Washington:

US President Joe Biden returns to the campaign trail Friday, pushing ahead with his reelection bid after a mixed performance at a major news conference failed to silence calls for him to quit.

The 81-year-old will give a speech bashing rival Donald Trump in Detroit in the rust-belt state of Michigan, a crucial battleground state that the Democrat must win in November’s election.

A defiant Biden insisted in a pivotal appearance at a NATO summit on Thursday that he would run again, and win — despite concerns about his age and health following a disastrous debate performance two weeks ago.

But a series of gaffes, including referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump,” kept Biden’s fitness for a second term under the microscope.

The top Democrat in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, said he had met with Biden late Thursday, as the number of members calling on the president to step aside rose to 20.

Jeffries said he and Biden “expressed the full breadth of insight, heartfelt perspectives, and conclusions about the path forward” but did not give further details.

The president has faced a steady drumbeat of Democrats calling for him to abandon his 2024 candidacy since the June 27 debate, during which Biden often lost his train of thought and appeared tired.

But Biden has obstinately dug in and insists that he can convince voters to back him despite most polls showing him trailing the criminally convicted, twice-impeached Trump.

“Most Qualified”

The campaign event in Detroit is his fourth trip this year to the state, part of the industrial “blue wall” along with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania that were key to his 2020 win against his rival.

Biden’s speech is expected to focus on “Project 2025”, a blueprint by hardline conservatives for the first days of a Trump term that Democrats have pinned on the former president, despite the 78-year-old’s denials.

The press conference on Thursday appeared to buy Biden some time even if it was far from a knockout blow, with three more lawmakers urging him to quit just minutes after it finished.

Biden said he was the “most qualified person to run for president,” rejecting calls for him to step aside before the November 5 vote.

He acknowledged he had to “allay fears” in the Democratic party and should “pace myself a little more” after blaming jet lag and cold for his stumbling debate performance.

Biden also fielded a series of foreign and domestic policy questions with detailed if meandering answers and relatively few slip-ups, though he did mix up Europe and Asia.

But there were damaging moments on Thursday, with the Trump-Harris mixup and an earlier gaffe at the NATO summit in which he introduced Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russian strongman Vladimir Putin.

The concerns over Biden are also affecting Democratic donors, with Hollywood star and high-profile supporter George Clooney calling on Biden to step aside on Wednesday.

A number of other key donors have told the largest Biden campaign fund that around $90 million in pledged donations is on hold if he carries on running, the New York Times reported on Friday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a historic donation of air-defence equipment for Ukraine and said Russia is failing in this war.

Welcoming leaders of NATO member countries for the historic summit on the occasion of its 75th anniversary, Biden said the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Italy will provide Ukraine with the equipment for five additional strategic air-defence systems.

In the coming months, the US and its partners intend to provide Ukraine with dozens of additional tactical air-defence systems, he said, adding that the US will make sure that when “we export critical air-defence interceptors, Ukraine goes to the front of the line”.

“They will get this assistance before anyone else gets it. All told, Ukraine will receive hundreds of additional interceptors over the next year, helping protect Ukrainian cities against Russian missile and Ukrainian troops facing air attacks on their front lines,” Biden said.

“Make no mistake, Russia is failing in this war.  More than two years into (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s war of choice, his losses are staggering. More than 350,000 Russian troops dead or wounded, nearly one million (10 lakh) Russians, many of them young people, have left Russia because they no longer see a future in Russia,” he said.

“Kiev, remember fellas and ladies, was supposed to fall in five days? Remember? Well, it is still standing two and a half years later and will continue to stand. All of the allies knew that before this war, Putin thought NATO would break. Today, NATO is stronger than it has ever been in its history. When this senseless war began, Ukraine was a free country. Today, it is still a free country,” the US president said.

Reiterating that Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine continues, he said the Russian president wants nothing less than Ukraine’s total subjugation to end that country’s democracy, to destroy its culture and to wipe it off the map.

“We know Putin will not stop at Ukraine, but make no mistake, Ukraine can and will stop Putin,” Biden said.

He said the war will end with Ukraine remaining a free and independent country. “Russia will not prevail. Ukraine will prevail. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a pivotal moment for Europe, for the transatlantic community and I might add, for the world. Let us remember, the fact that NATO remains the bulwark of global security did not happen by accident,” he said.

“NATO is stronger, smarter and more energised than when you began. And a billion people across Europe or North America, indeed the whole world, will reap the rewards of your labour for years to come in the form of security, opportunity and greater freedom,” the president said.

In his remarks, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said there are no cost-free options with an aggressive Russia as a neighbour.

“There are no risk-free options in a war. And remember — the biggest cost and the greatest risk will be if Russia wins in Ukraine. We cannot let that happen. Not only would it embolden President Putin, it would also embolden other authoritarian leaders in Iran, North Korea and China,” he said.

He acknowledged that NATO’s enduring success has never been a given, but is rather “the result of deliberate choices and difficult decisions” — from the alliance’s creation to arms control negotiations, and from NATO’s enlargement at the end of the Cold War to its support to Ukraine today.

“The time to stand for freedom and democracy is now, the place is Ukraine,” he said.

Stoltenberg concluded by saying that the alliance will continue to face difficult questions in the future, but that “we are stronger and safer together in NATO”.

Biden presented Stoltenberg with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honour, in recognition of his decade of service at the helm of the alliance.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

U.S. President Joe Biden has dismissed concerns about his health and doubts about his re-election bid in November, brushing off a poor performance in the presidential debate as a “bad episode” and insisting that only “the Lord almighty” could persuade him to exit the race.

Mr. Biden, 81, said this on July 5 in a television interview, a week after his disastrous debate performance in Atlanta against his Republican rival Donald Trump, following which some of his own Democratic Party leaders started urging him to step down and his approval rating plummeted.

In the 22-minute high-stakes interview on ABC News aimed at quelling a burgeoning rebellion in the Democratic party, Mr. Biden, who is seeking a second term, said he had “a bad night” and he was “exhausted” and “sick” during his first presidential debate with Mr. Trump.

He asserted that only the “Lord Almighty” could make him drop out of the race to win the November 5 election.

He claimed that he is “running the world” and no one is “more qualified” to be President.

Asked whether he would be willing to have an independent cognitive evaluation and release the results to the American people, Mr. Biden said: “Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I’ve had tests. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, I’m running the world.”

The President said in the interview that he was “sick” before the debate. Asked whether it was a bad episode or a sign of a more serious condition, Mr. Biden dismissed those concerns.

“It was a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and — and a bad night,” Mr. Biden said during his first interview after the debate, adding that his top party leadership are asking him to stay in the race.

“Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible. Matter of fact the docs (doctors are) with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because they were trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, a virus. I didn’t. I just had a really bad cold,” he said and reiterated multiple times that he was running for the presidency.

Blaming himself for the bad debate night in Atlanta, Mr. Biden said, “Yeah, look. The whole way I prepared, nobody’s fault but mine. I prepared what I usually would do sitting down as I did come back with foreign leaders or the National Security Council for explicit detail,” adding that Mr. Trump “lied 28 times” during the debate.

Mr. Biden said none of the major Democratic party leaders have asked him to drop out and asserted that he would withdraw only if the “Lord Almighty” asked him to.

“If the Lord Almighty came down and said ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race. The Lord Almighty’s not coming down,” he added.

The President tried to avoid questions on both his mental fitness and cognitive tests.

“Do you dispute that there have been more lapses, especially in the last seven months?” Mr. Biden was asked.

“Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No. But I’m still in good shape,” he responded.

“Are you more frail?” he was asked. “No. Come keep my schedule,” he said.

Mr. Biden alleged that Mr. Trump is a pathological liar.

Asked by the interviewer whether he was being honest with himself about his ability to beat Mr. Trump, Mr. Biden said, “Yes. Yes, yes, yes.” He pointed to previous polls that showed he couldn’t win in 2020 as proof and subsequent down-ballot elections, denying extensive polling that reflects a race where he is trailing.

In a reaction to Biden’s interview, Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna, according to The New York Times, said he expected “complete transparency” from the White House and a willingness to answer “many legitimate questions” from the news media and voters about the president’s abilities.

“He has to earn that trust, and that requires more than one interview,” Khanna was quoted as saying by the daily.

ABC News said it offered a similar one-on-one interview to Trump, 78, but the former president declined.

Earlier during a rally in the battleground state of Wisconsin, Biden asserted that he is in the race and will win the election again.

“We had a little debate last week. Can’t say it was my best performance. But ever since then, there’s been a lot of speculation. What’s Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out? What’s he going to do? Well, here’s my answer. I am running and going to win again,” Mr. Biden told his cheering supporters.

“…Some folks don’t seem to care who you voted for, well, guess what? They’re trying to push me out of the race. Well, let me say this as clearly as I can. I’m staying in the race. I’ll beat Donald Trump. I beat him in 2020. And by the way, we’re going to do it again in 2024.” Biden also took this opportunity to address the issue of his advancing age.

“You probably also noticed a lot of discussion about my age. I keep seeing all those stories about I’m being too old. Let me say something. I wasn’t too old to create over 15 million new jobs to make sure 21 million Americans are insured under the Affordable Care Act; to beat Big Pharma, the first firm to ever do that, and lower the cost of it to $35 a season,” he said.

The largest crane on the Eastern Seaboard was being transported to Baltimore so crews on March 29 can begin removing the wreckage of a collapsed highway bridge that has halted a search for four workers still missing days after the disaster and blocked the city’s vital port from operating.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the crane, which was arriving by barge and can lift up to 1,000 tons, will be one of at least two used to clear the channel of the twisted metal and concrete remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and the cargo ship that hit it this week.

“The best minds in the world” are working on the plans for removal, Moore said. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Baltimore District told the governor that it and the Navy were mobilizing major resources from around the country at record speed to clear the channel.

“This is not just about Maryland,” Mr. Moore said. “This is about the nation’s economy. The port handles more cars and more farm equipment than any other port in America.”

Mr. Moore warned of a “very long road ahead” to recover from the loss of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge as the Biden administration approved $60 million in immediate federal aid after the deadly collapse.

“Meanwhile the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was moving the largest crane on the Eastern Seaboard to help remove the wreckage of the bridge,” Mr. Moore said, so work to clear the channel and reopen the key shipping route can begin. The machine, which can lift up to 1,000 tonnes, was expected to arrive on Thursday evening, and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen said a second crane with a 400-tonne capacity could arrive on Saturday.

“The State is “deeply grateful” for the federal funds and support,” Mr. Moore said at an evening news conference.

Mr. Moore promised on Thursday that “the best minds in the world” were working on plans to clear the debris, move the cargo ship that rammed into the bridge from the channel, recover the bodies of the four remaining workers presumed dead and investigate what went wrong.

“Government is working hand in hand with industry to investigate the area, including the wreck, and remove the ship,” said Mr. Moore, a Democrat, who said the quick aid is needed to “lay the foundation for a rapid recovery.” President Joe Biden has pledged the federal government would pay the full cost of rebuilding the bridge.

“This work is not going to take hours. This work is not going to take days. This work is not going to take weeks,” Mr. Moore said. “We have a very long road ahead of us.”

Van Hollen said 32 members of the Army Corps of Engineers are surveying the scene of the collapse and 38 Navy contractors are working on the salvage operation.

The devastation left behind after the powerless cargo ship struck a support pillar on Tuesday is extensive. Divers recovered the bodies of two men from a pickup truck in the Patapsco River near the bridge’s middle span on Wednesday, but officials said they have to start clearing the wreckage before anyone could reach the bodies of four other missing workers.

Crew of cargo ship that lost power and collided with bridge in Baltimore, U.S. are all Indian

State police have said that based on sonar scans, the vehicles appear to be encased in a “superstructure” of concrete and other debris.

National Transportation Safety Board officials boarded the ship, the Dali, to recover information from its electronics and paperwork and to interview the captain and crew members. Investigators shared a preliminary timeline of events before the crash, which federal and state officials have said appeared to be an accident.

“The best minds in the world are coming together to collect the information that we need to move forward with speed and safety in our response to this collapse,” Mr. Moore said on March 28.

Of the 21 crew members on the ship, 20 are from India, Randhir Jaiswal, the nation’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told reporters. One was slightly injured and needed stitches, but “all are in good shape and good health,” Mr. Jaiswal said.

“The victims, who were part of a construction crew fixing potholes on the bridge, were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador,” he said. “At least eight people initially went into the water when the ship struck the bridge column, and two of them were rescued Tuesday,” officials said.

The crash caused the bridge to break and fall into the water within seconds. Authorities had just enough time to stop vehicle traffic, but didn’t get a chance to alert the construction crew.

During the Baltimore Orioles’ opening day game on Thursday, Sgt. Paul Pastorek, Cpl. Jeremy Herbert and Officer Garry Kirts of the Maryland Transportation Authority were honoured for their actions in halting bridge traffic and preventing further loss of life.

The three said in a statement that they were “proud to carry out our duties as officers of this state to save the lives that we could.”

The Dali, which is managed by Synergy Marine Group, was headed from Baltimore to Sri Lanka. It is owned by Grace Ocean Private Limited and was chartered by Danish shipping giant Maersk. Synergy extended sympathies to the victims’ families in a statement on Thursday.

“We deeply regret this incident and the problems it has caused for the people of Baltimore and the region’s economy that relies on this vitally important port,” Synergy said, noting that it would continue to cooperate with investigators.

Scott Cowan, president of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 333, said the union is scrambling to help its roughly 2,400 members whose jobs are at risk of drying up until shipping can resume in the Port of Baltimore. “If there’s no ships, there’s no work,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can.”

“The huge vessel, nearly as long as the Eiffel Tower is tall, was carrying nearly 4,700 shipping containers, 56 of them with hazardous materials inside. Fourteen of those were destroyed,” officials said. However, industrial hygienists who evaluated the contents identified them as perfumes and soaps, according to the Key Bridge Joint Information Center.

“There was no immediate threat to the environment,” the centre said. About 21 gallons (80 litres) of oil from a bow thruster on the ship is believed to have caused a sheen in the waterway, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath said on Thursday.

Booms were placed to prevent any spreading, and state environmental officials were sampling the water. At the moment there are also cargo containers hanging dangerously off the side of the ship, Gilreath said, adding, “We’re trying to keep our first responders … as safe as possible.”

Divers sent to work beneath the bridge debris and container ship will encounter challenging conditions, including limited visibility and moving currents, according to officials and expert observers.

“Debris can be dangerous, especially when you can’t see what’s right in front of you,” said Donald Gibbons, an instructor with the Eastern Atlantic States Carpenters Technical Centers.

The sudden loss of a highway that carries 30,000 vehicles a day and the port disruption will affect not only thousands of dockworkers and commuters but also U.S. consumers, who are likely to feel the impact of shipping delays.

The governors of New York and New Jersey offered to take on cargo shipments that have been disrupted, to try to minimise supply chain problems.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who met on Thursday with supply chain officials, has said the Biden administration was focussed on reopening the port and rebuilding the bridge, but he did not put a timeline on those efforts. From 1960 to 2015, there were 35 major bridge collapses worldwide due to ship or barge collisions, according to the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held wide-ranging talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on October 27.
| Photo Credit: AP

President Joe Biden has emphasised that the United States and China need to manage competition in the relationship responsibly and maintain open lines of communication as he met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi ahead of a potential meeting with President Xi Jinping next month to reset bilateral ties.

President Biden met Wang at the White House on October 27 after the top Chinese diplomat held wide-ranging talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Wang’s visit is expected to lay the groundwork for a potential meeting between Mr. Biden and Chinese President Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in San Francisco in mid-November.

“The President emphasised that both the United States and China need to manage competition in the relationship responsibly and maintain open lines of communication. He underscored that the United States and China must work together to address global challenges,” the White House said in a readout of the meeting between Mr. Biden and Wang.

Mr. Sullivan and Wang had candid, constructive, and substantive discussions on key issues in the U.S.-China bilateral relationship, the Israel-Hamas conflict, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and cross-Strait issues, among other topics, said the National Security Council in a readout of the meeting.

During the meeting, Mr. Sullivan discussed concerns over China’s dangerous and unlawful actions in the South China Sea. He raised the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Also read: View From India | Dispute in the South China Sea

China views Taiwan as a rebel province that must be reunified with the mainland, even by force. China has been conducting provocative military exercises around the self-ruled island.

“The two sides reaffirmed their desire to maintain this strategic channel of communication and to pursue additional high-level diplomacy, including working together towards a meeting between President Biden and President Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November,” said the readout.

State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said Mr. Blinken and Wang discussed a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues, including addressing areas of difference as well as exploring areas of cooperation.

“The Secretary reiterated that the United States will continue to stand up for our interests and values and those of our allies and partners,” he said.

The relationship between the world’s two largest economies began to deteriorate during the Trump administration. In 2018, former President Donald Trump signed an executive memorandum that would impose retaliatory tariffs on up to $60 billion in Chinese imports.

The U.S. and China have one of the world’s most important and complex bilateral relationships. Since 1949, the countries have experienced periods of both tension and cooperation over issues including trade, climate change, the South China Sea, Taiwan and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Biden administration has sought to re-establish normal diplomatic ties with China after an incredibly fraught period, most notably over the Chinese surveillance balloon incident in February.

Trucks carrying aid wait to exit, on the Palestinian side of the border with Egypt, as the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 21, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened on October 21 to let desperately needed aid flow to Palestinians for the first time since Israel sealed off the territory following Hamas’ bloody rampage two weeks ago.

Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians, half of whom have fled their homes, are rationing food and drinking filthy water. Hospitals say they are running low on medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators amid a territory-wide power blackout. Israel has launched waves of airstrikes across Gaza that have failed to stem ongoing Palestinian rocket fire into Israel.

The opening came after more than a week of high-level diplomacy by various mediators, including visits to the region by U.S. President Joe Biden and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Israel had insisted that nothing would enter Gaza until some 200 people captured by Hamas were freed and the Palestinian side of the crossing had been shut down by Israeli airstrikes.

More than 200 trucks carrying roughly 3,000 tonnes of aid had been positioned near the crossing for days. But Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera news, which is close to security agencies, said just 20 trucks had crossed into Gaza on October 21. Hundreds of foreign passport holders also waited to cross from Gaza to Egypt to escape the conflict.

The Hamas-run government in Gaza said the limited convoy “will not be able to change the humanitarian catastrophe that Gaza is currently enduring,” calling for a secure corridor operating around the clock.

The opening came hours after Hamas released an American woman and her teenage daughter, the first captives to be freed after the militant group’s October 7 incursion into Israel. It was not immediately clear if there was any connection between the two.

Hamas released Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, on Friday for what it said were humanitarian reasons in an agreement with Qatar, a Persian Gulf nation that has often served as a Mideast mediator.

“The two had been on a trip from their home in suburban Chicago to Israel to celebrate Jewish holidays,” the family said. They were in the kibbutz of Nahal Oz, near Gaza, when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israeli towns, killing hundreds and abducting 203 others.

Mr. Biden spoke with the two freed hostages and their relatives. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which transported the freed Americans to Israel, said their release was “a sliver of hope.”

Hamas said in a statement that it was working with mediators “to close the case” of hostages if security circumstances permit. The group said it is committed to mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar and others.

There are growing expectations of a ground offensive that Israel says would be aimed at rooting out Hamas, an Islamic militant group that has ruled Gaza for 16 years. Israel said on Friday it does not plan to take long-term control over the small but densely-populated Palestinian territory.

Israel has also traded fire along its northern border with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, raising concerns about a second front opening up. The Israeli military said on Saturday it struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in response to recent rocket launches and attacks with anti-tank missiles.

Israel issued a travel warning on Saturday, ordering its citizens to leave Egypt and Jordan — which made peace with it decades ago — and to avoid travel to a number of Arab and Muslim countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain, which forged diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020. Protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza have erupted across the region.

A potential Israeli ground assault is likely to lead to a dramatic escalation in casualties on both sides in urban fighting. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed in the war — mostly civilians slain during the Hamas incursion. Palestinian militants have continued to launch unrelenting rocket attacks into Israel — more than 6,900 projectiles since October 7, according to Israel.

More than 4,100 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry run by Hamas. That includes a disputed number of people who died in a hospital explosion earlier this week.

Speaking on Friday about Israel’s long-term plans for Gaza, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant laid out a three-stage plan that seemed to suggest Israel did not intend to reoccupy the territory it left in 2005.

First, Israeli airstrikes and “maneuvering” — a presumed reference to a ground attack — would aim to root out Hamas. Next will come a lower intensity fight to defeat remaining pockets of resistance. And, finally, a new “security regime” will be created in Gaza along with “the removal of Israel’s responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip,” Mr. Gallant said.

Mr. Gallant did not say who Israel expected to run Gaza if Hamas is toppled or what the new security regime would entail.

Israel occupied Gaza from 1967 until 2005, when it pulled up settlements and withdrew soldiers. Two years later, Hamas took over. Some Israelis blame the withdrawal from Gaza for the five wars and countless smaller exchanges of fire since then.

Over a million people have been displaced in Gaza. Many heeded Israel’s orders to evacuate from north to south within the sealed-off enclave on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. But Israel has continued to bomb areas in southern Gaza where Palestinians had been told to seek safety, and some appear to be going back to the north because of bombings and difficult living conditions in the south.

“Generators in Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, were operating at the lowest setting to conserve fuel while providing power to vital departments such as intensive care, hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia said. Others worked in darkness. The lack of medical supplies and water make it difficult to treat the mass of victims from the Israeli strikes,” he said.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it had received a threat from the Israeli military to bomb Al-Quds Hospital. It said Israel has demanded the immediate evacuation of the Gaza City hospital, which has more than 400 patients and thousands of displaced civilians who sought refuge on its grounds.

It was not clear if there was an agreement for generator fuel to be brought in through Rafah.

Chinese President Xi Jinping. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Chinese leader Xi Jinping told Vietnam’s second-highest ranking official on October 20 that both countries must not forget the “original intention” of their traditional friendship.

China and the United States have been jostling for influence among Southeast Asian nations including Vietnam, which in September elevated its ties with Washington to a comprehensive strategic partnership, putting its one-time enemy on a par with Beijing and Moscow.

China has traditionally strong ties with Vietnam since diplomatic relations were established in 1950, despite a brief war in 1979. Beijing has backed Hanoi’s fight against former colonial ruler France, and later, against Saigon and the United States during the Vietnam War.

“Faced with the ever-changing international situation and arduous domestic development tasks, the two countries must not forget the original intention of their traditional friendship,” Xi told visiting Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong.

Mr. Thuong, Vietnam’s No.2 after its Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, held talks with Xi after attending Beijing’s Belt and Road Forum.

In early October, Reuters reported that Vietnamese and Chinese officials were preparing for a possible trip by Xi to Hanoi either at the end of October or in early November, citing people familiar with the plans.

“The two sides should adhere to the principle of joint consultation,” Xi told Mr. Thuong, adding that China and Vietnam should capitalise on their geographical proximity and industrial complementarity. There was no mention of any Xi visit in the Chinese state media readout of their meeting.

On Wednesday, Vietnamese state media reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin had accepted an invitation from Mr. Thuong to “soon” visit Vietnam, when the two men met on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum. In September, U.S. President Joe Biden visited Hanoi.

Washington:

US President Joe Biden’s dog Commander has been removed from the White House, a spokeswoman said Wednesday, after it bit a number of staff members. The Bidens have sent the two-year-old German Shepherd to an unknown location while they look at “next steps” for the presidential pooch.

The announcement came after CNN and Axios reported that Commander, who arrived at the White House as a cute pup in 2021, had been involved in more biting incidents than previously known.

The Secret Service had acknowledged that 11 of its agents had been nipped, but CNN said the actual number was higher and that the dog had bitten other White House workers too.

“The President and First Lady care deeply about the safety of those who work at the White House and those who protect them every day,” Elizabeth Alexander, communications director for Biden’s wife Jill, said in a statement.

“They remain grateful for the patience and support of the US Secret Service and all involved, as they continue to work through solutions.

“Commander is not presently on the White House campus while next steps are evaluated.”

There were no further details of Commander’s location, or whether the move was permanent.

The last time Commander was seen at the White House was on September 30, when photographers spotted him on the Truman balcony of the president’s private quarters.

The Bidens have previously blamed the “stressful” environment at the White House for the rambunctious behavior of their pets.

Commander is the second of the Biden’s dogs to be sent away from the White House for biting, after another German Shepherd, Major, was dispatched to live with family friends in Delaware.

The Bidens’ beloved dog Champ died in 2021 at the age of 13.

The First Family introduced Commander amid great fanfare in December 2021, with Biden tweeting “Welcome to the White House” along with a photo of the puppy running with a tennis ball in his mouth.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Amritsar:

Ahead of the G20 Summit being hosted by India this year in New Delhi, an Amritsar-based artist painted a portrait of US President Joe Biden to welcome him to the auspicious event.

The artist, Dr Jagjot Singh, made a 7-foot by 5-foot hand-made painting of US President Joe Biden in Amritsar to welcome him to India for the G20 Summit.

While talking with ANI, Singh said, “He (Joe Biden) is coming to India for the first time after becoming US President. When PM Modi went to the US, he got a rousing welcome.

#WATCH | Punjab: A 7ft by 5ft hand-made painting of US President Joe Biden made by Dr Jagjot Singh in Amritsar, to welcome him in India for the G20 Summit. pic.twitter.com/D76sL3n1Rz

— ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2023

That time, I made up my mind that whenever the US President comes to India, I will make the US President painting”. He added that it took ten days to paint the portrait of the US president, which is painted with acrylic colors.

In his painting career, Jagroop Singh also painted portraits of President Droupadi Murmu and former Indian presidents Pranab Mukherjee and Pratibha Patel, for which he also received appreciation letters.

Notably, US President Joe Biden is slated to be in India this week to attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi.He will have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 8 on the sidelines of the summit, the White House recently announced.

To a question from a reporter about whether he was looking forward to his visits to India and Vietnam, Biden replied, “Yes, I am.”During the summit in the national capital on September 9 and 10, Biden will commend PM Modi for his leadership of the G20, the White House said earlier this week.”

The President will travel to New Delhi, India, to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit. On Friday, the President will participate in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” the White House said in its week-ahead schedule of the President released on September 7.

On August 29, White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre said that US President Joe Biden will “reaffirm US commitment to the G20” as the premier forum of economic cooperation globally and will also speak about a range of issues, including the social effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Karine Jean-Pierre made the remarks during a media briefing.

Announcing the US President’s schedule, Pierre said Biden “will travel to Hanoi, Vietnam, on September 10 following his participation in the G20 Summit in New Delhi”.