Obama to receive Cameron on official visit Saturday, 04 February 2012 00:39

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama will receive British Prime Minister David Cameron March 13-14 on an official visit that will include talks on Afghanistan, Iran and the global economy, the White House said yesterday.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the visit, which will include a state dinner, will highlight the US-British “special relationship” and the “strong personal bond” between the Obama and Cameron families.

Obama and Cameron were expected to discuss upcoming Nato and G8 summits, “as well as the broad array of global issues on which the United States and the United Kingdom cooperate closely,” he said in a statement.

These included Afghanistan, the Middle East, Iran, human rights, and global economic stability and growth, Carney said.

The visit comes amid rising international tensions with Iran over its nuclear program and a stubborn eurozone debt crisis that has prompted international concern.

Prince William’s Falklands stint just ‘routine’: UK

BRUSSELS: British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond sought yesterday to ease tensions with Argentina over Prince William’s deployment to the Falklands, saying it was merely a routine stint for an air force pilot.

Asked whether the prince’s deployment to the disputed islands was inflaming tensions after Argentina called it a provocation, Hammond said: “Well, it shouldn’t.” “He’s there as a search and rescue pilot, that’s a humanitarian function and it’s a routine deployment,” he told reporters on arrival for talks with Nato counterparts in Brussels.

“All UK naval and air force search and rescue pilots do a stint in the Falklands and Prince William is doing his tour now,” he said. The 29-year-old prince, who is second in line to the British throne, arrived in the Falklands on Thursday for a six-week mission with the Royal Air Force.

The timing of the deployment has stoked tensions ahead of the 30th anniversary of the start of the war between Britain and Argentina over the Falklands.

Agencies

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