He may not have quite the online pulling power of President Higgins, but David Norris’s impassioned Senate speech on the Gaza crisis has already chalked up in the region of 250,000 views on YouTube.

William Hague has led fresh calls for a ceasefire in the Middle East after the bloodiest day of the Gaza crisis increased growing concerns over the safety of innocent civilians caught up in the conflict.

UK chancellor Alistair Darling will today stake hundreds of billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on a second bank bail-out in a bid to free up “blocked” credit markets and head off a worsening recession.

The French president’s office says he will co-preside a summit meeting in Egypt to discuss the Gaza crisis.