Blair out … Bush next?
Tony Blair has announced that he would step down on June 27 after a decade as prime minister, and told Britons disillusioned by the war in Iraq that he had always done what he believed was right – even if Britons think what he did was wrong, terribly wrong.
Blair’s popularity has suffered since he sent British forces to join the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. A Labor Party rebellion in September forced him to say he would quit within a year, opening the way for Gordon Brown to take over.
“Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right,” Blair told Labor Party members in his constituency in northern England. “I may have been wrong, that’s your call. But believe one thing, if nothing else: I did what I thought was right for our country.”
US President George W. Bush, who developed a remarkably close relationship with Blair, said the prime minister was a long-term thinker and a man who kept his word.
“When Tony Blair tells you something, as we say in Texas, you can take it to the bank. We’ve got a relationship such that we can have really good discussions — so I’ll miss him, he’s a remarkable person and I consider him a good friend,” he said.
Don’t worry too much, Mr. President. In November next year, you could leave the Iraqi quagmire and join your buddy Tony in the dustbin of history!
Brazilians show Pope ‘art’ of kissing … and groping
Pope Benedict told young Brazilians to avoid sex before marriage and say no to drugs at a huge rally on Thursday in Brazil, a South American country renowned for its lusty attitude toward sex.
Young men and women should build their lives around their families and stay faithful to their spouses once married, the Pope told more than 30,000 excited youths packed into a soccer stadium in Sao Paulo.
It turned out that so many youths attended the gathering because they thought the Pope would give them free condoms!
And as the Pope was speaking about celibacy and the dangers of premarital sex, many teenage couples in the crowd were seen kissing and groping each other!
Brazilian gays express their sentiments to Pope Benedict in Sao Paolo.