The Gaddafi regime warned British officials that there would be “dire consequences” for relations between the UK and Libya if Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi died in his Scottish jail cell, it has emerged.

British Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell warned former Prime Minister Gordon Brown that a phone hacking inquiry would be open to legal challenge, documents released by the Cabinet Office reveal.

SIX Kenyan leaders were yesterday accused of being behind organised violence following the country’s 2007 election that left more than 1,000 people dead.

The head of the Commonwealth Games rushed to New Delhi for emergency talks today as a ceiling collapsed in one of the venues.

David Cameron was today offered the keys to 10 Downing Street, after Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said that the Conservatives had the “first right” to seek to form a government in Britain’s first hung Parliament since 1974.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was fighting to keep Labour in power today by tempting the Liberal Democrats into a coalition government as Britain seemed set for a hung parliament.

A HUNG parliament comes about when no single party has a majority of the 650 MPs in the House of Commons after the general election.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced today that he will seek parliamentary approval for a referendum to ditch the first-past-the-post voting system for Westminster elections.

BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologised and announced an investigation yesterday amid angry questions about how private records containing nearly half of Britain’s bank details vanished in the post.

The British Government will examine the possibility of including police in the new Border Force, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said today.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro is in charge again after undergoing intestinal surgery, according to friend and ally Hugo Chavez.

British Conservative Party leader David Cameron today renewed his call for a Whitehall inquiry into the allegation that lives were put at risk by a series of leaks about anti-terror operations.

Relatives of those killed in a powerful Indonesian earthquake sobbed and threw rose petals on graves today as others began clearing rubble from their crumpled homes.

A powerful earthquake jolted western Indonesia today, killing at least 70 people and injuring hundreds as they fled shaking buildings, crumpled homes and hospitals, authorities said. Two school children were crushed by debris on a playground.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro – in his first live comments since falling ill more than six months ago – declared that he feels “more energetic” and his country is running smoothly without him at the helm.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon underwent additional tests and evaluations in a Jerusalem hospital today after suffering a mild stroke.

ISRAEL’S march toward what appears to be an inevitable early election picked up speed yesterday after new Labour Party leader Amir Peretz threatened to act quickly to bring down Ariel Sharon’s government.

A DAY after firing his top security commanders, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas went to the Gaza Strip yesterday to demand militant leaders stop attacking Israelis.

MASSIVE tidal waves triggered by an Indonesian earthquake slammed into southern India yesterday, killing more than 2,000 people and sweeping away boats, homes and vehicles, officials said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair today set up a review of intelligence on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction – but any hopes that its report would be the final word on the affair were dashed when the Liberal Democrats refused to take part.

PALESTINIAN militants are sending “very positive” signals that they are ready for a ceasefire with Israel, a top aide to the Palestinian prime minister has said.

Senior Philippine Government officials were locked in negotiations with rebel army officers today as a second deadline for them to end a mutiny in downtown Manila passed.

ISRAELI forces shot dead five Palestinians in three separate confrontations yesterday, including two men who crossed into the southern Israeli desert from Egypt, the army said.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat accused each other of stoking the Middle East conflict yesterday as a Palestinian gunman was killed and three Israelis wounded.

An Israeli government official today accused Egypt of trying to meddle in politics – bringing into the open a rift over Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s overtures to the Israeli left and his harsh criticism of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

A Palestinian bomber blew himself up at a busy crossroads today in northern Israel, killing only himself.

Palestinian medics began searching for bodies in the devastated Jenin refugee camp today, as Yasser Arafat conditionally accepted an Israeli proposal for a Mideast peace summit led by the United States.

Senior Israeli Cabinet ministers and security officials today ordered increased military pressure on the Palestinians after a weekend burst of violence in which four Palestinian attacks claimed 21 Israeli lives and 12 Palestinians died.

Ariel Sharon’s advisers have today claimed that the Palestinians have not yet met the Israeli Prime Minister’s condition for a formal truce - a week without attacks.

Israeli warplanes demolished a building in the West Bank, in retaliation for yesterday's suicide bombing in Jerusalem.