a Saudi-based nongovernmental organization providing eye healthcare and visual rehabilitation to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities around the world.

“The five-day campaign will provide treatment and surgery services for 400 patients and screening services for around 4,000 others. Patients receive screening services, medicine, glasses and surgery free of charge,” Dr. Abdul Wali Utmanza, director of the ARCS Central Hospital, told Arab News. “Soon, an additional 400 patients in Nangarhar and 400 more in Kandahar will also undergo eye surgery.”

Al-Basar Foundation has been treating eye patients in Afghanistan with KSrelief support since 2023.

“Since then, thousands of patients have received care, and we remain committed to expanding these vital services even further,” said Rizwan Baloch, the foundation’s representative. “These services are crucial for restoring vision, improving lives, and reaching those without access to proper eye care.”

Of Afghanistan’s 43 million population, more than 400,000 are blind, according to the World Health Organization.

Dr. Shamsulhaq Salim, ophthalmologist from Herat, estimates that another 2 million are visually impaired and many of them can lose sight due to cataracts.

“Cataracts remain the leading cause of blindness in Afghanistan, yet a simple surgery can completely restore vision. However, a severe shortage of eye specialists and relevant modern facilities are major barriers,” he told Arab News.

“Afghanistan has an estimated 150 to 200 eye specialists nationwide, most of whom are based in major cities and provincial centers.”

There are only nine public eye hospitals in the country and a handful of private clinics.

For Mir Hamidullah, who arrived for treatment in Kabul from Surobi district, some 100 km away, the Saudi initiative offered a rare chance to restore his vision.

“I wouldn’t have been able to go to a private hospital to treat my eyes. That’s why I and so many others are here today, receiving free eye care,” he said.

“I sincerely hope other international organizations also step forward to support the Afghan people and recognize the difficult conditions we are living in.”


Indonesia creates new ministry to oversee Hajj, Umrah pilgrimages

Indonesia creates new ministry to oversee Hajj, Umrah pilgrimages
Updated 26 August 2025

Indonesia creates new ministry to oversee Hajj, Umrah pilgrimages

Indonesia creates new ministry to oversee Hajj, Umrah pilgrimages
  • World’s largest Muslim-majority nation sends biggest Hajj contingent every year
  • Pilgrimage services were previously organized by religious affairs ministry

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s parliament on Tuesday approved the establishment of a new ministry dedicated solely to Hajj and Umrah which will oversee pilgrimage services for millions of Indonesians traveling to each year.

The world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation, Indonesia sends the largest contingent of Hajj pilgrims every year, while more than a million travel annually for Umrah.

Indonesian lawmakers unanimously passed revisions to the country’s 2019 Hajj and Umrah Law during a plenary session on Tuesday, effectively creating the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.

“This ministry will provide a one-stop service (and) coordinate all matters related to organizing Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages, whether in terms of infrastructure, human resources or services for the pilgrims,” said lawmaker Marwan Dasopang.

The changes were initially proposed to improve overall services for pilgrims and adjust to policy and technological developments in , he added.

Pilgrimage services in Indonesia were previously organized by the Directorate General for Hajj and Umrah Management, which operated under the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Earlier this year, 221,000 Indonesian Hajj pilgrims were among more than 1.6 million Muslims who traveled to Makkah to perform the pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam.

“This is a new breakthrough, because (especially) when it comes to Hajj we’re not talking about managing just a few people, but a huge ecosystem,” Deputy Speaker Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal told reporters in Jakarta.

“We hope that with this new ministry, services for pilgrimages will be further improved, more measured and continuously evaluated. The House of Representatives will be supervising closely.”

President Prabowo Subianto is expected to appoint a minister to head the new ministry soon.

The Indonesian government has stepped up services for pilgrims this year, including the opening of a dedicated terminal for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims in May at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.


UK to allow students to travel from Gaza to attend university

Plan will see the students awarded scholarships, with nine receiving government-backed Chevening scheme funding for master’s.
Plan will see the students awarded scholarships, with nine receiving government-backed Chevening scheme funding for master’s.
Updated 26 August 2025

UK to allow students to travel from Gaza to attend university

Plan will see the students awarded scholarships, with nine receiving government-backed Chevening scheme funding for master’s.
  • Around 40 students will receive scholarships for upcoming academic year for first time since outbreak of war
  • But they require Israel’s approval to leave Palestinian enclave

LONDON: The UK will allow around 40 students to travel from Gaza to attend British universities, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

The plan will see the students awarded scholarships, with nine receiving government-backed Chevening scheme funding for one-year master’s degrees, and the rest securing funds from private programs.

The students will be allowed to leave Gaza once they receive permission to travel from Israeli authorities.

They will become the first to leave the Palestinian enclave to study in the UK since the outbreak of the war in October 2023.

However, relations between the UK and Israel have become frosty since Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans to potentially recognize a Palestinian state earlier this year. 

The students will need to travel to a third country in order to complete biometric visa applications before being allowed to head to the UK.

Britain will join other European nations — including France, Italy and Ireland — in approving evacuation routes for students with places to study at universities in each country.

A UK Home Office source told the BBC that the plan for the students is “complex and challenging.”

Several of the students told the corporation that they fear for their safety in Gaza while awaiting approval to travel.

British politicians have campaigned for months to allow around 80 Gazan students with offers from universities to study in the UK. It is unclear if the remaining students with places to study will be able to attend their courses.

There is also a movement to allow critically ill Gazan children to head to the UK for vital medical treatment.

Israel has killed at least 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023.