Foreign minister vows to limit PKK movements, cut funding
New York Times Oct 23, 07 12:01 PM CDT
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Urging diplomacy, Iraq today pledged to help Turkey resolve border violence by Kurdish militants based in northern Iraq. Turkey kept the diplomatic wheels turning but wouldn't rule out military action to quell the PKK and rejected its offer of a ceasefire. Iraq’s foreign minister vowed to “actively help Turkey overcome this menace” by limiting militant movement and finances, the Times reports.
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Miliband eases Bush-Brown chill, backs Rice's Iran approach
Daily Telegraph (UK) Oct 23, 07 9:30 AM CDT
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The British foreign secretary arrived in Washington last night, and David Miliband now faces the unenviable task of mending a deepening rift between the Bush administration and Gordon Brown. The speed of the UK's pullback in Basra—not to mention the PM's coolness toward President Bush—has irked a White House accustomed to Bush-Blair coziness, the Telegraph reports.
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As 66-year-old leader goes, British pols face accusations of ageism
Independent (UK) Oct 16, 07 11:33 AM CDT
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British politics got a jolt yesterday with the sudden resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell, leader of the Liberal Democrats. The 66-year-old leader of the UK's third party, languishing in the polls, was forced out by party apparatchiks in what other politicians are calling a brutal, ageist coup. "Merciless," screams the cover of today's Independent .
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PM accused of cowardice, lack of vision as opponents soar in polls
Daily Telegraph (UK) Oct 14, 07 12:32 PM CDT
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British PM Gordon Brown took a beating this week as a new poll showed the opposition Tories surging to their highest levels of popular support in 15 years, and even some Labourites came out of the woodwork to attack his vision for the future. Support for the Conservatives rose 5 points to 43%, compared with 36% for Brown's Labour Party, the Daily Telegraph reports.
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PM sees 'overwatch' role after cut from 5,500 to 2,500 troops
Guardian (UK) Oct 8, 07 1:15 PM CDT
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British troops will number only 2,500 in Iraq by next spring, Gordon Brown said today. In “two distinct stages,” the PM said, the UK will shrink its presence to 4,000 troops from the current 5,500 and then to 2,500, the Guardian reports. Three of four provinces under UK control have already been handed over to local forces, Brown said.
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PM ditched snap vote when it looked like Labour would lose
Guardian (UK) Oct 7, 07 4:30 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Gordon Brown has a new nickname: “bottler,” British slang for someone who’s lost their nerve at the last minute. He's facing heavy criticism for the unpopular decision not to hold a snap general election this autumn after learning that his Labor party lags 6 points behind the Torries in polls and would risk losing its majority, the Guardian reports
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Conservatives prepare for disaster, and some prefer Brown anyway
Guardian (UK) Oct 2, 07 1:58 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Britain's Conservatives are having their annual meeting this week, and the party is desperate to put on a brave face and scare Gordon Brown away from an early election. But as David Cameron, the Tories' 40-year-old modernizing leader, prepares for his make-or-break speech tomorrow, one columnist reports that in private the party is wondering if it would be better just to lose.
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Brown announces 1,000 troop cut in surprise first visit
BBC Oct 2, 07 7:18 AM CDT
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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a surprise first visit to Iraq today and announced that he'll withdraw 1,000 troops by the end of the year. He spent an hour with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, and was expected to meet with Gen. David Petraeus in advance of addressing parliament next week, the BBC reports. Britain currently has 5,500 soldiers stationed at Basra Airport,.
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Military action not end in itself, Miliband says at party conference
Times (UK) Sep 26, 07 2:16 PM CDT
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Britain's new foreign secretary has proposed a break with Blair-era policy and admitted his country was "scarred" by failures of the Iraq war. In his address yesterday to the annual Labour Party conference, David Miliband dismissed the idea of a "military 'solution'" to the world's problems. But at this year's conference, policy has been overshadowed by gossip of early elections.
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Hopeful meets with three PMs and no shortage of donors
Daily Telegraph (UK) Sep 20, 07 8:47 AM CDT
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Rudy Giuliani left behind the cornfields of Iowa for cosmopolitan London yesterday, where he met with campaign contributors and no fewer than three prime ministers. After a visit to Tony Blair's new offices and to Gordon Brown at No. 10, Giuliani got his most desired photo-op of all, writes the Telegraph : an award and a handshake from Margaret Thatcher.
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Brown takes stand against torture, intimidation in Mugabe's Zimbabwe
Independent (UK) Sep 20, 07 4:45 AM CDT
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Britain will boycott a summit bringing together leaders of the European Union and African states because of the expected presence of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe. Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the Independent he wants to send a powerful message of concern to the leader responsible for widespread torture and the economic collapse of the once prosperous African nation.
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PM's first address to unions rebuffs
demands for pay raises
Times (UK) Sep 10, 07 12:36 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Gordon Brown received a cool reception in his first address as prime minister to Britain's Trade Union Conference, traditionally Labour's largest constituency. After 10 years of tense relations with Tony Blair, the unions had hoped that Brown would offer a more left-wing policy. But Brown insisted that he would oppose their demands for pay rises, the Times of London reports.
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Tube labor action tangles up entire city
Guardian (UK) Sep 5, 07 11:13 AM CDT
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The union representing London’s Tube workers has called off a threatened 3-day strike after a day of shutdowns that hobbled the city’s transit system, but commuters still face lingering aftershocks. Transit of London, which runs the Underground, and the RMT union say they made sufficient progress yesterday to restart nine of the 12 lines that had been sidelined.
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