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US First Lady Jill Biden in Abu Dhabi on Last Solo Foreign Trip

First lady Jill Biden visits Kasr Al Hosn Fort, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
First lady Jill Biden visits Kasr Al Hosn Fort, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
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US First Lady Jill Biden in Abu Dhabi on Last Solo Foreign Trip

First lady Jill Biden visits Kasr Al Hosn Fort, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
First lady Jill Biden visits Kasr Al Hosn Fort, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

US first lady Jill Biden toured the capital of the United Arab Emirates on Thursday as part of her final solo foreign tour.

Biden, 73, arrived in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday night after stopping in Italy and visiting her ancestral home of Gesso in Sicily.

On Thursday Biden traveled to the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and Qasr Al Hosn, a historic site. She was expected to speak at a summit later in the day, The AP reported.

Biden has come to the country previously. In March 2016, she accompanied her husband, then the vice president in the last year of the Obama administration, on a trip to the Emirates.

This trip comes after President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden over federal crimes after previously pledging that he wouldn't. The president dodged questions about the pardon while he was on a trip to Angola.

For her part, Jill Biden on Monday said: “Of course I support the pardon of my son.”

Biden will travel next to nearby Qatar. After that she'll fly to Paris and join President-elect Donald Trump and other dignitaries in Paris to celebrate the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral. She'll then return to Washington.

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South Korea Police Say Rite at Family Grave Led to Deadly Wildfire

29 March 2025, South Korea, Andong: A firefighting helicopter tries to extinguish a wildfire in Andong, in Gyeongsang Province, southeastern South Korea. Photo: -/yonhap/dpa
29 March 2025, South Korea, Andong: A firefighting helicopter tries to extinguish a wildfire in Andong, in Gyeongsang Province, southeastern South Korea. Photo: -/yonhap/dpa
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South Korea Police Say Rite at Family Grave Led to Deadly Wildfire

29 March 2025, South Korea, Andong: A firefighting helicopter tries to extinguish a wildfire in Andong, in Gyeongsang Province, southeastern South Korea. Photo: -/yonhap/dpa
29 March 2025, South Korea, Andong: A firefighting helicopter tries to extinguish a wildfire in Andong, in Gyeongsang Province, southeastern South Korea. Photo: -/yonhap/dpa

South Korean police said on Sunday they booked a man suspected of starting what grew into the country's largest wildfire, killing at least 26 people and razing thousands of buildings including historic temples.
Authorities believe the man, who is in his 50s, began the fire in southeastern Uiseong County when he performed an ancestral rite by a family grave on March 22, an official from Gyeongbuk Provincial Police said.
"We are in the process of verifying evidence," the official added.
In South Korea's legal system, booking involves registering a suspect but may not coincide immediately with arrest or charges.
According to Reuters, Yonhap news agency said the man had denied the allegations.
The fire burned about 48,000 hectares (119,000 acres), destroyed an estimated 4,000 structures, and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate. By Friday the blaze was largely contained although firefighters were still battling small hotspots that had sprung up on Saturday.
The Uiseong fire as well as separate blazes across the country last week left at least 30 people dead and sparked calls for national reforms to better tackle such disasters, which experts say are being exacerbated by climate change.
The forest service said on Sunday another wildfire broke out in a southern area near Suncheonsi, and authorities had deployed 23 firetrucks, four helicopters and 123 firefighters.