Biden cancels trip to Italy, meant as final foreign visit of presidency, as fires rage in California
Washington (AP): President Joe Biden on Wednesday cancelled the final overseas trip of his presidency just hours before he was set to depart for Rome and the Vatican, choosing to remain in Washington to monitor the response to devastating fires raging in California.
Biden was scheduled to leave Thursday afternoon, after eulogizing former President Jimmy Carter at a memorial service in Washington, for the three-day trip to meet with Pope Francis and Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The trip was meant as a coda to the second Catholic US president's time in the White House and a final opportunity to showcase the strength of American alliances before he leaves office on Jan. 20.
The announcement of the trip's cancellation comes just hours after Biden departed Los Angeles after meeting his first great-grandchild, who was born Wednesday at an area hospital. He received a briefing from local fire officials before returning to Washington, as smoke and ash from blazes raging in the area clouded the daytime sky.
“After returning this evening from Los Angeles, where earlier today he had met with police, fire and emergency personnel fighting the historic fires raging in the area and approved a Major Disaster declaration for California, President Biden made the decision to cancel his upcoming trip to Italy to remain focused on directing the full federal response in the days ahead,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
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DU college asks students, staff to follow VC's X account, share posts
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi University's Shaheed Bhagat Singh College has asked its students and staff members to follow the official X account of Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh and actively share his posts expressing solidarity with the Indian Armed Forces.
In an official notice dated May 12 and signed by Principal Arun Kumar Attree, the Shaheed Bhagat Singh College administration said, "All teachers, staff members, and students of the college are hereby requested to follow the Vice Chancellor Prof. Yogesh Singh's official Twitter (now X) account."
The college community is "encouraged to retweet the posts shared through the platform" as a gesture of support and gratitude towards the country's defence forces, it said.
"By amplifying these messages, we not only raise awareness about their courage and sacrifices but also contribute to building a strong sense of national pride and unity within our community," it stated.
Singh created his X account earlier this month and made his first post on May 8. In a post on May 12, he referred to Operation Sindoor, carried out by India in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
In his post in Hindi, Singh claimed that Indian forces "destroyed Pakistani terrorist bases and neutralised more than 100 terrorists, including the hijackers of IC814 and the Pulwama terrorists".
The government and armed forces "do more and say less, keeping national interest paramount", he said.
The post concluded with lines from the Hindi poem "Parshuram Ki Pratiksha" by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, calling for unity and support for the armed forces and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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