Blair criticizes Gordon Brown
LONDON, July 9 (UPI) -- Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair attacked his successor Friday, saying there was little continuity between his Labor government and Gordon Brown's.
Blair recommended a middle-of-the-road course for the Labor Party in a speech in London to Progress, a New Labor think tank, The Guardian reported.
"We didn't become old Labor exactly," Blair said of the handover to Brown in June 2007. "But we lost the driving rhythm that made us different and successful. It was not a government of continuity from 1997 to 2010 pursing the same politics. It was 10 plus three."
Blair was prime minister from May 1997 to 2007 and Brown held the post from June 2007 to May 2010 when he was replaced by Conservative David Cameron.
Blair said he supports the current Labor leader, Ed Miliband. But he warned Miliband and other party leaders against too much of the "politics of protest."
He said many of his policies were unpopular in the left wing of his party but supported by people who did not vote Labor.
"In the real world of the 21st century there will be some pick and mix of policy. Sometimes it will be less left versus right than right versus wrong," Blair said. "Above all today, efficacy -- effective delivery, motivated of course by values -- matters as much if not more than ideology. Don't fear it. Embrace it."
Pakistan fighting leaves dozens dead
KARACHI, Pakistan, July 9 (UPI) -- More than 100 people have died in ethnic clashes in Karachi in five days of violence, officials in Pakistan said.
Karachi police official Naeem Shah reported three deaths Saturday as clashes between two political parties, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Awami National Party, escalated, CNN reported.
Pakistan's Dawn News said the latest round of fighting had left at least 102 people dead in the last five days. The Sindh government Friday authorized police to "use necessary force to prevent terrorist acts."
Dawn said at least 13 people were killed in overnight gunfire. At least eight shops were burned in the Alibarh Colony Friday, while a commercial center in Kharadar met the same fate.
"We are moving the families to safe places and the exercise continues. Rangers troops helped mainly people in Qasba Colony and adjoining areas," a Sindh Ranger said.
Violence between the two factions has left hundreds of people dead in recent years, CNN said.
Wisconsin adopts concealed carry law
MADISON, Wis., July 9 (UPI) -- Wisconsin has become the 49th state to allow licensed handgun owners to carry concealed weapons.
Gov. Scott Walker signed the bill into law Friday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. That leaves Illinois as the only holdout.
The law, which also allows the carrying of concealed stun guns, takes effect Nov. 1. It passed the state Legislature last month on a bipartisan vote.
Applicants for permits must go through training and pass background checks. An amendment pushed by some Republicans would have eliminated the permit requirement but was rejected.
"By signing concealed carry into law today we are making Wisconsin safer for all responsible, law abiding citizens," Walker said in a statement.
Concealed weapons will not be allowed in law enforcement agencies, prisons and jails, secure mental-health facilities, courthouses and the secure areas of airports. Government buildings can ban them, but they must be allowed in public parks and other public open areas, including the Statehouse grounds.
Gadhafi forces pound Berber towns
TRIPOLI, Libya, July 9 (UPI) -- Libyan forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi are trying to cut a rebel supply route to Tunisia.
Government troops have been attacking Wazin, the only crossing on Libya's western border in rebel hands, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday. They have also attacked Nalut, a Berber town near Wazin.
NATO airstrikes have not ended the stalemate in Libya. But rebels have been attempting to advance toward Tripoli from Misurata, which is on the coast east of the capital, and more successfully from the southwestern mountains.
Berber tribesmen from the Nafusa Mountains are advancing toward Gharyan, the Telegraph said. The town is about 60 miles south of Tripoli and is a garrison point on the highway to the south.
The loss of either Nalut or Wazin could halt the Berber advance. Gadhafi forces have not tried to take them so far, the Telegraph said, but have been pounding them with heavy artillery.
