John Howard

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Ex Aussie PM: We Banned Assault Weapons, So Can US
Ex Aussie PM: We Banned Assault Weapons, So Can US
john howard

Ex Aussie PM: We Banned Assault Weapons, So Can US

John Howard discusses how Australia did it, and the results

(Newser) - In the New York Times today, John Howard details how he, as then-prime minister of Australia, got an assault weapons ban passed after a massacre in which 35 people were killed with semiautomatic weapons. He doesn't want to "lecture" America on the matter, he writes, and acknowledges there...

VIP Guest House Occupant Who Kicked Obamas to a Hotel Is...

... Uh, Australia's ex-PM John Howard

(Newser) - The VIP who blocked Barack Obama from moving into the White House guest house turns out to be George Bush pal and former Australian prime minister John Howard, the Washington Post reports. The Obamas, now staying in a posh Washington hotel, asked to move into Blair House early but were...

Tony Blair Tapped for US Medal of Freedom

Former prime minister was staunch US ally

(Newser) - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a staunch ally of President Bush on the war in Iraq, is to receive the highest US civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Blair, who is now an Middle East peace envoy for the Quartet—Russia, the US, the EU and UN—will...

Australia To Pull Troops From Iraq
Australia
To Pull Troops From Iraq

Australia To Pull Troops From Iraq

New leader says combat forces will be home by mid-2008

(Newser) - Australia’s new leader says the nation's combat troops will be out of Iraq by mid-2008, the Guardian reports. Kevin Rudd will make good on a campaign promise to pull out troops, a move that marks a sharp shift from the polices of his predecessor, John Howard, a key Bush...

Rudd Inherits Red-Hot Economy
Rudd Inherits Red-Hot Economy

Rudd Inherits Red-Hot Economy

New Aussie PM faces inflationary risks in boom times

(Newser) - New Aussie PM Kevin Rudd inherits a booming economy, but that doesn't mean it's going to be an easy ride for his center-left government, the Wall Street Journal warns. Demand for Australia's natural resources is feverish and inflation is already uncomfortably high. Rudd has vowed to pump about $48 billion...

Labor Takes Australian Elections
Labor Takes Australian Elections

Labor Takes Australian Elections

11-year PM John Howard concedes to former diplomat

(Newser) - Former Diplomat Kevin Rudd is poised to become Australia's new prime minister after his Labor Party claimed victory in yesterday's elections. Labor expects to take at least 83 of the 150 seats in Parliament, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, current PM John Howard faces the possibility of losing his own seat in...

Polls Predict Rout for Australian PM

Likely winner of Saturday's election will take troops from Iraq

(Newser) - Australians elect a new government this Saturday, and polls foresee the fall of John Howard, the once-invincible prime minister who has served for 11 years. Kevin Rudd, the Labor Party leader 20 years Howard's junior, has promised to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq and to "shift up a gear"...

Aussie Chief Calls New Elections
Aussie Chief Calls New Elections

Aussie Chief Calls New Elections

(Newser) - Prime Minister John Howard, trailing in national polls after 11 years in office, set national elections today for Nov. 24. Howard will run on the nation’s current economic boom, Reuters reports. His opponent, Labor leader Kevin Rudd, says he'll pull Australian troops out of Iraq, though domestic issues are...

Aussie Miscarriage Fiasco Leads to Calls for Reform

PM on defensive after miscarriage horror in Sydney

(Newser) - Reports of Australian women left to miscarry in the bathroom of a major Sydney hospital have elicited an outcry for public health reform, even as beleaguered prime minister John Howard defended the system as flawed but good. But an ER physician at the hospital told ABC News that there were...

Mind the Gaffe, Prez!
Mind the
Gaffe, Prez!

Mind the Gaffe, Prez!

Word to Bush: It's APEC, not OPEC, and the troops are Australian, not Austrian

(Newser) - As usual, President Bush didn't mind the gaffe and stumbled again—and again—this weekend on the eve of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering in Sydney. He referred to Australian troops as Austrian troops and called the APEC summit the OPEC summit., Reuters reports. "Thank you for being such...

A Few Words of Mandarin Go Far in Sydney

Opposition leader upstages hosts, score huge points with Chinese at summit

(Newser) - The man tipped to be Australia's next prime minister has scored a major diplomatic coup at this week's APEC summit in Sydney, upstaging PM John Howard. Opposition leader Kevin Rudd spoke to delegates in fluent Mandarin and so impressed Hu Jintao that the Chinese president issued a personal invitation to...

Aussie Boss Wins US Military Deal
Aussie Boss Wins US Military Deal

Aussie Boss Wins US Military Deal

Technology pact revealed as prime minister vows to stay in Iraq

(Newser) - Shortly before announcing that Australia would not withdraw its 500 troops from Iraq, Prime Minister John Howard struck a defense deal with President Bush giving his nation the same preferential status as the UK when purchasing US military technology. The deal “will remove layers of bureaucracy for defense industries...

Aussie PM: Troops Not Leaving Iraq
Aussie PM: Troops Not Leaving Iraq

Aussie PM: Troops Not Leaving Iraq

Bush may be talking withdrawal, but Howard stands pat

(Newser) - President Bush arrived in Sydney last night amid speculation he would reduce troop levels in Iraq, but his Australian counterpart dismissed any notion that his country would be withdrawing its forces. Prime Minister John Howard said the idea that Sydney could both pull its 550 troops and still make a...

Aussie Chief Pleads for APEC Peace on YouTube

Howard asks protesters for support, peace

(Newser) - Australian Prime Minister John Howard has taken to the YouTube web waves in a bid to quell protests this week in Sydney at the summit on Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. If demonstrators "really are concerned about poverty and climate change, they should support APEC not attack it," Howard pleads....

What Is This 'Mate' of Which You Speak?

Australian government gives immigrants a formal definition

(Newser) - For its new citizenship test, the Australian government has provided a formal definition of the word "mate." Yes, as in "G'day, mate." A 40-page guide for aspiring Aussies, the brainchild of the immigration minister, defines mateship as the condition “where people help and receive help...

Australia Bans Alcohol, Porn in Aboriginal Areas

Beefed-up measures target rampant sex abuse of children

(Newser) - Australia will ban alcohol and pornography in some Aboriginal areas in an attempt to tackle widespread child sex abuse. A report last week blamed booze and poverty for the high levels of abuse in Aboriginal communities throughout the Northern Territory. "Exceptional measures are required to deal with an exceptionally...

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