UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer Friday denounced as “insulting” President Donald Trump’s claim that troops from NATO allies avoided the front line in Afghanistan, as anger grows at the US president’s remarks.In an interview with Fox News aired on Thursday, Trump appeared unaware that 457 British soldiers were among NATO troops who died during the conflict in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.”They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan,” Trump told the US outlet, referring to NATO allies.”And they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines,” he added, triggering outrage across the political divide in Britain.Trump also repeated his suggestion that NATO would not come to the aid of the US if asked to do so.In fact, following the 9/11 attacks, the UK and several European countries joined the US in Afghanistan after it invoked NATO’s collective security clause for the first and only time.Soldiers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark and others also died in the conflict.”Let me start by paying tribute to 457 of our armed services who lost their lives in Afghanistan,” Starmer said in a video message.”There are many also who were injured, some with life-changing injuries, and so I consider President Trump’s remarks to be insulting and frankly, appalling, and I’m not surprised they’ve caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured.” He said that if he had misspoken in such a way, he “would certainly apologise”.The White House rejected Starmer’s comments and defended the president.”President Trump is absolutely right — the United States of America has done more for NATO than any other country in the alliance has done combined,” Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement sent to AFP.- ‘Heroes’ -Poland’s Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said he expected respect for Polish veterans “who have proven how much they serve this country and our commitments to allies”.Poland lost 43 soldiers in the conflict in Afghanistan.French armed forces minister Catherine Vautrin said 90 French soldiers died in Afghanistan on operations alongside NATO allies and “many others” were wounded.”We remember their sacrifice, which commands respect.”UK defence minister John Healey posted on X that the British troops who died were “heroes who gave their lives in service of our nation”.UK Armed forces minister Al Carns, who served five tours in Afghanistan, said Trump’s comments were “utterly ridiculous”.The leader of the opposition Conservatives, Kemi Badenoch, said Trump’s comments were “complete nonsense” which could weaken the NATO alliance.Even Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party and a long-time Trump supporter rebuked the American leader.”Donald Trump is wrong,” he said on X. “For 20 years our armed forces fought bravely alongside America’s in Afghanistan.” Lucy Aldridge, whose son William died aged 18 in Afghanistan, told The Mirror newspaper that Trump’s remarks were “extremely upsetting”.Mark Atkinson, Director General of the veterans’ charity, The Royal British Legion, said the service and sacrifice of British troops in Afghanistan “cannot be called into question”.Prince Harry, who undertook two frontline tours to Afghanistan with the Army Air Corps, also weighed in.”I served there. I made lifelong friends there. And I lost friends there,” he said.”Thousands of lives were changed forever. Mothers and fathers buried sons and daughters. Children were left without a parent. Families are left carrying the cost. Those sacrifices deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect.”According to official UK figures, 405 of the 457 British casualties who died in Afghanistan were killed in hostile military action.The US reportedly lost more than 2,400 soldiers.More than 150,000 UK armed forces personnel served in Afghanistan between September 2001 and August 2021, the Ministry of Defence said, making the UK the second-largest contributor to the US-led force there.

Americans stripped supermarket shelves Friday ahead of potentially “catastrophic” winter weather that threatened at least 160 million people across the country with transportation chaos, blackouts and life-threatening cold.The massive storm system was set to drop a mix of freezing rain and heavy snow starting Friday evening on its days-long march across the continental US.The storm could bring “catastrophic ice accumulation,” the National Weather Service said, potentially causing “long-duration power outages, extensive tree damage, and extremely dangerous or impassable travel conditions,” including in many states less accustomed to intense winter weather.After battering the country’s southwest and central areas, the storm system was expected to hit the heavily populated mid-Atlantic and northeastern states — stretching from New Mexico to the Eastern seaboard — before a frigid air mass settles in.More than 2,700 weekend flights have already been cancelled, according to the tracker Flightaware, including many in and outbound from Texas. State officials there vow the grid is in better shape than it was five years ago, when it failed during a deadly winter storm and left millions without power.The southern state’s Republican Governor Greg Abbott told journalists the grid “has never been stronger, never been more prepared and is fully capable of handling this winter storm.”Yet Michael Webber, a University of Texas engineering professor, warned ice accumulations would remain “a big risk” across the country — ice could amass and weigh down trees, for example, downing power lines and provoking outages.- Frostbite risk -In New York state, Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul warned residents to stay inside amid frigid conditions: “Five or six minutes outside could literally be dangerous for your health.”She stressed precautions like protecting pipes, using heaters safely, and checking on vulnerable neighbors.New York’s Zohran Mamdani was set to face his first major test as mayor — the city famously makes early judgments of newly elected leaders based on winter storm response.Democrat Mamdani said remote learning Monday was an option but he was not planning to close schools — even as one student emailed his wife and urged a snow day.School districts elsewhere were preemptively announcing closures. A professional basketball game on Saturday and dozens of collegiate games were rescheduled.Even in Chicago, a city all-too-familiar with bone-chilling weather, an organization canceled their annual event that sees participants plunge into glacial Lake Michigan for charity (the after-party at a bar was still on.)Authorities warned of life-threatening cold that could last a week post-storm, especially in the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest, where wind chill lows were forecast to dip to extremes under -50F (-46.6C).Such temperatures can cause frostbite within minutes. One Minnesota television station showed uncensored photos of the serious injury that freezes skin tissues as a warning.- Polar vortex -The brutal storm system is the result of a stretched polar vortex, an Arctic region of cold, low-pressure air that normally forms a relatively compact, circular system but sometimes morphs into a more oval shape, sending cold air spilling across North America.Scientists say the increasing frequency of such disruptions of the polar vortex may be linked to climate change, though the debate is not settled and natural variability plays a role.But President Donald Trump — who scoffs at climate change science and has rolled back green energy policies — questioned how the cold front fit into broader climate shifts.”WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???,” the Republican leader posted on Truth Social.State officials were more focused on the immediate threats the powerful storm posed. At least 16 states and Washington DC declared states of emergency to mobilize disaster response crews and resources, and many municipalities were opening warming shelters.Lines snaked out of grocery stores where stock began running thin.North of Houston, one supermarket was nearly out of bottled water.Anne Schultz said preparation was key but she wasn’t particularly afraid: “If the power stays on, we should all be fine,” the 68-year-old told AFP.The Greensboro Police Department in North Carolina meanwhile warned residents to choose wisely when hunkering down.”Please remember that whoever you hang out with on Saturday, you’re stuck with until at least Tuesday when the ice melts,” the department quipped on X.