THE parents of missing Irish aid worker Sharon Commins are to meet the Sudanese Ambassador to Ireland tomorrow after he said the net was tightening on the gang who kidnapped her.

POLITICIANS were left red-faced yesterday when a rare opportunity to meet the United Nations Secretary General was cut short to allow TDs attend a minor Dáil vote on procedures in the House.

THE poverty stricken African country of Malawi should remain high on the Government’s priorities for overseas aid after significant improvements in recent years, an Oireachtas committee has said.

The Government was today accused of failing to champion the basic human rights of the Palestinian people.

PRESIDENT Mary Mc-Aleese led the Irish condolences to the family of Benazir Bhutto and the people of Pakistan last night, saying she was “shocked and saddened” by Ms Bhutto’s assassination.

SERVING TD and former Fianna Fáil minister Michael Woods will benefit to the tune of €75,000 due to a change in legislation being introduced by party colleague, Tánaiste and Finance Minister Brian Cowen.

Ireland has an excellent track record in the global effort to rid the world of nuclear weapons, former UN chief weapons inspector Dr Hans Blix said tonight.

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern yesterday said violence would not resolve the crisis in the Middle East, but again made clear the Government’s reluctance to commit troops to a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

FORMER United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix will appear before an Oireachtas committee in September to discuss ways of combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

President Mary McAleese has said she is devastated by the ongoing violence in Lebanon and today called on both sides to pull back from the brink.

FEARFUL Irish emigrants working illegally in the US hope a new visa deal can be hammered out to let them stay.

The Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs is to discuss the situation of the illegal Irish in America next week.

THE son of the murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane said yesterday that his family would refuse to participate into a new British Government inquiry into his death because it was a sham.

The Taoiseach may not fill Ivor Callely’s job until the New Year and it is likely to go to for a North Dublin backbencher, it emerged today.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was today urged to avoid embarrassment on the world stage by setting a new date of 2010 for honouring Ireland’s promise on overseas aid.

The US Ambassador to Ireland has snubbed tomorrow's meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The plight of illegal Irish emigrants in the US will be the subject of a Dáil Committee meeting next week.

The Government must call on the United Nations to establish a global watchdog to respond to humanitarian catastrophes like the Asian tsunami disaster, it was claimed today.

THE US Ambassador should be asked to appear before the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs to discuss the heavy-handed treatment of Irish people living illegally in the States, a leading opposition spokesman said yesterday.

Overseas Aid Minister Connor Lenihan has said the Government is committed to providing 0.7% of GNP to developing countries.

THE Government will come under pressure today to disclose the intelligence it relied upon in assessing whether the Iraqi regime possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD).