WASHINGTON — President Joseph R. Biden’s administration has allowed Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike deep into Russia, two US officials and a source familiar with the decision said on Sunday, in a significant reversal of Washington’s policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days, the sources said, without revealing details due to operational security concerns.

The move comes two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20 and follows months of pleas by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to allow Ukraine’s military to use US weapons to hit Russian military targets far from its border.

The change comes largely in response to Russia’s deployment of North Korean ground troops to supplement its own forces, a development that has caused alarm in Washington and Kyiv, a US official and a source familiar with the decision said.

Mr. Zelensky said in his evening address that the missiles would “speak for themselves.”

“Today, many in the media are saying that we have received permission to take appropriate actions,” he said. “But strikes are not made with words. Such things are not announced.”

The White House and US State Department declined to comment.

There was no immediate response from the Kremlin, which has warned that it would see a move to loosen the limits on Ukraine’s use of US weapons as a major escalation.

Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the Russian upper house’s international affairs committee, said Washington’s decision to let Kyiv strike deep into Russia could lead to “World War III.”

“The West has decided on such a level of escalation that it could end with the Ukrainian statehood in complete ruins by morning,” Andrei Klishas, a senior member of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper chamber of parliament, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukraine’s first deep strikes are likely to be carried out using ATACMS rockets, which have a range of up to 190 miles (306 km), according to the sources.

While some US officials have expressed skepticism that allowing long-range strikes will change the war’s overall trajectory, the decision could help Ukraine at a moment when Russian forces are making gains and possibly put Kyiv in a better negotiating position when and if ceasefire talks happen.

It is not clear if Mr. Trump will reverse Mr. Biden’s decision when he takes office. Mr. Trump has long criticized the scale of US financial and military aid to Ukraine and has vowed to end the war quickly, without explaining how.

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But one of Mr. Trump’s closest foreign policy advisers, Richard Grenell, criticized the decision.

“Escalating the wars before he leaves office,” Mr. Grenell said, in an X post responding to the news.

Some congressional Republicans had urged Biden to loosen the rules on how Ukraine can use US-provided weapons.

Since Mr. Trump’s Nov. 5 victory, senior Biden administration officials have repeatedly said they would use the remaining time to ensure Ukraine can fight effectively next year or negotiate peace with Russia from a “position of strength.”

‘WAY TOO LATE’
The US believes more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia and that most of them have moved to the Kursk region and have begun to engage in combat operations.

Russia is advancing at its fastest rate since 2022 despite taking heavy losses, and Ukraine said it had clashed with some of those North Korean troops deployed to Kursk.

Stretched by personnel shortages, Ukrainian forces have lost some of the ground they captured in an August incursion into Kursk that Zelensky said could serve as a bargaining chip.

“Removing targeting restrictions will allow the Ukrainians to stop fighting with one hand tied behind their back,” Alex Plitsas, senior nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, said.

“However, like everything else, I believe history will say the decision came way too late. Just like the ATACMS, HIMARS, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Abrams tanks and F-16. They were all needed much sooner,” he added.

Despite Mr. Zelensky’s pleas, the White House had been reluctant to allow US-supplied weapons to be used to strike targets deep inside Russia for fear this could ratchet up the conflict.

Republican US Representative Mike Turner, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that Mr. Biden’s decision was long overdue and that there were still too many restrictions on Ukraine.

But he added: “This first step will put pressure on Vladimir Putin as President-elect Mr. Trump returns to the White House and works to end this war.”

Kyiv’s other allies have been supplying weapons but with restrictions on how and when they can be used inside Russia, out of concern such strikes could prompt retaliation that draws NATO countries into the war or provokes a nuclear conflict. — Reuters

BANGKOK — Thailand’s economy beat forecasts with its fastest growth in two years in the July-September quarter due to stronger investment, tourism and exports, but officials and analysts saw increased challenges to maintaining the momentum next year.

Gross domestic product grew 3% in the third quarter from a year earlier, National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) data showed on Monday, accelerating from revised annual growth of 2.2% in the second quarter, and beating the median forecast of 2.6% growth in a Reuters poll.

The growth in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy was driven by a rise in the service sector while the industrial sector decelerated and agricultural production dropped, the state planning agency NESDC said in a statement.

The economy will continue to grow in the final quarter of 2024 but there are risks ahead, including from US economic policies, NESDC head Danucha Pichayanan told a press conference.

“Next year, there will likely be more risks. Budget spending to boost the economy will have to be more targeted,” he said.

On a quarterly basis, GDP expanded a seasonally adjusted 1.2% in the third quarter, the fastest pace in 18 months, and above both a poll forecast and previous quarter growth of 0.8%.

“The momentum in the fourth quarter should be stronger and annual GDP will probably reach 4%,” said Chamadanai Marknual, economist at Krungthai Bank.

“But the picture for next year is unclear due to uncertainty over the trade war and government measures,” he said.

The main stock index was up 0.8% at 0442 GMT, while the baht had strengthened 0.2% against the dollar.

The agency forecast GDP growth of 2.6% this year, inside the previous forecast range of 2.3% to 2.8%, and projected growth of 2.3% to 3.3% in 2025.

Last year’s growth of 1.9% lagged regional peers. The economy has struggled under high household debt and borrowing costs as well as sluggish demand from major trading partner China.

After sustained government pressure, the central bank unexpectedly cut its policy interest rate by a quarter point to 2.25% on Oct. 16.

Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira has said the government will meet to consider more stimulus measures on Tuesday, including the second phase of its “digital wallet” handout scheme.

The flagship programme, which will give 10,000 baht ($287) each to about 45 million people to spend in local communities, launched in September and about one third of the payments have already been made.

Tourism and exports, key drivers of Thai growth, are expected to continue to support the economy next year.

The NESDC increased its export growth forecast to 3.8% this year from 2% seen earlier, and said exports were expected to rise 2.6% in 2025.

The agency projected 36 million foreign tourists this year, trimming a previous forecast of 36.5 million, and saw that increasing to 38 million visitors in 2025.

Thailand posted a record of nearly 40 million foreign tourists in 2019, before the pandemic. — Reuters

NEW DELHI — A thick blanket of toxic smog engulfed most parts of northern India on Monday and readings of air quality in the capital New Delhi hit their highest this year after dense fog overnight.

The smog, a toxic blend of smoke and fog, happens each year in winter as cold air traps dust, emissions, and smoke from illegal farm fires in some surrounding states.

Visibility dropped to 100 m (109 yards) in Delhi and Chandigarh, a city northwest of the capital, but authorities said flights and trains continued to operate with some delays.

India’s pollution control authority said the national capital territory’s 24-hour air quality index (AQI) reading was at 484, classified as “severe plus,” the highest this year.

According to Swiss group IQAir’s live rankings, New Delhi was the most polluted city in the world with the air quality at a “hazardous” 1,081 and the concentration of PM2.5 — particulate matter measuring 2.5 microns or less in diameter that can be carried into lungs, causing deadly diseases and cardiac issues — was 130.9 times the World Health Organization’s recommended levels.

Experts say the scores vary because of a difference in the scale countries adopt to convert pollutant concentrations into AQI, and so the same quantity of a specific pollutant may be translated as different AQI scores in different countries.

Delhi authorities directed all schools to move classes online and tightened restrictions on construction activities and vehicle movements, citing unfavorable meteorological conditions and low wind speed.

Farm fires — where stubble left after harvesting rice is burnt to clear fields — have contributed as much as 40% of the pollution in Delhi, SAFAR, a weather forecasting agency under the ministry of earth sciences has said.

Satellites detected 1,334 such events in six states on Sunday, the most in the last four days, according to India’s Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modeling from Space.

Despite the polluted air, many residents continued their daily routines. Many buildings were barely visible, including Delhi’s iconic India Gate.

“Morning walk usually feels good, but now the air is polluted, and we’re forced to wear a mask… There is a burning sensation in the eyes and slight difficulty in breathing,” Akshay Pathak, a resident of the city told the ANI news agency, in which Reuters has a minority stake.

India’s weather department has forecast “dense to very dense fog” for the northern states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan for Monday. — Reuters