British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was making a raft of changes to his government yesterday, bringing back some of the Labour Party’s stalwarts in a comprehensive shake-up meant to sharpen the focus on the economy.
Britain’s BBC and Sky News reported that Brown was appointing new Cabinet ministers handling briefs including business, defense and transport. Among the more surprising moves was the recall of European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson from his post in Brussels to replace Business Secretary John Hutton.
Brown’s office declined to discuss whether the leader had finalized the changes until a formal announcement was made. A Brown spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with policy, said the prime minister was attending a memorial service yesterday for a slain policeman in Luton, north of London.
Mandelson and Brown have had a testy history since Mandelson backed former British prime minister Tony Blair for the Labour Party leadership in 1994. Blair won the contest after Brown stepped aside, and he rewarded Mandelson for his support with key Cabinet jobs.
Mandelson served as trade minister, but was forced to resign over a home loan scandal, but then won plaudits in the sensitive post of Northern Ireland Secretary. But his stint there was ended by a row about British passports provided for the ultra-rich Indian Hinduja brothers, and he moved to Brussels in 2004
The BBC said Hutton would become defense secretary, replacing Des Browne — who has held the Cabinet portfolios for both the armed forces and Scotland.
Both Sky News and the BBC reported that Brown’s chief whip Geoff Hoon — a former defense secretary — would take over the Transport Ministry.
The BBC said Vodafone chairman John Bond would lead a new economic panel.
Brown had been expected to reshuffle his team before parliament returns to business after a summer break.
Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said last week that she told Brown in May she wanted to quit her Cabinet post to spend more time with her young family.
Junior Trade Minister Digby Jones also had said he wanted to step down.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the