Mr Blair - who has made at least 20 million pounds since leaving Downing Street in June 2007 - also went to great efforts to keep hidden a 1 million pounds deal advising the ruling royal family in Iraq's neighbour Kuwait.

In an unprecedented move, he persuaded the committee which vets the jobs of former ministers to keep details of both deals from the public for 20 months, claiming it was commercially sensitive. The deals emerged yesterday when the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments finally lost patience with Mr Blair and decided to ignore his objections and publish the details.

News of the secret deals fuelled fresh accusations that Mr Blair is 'cashing in on his contacts' from the controversial Iraq war in what one MP called 'revolving door politics at its worst'. They will increase concerns that Mr Blair is using his role as the West's Middle East envoy for personal gain.

Hundreds have died this year in ethnic and religious violence around Jos. Although the violence in Nigeria generally takes place between Muslim and Christian communities, the underlying causes are a complex mix of political, social and economic grievances. Nigeria is roughly split between its largely Muslim north, and a Christian-dominated south.

In a statement, the foreign ministry said it was recalling its Tripoli ambassador for "urgent negotiations" because of the "irresponsible utterances of Colonel Gaddafi". "His theatrics and grandstanding at every auspicious occasion have become too numerous to recount," said the statement. Colonel Gaddafi, until recently head of the African Union, praised the partition of India in 1947 as the kind of "historic, radical solution" that could benefit Nigeria.

Splitting India in 1947 caused a breakdown of law and order in which at least 200,000 people died. Some estimates say one million people were killed. About 12 million people were left homeless and thousands were raped. An attempt by the Igbo people of south-eastern Nigeria to secede in 1967 sparked a war which left more than one million people dead.

He said Dutch leaders had told him that the presence of gay soldiers had contributed to the Bosnian massacre. Srebrenica was a UN safe haven under the protection of Dutch peacekeepers when, in 1995, Bosnian Serb forces overran the town, killing some 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

General Sheehan said the former chief of staff of the Dutch army had told him that the presence of openly gay soldiers in the Dutch peacekeeping force were seen as "part of the problem" which contributed to the fall of Srebrenica. He argued that since the end of the Cold War, European militaries had changed and he concluded "there was no longer a need for an active combat capability".

This "socialisation" process, General Sheehan said, "included open homosexuality" and led to "a focus on peacekeeping operations because they did not believe the Germans were going to attack again or the Soviets were coming back". Several countries - including Britain, Canada, Australia and Israel - allow gay people to serve openly.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu informed Washington of new confidence-building measures on the eve of the meeting. Washington's ties with Israel have been under strain over the settlements. A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Thursday killed a Thai agricultural worker when it hit an Israeli kibbutz. Israeli aircraft attacked up to six targets in Gaza overnight but there were no reports of any serious casualties.

The violence came as the EU's new foreign policy chief, Baroness Ashton, visited Gaza - one of the highest-level visits there by a Western official since the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas took power. Lady Ashton is to attend the talks in Moscow. In Moscow, US state department spokesperson PJ Crowley said Mrs Clinton and Mr Netanyahu had discussed specific actions that might be taken to improve the atmosphere.

It is likely this means a goodwill gesture by the Israelis, like the release of Palestinians prisoners, our correspondent says. Mr Crowley added that Washington would now review the prime minister's response and work with Israelis and Palestinian to keep the indirect negotiations, known as proximity talks, moving forward. Washington wants those talks to focus on the core issues at the heart of the conflict, like borders and Jerusalem, our correspondent says.

The Pope has announced he will sign the letter on Friday and it will be sent immediately to the bishops of Ireland in preparation for it to be read out in churches there on Sunday. The text will be published at the Vatican on Saturday.

The Pope's message will certainly express contrition for what he himself has already described as shameful and hateful behaviour by priests not only in Ireland but also in America, his native Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and even Australia. What was first perceived in Rome as a series of local scandals has now escalated into a worldwide problem for the Catholic Church with new allegations emerging each week from Catholics claiming they have been victims of sexual abuse by priests.

The implications for the Vatican are serious. The credibility of the Church as a guardian of morals is at stake - and the prospect of an avalanche of claims for compensation by victims threatens the financial ruin of some dioceses, as has already happened in the US, where the greatest number of cases has been reported.

Its leaders had been warned personally by Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, not to take any decisions that would deepen the crisis over sexuality within the worldwide church. But bishops and dioceses across the national church have now approved the consecration of Miss Glasspool, after she was elected last year, and a ceremony has been scheduled for May 15th. She and the Reverend Diane Bruce will become the first women bishops in Los Angeles.

Miss Glasspool, a Canon in the Diocese of Maryland who has been with her female partner since 1988, said: "I am also aware that not everyone rejoices in this election and consent, and will work, pray, and continue to extend my own hands and heart to bridge those gaps, and strengthen the bonds of affection among all people, in the Name of Jesus Christ."

The Right Reverend Jon Bruno, the Bishop of Los Angeles, said the move showed there were no barriers within the Episcopal Church based on "gender and sexual orientation". The Episcopal Church was the first in the 80 million-strong Anglican Communion to defy tradition and previous agreements by senior bishops and elect an openly homosexual bishop, the Right Reverend Gene Robinson, in 2003.

"The time has come to tell the truth", Dr Ben-Artzi told Arutz-7 radio. "I understand the Prime Minister's reaction to me, but the truth must be told. Obama is an anti-Semite." He said that Israel is dealing with a president who was educated by anti-Semitic preacher Jeremiah Wright.

He also told IDF Army Radio that Wright is "anti-Israeli, anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic." Obama was a devotee of Wright for two decades but distanced himself from the preacher during the presidential campaign two years ago. Dr Ben-Artzi told Arutz-7 that the United States is important to Israel from both the economic and security standpoints, but when the United States makes demands on Jerusalem, the time has come to tell the truth - we are talking about an anti-Semite."

He said that Prime Minister Netanyahu must follow the course of his predecessors since all of Jerusalem was restored to Israel in 1967. "Once the Americans tried to intervene in anything related to Jerusalem we told them one simple word: No. We Jews are a people from nearly 4,000 years ago. In another year, you [Obama] will disappear. Who will remember you?"

Dr Ben-Artzi said if President Obama is looking for a crisis over Jerusalem, then a crisis is what he will get.

Over 11,375 Europeans of various countries have already signed the online petition to keep Sunday as a day of rest in the whole of Europe.

Kastler presented the online campaign "Mum and Dad Belong to Us on Sunday" in the European Parliament at Strasbourg last month.

Kastler affirmed that this initiative "will strengthen direct democracy in the European Union."

He continued: "Thanks to the Lisbon treaty and the introduction of the European Citizens' Initiative, we as European citizens for the first time get the opportunity to stand up for our concerns. We want to use this opportunity to ensure a free Sunday." The Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force last December, included provisions for the European Citizens' Initiative, an innovation aimed at increasing democracy in the European Union.

The initiative allows citizens to appeal to the European Commission on a topic of interest. It requires 1 million citizens from a significant number of member states to come together on the topic, at which point the group is able to suggest laws and have a direct voice in the affairs of the European Union.

Kastler affirmed: "The work-free Sunday is part of our European culture. We need time for our families and relationships, for civil society and religion. A life full of working days is unlikely to be fulfilling. The work-free Sunday is an essential pillar of the European Social Model and a part of the European cultural heritage."

The British pound is tottering. The economy finds itself in its worst crisis since 1931, and the country came within a hair's breadth of a deep recession. Speculators are betting against an upturn. Instability in the banking sector has had a more severe impact on government finances in Great Britain than in other industrialized countries. London's budget deficit will amount to 186 billion pounds (205 billion euros, or $280 billion) this year - fully 12.9 percent of gross domestic product.

Indeed, the problem has become so worrisome, that the European Commission told London on Wednesday to do more to tighten its budget, according to a draft report leaked to Reuters earlier this week. "The fiscal strategy outlined in the United Kingdom's convergence program does not foresee the correction of the excessive deficit by the fiscal year 2014/2015, as recommended by the Council," the European Commission said in a statement.

To complicate matters, Britons will go to the polls in a few weeks, probably on May 6. The next prime minister will have his work cut out for him: reducing the massive budget deficit, restructuring the banking industry and successfully reorienting the economy. And he'll have to do it all on a shoestring budget. "The British will spend the rest of their lives paying for the debts that the banks and this government have brought upon us," says Mike Whitby, the Tory mayor of Birmingham. "The UK is poorer than it thought it was," writes the Financial Times. And there is nothing in sight that could provide the country with reliable support.

Message to New Yorkers: don't start spending your tax refund money because it's going to be delayed. Half a billion dollars' worth of refund checks were put on hold last Friday, and state beancounters won't start sending you your money until at least April 1. "I apologize that we had to do this. I hope it serves notice on the public of how serious our financial situation is," Governor David Paterson said.

Several hundred thousand New York taxpayers will be affected with most getting an average refund of $1,000. People who filed in late February and early March might have to wait as long as six weeks till the checks are in the mail. The governor said the move was unavoidable. He's also planning to withhold $1.5 billion in school payments and aid to local governments.

"The damage at this time would be far worse because if we do not pay our debts on time, it thrusts the state into a downgraded credit rating," Paterson said. Tell that to people who were counting on the refund money to get them through these tough economic times.

However, the analysts doubt that President Barack Obama's administration, which has made Arab-Israeli peace a national security priority, will achieve anything if it has indeed adopted such a strategy. In unusually harsh words, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday that his right-wing government's plans to build new settler homes in east Jerusalem sent a "deeply negative signal" about Israel's ties to its top ally.

"Is this about regime change, or is it about (Israeli) behavior modification?" asked Aaron David Miller, a Middle East peace negotiator in past Republican and Democratic administrations. "Because either way, it's going to be a rocky ride," Miller told AFP

Haim Malka, a top analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told AFP "there is no obvious or viable alternative to Netanyahu at the moment" when asked if "regime change" could work. "And trying to trigger a reshuffling of the Israeli political landscape will more likely lead to paralysis rather than a coalition willing to make political compromises with the Palestinians," he said.

She will later head to Moscow for a meeting of the Middle East Quartet, made up of the EU, US, UN and Russia. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in the Russian capital for the talks. In the Middle East, Baroness Ashton is also scheduled to meet Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Israeli President Shimon Peres. But it is her visit to Gaza which is arousing the most interest, says Jon Donnison, the BBC's Gaza correspondent.

Only two European foreign ministers have come to Gaza in the past year, our correspondent notes. Foreign officials are often refused entry by Israel, or their governments choose not to come because they do not recognise Hamas. The visit has been welcomed by the United Nations, which says the blockade of Gaza has left hundreds of thousands in Gaza living in poverty.

Baroness Ashton is on a regional tour that began in Cairo and also includes Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. On Wednesday she visited Jerusalem where she met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and held a joint press conference with Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman. During the conference, she said that Israel must return to the negotiating table immediately.

The 20-strong commission will report to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the top doctrinal body. For almost 30 years, the Virgin Mary has been said to appear daily in Medjugorje, dressed sometimes in a grey dress and veil and sometimes in gold, crowned with stars and floating on a cloud.

It is said she speaks in Croatian, uttering the words: "I've come because there are many true believers here. I wish to be with you to convert and reconcile the whole world."

Until the commission reports back to the Church's top doctrinal body, believers are likely to continue to flock to this small Bosnian town. Around 30 million are estimated to have visited since the first sighting of what they call "Our Lady".

Our academia, the university professors, left or right, dare not, because, most likely, they would lose their salaries. Our politicians dare not because they are master practitioners of euphemism, hedging, doubletalk, and outright deception, and they need your votes as well as your money. Our editors dare not because they would lose subscribers. Businessmen dare not because they might lose customers and clientele. Even ordinary clerks dare not because they might be discharged. So I thought I would tell you.

My fellow Americans, America is faced with a formidable enemy. This enemy has a name: Islam. I think it is time to revisit the First Amendment of the US Constitution and see if Islam is qualified as a religion. Is this an outlandishly absurd proposal? Not at all, serious problems require equally serious solutions. The call for evaluation of the First Amendment may be seen as an attempt to curb Islam or other militant cults. The truth is: it is. It is truly a matter of survival of the United States and the free world.

I argue that any belief system that licenses murder in the name of Jihad and the conquering and subduing of the world of the infidels by the Ummah, should be outlawed. Prophet Mohammed brewed up a militant, radical and extremely irrational imperialistic cult that sought world dominance. My fellow travelers, let us make one thing clear; Islam is no more a religion deserving our respect or legal recognition than is cannibalism.

It is time for the Americans to call upon the lawmakers of the United States of America to immediately create a safety board and commissioner to study and examine the dangers of Islamic dogma in our society. In the monumental task of dealing with Islam, every individual, group and government must combine their resources and energies to prevail. The destiny of the civilized life hangs in the balance. Shirking responsibility is an unpardonable act of every enlightened human being and organization that values human liberty and dignity.

The disclosure of Chinese military aid comes as the Obama administration tries to persuade Beijing to join other members of the UN Security Council, the EU and major non-aligned states such as Brazil to adopt a new set of tough sanctions to punish Iran for its nuclear-arms program. Proliferation of defense industrial know-how and brain power from Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet republics to Iran - specifically advanced anti-ship missiles, nuclear technology and ballistic-missile designs - has been at the top of US concerns since the fall of the Soviet Union.

Iran has made little effort to disguise what analysts say is a modern-day "underground railroad" of Russian and Ukrainian scientists who traveled to the Islamic state on what were officially deemed "tourist" visits or to attend scientific conferences with benign themes. In reality, the scientists are engaged in assisting Iranian weapons development programs. A 2009 CIA report to Congress states that assistance from Chinese and Russian entities "helped Iran move toward self-sufficiency in the production of ballistic missiles."