Trump blames Biden for Mideast crises, Russia-Ukraine war in Al-Arabiya interview

Trump blames Biden for Mideast crises, Russia-Ukraine war in Al-Arabiya interview
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he could end Israel’s war with Hamas and Hezbollah and in the Middle East and restore peace. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he could end Israel’s war with Hamas and Hezbollah and restore peace in the Middle East region. (Getty Images)
Short Url
Updated 21 October 2024
Follow

Trump blames Biden for Mideast crises, Russia-Ukraine war in Al-Arabiya interview

Trump blames Biden for Mideast crises, Russia-Ukraine war in Al-Arabiya interview
  • “If I were president, that war would have never started,” he said.
  • Trump said that he would work Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman to restore peace in the region.

RIYADH: Former US President Donald Trump criticized Joe Biden and his administration’s foreign policy failures for the wars on multiple fronts saying that if he were president, the Oct. 7 attack on Israel wouldn’t have happened.

In an exclusive interview with Al-Arabiya’s Nadia Bilbassy-Charters, aired on Sunday, Trump said: “If I were president, that war would have never started. You wouldn’t have all those dead people... (and) demolished cities and areas. (We) wouldn’t have had Oct. 7.”

The Republican presidential candidate also discussed the escalating conflict between Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel, the Russia-Ukraine war and his desire to expand the Abrahams Accords if he wins the elections.

It was when Trump was US president that the Israel signed normalization agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in what had become known as the Abraham Accords. With Trump as at the White House on September 15, 2020, the accord was by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the foreign ministers of the UAE and Bahrain.

In their bilateral agreements, the UAE and Bahrain recognized Israel’s sovereignty, enabling the establishment of full diplomatic relations. Sudan and Morocco followed suit by signing their own agreements with Israel.  

Recently, however, Bahrain’s parliament moved to end the country’s economic ties to Israel following Israel’s indiscriminate and unrelenting assault in Gaza, which has left at least 42,603 ​people dead and 99,795 injured as of Sunday October.

Disregarding growing calls for an end to hostilities, Israel has expanded the violence by attacking wide areas of Lebanon in its war with Iran-backed Hezbollah and Palestinian groups and their allies.

US President Biden’s failure to restrain Netanyahu has divided American Muslim voters on whether or not to support the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, in the November 5 US presidential election.

In a press conference on Sept. 27, Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has said that he could get Israel to end the war, which he said must end “one way or another.”

In the Al-Arabiya interview on Sunday, Trump said that if he becomes president again he would work with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman to restore peace in the region.


Italy’s Meloni: Recognizing Palestinian state before it is established may be ‘counterproductive’

Italy’s Meloni: Recognizing Palestinian state before it is established may be ‘counterproductive’
Updated 18 sec ago
Follow

Italy’s Meloni: Recognizing Palestinian state before it is established may be ‘counterproductive’

Italy’s Meloni: Recognizing Palestinian state before it is established may be ‘counterproductive’
  • ‘I am very much in favor of the State of Palestine but I am not in favor of recognizing it prior to establishing it’
  • France’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September draws condemnation from Israel and the US
MILAN: Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday that recognizing the State of Palestine before it is established could be counterproductive.
“I am very much in favor of the State of Palestine but I am not in favor of recognizing it prior to establishing it,” Meloni told Italian daily La Repubblica.
“If something that doesn’t exist is recognized on paper, the problem could appear to be solved when it isn’t,” Meloni added.
France’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September drew condemnation from Israel and the United States, amid the war in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. On Friday, Italy’s foreign minister said recognition of a Palestinian state must occur simultaneously with recognition of Israel by the new Palestinian entity. A German government spokesperson said on Friday that Berlin was not planning to recognize a Palestinian state in the short term and said its priority now is to make “long-overdue progress” toward a two-state solution.

Malaysians protest rising living costs

Malaysians protest rising living costs
Updated 11 min 26 sec ago
Follow

Malaysians protest rising living costs

Malaysians protest rising living costs
  • Rally organized by opposition parties marked the first major protest since Anwar Ibrahim was propelled to power
  • Protesters gathered at various points around the city center before converging on the city’s central Merdeka Square

KUALA LUMPUR: Thousands of Malaysians took to the capital’s streets on Saturday to protest rising living costs and a perceived lack of reform by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government.

The rally organized by opposition parties marked the first major protest in Southeast Asia’s sixth-largest economy since Anwar was propelled to power after general elections in 2022.

Protesters gathered at various points around the city center before converging on the city’s central Merdeka (Independence) Square, carrying placards saying “Turun Anwar” – “Step down Anwar” in Malay – while police kept a close eye.

“He (Anwar) has already governed the country for three years and has yet to fulfil the promises he made,” said protester Fauzi Mahmud, 35, from Selangor just outside the capital.

Anwar “has been to many countries to bring investments, but we have yet to see anything,” Fauzi told AFP, referring to the premier’s recent trips, including to Russia and Europe.

“The cost of living is still high,” the engineer said.

Anwar was appointed premier on a reformist ticket and promised to tackle graft, nepotism and cronyism within the Southeast Asian nation’s fractured political system.

Days ahead of the rally, the premier laid out a string of populist measures aimed to address concerns, including a cash handout for all adult citizens and a promise to cut fuel prices.

Anwar on Wednesday announced that Malaysians above 18 years will receive a one-off payment of 100 Malaysian ringgit ($23.71), to be distributed from August 31.

He added that about 18 million Malaysian motorists will be eligible to purchase heavily subsidized medium-octane fuel at 1.99 ringgit per liter, compared to the current price of 2.05 ringgit.

Political analysts viewed the announcements as a strategic move to appease increasing public frustration and dissuade people from joining Saturday’s protest.

However, a recent survey done by Malaysia-based independent Merdeka Center for Opinion Research found that the majority of Malaysian voters gave Anwar a positive approval rating of 55 percent.

Reasons included the easing of political turmoil in recent years as well as efforts to raise Malaysia’s profile through this year’s chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).


Russian attack kills 3 in Ukraine’s city of Dnipro, governor says

Russian attack kills 3 in Ukraine’s city of Dnipro, governor says
Updated 41 min ago
Follow

Russian attack kills 3 in Ukraine’s city of Dnipro, governor says

Russian attack kills 3 in Ukraine’s city of Dnipro, governor says
  • “A terrible night. A massive combined attack on the region,” Serhiy Lysak, the Dnipropetrovsk regional governor, said on the Telegram app

KYIV: Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles in an overnight attack that killed three people in Ukraine’s Dnipro and the nearby region on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said.

Moscow’s troops launched 235 drones and 27 missiles, damaging residential and commercial buildings and causing fires, the Ukrainian Air Force said. It said in a statement that 10 missiles and 25 attack drones hit nine sites. The rest of the drones and missiles were brought down, the Air Force said.

“A terrible night. A massive combined attack on the region,” Serhiy Lysak, the Dnipropetrovsk regional governor, said on the Telegram app.

He said three people were killed in the attacks and six others wounded in the city of Dnipro and the nearby region.

Lysak posted pictures showing firefighters battling fires, a residential building with smashed windows, and charred cars.

President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed retaliatory strikes.

“Russian military enterprises, Russian logistics, and Russian airports should feel that Russia’s own war is now hitting them back with real consequences,” Zelensky said on the Telegram app.

Ukraine’s attacks on Russia have heated up in recent months, with Moscow and Kyiv exchanging swarms of drones and fierce fighting raging along more than 1,000 kilometers of the frontline.


Indian police arrest man running ‘fake embassy’

Indian police arrest man running ‘fake embassy’
Updated 26 July 2025
Follow

Indian police arrest man running ‘fake embassy’

Indian police arrest man running ‘fake embassy’
  • Harsh Vardhan Jain, 47, claimed to be the ambassador of fictional nations ‘like West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, Lodonia’
  • The suspect allegedly used vehicles with fake diplomatic plates and shared doctored photos of himself with Indian leaders

NEW DELHI: Police in India have arrested a man accused of running a fake embassy from a rented house near New Delhi and duping job seekers out of money with promises of overseas employment.

Harsh Vardhan Jain, 47, was operating an “illegal West Arctic embassy by renting a house” in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, which neigbhours the capital, local police said.

Jain, according to police, claimed to be the ambassador of fictional nations “like West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, Lodonia.”

He allegedly used vehicles with fake diplomatic plates and shared doctored photos of himself with Indian leaders to bolster his claims.

“His main activities involved acting as a broker to secure work in foreign countries for companies and private individuals, as well as operating a hawala (money transfer) racket through shell companies,” the police said in a statement following his arrest earlier this week.

He is also accused of money laundering.

During a raid on Jain’s property, police said they recovered $53,500 in cash in addition to doctored passports and forged documents bearing stamps of India’s foreign ministry.

AFP was unable to reach Jain or his representatives for comment.

Westarctica, cited by the police as one of the countries Jain claimed to be representing, is a US-registered nonprofit “dedicated to studying and preserving this vast, magnificent, desolate region” of Western Antarctica.

In a statement, it said it had appointed Jain as its “Honorary Consul to India” after he had made a “generous donation.”

“He was never granted the position or authority of ambassador,” it added.


Anti-terror police probing Greek building explosion

Anti-terror police probing Greek building explosion
Updated 26 July 2025
Follow

Anti-terror police probing Greek building explosion

Anti-terror police probing Greek building explosion

A strong blast early Saturday damaged an apartment building in a suburb of Greece’s second city Thessaloniki, wounding two passersby and shattering windows of nearby buildings.

Six cars were also damaged in the explosion in the suburb of Sikies and anti-terror police were probing the incident, public broadcaster ERT said.

The blast damaged the ground floor of the building leaving gaping holes in the wall. The head of a prison officers’ union lives in the building, according to police.

A young man and woman who were passing at the time of the blast were injured by shards of glass, police sources told AFP.

In May, a woman involved in robberies died after an explosion in front of a bank in Thessaloniki.

The 38-year-old was linked to a jailed bank robber, accused among other things of terrorist acts as he had sent a parcel bomb to the Thessaloniki appeals court in February last year.