World highlights

• The US is battling to stop next month's Group of Eight summit in Germany from pushing for urgent talks on a new deal to fight global warming after the Kyoto Protocol lapses in 2012. In a draft of the final communique for the June 6-8 summit seen by Reuters, Washington wants references taken out to the urgency of the climate crisis and the need for a UN conference in Bali in December to open talks on a new global deal.

• New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson officially joined the crowded Democratic field for the 2008 presidential nomination in a longshot bid to become the first Hispanic to occupy the White House. Mr Richardson launched his bid in California, the state with the largest Hispanic population and a pivotal player in the November 2008 election thanks to an early February primary.

• President George W. Bush and Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer yesterday pledged to try to reduce civilian casualties in Afghanistan but blamed the Taliban for using human shields. At the same conference, Mr Bush brushed off criticism of his foreign policy from former President Jimmy Carter even as Mr Carter tried to roll back on some of his comments. He said criticism like Mr Carter's was "just part of what happens when you're President," but made clear he disagreed with the Democrat.

• Campaigning for the French parliamentary elections began with polls suggesting President Nicolas Sarkozy's party will secure a strong majority for reforms and the left will get a fresh electoral drubbing.

• Tourists who stayed at the Portuguese resort where four-year-old Madeleine McCann was abducted were urged to hand over any holiday photographs which might contain clues to the British child's kidnapper.