Xinhua English
June 23, 2011
By Ted Regencia
CHICAGO — Chicago, the hometown of U.S. President Barack Obama, will welcome world leaders to this city by the lake as it will host the Group of Eight (G8) and NATO summits next year.
“Next May, in Chicago, we will host a summit with our NATO allies and partners to shape the next phase of this transition,” Obama said Wednesday in a televised speech to the nation announcing the complete withdrawal of 100,000 American combat troops from Afghanistan by 2014.
The two events from May 15 to 22 will put Chicago on the international stage, as the world’s most powerful nations meet together to discuss the future of Afghanistan, NATO and the Middle East among other global issues.
The news is a major boost to the third largest American city, which lost its bid to host the 2016 Olympics and has seen a decline in the number of tourists last year.
To read the full story, please visit Xinhua English
