John Majors

A respected left-wing magazine apologized to Prime Minister John Major and a caterer Monday for publishing an article on rumors that they had an extramarital affair. Major and Clare Latimer, who sometimes cooks at his Downing Street residence, filed lawsuits last week against the New Statesman and Society and the satirical magazine Scallywag for reporting allegations that they were involved in an affair. The New Statesman's editors "very much regret that the prime minister and his family and Ms.

WASHINGTON - Sending President Obama a bill Thursday that averts a government shutdown, Congress proved that it can, in fact, function. Not long ago, this was considered an unlikely outcome. Republicans in the House, trying to force Obama to accept deep cuts, had come close to shutting down the government before and appeared primed to do so again. But House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) has united his rambunctious majority ever so tenuously around a strategy that, for now, sets aside the cycle of crisis politics to aim for long-range objectives.

British Prime Minister John Major flies to Washington next week on a critical mission to size up a new American President. Major, who was on close terms with former President George Bush but has never met Bill Clinton, needs to establish the kind of personal friendship that has generally marked the special relationship between Washington and London.

Laura Bush joins actors, writers and a former British prime minister in pitching her favorite books for the annual "Who Reads What?" list, out in time for National Library Week.

Alexander Cockburn is right about the foot-dragging of British Prime Minister John Major (Commentary, March 7). The 17 months between the IRA cease-fire and the recent London bombings were marked by one maneuver after another by Major to stall peace talks on Northern Ireland. No doubt hard-liners in the IRA took the intransigence to mean that their cease-fire would never elicit a quid pro quo from the British. In late January, the prime minister rejected a call for all-party peace talks by the Mitchell Commission, the prestigious international body headed by the former U.S. senator from Maine.

John Major, who was endorsed by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as her successor and heir, was elected today as leader of the Conservative Party and will become prime minister. Major fell two votes short of the needed majority, but his opponents conceded defeat and Conservative Party officials declared him elected. Aides said Thatcher is "thrilled." Major, 47, her chancellor of the Exchequer, is the youngest person to be elected Britain's prime minister since the 19th Century.

The fiercely fought British general election ended in the wee hours of the Old Country's morning with a rather startling surprise. The Tories have won for the fourth consecutive time. Observers on this side of the Atlantic wonder whether the outcome there is any portent for what might happen here in November. It's understandable that the question would arise. Like the United States, Britain is in the middle of a bad recession, tempers are growing short and fears are growing long.

Laura Bush joins actors, writers and a former British prime minister in pitching her favorite books for the annual "Who Reads What?" list, out in time for National Library Week.

A number of hurdles await the visitor to No. 10 Downing Street--as the official residence of Britain's prime minister is known. But most noticeable is the elaborate succession of security checkpoints, tighter than ever in the wake of increased terrorism by the Irish Republican Army.

The British are having an election today, but given the way American journalists and pundits covered the campaign, it might as well have been an American election they were talking about. All we heard was how much the British, in their political style, are just like us. Prime Minister John Major was routinely compared to George Bush on the eve of his repudiation by the American electorate in 1992.

The British are having an election today, but given the way American journalists and pundits covered the campaign, it might as well have been an American election they were talking about. All we heard was how much the British, in their political style, are just like us. Prime Minister John Major was routinely compared to George Bush on the eve of his repudiation by the American electorate in 1992.

David Hill, who speaks for the juggernaut Labor Party, basked Friday at the happy junction where partisan analysis merges with conventional wisdom in a country marching toward potentially lopsided national elections. "Every night [Prime Minister] John Major must pray that we make a big mistake," Hill said at a morning-after encounter. "As things stand now, it's his only salvation."

Alexander Cockburn is right about the foot-dragging of British Prime Minister John Major (Commentary, March 7). The 17 months between the IRA cease-fire and the recent London bombings were marked by one maneuver after another by Major to stall peace talks on Northern Ireland. No doubt hard-liners in the IRA took the intransigence to mean that their cease-fire would never elicit a quid pro quo from the British. In late January, the prime minister rejected a call for all-party peace talks by the Mitchell Commission, the prestigious international body headed by the former U.S. senator from Maine.

Sex, that traditional despoiler of Conservative Party politicians, is creating yet more scandals threatening Prime Minister John Major's enfeebled government. The running scandals involve sexual, political and financial peccadilloes among Tory politicians, which flatly contradict earnest, upright Major's new policy, dubbed "back to basics"--the British equivalent of the American "family values" campaign in which God, church and family are stressed.

A Superior Court judge who issued a controversial gag order in a sexual harassment case against a finance company should have disqualified himself because the firm holds the mortgage on his home, a women's group has charged. Judge John H.

A number of hurdles await the visitor to No. 10 Downing Street--as the official residence of Britain's prime minister is known. But most noticeable is the elaborate succession of security checkpoints, tighter than ever in the wake of increased terrorism by the Irish Republican Army.

Sex, that traditional despoiler of Conservative Party politicians, is creating yet more scandals threatening Prime Minister John Major's enfeebled government. The running scandals involve sexual, political and financial peccadilloes among Tory politicians, which flatly contradict earnest, upright Major's new policy, dubbed "back to basics"--the British equivalent of the American "family values" campaign in which God, church and family are stressed.

David Hill, who speaks for the juggernaut Labor Party, basked Friday at the happy junction where partisan analysis merges with conventional wisdom in a country marching toward potentially lopsided national elections. "Every night [Prime Minister] John Major must pray that we make a big mistake," Hill said at a morning-after encounter. "As things stand now, it's his only salvation."

British Prime Minister John Major flies to Washington next week on a critical mission to size up a new American President. Major, who was on close terms with former President George Bush but has never met Bill Clinton, needs to establish the kind of personal friendship that has generally marked the special relationship between Washington and London.

A respected left-wing magazine apologized to Prime Minister John Major and a caterer Monday for publishing an article on rumors that they had an extramarital affair. Major and Clare Latimer, who sometimes cooks at his Downing Street residence, filed lawsuits last week against the New Statesman and Society and the satirical magazine Scallywag for reporting allegations that they were involved in an affair. The New Statesman's editors "very much regret that the prime minister and his family and Ms.