WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are meeting Friday amid an intensified push by Ukraine to loosen restrictions on using weapons provided by the US and Britain to strike Russia. The talks come amid signs that the White House could be moving toward a shift in its policy.
Ukrainian officials renewed their pleas to use Western-provided long-range missiles against targets deeper inside Russia during this week’s visit to Kyiv by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Minister David Lammy. Blinken said he had “no doubt” that Biden and Starmer would discuss the matter during their visit, noting the US has adapted and “will adjust as necessary” as Russia’s battlefield strategy has changed.
The language is similar to what Blinken said in May, shortly before the US allowed Ukraine to use American-provided weapons just inside Russian territory. The distance has been largely limited to cross-border targets deemed a direct threat out of concerns about further escalating the conflict.
While the issue is expected to be at the top of the leaders’ agenda, it appeared unlikely that Biden and Starmer would announce any policy changes during this week’s visit, according to two US officials familiar with planning for the leaders’ talks who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
In addition to Blinken, Biden also has hinted a change could be afoot. In an exchange with reporters earlier this week about whether he was ready to ease weapons restrictions on Ukraine, he responded, “We’re working that out now.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pressed US and allied military leaders to go much further. He argues that the US must allow Ukraine to target Russian air bases and launch sites far from the border as Russia has stepped up assaults on Ukraine’s electricity grid and utilities ahead of the coming winter.
Zelensky also wants more long-range weaponry from the United States, including the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, for strikes in Russia.
ATACMS wouldn’t be the answer to the main threat Ukraine faces from long-range Russian glide bombs, which are being fired from more than 300 kilometers (185 miles) away, beyond the ATACMS’ reach, said Lt. Col. Charlie Dietz, Pentagon spokesman.
American officials also don’t believe they have enough of the weapon systems available to provide Ukraine with the number to make a substantive difference to conditions on the ground, one of the US officials said.
During a meeting of allied defense ministers last week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he did not believe providing Ukraine with long-range weapon systems would be a game-changer in the grueling war. He noted that Ukraine has already been able to strike inside Russia with its own internally produced systems, including drones.
“I don’t believe one capability is going to be decisive, and I stand by that comment,” Austin said.
Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, would not say Thursday if Austin’s views had changed since last week: “As of right now, the policy has not changed.”
Starmer said he was visiting Washington for “strategic meetings to discuss Ukraine and to discuss the Middle East.” It’s the prime minister’s second meeting with Biden since his center-left government was elected in July.
It comes after Britain last week diverged from the US by suspending some arms exports to Israel because of the risk they could be used to break international law. Both countries have downplayed their differences over the issue.
Biden and Starmer’s meeting also comes ahead of this month’s annual meeting of global leaders at the United Nations General Assembly. The Oval Office meeting was scheduled in part to help the two leaders compare notes on the war in Ukraine, languishing efforts to get a ceasefire deal in Gaza and other issues ahead of the UN meeting.
The White House also has sought in recent days to put a greater emphasis on the nexus between the war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East sparked after Iranian-backed Hamas militants in Gaza launched attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.
The Biden administration said this week that Iran recently delivered short-range ballistic weapons to Russia to use against Ukraine, a transfer that White House officials worry will allow Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets far beyond the Ukrainian front line while employing Iranian warheads for closer-range targets.
In turn, the US administration says Russia has been tightening its relationship with Iran, including by providing it with nuclear and space technology.
“This is obviously deeply concerning,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said of the missile transfer. “And it certainly speaks to the manner in which this partnership threatens European security and how it illustrates Iran’s destabilizing influence now reaches well beyond the Middle East.
US and British leaders set to discuss Ukraine’s push to ease weapons restrictions
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US and British leaders set to discuss Ukraine’s push to ease weapons restrictions
- The talks Friday come amid signs that the White House could be moving toward a shift in its policy
- Ukrainian officials renewed their pleas during this week’s visit to Kyiv by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Minister David Lammy
WHO chief released from hospital in Rio de Janeiro
He “underwent all the necessary tests, which confirmed clinical indicators with no signs of seriousness”
SAO PAULO: World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been released from Rio de Janeiro’s Hospital Samaritano Barra da Tijuca after spending the night under observation, the hospital said.
According to the hospital, Tedros was admitted on Wednesday afternoon and “underwent all the necessary tests, which confirmed clinical indicators with no signs of seriousness, and was discharged from hospital this morning.”
Local newspaper O Globo had reported earlier on Thursday that Tedros sought medical attention at the facility with “symptoms of labyrinthitis and an hypertensive crisis,” after showing signs of being unwell earlier this week on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
According to the report, Tedros was examined on Monday by health professionals on duty at the G20 summit and given medicine for high blood pressure, but was released once he was stable.
The G20 summit in Rio ended this week with calls for cooperation on climate change, poverty reduction and tax policy.
Sri Lanka’s new president to keep predecessor’s controversial IMF bailout program
- During election campaign, Dissanayake promised to renegotiate IMF deal because austerity measures burdened ordinary people
- In new policy statement he vows to increase welfare programs without derailing the IMF program
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka plans to finalize a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said during the first sitting of the new Parliament on Thursday, maintaining the bailout program secured by his predecessor.
A delegation from the IMF is in Colombo for the third review of its $2.9 billion program ahead of releasing a new tranche of funds to Sri Lanka’s battered economy.
The IMF loan was negotiated by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe early last year. It required the Sri Lankan government to introduce austerity measures that led to price increases in food and fuel and caused hardship to millions of Sri Lankans.
Dissanayake, who assumed the top job in September and further consolidated his grip on power after his National People’s Power alliance won a majority in the legislature last week, had earlier promised to renegotiate the targets set in the IMF deal, because it placed too much burden on ordinary people.
But in his first speech to the inaugural session of Parliament, the president said the economy was “hanging by a thread” — too fragile to take risks.
A country of 22 million, Sri Lanka was hit by the worst economic crisis in its history in 2022, when its defaulted economy shrank by 7.8 percent and 2.3 percent last year.
“The reality in front of us now is that we have no time to check whether these agreements are beneficial or harmful to us, as these are the results of nearly two years of discussions,” he said.
“We cannot go forward if we continue through another two years to study and renegotiate the previous agreement.”
The agreement would allow the release of $337 million to Sri Lanka under the IMF’s four-year loan program. Dissanayake said he expected the agreement to be signed on Friday.
As he outlined his government policy to legislators, he vowed to keep his key election pledges of reducing taxes and increasing welfare programs without derailing the IMF program.
His government is scheduled to present the interim 2025 budget in February.
UN to hold high-level conference on Rohingya crisis next year
- New UNGA resolution was tabled by OIC and EU, co-sponsored by 106 countries
- Muhammad Yunus previously urged international community to help solve Rohingya crisis
DHAKA: The UN General Assembly has adopted an Organization of Islamic Cooperation-sponsored resolution to hold a high-level conference next year to discuss solutions for Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and propose a timeframe to repatriate more than 1.2 million of the refugees from camps in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has hosted Rohingya refugees for decades, including the hundreds of thousands who fled Myanmar in 2017 to escape a brutal military crackdown and persecution.
They have since settled in squalid camps in Cox’s Bazar district, a coastal region in the country’s southeast that has become the world’s largest refugee settlement.
The third committee of the UNGA adopted the resolution on the situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar by consensus on Wednesday.
Tabled by the OIC and the EU, the resolution that was co-sponsored by 106 countries decided to hold an all-stakeholder high-level international conference in 2025, aimed at reviewing the overall crisis and proposing a sustainable resolution.
“For us and for the sake of regional as well as international security, creating conditions for the safe, voluntary and dignified return of the Rohingyas to Myanmar is of utmost importance,” Bangladesh permanent representative to the UN, ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith, said after the resolution was adopted.
It follows an appeal made by the chief adviser of Bangladesh’s caretaker government, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, at the 79th UNGA in September, where he called for support from the international community to assist the Rohingya.
“We remain committed to supporting the forcibly displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar in Bangladesh. We need continued support of the international community toward the Rohingyas in carrying out the humanitarian operations and their sustainable repatriation,” Yunus said.
The return of the Rohingya to Myanmar has been on the agenda for years, but a UN-backed repatriation process had yet to take off until now, despite pressure from Bangladesh and international organizations.
The planned conference is taking place at a crucial time as refugee issues are rising in other parts of the world, said Dhaka-based migration expert, Asif Munir.
“Rohingya refugees issue needs more global attention at the moment as it requires more funds to manage this huge number of population,” Munir told Arab News on Thursday.
He estimated that about 40,000 children were born in the camps every year, while new refugees continued to flee Myanmar’s Rakhine State to escape the conflict.
“There are several priority concerns for Bangladesh, which include mitigating the dwindling financial crisis (and) finding a durable solution either in the form of a safe zone or third country resettlement,” he said.
The conference next year should also address the situation in Rakhine, where fighting has intensified between Myanmar’s ruling junta and the opposition ethnic-minority Arakan Army, amid rising concerns that the violence would trigger a new wave of refugees seeking safety in Bangladesh.
“Currently, human rights, protection, etc., are at stake in Myanmar,” Munir said. “In this context, what should be the role and commitment of the global leaders? This issue needs to be discussed in this upcoming high-level meeting.”
Serbia arrests 11 over railway station roof collapse
- The concrete awning of the recently renovated roof caved in on November 1
- Opposition leaders and the public have taken to the streets repeatedly
BELGRADE: Prosecutors in the Serbian city of Novi Sad have arrested 11 people in connection with the collapse of a railway station roof this month that killed 15 people and sparked a wave of protests.
The concrete awning of the recently renovated roof caved in on Nov. 1, killing 14 and injuring three. One of those hurt died of their injuries on Sunday.
Opposition leaders and the public have taken to the streets repeatedly, blaming the accident on government corruption and nepotism that resulted in shoddy construction.
The ruling coalition denies those charges, but President Aleksandar Vucic said those responsible must be held to account. The transport, construction and infrastructure minister, the trade minister and the head of state-run Serbian Railways have all resigned over the incident.
Novi Sad’s High Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that the 11 were arrested on suspicion of committing criminal acts against public safety. The statement only provided the initials of those arrested.
One set of initials on the list was GV. Local media reported that Goran Vesic, the former transport, construction and infrastructure minister, was among those arrested.
Vesic denied that in a Facebook post on Thursday, but said that he had met with law enforcement.
“I voluntarily responded to the call of police officers with whom I came to Novi Sad and made myself available to the investigative authorities,” the post said.
Opposition deputies protested in front of a courthouse in Novi Sad for the third consecutive day on Thursday, demanding that those responsible for the disaster face justice.
They also demanded that activists arrested in an anti-government protest over the disaster be released immediately.
UN: Nearly 40% of 3.4 million displaced in Myanmar are children
- Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in 2021
- The fighting, as well as severe climate events like Typhoon Yagi, have had a ‘devastating impact’ on children
WASHINGTON: Children made up nearly 40 percent of the more than 3.4 million people in Myanmar displaced by civil war and climate change-driven extreme weather, the UN agency for children said Thursday.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in 2021 and launched a crackdown that sparked an armed uprising against the junta’s rule.
The Southeast Asian nation was also battered by Typhoon Yagi in September, triggering major floods that killed more than 400 people and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
“The humanitarian crisis in Myanmar is reaching a critical inflexion point, with escalating conflict and climate shocks putting children and families at unprecedented risk,” UNICEF deputy executive director Ted Chaiban said in a statement on Thursday.
“Over 3.4 million people have been displaced across the country, nearly 40 percent of whom are children.”
The junta is battling widespread armed opposition to its 2021 coup, and its soldiers have been accused of bloody rampages and using air and artillery strikes to punish civilian communities.
The fighting, as well as severe climate events like Typhoon Yagi, have had a “devastating impact” on children, Chaiban said, leaving them displaced, vulnerable to violence and cut off from health care and education.
He said seven children and two other civilians were killed on November 15 in a strike that hit a Kachin church compound where children were playing football.
Myanmar’s northern Kachin state is the homeland of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), one of the various ethnic minority armed groups that hold territory in the north and are battling the junta.
At least 650 children have been killed or wounded in violence in the country this year.
Minors also made up about a third of the more than 1,000 civilian casualties from land mines and explosive remnants of war, according to Chaiban.
“The increasing use of deadly weapons in civilian areas, including airstrikes and land mines hitting homes, hospitals, and schools, has severely restricted the already limited safe spaces for children, robbing them of their right to safety and security,” he said.
Eleven people were killed last week when a teashop in Myanmar was hit by a military air strike in the town of Naungcho in northern Shan state, a local ethnic armed group said.
