Friday, June 05, 2009 LONDON: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown faced a battle to salvage his authority Friday after a minister insisted his continued leadership would spell disaster for Britain as he quit the government.In a shock move, James Purnell stepped down as work and pensions secretary, urging Brown to resign as the governing Labour Party braced for dire European Parliament and English local election results.Purnell left as the polls closed Thursday, with all eyes on whether other ministers would follow suit and turn against Brown. Brown now faces a difficult Cabinet reshuffle, which could take place later Friday if he decides not to hold off until Monday when the European election results will be known. Finance minister Alistair Darling and Foreign Secretary David Miliband are keen to stay in their heavyweight posts -- and could cause trouble if he ousts them.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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