WASHINGTON, Oct 17, 2023 (AFP) – Joe Biden’s Middle East diplomatic drive faltered before it got off the ground Tuesday after his trip to Jordan was canceled following a strike on a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds of people. The 80-year-old US president will now only head to ally Israel to show support after the October 7 Hamas attack, upending what was meant to be regional balancing act. The trip was always set to be […]
Tag: Biden
President Biden to visit Israel on Wednesday: Blinken
TEL AVIV, Oct 17, 2023 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden will pay a solidarity visit to Israel on Wednesday following the Hamas attacks, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced, as he also said Israel and Washington had agreed to develop a plan for aid to Gaza. Blinken spoke after meeting for nearly eight hours at the defence ministry with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the top US diplomat’s second visit since the October […]
Pres. Biden slams Trump for calling Hezbollah ‘smart’
WASHINGTON, Oct 13, 2023 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden condemned Donald Trump on Thursday for describing Hezbollah as “very smart” even as the Lebanese militant group exchanges fire with Israel following the Hamas attack on the US ally. During a campaign speech in Florida, Trump also falsely accused the Biden administration of bankrolling the Hamas assault as a result of a prisoner exchange deal with Iran, which has historically funded Hamas and Hezbollah. Biden […]
President Biden warns US democracy in peril from ‘extremist’ Trump
By Jim Watson with Danny Kemp in Washington TEMPE, United States, Sept 28, 2023 (AFP) – President Joe Biden launched a blistering personal attack on “extremist” Donald Trump Thursday, accusing his likely 2024 challenger of plotting to subvert the US constitution if he wins a return to power next year. The Democrat said in a speech in the battleground state of Arizona that Republican frontrunner Trump was driven by “vengeance and vindictiveness”, and he urged […]
Pres. Biden to visit striking US auto workers Tuesday
WASHINGTON, Sept 22, 2023 (AFP) – President Joe Biden announced Friday he will travel to the US state of Michigan next week to show support for striking auto workers, a visit coming on the eve of a similar trip by his right-wing 2024 election challenger Donald Trump. “Tuesday, I’ll go to Michigan to join the picket line and stand in solidarity with the men and women of (United Auto Workers) as they fight for a […]
Zelensky wins Biden support but faces US skeptics
WASHINGTON, Sept 22, 2023 (AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington Thursday to appeal for help fighting Russia, winning warm words of support and weapons from Joe Biden but confronting skeptical Republicans who want to cut off aid. “We’re with you and we’re staying with you,” Biden told the Ukrainian leader after their top teams met at White House to thrash out Zelensky’s demands for more arms to push back the Russian invasion. Wearing […]
Biden’s son Hunter indicted on gun charges
WASHINGTON, Sept 14, 2023 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter was indicted Thursday for illegally buying a gun when he was using drugs, casting a new shadow over his father’s campaign for reelection next year. Hunter Biden, 53, was charged with two counts of making false statements when claiming on forms required for the 2018 gun purchase that he was not using drugs illegally at the time. A third charge said that, based […]
Top House Republican backs Biden impeachment inquiry
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, bowing to pressure from his party’s hard right, gave the go-ahead on Tuesday for an impeachment investigation into US President Joe Biden. “I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,” McCarthy said, alleging that the Democratic president had lied to the American people about his son Hunter’s foreign business dealings. “House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations about President Biden’s conduct,” […]
Pres. Biden hails closer ties with Vietnam, but says not aiming to contain China
HANOI, Sept 11, 2023 (AFP) US President Joe Biden hailed closer ties with Vietnam on Sunday as the two countries struck a deal to deepen cooperation, including on semiconductors, but said he was not aiming to contain China. The “comprehensive strategic partnership” with Hanoi is part of Washington’s push to bolster its network of allies around Asia and the Pacific in the face of Beijing’s rising influence. Biden accused Beijing of seeking to bend the […]
US and Vietnam set to expand ties as China worries grow
HANOI, Sept 10, 2023 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden arrives in Vietnam on Sunday to deepen cooperation between the two nations, in the face of China’s ambitions in the region. Biden — who is flying from the G20 summit in New Delhi — will meet the leader of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, on Sunday to sign off on a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, Hanoi’s highest level of diplomatic ties. The underlying goal […]
Embracing extraordinary times! ASEAN in Focus – August 22, 2023
https://youtube.com/live/cL-2PWHZUWM
Biden widens web of US alliances faced with China, Russia, Trump
By Shaun TANDON WASHINGTON, Aug 22, 2023 (AFP) – With a historic three-way summit with Japan and South Korea, President Joe Biden has further deepened the web of US partnerships in a determined signal to adversaries despite question marks on the political climate at home. Since Biden took office in 2021, NATO has expanded and mostly closed ranks over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and, in clear if unstated responses to an assertive China, the […]





