President Barack Obama's first international fixture: A special relationship

Where will President Barack Obama visit first? THANKS to its “special relationship” with America, Britain is firm favourite to be the first country that Barack Obama will visit as president, according to Paddy Power, an Irish bookmaker. Although Nicolas Sarkozy will no longer be president of the European Union in 2009, France is offered at 3/1 to receive President Obama. Germany, despite Mr Obama's rapturous welcome in Berlin earlier this year, is given longer odds not only over its Gallic neighbour, but also Iraq and Afghanistan. At 10/1, Kenya is reckoned a more likely first stop than Israel or Japan. ...