Friday, June 05, 2009 LONDON: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will reshuffle his government Friday, Downing Street said, following the resignation of five ministers and as poor local election results came in."We can confirm it's going to happen today," a Downing Street spokesman told, after Work And Pensions Secretary James Purnell called on Brown to go in his resignation letter Thursday.Purnell is one of three cabinet ministers who have resigned in the past week. Two other ministers outside the cabinet have also resigned. British news agency reported that finance minister Alistair Darling, who is leading Britain's response to the recession, would stay in his job, despite talk that Brown could replace him with his ally, Schools Secretary Ed Balls. Purnell said he was quitting because Brown's continued leadership made a victory at the next general election by the main opposition Conservatives "more, not less, likely."The first local election results were out early Friday, with Labour losing councillors to the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats' gain, after voters went to the polls Thursday. European poll results are being held back till Sunday, in line with other EU countries. Britain's 72 seats in the European Parliament were up for grabs, while voters in various parts of England also chose 2,318 local councillors and three mayors. Opinion polls suggested Labour could finish behind the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, and even fringe euro skeptics the United Kingdom Independence Party
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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