15/05/2025

THURSDAY | MAY 15, 2025

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Trump lavishes praise on Saudi crown prince

YEMEN TOLD TO EVACUATE SEAPORTS DUBAI: Israel issued evacuation warnings yesterday for three seaports in Yemen after saying Houthis had fired a missile towards it. The Israeli army said the Ras Issa, Hodeidah and Salif ports were being used by Houthis. Israel had said earlier that it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen towards its territory. Trump, who started an intensified military campaign against Houthi strongholds in Yemen on March 15, agreed to an Oman-mediated ceasefire deal with the group, which said the accord did not include Israel. Trump said on Tuesday the Houthis had agreed to stop interrupting important shipping lanes in the Middle East. Israel has carried out numerous retaliatory airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. – Reuters SCOTS ASSISTED DYING BILL MOVES FORWARD LONDON: The Scottish parliament voted on Tuesday in favour of a Bill that would allow people living in Scotland with a terminal illness to take their own lives, bringing the proposal a step closer to becoming a reality in the country. Ahead of a final vote, the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill will move to a committee stage where it will be scrutinised and amended by members of the Scottish parliament. If the legislation is passed, Scotland would join countries such as Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, Austria and Ecuador in allowing assisted dying in certain circumstances. The Bill would give mentally competent adults who have been diagnosed with a terminal condition the right to end their life, assisted by health professionals. – Reuters

BR I E F S

RIYADH: Four years ago, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman struggled to get an audience with then-president Joe Biden. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump lavished effusive praise on Saudi’s de facto ruler, calling him “an incredible man” and a “great guy”, and made no mention of human rights concerns in the country. “I like him a lot. I like him too much,” Trump gushed as cameras flashed and the crowd applauded at an investment summit in Riyadh, where the US president kicked off the first major overseas trip of his second term. The display of affection for the o Relationship remains anchored in shared interests

concerns. White House aides insisted it was a way to lower Biden’s risk of contracting disease. Relations improved quickly as his administration worked to broker a deal for normalising Saudi-Israeli relations in exchange for a broader US defence agreement. The effort was frozen by the Oct 7, 2023 attack and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza. During Trump’s visit on Tuesday, the crown prince personally greeted the US president, escorting him up an escalator and later driving him in a golf cart ahead of a state dinner. In a moment that underscored the depth of their personal bond, Trump pledged to lift US sanctions on Syria – a dramatic move that he said came at Mohammed’s request. “Oh, what I do for the crown prince,” Trump said, as the crown prince placed his hands over his heart and led a standing ovation. – Reuters

to reforms such as expanding women’s rights as evidence of progress, analysts said these changes were undercut by continued crackdowns on dissent and political freedoms. Trump’s rapport with Mohammed is far warmer than his White House predecessor’s. Yet Biden’s relationship with the Saudi leader took a friendlier turn too, evolving from initial harsh criticism to pragmatic cordiality. Geopolitical realities such as skyrocketing oil prices caused in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 highlighted a need for cooperation between Washington and Riyadh. That led Biden to decide it was time to reset the strategic relationship, and he visited the crown prince in July 2022. The two men greeted each other with a fist bump, which drew some criticism as an overly friendly gesture given human rights

prince mirrored Trump’s first term, when he forged an alliance with Mohammed. The relationship remains anchored in shared interests: Trump is chasing major economic wins and a revived US role in the region, while Mohammed seeks access to advanced technology, military support and a powerful ally in his push to modernise Saudi Arabia and assert regional leadership. At the summit, Trump touted a US$142 billion (RM609 billion) defence agreement and a sweeping US$600 billion Saudi investment package spanning artificial intelligence, infrastructure and energy. Trump’s ties with the crown prince have sparked criticism from US lawmakers, human rights groups and foreign policy analysts for what they viewed as prioritising economic interests over rights. While Mohammed has pointed

Trump and Mohammed at the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh on Tuesday. – REUTERSPIC

Gaza bombardment intensifies CAIRO: Israeli military strikes killed at least 50 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip yesterday, health authorities said, in a significant escalation of the bombardment as US President Donald Trump continued his visit to the Middle East. Medics said most of the dead, including women and children, resulted from a barrage of Israeli airstrikes that targeted several houses in the Jabalia area in northern Gaza. The Israeli military had no immediate comment and said it was trying to verify the reports. Israeli press reports cited security officials as saying they believed Hamas military leader Mohammad Sinwar and other senior officials had been killed in a strike on Tuesday on what the Israeli military described as a command and control bunker under the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. There was no confirmation either from the Israeli military or Hamas. On Wednesday, witnesses and medics said an Israeli airstrike hit a bulldozer that approached the area of the strike at the European Hospital, wounding several people. Late on Tuesday, Islamic Jihad fired rockets towards Israel. Shortly before the Israeli strikes began in response, the military issued evacuation orders to residents in the area of Jabalia and nearby Beit Lahiya. The Israeli escalation came against Palestinian hopes that the Trump visit might provide pressure for a deescalation of violence. Hamas on Monday released Edan Alexander, the last known living American hostage, ahead of Trump’s trip. – Reuters

US president presses Syria leader on Israel RIYADH: US President Donald Trump asked Syria’s new leader yesterday to normalise relations with Israel after he offered a major boost to the war-ravaged country by announcing the lifting of sanctions. shook hands as they met jointly with Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and, by video link, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the key supporter of the new government in Damascus. relations with Israel by joining the Abraham Accords signed by some Gulf Arab states.

so,”Trump said, addressing a summit of Gulf Arab leaders. After the announcement, Syrians celebrated the easing of sanctions, with dozens of men, women and children gathering in Damascus’s Umayyad Square. “My joy is great. This decision will definitely affect the entire country positively. Construction will return, the displaced will return, and prices will go down,” said Huda Qassar, a 33-year-old English-language teacher. The Syrian Foreign Ministry called Trump’s decision a “pivotal turning point”. – AFP

Trump also asked Sharaa to deport Palestinian fighters and for the new Syrian authorities to take control of camps for captured Islamic State fighters, currently run by Kurdish guerillas opposed by Turkiye, the White House said. After the longer-than-expected half-hour meeting, Trump said that the Assad-era sanctions had been “really crippling” on Syria. “It’s not going to be easy anyway, so it gives them a good, strong chance, and it was my honour to do

Turkiye and Saudi Arabia had both advocated reconciliation with Syria but the move is the latest to put Trump at odds with Israel, which has voiced pessimism over Sharaa and ramped up strikes to degrade the longtime adversary’s military capabilities. The White House said that Trump asked the Syrian leader to normalise

Trump, on a state visit to Riyadh, became the first US president in 25 years to meet a Syrian leader – Ahmed al-Sharaa, an erstwhile guerilla and onetime jihadist once on a US wanted list who led the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December. The interim Syrian president and Trump, wearing matching suits,