All Articles Tagged "state visits"
First Lady and Family Arrive in Africa
(BBC News) — US First Lady Michelle Obama has received a warm welcome in South Africa at the start of a two-nation tour. She is travelling with her mother, two daughters and nephews on a trip to champion the importance of youth leadership across Africa. Mrs Obama is expected to visit Soweto and Robben Island where ex-President Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of his 27 years in jail. She is also due to meet current leader Jacob Zuma before going to Botswana.
The Obamas Get the British Royal Treatment
(Wall Street Journal) — After a day of ceremony and dinner with Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron prepared for discussions Wednesday that will take up the economy, military action in Libya and other foreign-policy concerns. The two leaders spent time informally on Tuesday, among other things teaming up to play ping-pong against students at a London grade school. On Wednesday, they will hold formal talks, and Mr. Obama will deliver a speech to both houses of Parliament. In both the talks and his public address, Mr. Obama is expected to highlight the U.K.’s key role in his foreign policy agenda, as well as to discuss the global economy, Afghanistan and the “Arab Spring.” U.S. officials said Mr. Obama would endorse the spirit of Mr. Cameron’s approach to deficit reduction, while stopping short of categorically supporting his proposals, which, like the Republican plan in the U.S. Congress, have drawn sharp criticism from the left.
