Gordon Brown

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Top UK Minister Resigns Ahead of Police Inquiry

Cabinet member steps down amid yet another fundraising scandal

(Newser) - A leading minister in Gordon Brown's cabinet resigned today after UK police announced they were opening an investigation into his failure to disclose over $200,000 in donations. Peter Hain raised the money to contest an internal Labour Party election for deputy leader, which he lost. This is the third...

Northern Rock Plan Backfires on Brown
Northern Rock Plan Backfires on Brown
OPINION
Jan 22, 2008 10:55 AM CST

Northern Rock Plan Backfires on Brown

Scathing critics slam Labour handling of bank's failure

(Newser) - A day after the chancellor of the exchequer announced new plans to accelerate the sale of Northern Rock, the British press sees serious trouble for Gordon Brown's government and no certainty that the taxpayers' $110 billion will be repaid. Anatole Kaletsky, a leading Times columnist who has been sympathetic to...

Northern Rock Bailout Plan a Money Shuffle

Deal pays back government loans, but public still on the hook

(Newser) - The British government today unveiled its last-gasp plan to hand off the Northern Rock hot potato and prevent nationalization, the London Times reports. Under the plan, the bank would immediately pay back the £25 billion it owes the government by selling the debt to private investors as bonds. But...

UK Pushes 'Opt-Out' Organ Donor Plan

Patient groups say 'presumed consent' is no consent at all

(Newser) - UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is backing an initiative to let hospitals harvest organs from dead patients without their consent, the Telegraph reports. The plan, which could take effect this year, presumes consent unless patients opt out or family members object. The goal is to help the 1,000 Britons...

Patients Flee London Cancer Hospital Fire

Up to $1 billion in damages after blaze guts leading facility

(Newser) - A huge fire gutted one of the world's leading cancer hospitals yesterday, forcing up to 160 patients and 800 staff to evacuate and causing up to $1 billion in damages. London's Royal Marsden Hospital went up in flames after a small fire in a plant room spread through the building....

UK-Taliban Secret Talks Come to Light

Despite denials, British intelligence organized series of 'jirgas'

(Newser) - British intelligence agents held a series of secret talks with leading members of the Taliban this summer, reports the Telegraph. At jirgas in Afghanistan, the country's secret service attempted peace negotiations and offered "mentoring." Details of the meetings—as many as a half dozen—emerged just as Afghan...

Brown Orders Britons to Think Green
Brown Orders Britons to
Think Green
Dec 22, 2007 1:43 PM CST

Brown Orders Britons to Think Green

UK must count 'carbon cost' of new projects—a boon to clean energies

(Newser) - British PM Gordon Brown has told his ministers to count the cost of global warming—literally. For each ton of carbon a new project emits, the UK will tack on a “carbon price" to account for climate costs. The move will prove a boon to carbon-free energy sources like...

Brits Hatch Secret Plan to Bail Out Northern Rock

No good options for struggling bank

(Newser) - Worried that the state might be stuck nationalizing Northern Rock, Britain has worked up a contingency plan behind closed doors to divide the troubled bank among the country’s commercial banks. A private buyout is still preferable, the Guardian reports, but some now fear the main bidders will back out,...

EU Leaders Sign New Treaty
EU Leaders Sign New Treaty
Dec 13, 2007 9:58 AM CST

EU Leaders Sign New Treaty

But some clamor for referendum

(Newser) - Two years after the French and Dutch rejected the European Constitution, leaders of the 27 EU nations are signing the new Treaty of Lisbon today, aimed to strengthen union decision-making. Unlike the previous document, this one does not require nation-by-nation referendums to be ratified. That's caused a tremendous political headache...

Northern Rock Boss Quits as Fall Continues

$570M writedown posted; sale of troubled bank months away

(Newser) - The CEO of collapsing British bank Northern Rock quit this morning without comment, reports the Financial Times. Adam Applegarth resigned last month but had pledged to stay on as CEO until the end of January to guide the struggling company through its upcoming sale. But investors are troubled by the...

UK Wants to Talk to Taliban
UK Wants to Talk to Taliban
Dec 12, 2007 8:13 AM CST

UK Wants to Talk to Taliban

Brown to announce major revision of Afghan strategy, rankling Washington

(Newser) - Just back from Kabul, Gordon Brown is poised to announce a major strategic revision in Afghanistan that will involve dialogue with the Taliban. Senior British officials believe that treating the loose-knit organization as a unified terrorist actor is counterproductive, the Independent reports, and they want to move from fighting militants...

NATO &amp; Afghan Forces Rout Taliban
NATO & Afghan Forces
Rout Taliban
Dec 11, 2007 2:35 AM CST

NATO & Afghan Forces Rout Taliban

Taliban leaves stronghold as UK Prime Minister arrives

(Newser) - Taliban troops retreated from their last major stronghold in the southern town of Musa Qala in Afghanistan yesterday, ceding control to NATO and Afghan troops, the New York Times reports. After heavy bombardment and a troop attack, the Taliban was overcome by "heavy casualties," said a local police...

Defiant African Leaders Reject EU Trade Deal

Relations between continents sour over human rights, Mugabe

(Newser) - European-African trade talks at a tense Lisbon summit collapsed in their final session yesterday. If a new agreement isn’t reached by year’s end, the European Union may levy higher tariffs on African exports, further exacerbating tensions between the continents. A new, controversial set of agreements would have dropped...

British PM Gives Troops Surprise Visit

Vows Basra pullout in 2 weeks; mum on link to kidnappings

(Newser) - UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown surprised his troops with a visit in Iraq today and declared that Britain will cede control of Basra within two weeks, the Times of London reports. He told 300 soldiers that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki had advised the quick pull-out "so Iraq can...

'Muhammad' Teddy Bear Teacher Wins Pardon

Brit lords mediated; she'll be free today

(Newser) - A teacher who was sentenced to 15 days in jail in Sudan for allowing a classroom teddy bear to be named Muhammad has won a full pardon and will be freed today, the BBC reports. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir granted the pardon to Gillian Gibbons, 54, after meeting with two...

Brown Sinks Deeper Into Fund Scandal

Flap over illegal donations has Labour reeling

(Newser) - The British scandal over political donations deepened today with PM Gordon Brown implicated in the affair and facing possible questioning from police, reports the Times of London. Accusations of illegal proxy donations are engulfing the Labour Party, which only last year faced down a police inquiry over the so-called "...

UK Works to Free Teacher in Teddy Bear Flap

Brown: Embassy is 'giving all appropriate consular assistance'

(Newser) - Gordon Brown said today that UK officials are working to free the British citizen being held in Sudan for allowing her students to name a teddy bear "Mohammed." Gillian Gibbons was accused of blasphemy and faces prison time or 40 lashes. The British embassy in Khartoum is "...

Donations Scandal Fresh Blow to Brown

Party general secretary quits over 'murky affair'; rival Tories smell blood

(Newser) - The general secretary of Britain's ruling Labour Party has quit over secret donations made to the party, reports The Independent. The news is a fresh blow to party leader Gordon Brown, who had been hoping to launch a counter-offensive after a disastrous week that saw the rival Tory party open...

Rich Nations Break Climate Vow to Poor

$1.2B pledge to developing countries is mostly forgotten

(Newser) - Several of the world's richest nations have forgotten about a $1.2 billion pledge to help developed countries cope with climate change, the Guardian reports. The group has doled out less than $185 million so far to help them plan for global warming, defend against floods, and boost conservation. "...

UK Accused of Cover-Up in Data Loss
UK Accused of Cover-Up in Data Loss
Nov 23, 2007 12:27 PM CST

UK Accused of Cover-Up in Data Loss

Higher-ups okayed sending files with personal info on 25M

(Newser) - Alistair Darling's disastrous week continued today as the British chancellor of the exchequer faced accusations of a cover-up in the lost-data fiasco, the Telegraph reports. Contrary to Darling's claim that the loss of 25 million people's data was an error by a junior administrator, newly released e-mails indicate senior tax...

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