Tony Blair today apologised to Britons caught up in Hurricane Katrina who said they felt "abandoned" by by the Foreign Office. Today we'll be contacting Gary Younge in New Orleans for an audio dispatch from the empty, ruined city, which he described in this piece in today's Guardian. We'll also be updating our list of blogs covering the aftermath of the tragedy.
Mr Blair's comments came during a visit to China, where he later held talks with President Hu Jintao in his capacity as holder of the rotating EU presidency. Also in China, there are conflicting reports over whether the EU and China have in fact reached a deal to end the so-called "bra wars".
In Indonesia, at least 117 people died today when an aircraft crashed into a crowded residential area in the city of Medan shortly after takeoff.
And here on Newsblog we'll have the first of Berlin correspondent Luke Harding's daily dispatches ahead of the German election in two weeks' time.
