OPINION
After a century of hedging, Britain says region is part of China
New York Times Nov 25, 08 8:25 AM CST
(Newser)
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Last month Gordon Brown called on China to pump more money into the International Monetary Fund, whose coffers are nearly bare as more nations succumb to the global financial crisis. Only a few days later, writes Robert Barnett in the New York Times , the British government quietly announced a change to a century-old policy: It explicitly recognized Tibet as a part of China.
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Army stretched too thin, top commander says
Guardian (UK) Nov 10, 08 12:31 PM CST
(Newser)
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Britain should oppose any calls from President Obama to shift troops to Afghanistan as they are pulled out of Iraq, the country's defense chief says, arguing that UK troops need a breather. “I have said for a very long time that the British armed forces are stretched,” Sir Jock Stirrup told the Guardian. “We have to put ourselves back into balance.” And the foreign secretary, David Miliband, says Britain is already doing its fair share in Afghanistan.
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EU, African Union scramble to broker peace deal as Nkunda attacks
Guardian (UK) Nov 3, 08 7:27 AM CST
(Newser)
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European and African officials held crisis talks last night to avert a complete meltdown in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the civil war risks degenerating into genocide. The diplomatic push came as Laurent Nkunda, the Tutsi general, led 10,000 rebels into battle in a province bordering Rwanda, which supports him. Thousands of refugees have been displaced once again, and the UN called the humanitarian situation "catastrophic."
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Part of plot to win votes for McCain, he claims
CNN Aug 29, 08 4:26 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Invoking the era of Cold War conspiracies, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the US of sparking conflict in Georgia to give John McCain a campaign boost. “They need a small victorious war,” the told CNN. He insisted the US encouraged Georgia to attack their two breakaway regions earlier this month, forcing Russia to intervene. The White House called the accusations “absurd."
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Asian alliance, including China, condemns aggression
Guardian (UK) Aug 28, 08 8:21 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The European Union is considering sanctions against the Great Bear over its incursion into Georgia, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said today, as EU leaders head to an emergency summit. And a Russian plea for support from the East was strongly rebuffed by members of an Asian alliance that includes China, the Guardian reports.
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New fury at Russia's formal recognition of breakaway states
Reuters Aug 27, 08 2:25 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The West is preparing to crank up diplomatic pressure on Russia after its challenging move formally recognizing breakaway Ossetia and Abkhazia in the wake of its invasion of Georgia. The US, Europe and NATO have condemned the action, but Russia remains defiant. "We are not afraid of anything, including a new cold war," said Russian President Dmitri Medvedev after formally recognizing Georgia's restive states. "If Europeans want a worsening in relations, they will get it of course."
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Leadership challenge gains steam as ex-PM slams successor
Guardian (UK) Aug 4, 08 6:42 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Gordon Brown took further lashed from his own party over the weekend as allies of Tony Blair leaked an old memo from the former prime minister bashing Brown's tenure. In the memo, written last year after Brown called off a mooted snap election, Blair accuses his successor of "hubris and vacuity." Blairites are also preparing to launch a series of statements and policy proposals to force Brown out.
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Knives come out for battered PM as Labour ministers plan revolt
Times (UK) Jul 29, 08 9:12 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Several of the leading members of Gordon Brown's government will try to oust him as prime minister, reports the Times of London. Two contenders have emerged in a possible leadership challenge: David Miliband, the youthful foreign secretary allied with Tony Blair; and Harriet Harman, the deputy leader of the Labour Party. The paper says that a cabinet revolt will probably take place in September, after the summer break.
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Servicewoman dies
in bomb attack
on convoy
Guardian (UK) Jun 18, 08 6:32 AM CDT
(Newser)
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An attack on a British military convoy in Afghanistan killed four troops, including the first British female soldier to die since the conflict began. The soldiers died in an explosion in Helmand province, Afghanistan's most volatile region, reports the Guardian . British Foreign Secretary David Miliband expressed his "deepest condolences" and admitted that the situation in Afghanistan has become "grim."
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Poisoned spy's widow wants to expose Putin's role in his murder
Times (UK) Mar 27, 08 10:04 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Alexander Litvinenko's widow calls for a public inquiry into the poisoning of the Russian spy in an op-ed for today's Times of London. Both the British foreign secretary and Scotland Yard have sought to dissuade her from petitioning for an inquest, saying it would prejudge a criminal trial against chief suspect Andrei Lugovoy. But after 15 months, writes Marina Litvinenko, it is clear that he will never be extradited.
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Brits uncertain of extent that rendition flights utilized UK territory
Guardian (UK) Mar 10, 08 10:01 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Amid pressure British officials said yesterday that they were “working behind the scenes” to root out more information about the CIA rendition flights that landed on British soil, the Guardian reports. The UN’s special torture investigator has said there is credible evidence to suggest that the US ran a detention center on the British territory of Diego Garcia, rather than simply refueling planes there.
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Brits apologize for earlier denials of ties
to terror cases
BBC Feb 21, 08 2:17 PM CST
(Newser)
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Two US flights carrying terror suspects for interrogation abroad—a practice known as extraordinary rendition—landed on British territory in 2002, confirmed CIA Director Michael Hayden today. Though the UK previously denied such landings, Foreign Secretary David Miliband admitted planes refueled on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, reports the BBC, a fact revealed in a recent search of US records.
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Bid to reassure Afghan president of NATO commitment
Daily Telegraph (UK) Feb 7, 08 5:58 AM CST
(Newser)
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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her British counterpart David Miliband made a surprise visit today to Kandahar, the dangerous city in southern Afghanistan that diplomats rarely visit. Rice and Miliband will meet Hamid Karzai later today to try to reassure the Afghan president that his country remains a top NATO priority, reports the Telegraph .
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