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Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga arrived in the United States of America on Saturday night to news of cancellation of a luncheon with US President Barack Obama which had earlier been scheduled for later this week. The news followed a round of confusion over whether he would attend the luncheon, hosted by the White House for selected leaders from sub-Saharan Africa on the sidelines of the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. New York-based Kenyan ambassador to the UN Zachary Muburi-Muita told the Nation on Saturday night that the State Department contacted him on Friday to...

A senior New Brunswick Roman Catholic priest is demanding the Prime Minister's Office explain what happened to the sacramental communion wafer Stephen Harper was given at Roméo LeBlanc's funeral mass.During communion at the solemn and dignified service held last Friday in Memramcook for the former governor general, the prime minister slipped the thin wafer that Catholics call "the host" into his jacket pocket.In Catholic understanding, the host - once consecrated by a priest for the Eucharist - becomes the body and blood of Jesus Christ. It is crucial that the small wafer be consumed when it is received.Monsignor Brian Henneberry,...

(IsraelNN.com) Former Jordanian prime minister Abd Al-Raouf Al-Rawabdeh delivered a speech recently in which he called Israel “a cancer that must be eradicated.”

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek met with President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on Friday, and reiterated his country's commitment to strengthen ties between Israel and the European Union.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in late Tuesday to lead Israel 32nd government, after cobbling together a coalition amid rising tensions within his own Likud party and with other leading political figures. Lawmakers voted 69 to 45 with five abstentions in favor of Netanyahu's right-wing government after a six-hour debate, making Netanyahu prime minister for the second time in 10 years. The new coalition will comprise 30 ministers and seven deputy ministers. In addition to serving as premier, Netanyahu has also created a position for himself as financial strategy minister and appointed Yuval Steinitz (Likud) to serve as finance...

Why couldn't President Obama have put on more of a show for his British guests? He looked like he simply couldn't be bothered. Number 10 may be content that they just about got away with the visit to the Oval Office yesterday, as Andrew Porter reports from Washington. But on this side of the Atlantic the whole business looked pretty demeaning. The morning papers and TV last night featured plenty of comment focused on the White House's very odd and, frankly, exceptionally rude treatment of a British PM. Squeezing in a meeting, denying him a full press conference with flags...

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that U.S. President Barack Obama must redefine terror and terrorism in the Middle East and use it as the basis for a new American policy.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday stormed off the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, red-faced after verbally sparring with President Shimon Peres over the recent fighting in Gaza. Erdogan was angry after being cut off by a panel moderator after listening to an impassioned monologue by Peres defending Israel's recent 22-day offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

This past Saturday morning, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper appeared live on national television to give both himself and the voting public a rogering so intense that I was surprised it wasn’t censored as pornography. After holding out as arguably the last truly conservative world leader on the bailout issue, he announced just over $3 billion USD in “repayable loans” (I regretfully gave a friend one of those, once) for American auto makers. It’s $3 billion for General Motors, $1 billion for Chrysler and a credit line for Ford. The only thing missing from the announcement was the post-coital cigar....

BBC News: "Members of Japan's ruling party have selected a bluff conservative, Taro Aso, as their new leader, meaning he is almost certain to become the next PM." He would be the first Catholic PM in Japan's history. More about Taro Aso on his Wikipedia page. He also loves comics, was quickly profiled by Time, faces a tough future, is a very big departure from previous PMs, and appears to be quite the renaissance man. Now, here's my question: presuming he wasn't born Catholic (which would surprise me), when/how did he convert? Can anyone find out?

Thai PM must quit, court rules BANGKOK, Sept 9 (Reuters) - A Thai court said on Tuesday Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej must step down because he violated the constitution by hosting TV cooking shows while in office.

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert probably will not run in the Kadima party leadership primaries in September after realizing that the public has deserted him, according to a wide number of media reports. The internal elections will be held on September 17, with a second round a week later, if necessary, according to the usually reliable Channel 1 television news program. However, Kadima election steering committee head Knesset Member Tzachi HaNegbi denied Thursday morning that the Prime Minister has made a final decision, which he said will not be announced until next month. The Prime Minister agreed to new primaries...

Gordon Brown is to urge the next American president to re-engage with the world and show the kind of leadership America demonstrated in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. His message will be conveyed to all three candidates for the White House in back-to-back meetings during his trip to the United States this week He will tell Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and the Republican John McCain, that America must re-connect with the international community as the George W Bush era draws to a close. In his first major speech as Prime Minister on American soil, in...

EL PASO, Texas - Mexican Consulate officials in El Paso, Texas, said Mexican drug cartels have been posting help-wanted ads in Juarez, Mexico, newspapers. The officials said publications including P.M., El Diario de Juarez and El Norte have been printing vague help-wanted ads that are designed to trick young people into smuggling drugs over the border into the United States, the Las Cruces (N.M.) Sun-News reported Friday. Mexican Consulate spokeswoman Socorro Cordova said the issue came to the attention of officials nine months ago when the family of a driver stopped at the U.S. border showed the ad to Mexican...

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Prime Minister said US and Iraqi forces have chased Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of Baghdad since a security crackdown began a year ago, and he promised to pursue insurgents who have fled northward. Underscoring the rising violence in northern Iraq, a double suicide bombing targeted Shiite worshippers Friday as they left weekly prayer services in the northwestern city of Tal Afar, killing at least four people and wounding 17, officials said. Police said guards at the Juwad mosque prevented a larger casualty toll by opening fire on the two attackers, including an elderly man, before they could...

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has conceded defeat in the national election as the Labour Party assumes control of Parliament. Perhaps America's staunchest defender of the global war on terror among world leaders, Howard now gives way to Kevin Rudd, and may find himself out of government altogether. Howard may be the first PM to lose his own seat in almost 80 years: Australian prime minister John Howard's 11 year reign has ended with a landslide election victory for the opposition Labour Party. Kevin Rudd, the former diplomat, was set to become Australia's 26th prime minister, less than a year...

CONFIDENCE IN LABOUR 'PLUMMETS' The Government will face fresh questions over the loss of millions of voters' personal data amid evidence the debacle has helped fuel a massive slump in public confidence. One poll showed those backing Labour's ability to handle economic problems had been more than halved to 28%, with just a quarter deeming Gordon Brown's administration "competent and capable". And another gave the Tories a nine-point overall lead, its strongest position for 15 years, just weeks after Labour enjoyed an 11-point advantage in the same poll. The revelation that two CDs containing the information, including bank details, had...

Released detainees sit to hear words of encouragement from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during today’s detainee release ceremony at Camp Liberty. Nearly 500 men were released after the Combined Review and Release Board determined they are no longer a threat to Iraqi or Coalition forces, or the security of Iraq. Photo by Maj. Elizabeth Robbins, Multi-National Force-Iraq Public Affairs. CAMP LIBERTY — A detainee release ceremony here today at Forward Operating Base Constitution highlighted the expanded capacity of the Government of Iraq and Multi-National Force-Iraq to release detainees from Coalition Force custody. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki oversaw the...

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he may resign if he fails to win parliamentary approval to extend the country's mission in Afghanistan. Mr Abe said he would do the utmost to keep his promise to the US on the mission, but had "no intention of staying" as PM if MPs blocked the move. He was speaking in Sydney, at a summit of Asia Pacific leaders (Apec). The opposition controls the upper house and can stall talks on the mission beyond its expiry date on 1 November. The mission involves Japanese vessels in the Indian Ocean providing refuelling and...

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What Rajiv Gandhi told Canada PM after A-I blast May 03, 2007 09:54 IST In a phone call just after the bombing of the Air India plane in 1985, then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had asked his Canadian counterpart why all the baggage on the flight was not removed and rechecked in Montreal when three pieces were found to be suspicious. Gandhi had suggested to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney that Canada had breached international procedures by not re-screening the luggage on Flight 182. Details of the emotionally-charged exchange were revealed on Wednesday in declassified government documents released at the...

Tony Blair has acknowledged that Gordon Brown will succeed him as Prime Minister when he steps down. The admission came as Mr Blair faced questions from the commons liaison committee. More follows...

Iraq's PM longs to leave office Mr Maliki was not his alliance's first choice as prime minister Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has made clear he dislikes being the country's leader and would prefer to leave the job before his term ends. In an extensive interview with a US newspaper, Mr Maliki said he would certainly not be seeking a second term. A compromise choice, his tenure has been plagued by factional strife within both the country and government, and rumours the US has no faith in him. "I wish I could be done with it even before the end...

Ethiopia PM admits Somalia action Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has admitted for the first time that his troops are fighting in Somalia. In a televised speech, he said the troops were sent into the neighbouring country to defend its sovereignty against the Islamic Courts Union (UIC). While Mr Meles was speaking, his troops were attacking the Islamist militias in four areas of southern Somalia. The BBC's Amber Henshaw in Addis Ababa says there has been a significant escalation in the conflict. The UIC, which has seized control of much of southern and central Somalia, says Ethiopian troops have been...

Doctors treating a former Russian Prime Minister for a grave illness believe he was deliberately poisoned, an aide has revealed.Yegor Gaidar is being treated in a Moscow hospital after becoming ill on a trip to Ireland a week ago. "Doctors don't see a natural reason for the poisoning and they have not been able to detect any natural substance known to them in Gaidar's body," said aide Valery Natarov. "So obviously we're talking about poisoning (and) it was not natural poisoning." He said Mr Gaidar's condition could not have been the result of food poisoning. The news follows the death...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2006 – Senior U.S. officials in Iraq are calling a four-point plan released yesterday by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to halt sectarian violence “a significant step in the right direction.” Maliki’s plan, released yesterday, aims at uniting Shiite and Sunni parties to reduce and ultimately stop growing sectarian violence that threatens Iraq. “This … shows that the Iraqi leaders want their country to succeed and are responding to the wishes of their people for security,” said U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and Army Gen. George W. Casey, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, in a statement...

TOKYO: Japan’s new premier has yet to spell out clear plans for his stewardship of the world’s second-largest economy but shopkeeper Mineo Hayakawa, like many of the elderly, is not getting his hopes up. Shinzo Abe, who on Tuesday succeeded outgoing Junichiro Koizumi, has spoken in general terms about the need to reduce wealth inequalities but he is known more for talking tough on North Korea than for his economic strategy. He penned a pre-campaign book entitled “To A Beautiful Country”, outlining his philosophy of unabashed conservatism, but many of Japan’s disadvantaged appear not to share his vision of a...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2006 – Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai expressed his people's gratitude to U.S. servicemembers during a visit to the Pentagon today. When a Pentagon Channel reporter asked if he had a message for the troops, Karzai replied: "I was yesterday in the Walter Reed hospital. Ma'am, I was -- let me find the right word -- I was taken by emotions there, to put it in simple terms, of wounded soldiers and of a lady officer who had worked in Afghanistan, having six children, six boys. She was still helping the Afghan people. "So my message for the...

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is working hard to quell sectarian violence and pave the way for the reconciliation of his country’s people, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said this week. “We have been impressed with Prime Minister Maliki. He has opposed militias. He has favored reconciliation. He was determined in resisting the appointment of people to the key security ministries who were more political than substantive,” Rumsfeld said after meeting with the Senate Armed Services Committee. In the relatively short time the prime minister has been in office, Rumsfeld said, Maliki has moved his government in the...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2006 – Iraq is facing grave challenges as it transitions into a democratic society, but Iraqi leaders are committed to the country’s success and are working hard to create a political situation that will allow the terrorists to be defeated, Iraq’s deputy prime minister said here today. Barham Salih held a news conference at the Pentagon during a visit to the U.S. to meet with Defense Department, congressional and business leaders. Salih said he follows the U.S. news from Iraq, but was surprised to see firsthand the intensity of the debate about U.S. involvement in Iraq. “No...

A Nuclear Hat Trick For Dr Manmohan Singh An IDC Analysis New Delhi, 29 August 2006 Dr Manmohan Singh is not known for his cricketing skills, but more as the Finance Minister who saved India from defaulting on its external debt in 1991. Yet recently he had to bowl against three formidable batsmen on the pitch created by the Nuclear Deal he negotiated with President Bush. The PM’s UPA allies, the CPM were not happy with some clauses, and the BJP went to town even on clauses which did not exist, while the former nuclear doyens (scientists) of India revolted...

US military defends Baghdad raid slammed by PM Wed Aug 9, 10:30 AM ET The US military defended itself against criticism by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of a raid on a crowded Baghdad suburb which culminated in a deadly air strike. The army had said the Sunday night assault by Iraqi troops and US advisers was aimed at arresting the head of a suspected kidnap-and-torture cell. But Maliki called it "unjustified" and said he had not approved it. Major General William Caldwell told reporters that Iraqi commanders had taken the lead in launching the operation, with the support...

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2006 – Iraq is the front line in the war on terror and ultimately will serve as a "graveyard for terrorism," Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told a joint session of Congress here today. Maliki repeatedly thanked the lawmakers for the United States' steadfast support for his country and assured them that Iraq will remain a solid ally in the terror war. "Iraq will never forget those who stood with her ... and who continue to stand with her in times of need," he said. The prime minister compared the losses Iraq faces at the hands of...

Farnborough: UK prime minister rumoured to have tour of Airbus Corporate Jetliner for government jet UK prime minister Tony Blair is to take an evaluation tour of the Airbus A319 Corporate Jetliner (ACJ) today at the Farnborough air show, speculation has it. The UK head of government is addressing the air show today at around 15:00 on the importance of aerospace to the UK economy. After this, he is understood to be offered a chance to look around a corporate interior version of the ACJ. Airbus does not have an ACJ on the static display at the show, where security...

PM accuses Pakistan over Mumbai bombs Randeep Ramesh in Delhi Friday July 14, 2006 The Guardian (UK) One of the trains targeted in the attacks on Mumbai rail network. Photograph: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images India's prime minister pointed the finger of blame for the blasts in Mumbai across the border to Pakistan today, saying that promises to rein in terrorism had not been kept and effectively stalling the peace process between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Manmohan Singh, who was in Mumbai to console survivors of Tuesday's train explosions, which killed 198 people, said Pakistan's failure to clamp down on bombers had endangered...

Palestinian PM is defiant as Gaza runs out of water By Harry de Quetteville in Gaza (Filed: 01/07/2006) The Palestinian prime minister emerged from hiding yesterday, vowing to defy Israeli military pressure which has left the Gaza Strip facing a humanitarian crisis. Ismail Haniya: 'No concessions' to the barrage Ismail Haniya, who has already survived one Israeli assassination attempt, has been under cover since a 19-year-old Israeli soldier was captured by Palestinian militants on Sunday. Israeli public television reported yesterday that Cpl Gilad Shalit was alive and had been treated by a Palestinian doctor for his injuries. But until he...

WASHINGTON, May 26, 2006 – The struggle in Iraq is a genuine pursuit of liberty, and the international community needs to recognize its importance and unite to advance the cause of freedom, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a speech at Georgetown University here today. "This should be a moment of reconciliation not only in Iraq but in the international community," Blair said. "The war split the world; the struggle of Iraqis for democracy should unite it." Many people may not agree with the original decision to go to war in Iraq or may think mistakes have been made,...

Teheran mocks PM over polls drubbing By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 08/05/2006) Iran mocked Tony Blair yesterday, saying Labour's drubbing in last week's local elections was caused by his close alliance with President George W Bush. On the eve of a meeting of the world's major powers to decide how to respond to Teheran's nuclear defiance, the regime took comfort in the humiliation of one of its major foes. Show of strength: President Ahmadinejad stands with commanders of the Basij Militia in Tehran yesterday "The people's vote showed their opposition to Mr Blair's policies of following those of...

LONDON -- Verra Budimlija was once classic fan of Prime Minister Tony Blair -- she's 40, well-educated advertising executive, the kind of voter who propelled Blair and the Labor Party to power in 1997. Not only does she live in Islington, a Labor stronghold where people took to streets to celebrate Blair's generation-shifting election, she lives in very brick house that was Blair's at the time. Nine years and two reelections later, Budimlija is suffering from "Tired of Tony," a malady afflicting even once-fanatical supporters as it spreads across Britain like blanket of fog. "He has been around too long,"...

If you were given the choice, who would be your preferred Prime Minister from the following three people?

Stephen Harper balances job, hockey dad dutiesCTV.ca News Staff March 1, 2006 One adjustment for hockey dad-turned-Prime Minister Stephen Harper is that Mounties now insist on driving him to the rink. "Didn't used to get so much help," said Harper, who was sworn in as prime minister on Feb. 6. "Now we have a lot of people who want to carry the bags and sticks and open the door." As prime minister, Harper now has a federal government to run. However, he says it helps to be the boss -- he can often adjust his schedule to fit in the...

New Canadian PM rebuffs US envoy Mr Harper criticised opponents for anti-US positions during the election Canadian Prime Minister-elect Stephen Harper has defended plans to send military ice-breakers to the Arctic in defiance of criticism from Washington. US ambassador David Wilkins said on Wednesday that Washington opposed the plan and, like most other countries, did not recognise Canada's claims. Mr Harper said his mandate was from the Canadian people, not Mr Wilkins. Mr Harper's Conservatives have promised to defend Canada's northern waters from claims by the US, Russia and Denmark. The party won a narrow victory over the outgoing Liberal...

Israel's acting prime minister, MK Ehud Olmert, has declared war, not against Hamas or the Islamic Jihad, but against unauthorized Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. Olmert, at a meeting Wednesday afternoon with security officials, ordered the IDF to draw up clear plans to prevent the creation of new outposts and to destroy existing ones. Nearly every community in Judea and Samaria started as or engaged in building projects that were unauthorized at some stage. Israel's ambiguous policies with regard to the future of Judea and Samaria have been blamed for this trend, as various government coalition members and heads...

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair will stay in office until at least 2008, the tabloid Daily Mirror reported today, quoting unnamed senior allies. Blair's future has been the source of much speculation in Britain after he announced some months ahead of the last general election in May that he would not be seeking a fourth term of office. Although finance minister Gordon Brown is widely tipped to take over, Blair, who has been in power since 1997, has not said when he will step down. The next election is due before mid 2010 at the latest. Some Brown allies have...

Voters electrified as Canada's PM hits back in war of words with US By Francis Harris in Washington (Filed: 16/12/2005) Canada's increasingly heated war of words with the United States intensified yesterday, with the prime minister demanding that Washington halt attempts to "dictate" to its northern neighbour. Paul Martin responded after the US ambassador to Ottawa accused him of playing politics with the relationship between the two countries. Paul Martin: 'I am not going to be dictated to' Mr Martin, who has called an election for next month, shot back: "I am not going to be dictated to as to...

Sharon Advisor Says PM Will Partition Jerusalem 16:19 Dec 14, '05 / 13 Kislev 5766 By Ezra HaLevi Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's senior campaign pollster Kalman Gayer has let the cat out of the bag: Sharon plans to divide Israel's capital, Jerusalem, should he win the elections. Gayer made the statements speaking with Newsweek about the extent of the withdrawals Sharon is willing to make in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. The relevant passage in the Newsweek article states as follows: "In theory, Gayer says, Sharon would accept a Palestinian state in Gaza and 90 percent of the West Bank, and...

LONDON (AFP) - Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher was back out in public to reopen a top London hotel, only four days after a brief stay in hospital. The baroness, 80, insisted she felt "fine" as she relaunched the plush Brown's Hotel. She had stayed overnight Wednesday in a London hospital after feeling faint. Her private secretary said it was "back to normal" for Thatcher who had been taking things easy since leaving hospital. Looking frail but determined in an electric blue coat, Thatcher, once dubbed the "Iron Lady", was helped from her car before cutting the ribbon. She...

Ahmed Al Chalabi, who has taken several steps that were not well estimated in the past, is seeking to re-produce himself in front of the Americans, whom some observers believe that they would keep a distance between them and the man, whose image has shaken a lot due to the policies that he adopted in the past. In the beginning, Al Chalabi's visit to Washington has been surrounded with many questions. It came during a very sensitive period, due to the intensive Iranian intervention in Iraqi affairs and the American reaction towards it. It has been preceded with a history...

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq’s prime minister Friday asked Americans to be patient and, for the first time, acknowledged a clear connection between the Iraqi insurgency and the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

KAZIMIERZ Marcinkiewicz, poised to become Poland's next prime minister after being nominated by his conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party today, is a mathematician and economics expert. Born in the southern town of Chorzow, Mr Marcinkiewicz began his working life as a teacher after studying mathematics and physics at the University of Wroclaw in south-western Poland. He went on from there to work as a school administrator, and was eventually named deputy education minister, a post he held from 1992-1993. A member of the Solidarity trade union in the 1980s, his links with Poland's Catholic conservatives has been a hallmark...