British Government in Chaos as Fifth Minister Quits
Pastor Dale Morgan
Friday, June 5, 2009
BRITAIN
*British Government in Chaos as Fifth Minister Quits*
Prime Minister Gordon Brown was dealt a devastating blow to his
leadership late Thursday when one of his most ambitious ministers
resigned and urged him to quit, too.
Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell, 39, became the fifth minister
to abandon the cabinet in recent days. But he was the first to openly
criticize Brown and ask him to step down, writing in his resignation
letter, "I am calling on you to stand aside to give our party a fighting
chance of winning."
Purnell's resignation comes as Brown prepares for a major cabinet
reshuffle amid a scandal over legislators' expense claims.
Brown's Downing Street office said that the prime minister was
"disappointed" by Purnell's resignation and that he learned of it only
at 10 p.m. It added that Brown's "focus over the coming days will be on
restructuring the economy through the downturn and strengthen it for the
future."
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Opposition leader David Cameron said the government was falling apart.
"With this resignation, the argument for a general election has gone
from being strong and powerful to completely unanswerable," he said.
-- Associated Press
NORTH KOREA
Reporters' Trial Begins
North Korea stayed silent Friday about the fate of two U.S. journalists
who were supposed to go on trial a day earlier on charges they entered
the country illegally and engaged in "hostile acts" -- allegations that
could draw a 10-year sentence in a labor camp.
Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for California-based Current TV, were
arrested March 17 near the North Korean border.
Their trial began in the communist country's highest court at a time of
mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula after the regime's May 25
nuclear test.
North Korea's official news agency said the trial would begin by
midafternoon Thursday, but nearly one day later, there was no word on
the status of the proceedings. A State Department spokesman said
American officials had seen no independent confirmation that the case
was underway.
North Korea has said no observers will be allowed to attend.
-- Associated Press
Bus Crash in China Kills 24: A fire aboard a public bus killed 24 people
and left another 44 hospitalized Friday morning in southwestern China,
state media reported. Another 10 people escaped the blaze in the city of
Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, the Xinhua News Agency said.
Pictures posted on blogs and Internet forums showed the bus in flames.
3 U.S. Troops Killed in Afghanistan: Taliban insurgents detonated a bomb
and opened fire on a vehicle carrying U.S. soldiers, killing three of
them, on a day that President Obama said in Cairo that he did not want
to keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan longer than necessary. The ambush
occurred near the main U.S. base in Bagram, north of Kabul, the third
such strike in the region in less than a week.
Romania Pulls Troops Out of Iraq: Romania's small military contingent
ended its deployment in Iraq, reducing the U.S.-led coalition to the
United States, Britain and Australia. Meanwhile, a U.S. soldier was
reported killed in a grenade attack in Kirkuk.
Canadian to Be Repatriated: A judge ordered the Canadian government to
repatriate Abousfian Abdelrazik, a Canadian man with suspected links to
al-Qaeda who has been living in the lobby of Canada's Embassy in Sudan
for a year.
Migrants Missing off Morocco: Eighteen illegal immigrants were missing
after their rubber dinghy capsized off northern Morocco. Spanish
maritime rescue services said they picked up 22 Moroccan migrants after
the boat overturned four nautical miles from Tangiers.
-- From News Services