Tony Blair

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UK Change of Guard Today
UK Change of Guard Today

UK Change of Guard Today

Blair will quit Parliament as Brown begins government shakeup

(Newser) - Tony Blair is expected to resign from Parliament today as he vacates 10 Downing Street and is confirmed as the new international envoy to the Mideast. Gordon Brown, whose luggage is waiting curbside, will begin his shakeup of the government, with at least six ministers targeted for replacement, the Guardian...

Blair Tapped as Mideast Envoy
Blair Tapped as Mideast Envoy

Blair Tapped as Mideast Envoy

He'll prepare Palestinians for Israeli talks

(Newser) - Tony Blair will move into a key post as international Mideast peace envoy after  wrapping up 10 years as British prime minister tomorrow. President Bush personally mounted an "enormous push"  for the appointment, which will be based in Jerusalem and will involve working with the Palestinians to prepare...

Brown Vows to Lead New Era
Brown Vows to Lead New Era

Brown Vows to Lead New Era

Blair successor as Labour chief pledges to 'learn lessons' of Iraq

(Newser) - Vowing to "heed and lead the call of change," Gordon Brown yesterday took the reins of Britain's ruling Labour Party before stepping into his new role as prime minister Wednesday. Brown is expected to loosen the close ties to Bush foreign policy that marked the Blair era and...

Blair to Convert to Catholicism
Blair to Convert to Catholicism

Blair to Convert to Catholicism

Being Anglican was politically expedient, but the PM's been drawn to the Roman church for 30 years

(Newser) - Tony Blair is about to become a Roman Catholic, the Guardian reports. His wife is a practicing Catholic, his children were raised in the faith, and the PM has attended mass with them often. But political considerations have kept him officially Anglican all these years. With his last day in...

US Eyes Blair as Mideast Envoy
US Eyes Blair as
Mideast Envoy

US Eyes Blair as Mideast Envoy

Soon-to-be-former PM would focus on groundwork for a Palestinian state

(Newser) - Outgoing British PM Tony Blair may step into a new role as a Mideast envoy focusing on the development of a viable Palestinian state, the Washington Post reports. Blair would concentrate on economic and governance issues; he would represent the quartet of world players involved in Mideast peace efforts—the...

Report: Blair Knew Bush Had No Postwar Plan

PM dispatched troops despite lack of Iraq reconstruction strategy

(Newser) - In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, Tony Blair committed British troops to the effort despite knowing of serious deficiencies in US preparations for the aftermath, a TV documentary set to air this week reveals. He pushed ahead even after President Bush offered him an out, the Observer reports,...

Saudi Prince Pocketed $2B in Arms Deal

British arms giant BAE said to have paid 'fees' to Bandar for 10 years

(Newser) - Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia, the former Saudi ambassador to the US and a close friend of President Bush, allegedly accepted nearly $2 billion from the British arms giant BAE  in connection with an $86-billion arms deal. The Guardian claims the payments, made in $60-million increments over 10 years, through...

Blair: I'll Talk Bush Into Emissions Agreement

Lame-duck PM wants UN-approved treaty

(Newser) - Heading into his final G8 summit, Tony Blair is thinking big: He says he can persuade President Bush to agree to a UN-backed treaty to reduce carbon emissions by 50%, today's Guardian reports. Blair hopes to reach at least an agreement in principle, but officials fear negotiations will continue to...

Blair Looks Back on Tenure as PM
Blair Looks Back on Tenure as PM

Blair Looks Back on Tenure as PM

"We will not succeed simply by military or security means. It is a political challenge."

(Newser) - In a wide-ranging essay that offers few apologies, Tony Blair reflects on his decade as prime minister and argues that Britain must stand in the world as “a player not a spectator.” Writing in the Economist, Blair discusses the shifting landscape of his time in office, the challenges...

Bush Wants Global Plan on Emissions
Bush Wants Global Plan
on Emissions

Bush Wants Global Plan on Emissions

US still won't accepted Kyoto, but prez pushes for new agreement on caps

(Newser) - President Bush offered a groundbreaking—if decidedly vague—call this morning for a global plan to combat climate change, continuing to reposition himself on the issue. Bush asked 15 nations, including the G8, China, and India, to create "long-term global goals” on emissions that will replace the Kyoto Protocol...

BP Snags Libyan Gas Fields
BP Snags Libyan Gas Fields

BP Snags Libyan Gas Fields

North Africa is looking more attractive to big business—especially the oil business

(Newser) - The deal BP made with Libya this week for rights to huge gas fields demonstrates the new attraction North Africa has for investors. Once controlled by what Business Week calls "pariahs and basket cases," the area now looks stable (compared to the Middle East, that is) and is...

The Queen Is Not, in the End, a Blair Fan

Elizabeth "frustrated" at retiring Prime Minister Tony Blair's legacy

(Newser) - As Tony Blair prepares to leave office, one of those uneasy about his legacy is his queen, who the Telegraph reports is "exasperated and frustrated" at the effect of 10 years of New Labour rule. Queen Elizabeth is said to be unhappy about Blair's  "overstretching"  the military...

Bush, Carter, Trade Barbs
Bush, Carter, Trade Barbs

Bush, Carter, Trade Barbs

Prez 39 calls 43 worst ever; White House fires back against "irrelevant" Carter

(Newser) - A cold war of words is escalating between the White House and former occupant Jimmy Carter. On Saturday, Carter called the Bush administration "the worst in history" on the international front; yesterday Bush spokesman Tony Fratto shot back against the "reckless personal attack," sneering at Carter as...

Blair Makes Last Visit to Iraq
Blair Makes Last Visit to Iraq

Blair Makes Last Visit to Iraq

PM pays goodbye call amid mortar attack, radio assault from Jimmy Carter

(Newser) - Tony Blair dropped in on Iraq's prime minister today, to assure him the Britain would continue to support the struggling Iraqi government even after he leaves office next month. Blair used the surpise visit to reiterate his confidence that there are "real signs of change and progress" in Iraq,...

Brown Outlines Post-Blair Era
Brown Outlines Post-Blair Era

Brown Outlines Post-Blair Era

Proposes major initiatives - including transfer of war powers to Parliament

(Newser) - Gordon Brown is about to put some distance between himself and his former boss with a series of proposals laying out his vision, including giving Parliament the right to approve war powers, reports The Observer. With Blair pilloried for pusuing a profoundly unpopualr war almost single-handedly from Number 10, Brown...

For Blair, Iraq Was No Anomaly
For Blair,
Iraq Was No Anomaly

For Blair, Iraq Was No Anomaly

Brooks: War he co-authored was a disaster, but consistent with his values

(Newser) - As Tony Blair prepares his exit from No. 10, the British left is already eulogizing the PM as a good man consigned by circumstance to a bad war. Not so, says David Brooks: The crux of Blair's political philosophy was a radical, religious communitarianism, which sired both his leftist leanings...

Who Is Gordon Brown?
Who Is Gordon Brown?

Who Is Gordon Brown?

(Newser) - As Gordon Brown prepares to succeed Tony Blair, the current chancellor of the exchequer's plans for Britain's future are unclear. Brown's dour, brusque style is a sharp contrast to Blair's slick verbosity, but some see that as an advantage. “He’s not regarded as a prince of spin or...

Tony Blair Ends 10-Year Era
Tony Blair Ends 10-Year Era

Tony Blair Ends 10-Year Era

"The party will now select a new leader."

(Newser) - It's official: Tony Blair will step down on June 27, as soon as a new Labour leader is chosen. Blair publicly announced his decision in his home constituency of Sedgefield, having told his cabinet earlier in the day. Blair's words prompted "much thumping of tables" by the cabinet, says...

Blair Will Resign Tomorrow
Blair Will
Resign Tomorrow

Blair Will Resign Tomorrow

British PM to back Brown Friday, step down in July

(Newser) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to formally announce his resignation tomorrow and anoint Chancellor Gordon Brown as his successor Friday. The Guardian reports he won't actually step down until July, but the announcement will signal the end of the Blair era and begin a divisive process of choosing...

Northern Ireland Launches Historic Power Share

Power-sharing government ends decades of sectarian violence

(Newser) - Protestant and Catholic leaders pledged to cooperate as Northern Ireland inaugurated a power-sharing government today, ending a deadly decades-long conflict. Protestant leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness will serve as first minister and deputy first minister, respectively. Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams hailed "a new era of...

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