“The world lost a great leader,” says Duterte (Eagle News) – Former president Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter Vice-President Sara Duterte honored and remembered the former prime minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, for his kindness to the Filipino people, and noting how “the world lost a great leader” with his demise. The 77-year old Duterte had formed a special bond with Abe, 67, referring to him as “more than a brother.” The former president […]
Tag: Prime Minister
UPDATED: UK PM Johnson steps down as Conservative leader
by Jitendra JOSHI / James PHEBY Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) –Boris Johnson resigned on Thursday as leader of Britain’s Conservative party, paving the way for the selection of a new prime minister after dozens of ministers quit his scandal-hit government. “It is clearly the will of the parliamentary Conservative party that there should be a new leader of that party, and therefore a new prime minister,” Johnson said outside 10 Downing […]
Israel parliament dissolves itself, sets November 1 election
by Yasmin Zaher and Ben Simon Agence France Presse JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli lawmakers dissolved parliament on Thursday, forcing the country’s fifth election in less than four years, with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid set to take over as caretaker prime minister at midnight. After the unanimous 92-0 vote, the centrist Lapid embraced outgoing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, whose year in charge of an unwieldy, eight-party coalition was ultimately undone by its ideological divisions. Lapid, […]
Anthony Albanese is sworn in as Australia’s prime minister
CANBERRA, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s new centre-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took office Monday a few hours before flying out to attend an international summit in Tokyo. Albanese, who says Australia is willing to engage with the world on climate change, will join a summit Tuesday with the US, Japanese and Indian leaders, known as the Quad. The 59-year-old new prime minister was sworn in at a brief ceremony in Government House, Canberra. Other […]
NZ prime minister Ardern tests positive for Covid-19
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who has overseen her country’s world-leading response to the coronavirus pandemic, has tested positive for Covid-19, her office announced Saturday. Ardern’s symptoms are moderate and she will isolate at home for seven days, the government said in a statement. She has already been in isolation since last Sunday, when her partner Clarke Gayford tested positive, and was due to resume her parliamentary duties […]
Plotting from the wings: Key players behind Pakistan PM’s ouster
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — Imran Khan was thrown out of office as Pakistan prime minister Sunday after losing a no-confidence vote in the national assembly. The drama caps weeks of machinations by the opposition aimed at unraveling the tenuous coalition Khan built around his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to become premier in 2018. Following are brief profiles of the key players in the saga: – Shehbaz Sharif – The brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz […]
Imran Khan dismissed as Pakistan PM after losing no-confidence vote
by Zain Zaman JANJUA and Nasir JAFFRY Agence France Presse ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — Imran Khan was dismissed Sunday as Pakistan’s prime minister after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament following weeks of political turmoil. A new premier will be chosen Monday, with Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif almost certain to be picked to lead the nuclear-armed nation of 220 million people. No prime minister has ever served a full term in […]
Israeli PM tests positive for Covid after Blinken talks
JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has tested positive for Covid-19, his office said Monday, after he met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Bennett, who met Blinken in Jerusalem on Sunday on the sidelines of a “historic summit” of Israeli and Arab diplomats, “is feeling well and will continue his schedule as planned from his home,” a statement from his office said. Also on Sunday Bennett visited the northern Israeli city […]
Polish, Czech, Slovenian PMs meet Zelensky in Kyiv
First visit of foreign leaders in Ukraine after Russia attack KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — The Polish, Czech and Slovenian prime ministers met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Tuesday in the first visit by foreign leaders to Ukraine’s besieged capital since Russia’s invasion. The prime ministers, who arrived by train, sat round a table with their Ukrainian counterpart Denis Shmyhal amd and the Ukrainian president, who detailed the situation to them. “They are shelling […]
UK PM Johnson safe for now, but future in jeopardy over ‘partygate’
by James PHEBY Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is “probably safe” for now despite a scathing report into government lockdown parties, but his long-term future is “very much out of his hands” as police probe the claims, analysts said on Tuesday. Johnson on Monday apologised after his government was criticised for “failures of leadership and judgment” in allowing parties at his offices during lockdown. His position […]
Roiled by presidential assassination, Haiti swears in new PM
by Robenson GEFFRARD Agence France Presse Port-au-Prince, Haiti (AFP) — Haiti’s new prime minister Ariel Henry took office Tuesday in the aftermath of the president’s assassination two weeks ago, pledging to improve the country’s dire security and to organize long-delayed elections. Henry was installed as head of a new government in an attempt to stabilize a country on the brink of chaos since the murder of president Jovenel Moise at his residence in the […]
Naftali Bennett: hard-right tech millionaire and Israel’s new PM
JERUSALEM (AFP) — Naftali Bennett, a multi-millionaire former tech entrepreneur who made his political name with hardline religious-nationalist rhetoric, will be Israel’s new prime minister after parliament approved a new government on Sunday. The 120-member Knesset voted in favour of an improbable coalition put together by centrist Yair Lapid, with a razor-thin majority but enough to end veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12 unbroken years at the helm. The coalition deal sees Bennett, an […]





