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The fact that you already have several holes in your head doesn't mean you want another one. Imagine being Gordon Brown this weekend. You are still reeling from disastrous local election results and the loss of London to Boris Johnson. You trail a record 26 points behind David Cameron in the polls. Rebellion surges through your party's ranks: in Westminster, over the abolition of the 10p tax rate; in Scotland, over the proposed referendum on independence. Senior Labour figures say that there will be trouble - meaning a leadership challenge - if the party does not make serious progress by...

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair and tween idol Miley Cyrus have joined Time magazine's "100 most influential people" list alongside other world leaders, celebrities and sports stars. U.S. television talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey again featured on the fifth annual list that was published online on Thursday and hits newsstands on Friday -- the only person listed every year the list has been published. All three U.S. presidential candidates -- Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain -- were included in the 2008 list alongside Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin. Chinese President Hu Jintao,...

London - You might want to take that vacation in England just as soon as you can – before its 1,000-year run as a sovereign nation comes to an end. This winter, 27 nations of the European Union (EU) signed the Treaty of Lisbon. You may think, "Innocuous enough," as Portuguese-inspired visions of the Tagus River and chicken piri-piri swirl before your eyes. But for England (Britain, actually) the Treaty of Lisbon isn't that appetizing. That's because, if ratified, it will become the decisive act in this creation of a federal European superstate with its capital in Brussels. Britain would...

Tony Blair added to his burgeoning list of international roles last night by announcing that he will join a group of experts on climate change in an attempt to reduce global carbon emissions. Tony Blair has taken on a number of roles since leaving No 10, including the position of envoy for the Middle East Quartet The former prime minister said he had the support, crucially, of China and the US in drawing up an action plan to cut emissions by 50 per cent by 2050. "This is extremely urgent," he told The Guardian. "A 50 per cent cut by...

A novelist's revenge on Tony Blair In 'The Ghost,' a (familiar) recently retired British PM is rumoured to be a CIA agent MARK STEYN | March 6, 2008 | If ever there was a solid Tony Blair voting bloc it was surely the massed ranks of British novelists. They loathed Thatcher ("Mrs. Torture," as the pre-fatwa Salman Rushdie used to call her), yet "old Labour," with its knuckle-dragging union bosses and old-school class warfare, wasn't entirely their bag, either. Solution: Tony Blair's Third Way. He was "New Labour," just like Bill Clinton was New Democrat. It was all the rage...

Blair to teach 'faith and globalisation' at Yale University JAMES TAPSFIELD TONY Blair is to further his interest in religion by teaching classes on "faith and globalisation" at the prestigious Yale University in an initiative linked to the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, due to be launched later this year. Academics at Yale School of Management and Divinity are working with Mr Blair to finalise details of the course. A source close to the former prime minister said he was "delighted" to be taking on the new challenge. The Connecticut university's president, Richard Levin, said staff were "honoured" Mr Blair would...

Tony Blair has found himself another new role as a teacher of faith classes at the prestigious US university Yale. Former PM to become a teacher The former Prime Minister, who converted to Roman Catholicism in December, will pass on his wisdom about "faith and globalisation".A statement from the university said: "Yale University is pleased to announce the appointment of Prime Minister Tony Blair as the Howland Distinguished Fellow for the next academic year."Mr Blair will lead a seminar at Yale and participate in a number of events around the campus."Academics at Yale School of Management and Divinity are working with...

BOSTON (Reuters) - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will teach at Yale University in the next academic year starting in September, leading a course on "faith and globalization," the Ivy League school said on Friday. Yale, the alma mater of U.S. President George W. Bush, said Blair had been appointed Howland Distinguished Fellow, a post that dates to 1915 and which has been occupied by such notable individuals as former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and journalist Sir Alistair Cooke. Blair, a part-time international envoy for Palestinian economic development since he stepped down last year, will also participate in...

<p>1. Russians Suspected in Shooting of Kremlin Critic Near D.C.</p> <p>One year ago, Kremlin critic Paul Joyal was gunned down in the driveway of his suburban Maryland home. The case remains unsolved — but some see the hand of Russia in the shooting.</p>

CNN has fired producer Chez Pazienza after the network brass realized he had been blogging at his own left-wing site and several others over a period of years: In a phone interview this morning, Mr. Pazienza, 38, said he joined CNN as a senior producer in January 2004 and has consistently received positive performance evaluations of his work. He spent his first year at CNN at the network’s headquarters in Atlanta, then moved to New York to work on “CNN Daybreak,” which has since been canceled, then “American Morning,” which is shown Monday through Friday, from 6 to 9 a.m....

Blair accused of 'stabbing Hillary Clinton in the back' after supporting RepublicansLast updated at 00:56am on 20th January 2008  Former allies: Bill Clinton and Tony Blair   Tony Blair was accused of betrayal last night as he waded into the American Presidential campaign to support George Bush's Republican world view. As the former PM recommended Mr Bush's policies to 400 millionaire bankers in Las Vegas, former ally Bill Clinton was campaigning in Nevada for his wife Hillary, who hopes to be the Democratic candidate for the White House and is an arch Bush critic. In a move liable to...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former British prime minister Tony Blair is expected on Thursday to join U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase & Co Inc as a senior adviser, according to a person familiar with the situation. JPMorgan declined to comment. The Financial Times in London first reported the move on its Web site, saying it would be the first of a series positions Blair expects to take in the private sector. Blair, a key ally of U.S. President George W. Bush, was replaced last year by Gordon Brown as prime minister amid growing discontent over Great Britain's policy in Iraq. Details...

The decision by Tony Blair to convert to Catholicism has sparked a row over his government's policies during his term in office as prime minister of the UK. Mr Blair was welcomed into the Roman Catholic church on Friday night by the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor -- leader of the Roman Catholics in England and Wales. But his conversion was criticised by commentators who said some of his views while in office were at odds with church teachings. And yesterday, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) reacted with surprise to the news of Mr Blair's...

Tony Blair's conversion to Catholicism does not come as a surprise to anyone but I would have liked him to turn to Islam instead. Blair has claimed on many occasions that he has read the Quran and has said he found its teachings "progressive". He is right that the Quran is progressive and as a revealed book of God, it is the latest testament. Why would Blair turn to the older versions of God's testament when there is the Quran? His conversion sounds rather regressive to me. Different denominational churches within Christianity are part of the same house. If the...

LONDON -- Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has converted to Catholicism, a long-rumored move, British media reported Saturday. Blair converted during a Mass held on Friday night at a chapel in London, Sky News, the British Broadcasting Corp. and the British news agency Press Association reported, quoting an unidentified spokesman. There had long been rumors that Blair, a member of the Church of England who stepped down as prime minister earlier this year, planned to convert. Blair's wife, Cherie, is Roman Catholic, the couple's children have attended Catholic schools and Blair had habitually attended Catholic rather than Anglican services.

Tony Blair joins Catholic faith Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has converted to the Catholic faith. His wife Cherie is a Catholic and there had been speculation that he would convert to Catholicism from his Anglican faith after leaving office. Mr Blair's official spokesman confirmed he had converted on Friday night and said it was a private matter. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor said he was "very glad" to welcome Mr Blair, who is now a Middle East peace envoy, into the Catholic Church. 'Nutter' fear One of Mr Blair's final official trips while prime minister was a visit to the Vatican...

"TONY BLAIR has admitted that his Christianity played a “hugely important” role during his premiership but he was forced to play down his religious conviction for fear of being seen by the public as “a nutter”. In his most frank television interview about his religious beliefs, Blair confesses he would have found it difficult to do the job of prime minister had he not been able to draw on his faith." "In The Blair Years, the former prime minister, who is expected to convert to Roman Catholicism soon, compares the differing attitude to religion in British politics with that in...

Tony Blair was on the brink of announcing his conversion to Catholicism on a visit to the Pope until a last-ditch intervention by Britain's Roman Catholic leader.   Tony Blair at an audience with Pope Benedict XVI The former Prime Minister was planning to make the historic statement on a trip to the Vatican, but was persuaded not to at the 11th hour.Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, advised Mr Blair that it would be unwise and inappropriate to use such a high-profile occasion for such an important private event, particularly coming just days before he was due to...

Tony blair has sparked controversy by claiming that people who speak about their religious faith can be viewed by society as "nutters". The former prime minister's comments came as he admitted for the first time that his faith was "hugely important" in influencing his decisions during his decade in power at Number 10, including going to war with Iraq in 2003. Mr Blair complained that he had been unable to follow the example of US politicians, such as President George W. Bush, in being open about his faith because people in Britain regarded religion with suspicion. "It's difficult if you...

Tony Blair will convert to Roman Catholicism within weeks when he is received into the church by the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, according to the Catholic magazine the Tablet.There has been speculation for months that the former prime minister would be received into the church following his resignation from office. A report by the magazine's editor, Catherine Pepinster, says the ceremony will take place during a private mass in the cardinal's official residence behind Westminster Cathedral in Victoria, London.Mr Blair, now a Middle East peace envoy, was baptised as an Anglican but has been known to be interested...

The Talk Shows Sunday, November 4th, 2007 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Former President George H.W. Bush. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., Mark Penn, chief strategist for Sen. Hillary Clinton campaign.THIS WEEK (ABC): Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Mideast peace envoy and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

A look at the Sunday morning chat circuit ... Former Sen. Fred Thompson visits NBC's "Meet the Press." Of special note, the program is reaching its 60th anniversary. It debuted on Nov. 20, 1947, and is the world's longest-running TV program. It airs at 9 a.m. on WESH-Channel 2. Former President George H.W. Bush will talk to "Fox News Sunday." It airs at 9 a.m. on WOFL-Channel 35. Sen Joseph Biden will take questions on CBS' "Face the Nation." It airs at 10:30 a.m. on WKMG-Channel 6. Another guest will be Mark Penn, who is a strategist for Sen. Hillary...

Sickness and sleepless nights – but Cherie Blair begged him to carry onTony Blair was affected twice by the problem of a pounding heart during Prime Minister’s Questions in 2004 and was unwell throughout much of that year, it was disclosed today. Blair Unbound reveals that Mr Blair regularly asked himself in 2004 whether he should stay in office. Weighed down by the Iraq war aftermath, the Hutton inquiry, a constant war of attrition with Gordon Brown, worries over his family as well as his own health, he questioned whether he would be able to command the domestic agenda or...

He went into the garden and began muttering ‘Iraq’ and ‘it’s all my fault’Tony Blair virtually regarded the result of the 2005 general election as a defeat for which he blamed himself and the Iraq war, according to a new biography. As the early results suggested a much-reduced Labour majority, Mr Blair went into the garden and started muttering “It’s all my fault” and “Iraq”, the book reveals. He accepted that it weakened his authority as Prime Minister to make the changes to the machinery of government that he wanted and to appoint the Government that he needed. And it...

TONY BLAIR is expected to inspect a prospective new home - known locally as a palace - when he travels to Jerusalem tomorrow on his first trip to the Middle East as a peace envoy. He is said to be keen to take over the one-time residence of the British High Commissioner for Palestine, with its ballroom and spectacular view of the golden dome of Al-Aqsa mosque. The house, built of Jerusalem stone in 1931, was once the pride of British diplomacy and occupies a commanding position in West Jerusalem on the inauspiciously named Hill of Evil Counsel, where Judas...

Blair: 'Sense of possibility' in Mideast Quartet envoy says he has come to region 'to listen, learn and reflect' during two days of meetings with Israeli, Palestinian leaders, but adds he already senses a willingness by sides to make progress. Opposition leader Netanyahu warns him against Iran, its branches in Middle East Ronny Sofer and AP Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, making his first public comments as the international community's Mideast peace envoy, urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders Tuesday to take advantage of a new "sense of possibility" in the region. Blair, who arrived in Israel on Monday, said...

One of the most surprising scenes in the new Harry Potter book occurs in the chapter "The Bribe" (pages 210-215)--a scene which reflects our sharply anti-father political environment. (As an aside, even though J.K. Rowling is an avowed single mother advocate, in the Harry Potter series she mercifully spares us any nonsense on the glories of single motherhood.) The scene involves Harry and Lupin (pictured, with Harry), a former teacher at the school who is also a werewolf. Lupin is married to Tonks, and Tonks is pregnant with their child. Lord Voldemort (the devil in the Harry Potter series) has...

LONDON (Reuters) - No one will be charged with the illegal sale of state honors as a result of a police enquiry that dogged former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's last months in office, British media reported on Thursday. Police completed their probe three months ago and handed their findings to the Crown Prosecution Service, which has to decide whether to press charges. British media said the CPS would announce on Friday its decision not to bring criminal charges. A CPS spokeswoman declined to comment on the reports. "The decision-making process is ongoing. We have no timing on a decision....

Today the President visited Nashville Tenn where he visited a bun factory and delivered a speech on the budget. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Portugal to meet with members of the Mideast Quartet. Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon R. England is visiting Iraq Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

On June 27, Tony Blair left office after having been Britain’s prime minister for 10 years. His next job will be that of envoy for the so-called “Quartet” of Mideast negotiators: the United States, the U.N., the European Union and Russia. Let’s hope that his new employers appreciate him more than his old ones. Blair leaves 10 Downing Street with the dubious distinction of having been the “most unpopular Labour Prime Minister of modern times.” Last November, his approval rating sank to 26 percent. In other words, Blair is less popular than the Labour leaders who presided over Britain’s economic...

Tony Blair couldn't even wait for the announcement of his appointment as special envoy for the Quartet - America, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations - to repeat this famous mantra in the House of Commons: "The only way of bringing stability and peace to the Middle East is a two-state solution, which means a state of Israel that is secure and confident in its security and a Palestinian state that is not merely viable in terms of its territory, but in terms of its institutions and government." Is he really serious -"the only way"? No other options...

'snip' Their strategic purpose, however, is to intimidate the new British government of Gordon Brown into capitulating to their demands, above all the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq. 'snip' For both personal and political reasons, Mr. Brown is eager to emerge from the shadow of his predecessor. He has surrounded himself with ministers who want him to dissociate himself from the Bush administration, such as John Denham, who resigned over the Iraq war, and Admiral Sir Alan West, who claimed it was illegal. And he has appointed Britain's first two Muslim junior ministers. The trend is clear: to distance...

Blair launches stinging attack on 'absurd' British Islamists Nicholas Watt, political editor Sunday July 1, 2007 The Observer Tony Blair has launched a powerful attack on 'absurd' British Islamists who have nurtured a false 'sense of grievance' that they are being oppressed by Britain and the United States. In his most outspoken remarks on Islamists, the former Prime Minister warns that Britain is in danger of losing the battle against terrorists unless mainstream society confronts the threat. Blair's remarks, in which he also attacks some civil liberty campaigners as 'loopy loo', were made in a Channel 4 documentary recorded last...

The romantic view of Great Britain sees her as Europe’s ballast, America’s wingman, and a leading world power in her own right. Indeed, Britain can fulfill all of these roles, but mostly only because that is how she has been cast, and those are her lines to recite. Should she ever seek to forge a strong identity separate from the United States, it is unclear whether the nation could muster influence beyond that of France or Japan. Seen realistically, then, Britain’s past ten years have been a colossus of global influence. It is unlikely to be repeated again. As late...

A British millionaire who has reportedly hired outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife, Cherie, to fight the New Labour Government's ban on smoking, described Tony Blair as an "a***hole" on peak-time radio on Sunday. Sixty-three-year-old Dave West, a lapdance boss, resorted to the use of unparliamentary language after claiming that human rights lawyer Cherie Blair, 52, thought his club should be exempted from new cigarette laws. Interviewed onj BBC Radio Five, West was quoted by The Sun a saying that Tony Blair was an a***hole for introducing the smoking ban. When Nicky Campbell, the show's host, said that there was...

Tony Blair has left Downing Street and travelled to Buckingham Palace, where he will hand in his resignation as prime minister to the Queen. Earlier, he received a standing ovation from MPs in the House of Commons in unprecedented scenes at the end of his final prime minister's questions. Politicians from all sides dropped their usual jibes to pay tribute to Mr Blair during the half hour session. His long-serving chancellor, Gordon Brown, succeeds him as PM later. Mr Blair and his wife Cherie made the short journey from Downing Street to the Palace by ministerial Jaguar - a car...

They call him "Bush's poodle." Headlines scream "Good Riddance." They're saying he was thrown out of "10 Downer Street." After that, they get mean. It's easy for some of his countrymen to jeer at Tony Blair as he leaves office as prime minister of Britain. But not by us, and not by friends of civilization. He has been a staunch friend of the United States, and he looks at the world with a visionary's eye. He didn't accomplish everything he tried to do, and sometimes he seemed a little eager to spin his "celebrity," but he has his values on...

Khomeini figured: Why import the false ideologies of a failing civilization? Doesn't it make more sense to export Islamism to the dying West? And, for a guy dismissed by most of us as crazy, Khomeini made a lot of sense. The Rushdie fatwa established the ground rules: The side that means it gets away with it. Mobs marched through Britain calling for the murder of a British subject – and, as a matter of policy on the grounds of multicultural sensitivity, the British police shrugged and looked the other way. One reader in England recalled one demonstration at which he...

The Vatican today dismissed suggestions that Tony Blair would use his meeting with Pope Benedict XVI tomorrow mornng to announce his conversion to Roman Catholicism. “Conversion is a strictly personal and private matter” a Vatican spokesman told The Times. “We do not enter into it”. He said it was possible that Mr Blair would advise the pontiff privately whether or not he intended to convert after leaving office, “but that is a matter for him”. The agenda for the audience includes world problems from Africa to the Middle East, and Mr Blair’s plans for an Inter Faith Foundation. The Vatican...

The White House is pushing for British Prime Minister Tony Blair to be made a special envoy to work on forming a Palestinian state in the unstable Middle East after he steps down, reports said Thursday. US newspapers cited unnamed officials as saying that the administration of President George W. Bush was laying the groundwork for Blair to be appointed as an envoy for Palestinian state-building, although Bush's spokeswoman refused to confirm the report Thursday. If Blair accepted the job, he would represent the diplomatic Quartet for the Middle East, comprising the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the...

Fred Thompson, the actor and former Senator widely seen as the Republicans' best hope for keeping the White House, called for a "blockade" of Iran yesterday. The screen veteran, whose announcement as the eleventh contender for the Republican nomination is expected within days, also warned that "jihadists" were trying to bring the West to its knees. Mr Thompson starred in Die Hard 2 and The Hunt for Red October before serving as Republican Senator for Tennessee. During a visit to London, he delivered a hawkish lecture on foreign policy, singling out Iran's nuclear ambitions as a key threat to the...

Tony Blair, the British prime minister, could end up swapping Downing Street for a job as the first full-time European Union president, under a plan being actively touted by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president. Mr Sarkozy is understood to have discussed the idea with other EU leaders ahead of next week’s European summit, Mr Blair’s last major international event as prime minister. His support for Mr Blair taking on a big European job is a remarkable sign of Anglo-French rapprochement since Mr Sarkozy replaced Jacques Chirac as president last month. German diplomats say Mr Sarkozy put his plan to Angela...

Tony Blair has been accused of 'knifing' Gordon Brown by holding secret discussions about a job as the first ever President of the European Union. The Prime Minister was entertained in Paris by new French president Nicolas Sarkozy at an upmarket restaurant called Thiou, where they agreed a joint agenda on Europe. French political sources have confirmed that President Sarkozy is keen for Mr Blair to take on a full-time paid role as the 'face' of the EU after he quits Downing Street. But such an appointment would be a disaster for the Chancellor, who has long struggled to escape...

Folks, the speech that British Prime Minister Tony Blair made on the 12th about the changing role of the media and how it is mostly failing to meet that change is a prescient one filled with spot on analysis and important insight. It is a Press bashfest on one hand, but it is far more intelligent than just sourgrapes, or indiscriminate bashing of the media. It is a very intelligent analysis of the changing world of communications and how the Press has intimidated people on one hand, but failed to uphold standards and taste on the other. I urge each...

Tony Blair called for new curbs on the media yesterday after warning that increasingly sensational news coverage threatened politicians' "capacity to take the right decisions for the country". In a bitter parting swipe at newspapers and television before he stands down as Prime Minister on June 27, he said the media behaved like a "feral beast, just tearing people and reputations to bits". Tony Blair yesterday: he said the internet had blurred the line between newspapers and television While Mr Blair acknowledged that New Labour shared some of the blame by "spinning" too much in the early days of his...

Tony Blair has discussed becoming a Roman Catholic deacon when he quits office. The revelation comes as he prepares to meet the Pope amid speculation that he will use the audience in the Vatican to announce his conversion. In his last foreign engagement, just days before he leaves Downing Street for the final time, the Prime Minister will visit Pope Benedict XVI in what officials say will be a "highly significant" personal mission.

AFTER September 11, 2001, ...we passed new anti-terror laws... We gave ourselves the ability, in exceptional circumstances, to detain foreign nationals who we believed were plotting terrorism but against whom there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. In December 2004 these laws were struck down by the courts. We have tried continually to deport foreign nationals who were either engaged in or inciting extremism. We have chosen as a society to put the civil liberties of the suspect first. I happen to believe this is misguided. If a foreign national comes here, and may be at risk in his own country,...

British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday called on the “authentic voices of Islam, in their various schools and manifestations” to speak for themselves, and to reclaim from extremists “the true essence of religious belief.” The prime minister was addressing the Cambridge Inter-Faith Program in central London, which according to the organizers gathered some of “the most distinguished (Islamic) scholars and religious leaders the world over.” The voices of extremism, stressed Blair, “are no more representative of Islam than the use, in times gone by, of torture to force conversion to Christianity, represents the true teaching of Christ.” The conference organized...

The absconding of three people on control orders because of suspicion of their involvement in terrorism has, once again, thrown into sharp relief the debate about terrorism and civil liberty. Within the next few weeks we will publish new proposals on anti-terror laws. Our aim is to reach a consensus across the main political parties. But at the heart of these new proposals will lie the same debate: the balance between protecting the safety of the public and the rights of the individual suspected of being involved with terrorism. First let us clear away some of the absurd criticism of...

Most of the war hawks who stood with President George W. Bush on Iraq are gone or departing, leaving Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney increasingly without much company in trumpeting a steely resolve. And it is Cheney who stands out as the administration's foreign-policy heavy, as Bush combines his war rhetoric with overtures to Democrats who control Congress. Bush's top ally in Iraq, U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, just paid a farewell U.S. visit. The supportive leaders of Spain and Italy are long gone. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resigned under pressure. World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz - one of...