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Europe was rocked again last night after the latest populist surge against Brussels. The Italian prime minister was swept from power after calling a referendum on constitutional reforms, which became a vote on confidence in his government. Matteo Renzi resigned shortly after exit polls indicated a clear defeat, saying: 'I accept all responsibility for this loss. I'll say it out loud.' The result is a further landmark victory for populist movements, following Britain's vote for Brexit and Donald Trump's election win in the US. Mr Renzi's opponent Beppe Grillo had urged voters to 'go with your gut not your brain'...

John Key has announced that he will resign as prime minister of New Zealand, after eight years in the job. Mr Key called it "the hardest decision I've ever made," adding "I don't know what I'll do next."

BORIS Johnson has landed the plum job of Foreign Secretary in new Prime Minister Theresa May’s Cabinet. The chief Brexiteer arrived at Downing Street to be awarded the role as one of Mrs May’s first acts in Downing Street. Philip Hammond, a chief ally of the new PM, has been appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer after George Osborne resigned, and Amber Rudd has just been told she will be the new Home Secretary, with Michael Fallon staying on as Defence Secretary. And David Davis takes on a new role as Brexit Minister, and will be in charge of Britain’s negotiations...

No surprise, but for the record the deed is done. May is the 13th Prime Minister of the Queen's reign. Extensive coverage at the link

Mr. Cameron's last appearance in the House of Commons for the weekly grilling known as Prime Ministers Question Time (PMQ). Sometime this afternoon he will go the Palace to hand in his resignation to the Queen and "advise" the Queen to ask Mrs. May to form the next Government as PM.

No time like the present. Theresa May, Britain’s Home Secretary, was a Brexit oppponent before the vote. Now she’s becoming the nation’s most important Brexit supporter, because fellow Brexit opponent David Cameron couldn’t bring himself to abide by the people’s vote and leave the EU. So Cameron will step down as prime minister - not in October as first announced, but tomorrow - and May will succeed him with the difficult task of executing the decision the people made. And execute it she will:

Andrea Leadsom has pulled out of the contest to become the next Conservative Party leader and UK PM - with Theresa May now set to succeed David Cameron. Mrs Leadsom said she did not believe she had sufficient support to lead a "strong and stable government". She also said a nine-week leadership campaign at such a "critical time" for the UK would be "highly undesirable". The energy minister said Mrs May was "ideally placed" to implement Brexit, and wished her the "greatest success". A source close to the energy minister told BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg "the abuse has been...

LONDON (AP) -- The Latest on Britain's vote to leave the European Union (all times local): 4:25 p.m. Conservative lawmakers have chosen Home Secretary Theresa May and Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom to fight a runoff contest for leadership of Britain's governing party. The winner will become the country's second female prime minister.

Boris Johnson has announced he will not be standing in the Conservative Party leadership contest, a move that has surprised many Westminster commentators. There former London Mayor announced his decision this morning after Justice Secretary Michael Gove, widely seen as his running mate, decided to abandon him at the last minute and run for party leader himself. The shock decisions follow repeated criticism of Boris Johnson from ‘Leave’ supporters who raised concerns that he would renege on a pledge to end the EU’s free movement policy, and would not trigger Article 50 soon enough...

Yesh Atid party chairman Yair Lapid promised to "work very hard" to be the "next Prime Minister" Monday, at the annual Anti-Defamation League convention in Washington, D.C. "This is the time for Israel to move forward, and we [will] offer the public a detailed plan which will propel Israel back on the right track," Lapid promised during an on-stage interview during the event. Lapid added that Israel currently faces a number of challenges - both internal and external. "We have to have leadership which knows how to deal with these challenges," he said. The former Finance Minister noted that Prime...

The French Prime Minister has warned European leaders about saying that refugees will be "welcome" in Europe, because in just seconds their message will be "shared on smartphones in the refugee camps of Libya." "A message that says 'Come, you will be welcome,' provokes major shifts," Manuel Valls told the BBC in a video interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday. He said that Europe would likely become "totally destabilized" if it took in all refugees fleeing war-torn Iraq and Syria. ... Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi in Davos...

Sen. Rand Paul joined Donald Trump on Wednesday in questioning whether Sen. Ted Cruz is eligible to be president. "You know, I think without question he is qualified and would make the cut to be prime minister of Canada, absolutely without question, he is qualified and he meets the qualifications," Cruz told Fox News Wednesday. Cruz was born in Canada, and Trump has been talking about whether Cruz qualifies as a natural born U.S. citizen under the Constitution for the last few days. Trump went so far on Wednesday as to say Cruz should get a court decision to settle...

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi says Baghdad is willing to share anti-ISIS intelligence with Russia, Iran and Syria Oct 4, 2015 08:06 GMT Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi announced on Saturday that Iraq will share anti-ISIS intelligence with Russia, Iran and Syria if cooperation is requested. “We have been fighting ISIS more than a year and we have some important security information that no other country has regarding ISIS,” Abadi stated during a press conference which took place at the presidential office in the capital. Abadi also stated that he would welcome military equipment assistance from Iran, Syria...

FROM the loneliness of political exile, Tony Abbott is urging conservative members of the Liberal Party not to walk away from the party he led into government two years ago. Aware of the tsunami of anger created by his ousting among party stalwarts, the former prime minister is telling friends that the Liberal Party will always be a better organisation with good people working within it than against it from the outside. ..... It is noteworthy that it took Malcolm Turnbull and his accomplice Julie Bishop two years to achieve what Labor could not do — remove Tony Abbott from...

OF the five prime ministers we have had since the 2007 election, Australians have elected only two in their own right — Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott. They have voted out but one — Kevin Rudd, in favour of Tony Abbott. ..... But it is my view that, just like Kim Beazley was perhaps the best prime minister we never had, Tony Abbott was potentially the best prime minister we had but never knew it. ..... He espouses a set of values, principles and personal ethics that speak to community values that many of us could probably only aspire to....

It is being described as "front stabbing" - a brutal attack on his leader by Malcolm Turnbull, who has long coveted the job of prime minister of Australia.

It was not just Prime Minister Netanyahu who was cheered this week; moral clarity was applauded. Americans are tired of the aggression of the Iranian dictatorship. The Iranian dictatorship is like a domestic abuser; dressed up as a government. It picks on people whom they think will not fight back. Such a regime only responds to the toughest of legal measures short of war, sadly if at all. The craziest of Israeli detractors will throw out any argument they can against Israel, aggressively clawing upward while sinking in the quicksand of their fallacious arguments; arguments that the Prime Minister dispelled....

Left-wing victor of Greece's election, Syriza's Alexis Tsipras, says: "Today the Greek people wrote history" http://t.co/OKEjqZ2FKe — BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) January 25, 2015 Who is Alexis Tsipras – Greece's 'Harry Potter' or the man steering the EU towards an iceberg? http://t.co/vD4I4oVntV pic.twitter.com/ne4pj32aER — The Independent (@Independent) January 26, 2015 First act as PM, #Tsipras visits Kaisariani rifle range where Nazis executed 200 Greeks on 1 May 1944 v/@dgatopoulospic.twitter.com/a4CeNgsw66 — Damian Mac Con Uladh (@damomac) January 26, 2015 Syriza’s Tsipras sworn in after Greek government formed with rightwingers New PM takes oath after radical leftists agree to share power with...

A secret plea deal for Britain’s Prince Andrew’s pal Jeffrey Epstein protected the prince and any other high-powered friends who may have used his alleged sex slaves, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned. Federal prosecutors promised they “will not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein” if the Wall Street money manager pled guilty to two relatively minor state underage sex charges that put him in a local jail for 13 months, the confidential plea agreement obtained by Radar says. A lawsuit filed by four women, who say federal prosecutors illegally ignored them and kept them in the dark...

Kiev (AFP) - Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Thursday resigned in a shock move in protest at the disbanding of the ruling parliamentary coalition, plunging the strife-torn nation into political uncertainty. Yatsenyuk said the "government and the prime minister must resign" after the withdrawal of several parties triggered the break up of the European Choice parliamentary majority in a move that paved the way for long-awaited early legislative elections. The formal dissolution of the majority coalition in Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada gives President Petro Poroshenko the right over the next month to announce a fresh parliamentary poll. Poroshenko had pledged...