Biden welcoming Australian leader to White House for state dinner in October

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will welcome Australia’s prime minister to the White House in October for the visit and state dinner that the U.S. promised when Biden had to scrap a stop in Australia earlier this year to focus on debt limit talks in Washington. The White House says Biden’s visit with Anthony Albanese will underscore the two nations’ commitment to an “open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.” Biden last May curtailed an Asia-Pacific trip that was to have included stops in Australia and Papua New Guinea because he needed to return to Washington because of the debt limit crisis.