Beijing has reacted angrily to a Pentagon report on China's military power, which claimed it was altering the military balance in Asia. A foreign ministry spokesman called it a "gross distortion of the facts", urged an end to "Cold War thinking". In its annual report to Congress, the Pentagon said China was developing "disruptive" technologies for nuclear, space and cyber warfare. It could be used to enforce claims over disputed territories, the report said.

The Pentagon reported that China was successfully managing to expand its arsenal of sophisticated weaponry, even though Beijing's ability to sustain military power at a distance remains limited. Chinese "armed forces continue to develop and field disruptive military technologies", including "nuclear, space, and cyber warfare".

The Pentagon analysis said China was developing weapons that would disable its enemies' space technology such as satellites, boosting its electromagnetic warfare and cyber-warfare capabilities and continuing to modernise its nuclear arsenal. It also noted a build-up of short-range missiles opposite Taiwan, despite a significant reduction in tension between the two in recent months.

When President Barack Obama comes to London next week, he will find one great power missing at the world's summit table: Europe. Five of the 20 leaders at the G20 meeting will be Europeans, representing France, Germany, Britain, Italy and the EU, but the whole will be less than the sum of its parts. There will be plenty of Europeans but no Europe.

Obama's European trip, which continues to the Nato summit and then an EU-US meeting in Prague, will also be about foreign and security policy. Here, Europe is even less of a single player. To be fair, Europeans have got their act together on diplomacy with Iran, though it remains to be seen whether that European unity would survive an American request for more economic sanctions on Tehran. On most of the other big issues on Obama's agenda - Afghanistan, Pakistan, relations with Russia and China, nuclear proliferation - there is no Europe. There are individual European countries.

Unlike George W Bush at the beginning of his first term, President Obama is both ideologically and pragmatically predisposed to work with a stronger, more united Europe. But even he can't work with something that doesn't exist.

Israel's military fired white phosphorus over crowded areas of Gaza repeatedly and indiscriminately in its three-week war, killing and injuring civilians and committing war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today.In a 71-page report, the rights group said the repeated use of air-burst white phosphorus artillery shells in populated areas of Gaza was not incidental or accidental, but revealed "a pattern or policy of conduct".

"In Gaza, the Israeli military didn't just use white phosphorus in open areas as a screen for its troops," said Fred Abrahams, a senior Human Rights Watch researcher. "It fired white phosphorus repeatedly over densely populated areas, even when its troops weren't in the area and safe smoke shells were available. As a result, civilians needlessly suffered and died."

Human Rights Watch found 24 spent white phosphorus shells in Gaza, all from the same batch made in a US ammunition factory in 1989 by Thiokol Aerospace. Other shells were photographed during the war with markings showing they were made in the Pine Bluff Arsenal, also in America, in 1991.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday issued an order against demolishing Israeli homes built on Palestinian land in the West Bank settlement of Ofra, saying that the matter must be investigated before such action is taken.

Barak's order was made in response to a petition submitted last June by five residents of the nearby Palestinian village of Ein Yabrud and the Israeli rights group Yesh Din and B'Tselem, demanding that the High Court of Justice instruct the state to evacuate the settlement.

The petition referred to nine settlement structures built in an area apparently been constructed on private Palestinian land. The houses were built without permits and in violation of the settlement's master plan. Work continued despite injunctions to halt it that were issued almost two years ago, and demolition orders that were issued subsequently were also ignored. Advertisement In a response submitted to the court on Sunday, Barak said he recently decided to refrain from demolishing the houses "at this time," for three reasons. First, the issues raised by these houses are also relevant to other houses in Ofra aside from the nine in question. Second, people have been living in these houses for many months. Third, the houses are located deep inside the settlement, not on its outskirts. Therefore, a comprehensive policy relating to the entire settlement is needed, and it would be wrong to set a special policy that applies to these houses only, said Barak.

Israel's next Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said his government will be a "partner for peace" with the Palestinians.

The Likud leader pledged to work for peace, security and "rapid development of the Palestinian economy".

"I think that the Palestinians should understand that they have in our government a partner for peace, for security and for rapid economic development of the Palestinian economy," he said. "Peace: It's not the last goal. It's a common and enduring goal for all Israelis and all Israeli governments - mine included," he added. But there was no word about a possible two-state solution, which Palestinian negotiators have been urging him to adopt.

The Czech Republic's centre-right minority government has lost a vote of no-confidence midway through the country's six-month EU presidency. Four rebel MPs voted with the opposition Social Democrats and Communists against PM Mirek Topolanek.

Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek said ahead of the vote that the government could "complete the Czech EU presidency or its substantial part". However, Mr Topolanek has ruled out the idea of a caretaker government until June, when the EU presidency passes to Sweden. According to the constitution, Czech President Vaclav Klaus must decide who to choose to form a new administration. If three attempts to do so fail, early elections will be called.

The BBC's Rob Cameron in Prague says this surprise result, which threw observers completely off guard, could have far-reaching consequences beyond the country's borders. In addition to chairing the European Council, the Czech Republic is also in the middle of ratifying the Lisbon Treaty and is in talks with the United States on placing a radar base on Czech soil. All these important foreign policy initiatives are now thrown into doubt, our correspondent adds.

The US government is to increase security at the country's border with Mexico in an attempt to combat drug cartels, the White House has announced. Immigration, customs and anti-drug agents and gun law enforcement officers will be reinforced as part of a $700m (£475m) undertaking.

Some 8,000 have died in Mexico in the past two years in drug gang turf wars. The south-west US has also seen rising violence and kidnappings.

The money will come out of funds already allocated by the US Congress to assist Mexico in its fight against the drug cartels.

China says video footage that purportedly shows Chinese security personnel violently beating Tibetans last year is "a lie". The video apparently shows protesters being beaten with sticks, and kicked and choked by China's security forces. The Tibetan government-in-exile says the footage shows China's "brutality".

a Chinese government official said many of the images and voices in the video had been pieced together from different sources. The video-sharing site YouTube has recently been blocked in China, which could be because the site had been carrying the contentious video.

The Tibetan government-in-exile says that about 220 Tibetans were killed and nearly 1,300 seriously injured following the unrest last year. The Chinese government says at least 18 civilians and one policeman were killed, mostly in riots in Lhasa on 14 March.

The Czech government lost a parliamentary vote of no confidence on Tuesday, suffering an embarrassing defeat midway through its presidency of the European Union and casting doubt on the country’s ability to shepherd the world’s biggest trading bloc during a time of economic crisis.

the Czech government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek seemed to be collapsing more as a result of political infighting.

Mr. Topolanek said Tuesday that he would resign after the motion passed, 101 to 96, in the 200-seat lower house.

Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's next prime minister, was last night on the verge of forming a majority coalition after the Labour party agreed a last-minute deal to join his incoming government.

Netanyahu will be prime minister, with Lieberman as his foreign minister and Barak remaining as defence minister, where he was a key figure behind Israel's three-week war in Gaza.

Labour's central committee voted by 680 to 570 in favour of the deal, despite bitter divisions among the party hierarchy. Some at the meeting in Tel Aviv last night showed their frustration, shouting "disgrace" after the result was announced.Netanyahu already has Lieberman's Israel Our Home party on board, as well as the ultra-Orthodox Shas. Now with Labour he has a total of 66 seats - a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel's parliament. However, it is unclear whether the seven Labour MPs who opposed Barak will accept the party's decision or rebel and refuse to support the government.

China's central bank has called for a new global reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund to replace the US dollar.

China's central bank has called for a new global reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund to replace the US dollar. Central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan did not explicitly mention the dollar, but said the crisis showed the dangers of relying on one currency. With the world's largest currency reserves of $2tn, China is the biggest holder of dollar assets. Its leaders have often complained about the dollar's volatility.

Mr Zhou said the dollar could eventually be replaced as the world's main reserve currency by the Special Drawing Right (SDR), which was created as a unit of account by the IMF in 1969. "The role of the SDR has not been put into full play, due to limitations on its allocation and the scope of its uses," he said. "However, it serves as the light in the tunnel for the reform of the international monetary system."

An aide to Japanese opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa has been charged with violating a political funds law, Japanese media has reported.

Japanese media said the charges put more pressure on Mr Ozawa to decide whether or not to resign. Before the scandal broke, Mr Ozawa was considered a likely victor in national elections which must be held this year.

Analysts had predicted Mr Ozawa stood his best chance ever of unseating the incumbent Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader, Prime Minister Taro Aso, in the coming elections. Such a victory would end almost 50 years of unbroken rule by the LDP, which is facing huge voter discontent amid worsening economic gloom.

Israel's Labour leader Ehud Barak has reached a provisional deal with PM-designate Benjamin Netanyahu on forming a coalition, Israeli army radio says. The centre-left Labour party is divided over whether to join a government with Mr Netanyahu's Likud and will vote on the agreement shortly. The right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu and Orthodox Jewish Shas parties have already agreed to join a coalition.

Mr Barak is defence minister in the current government and would retain the post in the next government, Israeli army radio reported. Under the draft agreement, Labour would also get five cabinet posts and the government would commit to continuing negotiations with the Palestinians and to respecting previous deals made with them.

A Likud member of the Knesset, Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, said there was general agreement between Likud and Labour on the main international challenges facing the incoming government. "In terms of other issues like the peace process with the Palestinians, and probably other day-to-day issues, there will be an argument, but this is not what's going to bring the government down," he told the BBC. "Because in practical terms, I don't think that either side really believes that it's possible to reach an agreement with the present Palestinian leadership in the near future."

Jacqui Smith said Whitehall needed "to enlist the widest possible range of support" as she unveiled a new UK terror strategy. The plans include training 60,000 workers in how to stay vigilant for terrorist activity and what to do in the event of an attack.

The strategy also warns nuclear weapons could fall into terrorist hands. It says the al-Qaeda leadership is likely to fragment, but the threat from those it inspires will remain.

Ms Smith said the "extremely broad-ranging" strategy would include ways of tackling radicalisation, supporting mainstream Muslim voices, preparing for the event of an attack and reaching out for support to the wider community.

The US and its European allies are ­preparing to plant a high-profile figure in the heart of the Kabul government in a direct challenge to the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, the Guardian has learned.The creation of a new chief executive or prime ministerial role is aimed at bypassing Karzai. In a further dilution of his power, it is proposed that money be diverted from the Kabul government to the provinces. Many US and European officials have become disillusioned with the extent of the corruption and incompetence in the Karzai government, but most now believe there are no credible alternatives, and predict the Afghan president will win re-election in August.

As well as watering down Karzai's personal authority by installing a senior official at the president's side capable of playing a more efficient executive role, the US and Europeans are seeking to channel resources to the provinces rather than to central government in Kabul.

The idea of a more dependable figure working alongside Karzai is one of the proposals to emerge from the White House review, completed last week. Obama, locked away at the presidental retreat Camp David, was due to make a final decision this weekend.Obama is expected to focus in public on overall strategy rather than the details, and, given its sensitivity, to skate over ­Karzai's new role. The main recommendation is for the Afghanistan objectives to be scaled back, and for Obama to sell the war to the US public as one to ensure the country cannot again be a base for al-Qaida and the Taliban, rather than the more ambitious aim of the Bush administration of trying to create a European-style democracy in Central Asia.Other recommendations include: increasing the number of Afghan troops from 65,000 to 230,000 as well as expanding the 80,000-strong police force; ­sending more US and European civilians to build up Afghanistan's infrastructure; and increased aid to Pakistan as part of a policy of trying to persuade it to tackle al-Qaida and Taliban elements.

President Barack Obama has said that the US must have an "exit strategy" in Afghanistan, even as Washington sends more troops to fight Taleban militants.

Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, told the BBC: "In the past, the United States government stove-piped it, they had an Afghan policy and a Pakistan policy. We have to integrate the two and I hope the rest of the world will join us in that effort." Mr Holbrooke said Taleban sanctuaries in Pakistan's tribal areas along the Afghan border were the primary problem for Kabul.

"What we're looking for is a comprehensive strategy [for Afghanistan]," President Obama told the CBS programme 60 Minutes on Sunday.