Tag: farewell

Astronauts bid emotional farewell to space station crew

  (Reuters) – The International Space Station’s latest expedition officially began on Friday (June 2) after Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency left the space station for earth. The two flight crew members, embarking on Expedition 52 having arrived on Expedition 51, bade an emotional goodbye as National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut and Expedition 51 Commander Peggy Whitson hugged them before the closing of the hatch that […]

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Obama to deliver farewell speech next week in Chicago

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Barack Obama will deliver a farewell speech next week from his political stronghold of Chicago, one of the last times he will be able to advocate for his policies before the inauguration of Donald Trump. The Republican political novice has vowed to rip up key Obama initiatives such as the so-called Obamacare healthcare reform act, to back out of climate change agreements and to reassess ties with foreign […]

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Ban Ki-moon bids farewell to United Nations

UNITED NATION, United States (AFP) — UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon paid an emotional farewell to the United Nations on Friday, wistfully describing his two-term stint at the helm of the global body as something of a fairy tale. “I feel a bit like Cinderella. Tomorrow at midnight, everything changes!” he joked to staff and colleagues as he wrapped up a decade leading the United Nations. Beginning Sunday, former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres, 67, takes […]

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Russia bids farewell to slain Turkey envoy

by Maria Antonova Agence France Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Thursday laid to rest its envoy Andrei Karlov after a packed memorial ceremony in Moscow for the diplomat who was assassinated by an off-duty policeman in Ankara this week. Dozens of colleagues and relatives attended the ceremony for Karlov, the ambassador to Turkey whose death Moscow labelled an act of terror. Russian President Vladimir Putin laid red roses at the foot of Karlov’s […]

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Obama bids farewell, for now, to art world

by Olivia HAMPTON WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Barack Obama attended his last Kennedy Center Honors gala Sunday, making some of his final goodbyes to celebrated artists before leaving office next month. Ahead of the ceremony, Obama hosted a reception in the White House East Room for this year’s award recipients: actor Al Pacino, The Eagles rockers, singer James Taylor, gospel singer and civil rights activist Mavis Staples and Argentine pianist Martha Argerich. “The Kennedy […]

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Obama says goodbye to world stage after eight years

by Andrew Beatty Joshua Howat Berger LIMA, Peru (AFP) — US President Barack Obama bid farewell to the world stage Sunday, pondering his legacy, offering advice to his successor and discussing his post-presidential life at the end of his final foreign tour. His historic presidency and charisma have made Obama a rock star on the international scene, even at times when the daily grind of politics dimmed the glow around his election as the United […]

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Obama to pass torch to Merkel on farewell visit

by Deborah COLE and Jerome CARTILLIER BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — US President Barack Obama pays a farewell visit Thursday to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, widely seen as the new standard bearer of liberal democracy since the election of Donald Trump. On the last leg of his final European tour as president, Obama will underline shared values, try to ease fears about the future of the transatlantic partnership and thank Merkel for her friendship during his […]

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Aerosmith announces Europe ‘farewell’ tour

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Hard rock chart-toppers Aerosmith on Monday announced a “farewell” tour for 2017, although they stopped short of saying the shows will be their last. The nearly half-century-old band behind rock classics such as “Dream On,” “Walk This Way” and “Janie’s Got a Gun” said it would start the tour on May 17 in Tel Aviv. The Boston-bred group scheduled shows across Europe, including at a series of summer festivals, […]

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Obama on farewell tour to Europe fearful of ‘Trump effect’

by Jerome CARTILLIER WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Barack Obama will travel Monday to Greece and Germany in a final official visit designed, in a strange bit of political contortion, at reassuring worried Europeans about a man he once warned was “unfit” for the presidency: Donald Trump. The irony is cruel: In the name of a peaceful transition, the American president, having thoroughly denounced the billionaire Republican during the recent campaign, must now do his […]

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