International statesmen have to be prepared to deal with dubious dictators their mothers would not approve of, the President of the European Commission said today.

With thousands of people gathered in Central Park to protest against the violence in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan, one speaker likened the destruction there to the Holocaust.

The British government has revealed that it is considering using controversial anti-terrorism "control orders" in the North.

Rock star Bob Geldof today criticised Western governments for failing Africa as he headed back to Ethiopia to again highlight the plight of millions of people facing starvation.

BRITISH ministers were last night mounting a renewed diplomatic push to win backing for a fresh United Nations resolution on Iraq after being rocked by the biggest backbench revolt of modern times.

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday dismissed a Franco-German plan for peaceful disarmament of Iraq, saying it was absurd to think UN inspectors could find lethal weapons without Baghdad’s full co-operation.

A member of Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe’s regime tonight left Britain, less than 24 hours after he was detained and faced deportation.

The British government was today facing legal action for allegedly failing to press the US to respect the human rights of the Camp X-Ray prisoners.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair was today gearing up for a coalition-building visit to Washington and New York later this week as the world waits to see what action the United States will take over the terrorist attacks.

Ministers today welcomed an agreement reached at the world racism conference which recognised the injustice of slavery and colonialism.

President Mary McAleese and members of the British and Irish Governments were among the congregation at a memorial service in Dublin today for British Ambassador to Ireland Christopher Ewart-Biggs.