Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have reached a secret pact guaranteeing the Chancellor's central role in a future Labour government until the handover of power when the Prime Minister steps down. The deal was aimed at repairing the renewed damage to their strained relationship to get them through the general election. Mr Brown insisted on Mr Blair making a public declaration that he would remain chancellor following speculation that he would be moved or sacked. Mr Blair did it on Wednesday. The pact emerged as Labour members opposed to Mr Blair's leadership - including former ministers - called for tactical voting to oust Blairite candidates in the election.

CAIRO (Reuters) - A probable suicide bomb attack on Thursday in a Cairo bazaar popular with tourists killed a French woman and the bomber, Egypt's cabinet spokesman said. 16 others were wounded in the attack, which early investigations have shown was probably carried out by an Egyptian man whose remains had yet to be identified.

KABUL (Reuters) - Nine people were killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday when a military helicopter crashed during severe weather, the U.S. military said. The CH 47 Chinook helicopter crashed in Ghazni province, 80 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul, while on a routine mission, a spokeswoman said. There were no survivors. "We have nine confirmed casualties. I don't have the full list of the passengers or other details now," said U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant Cindy Moore. The helicopter was one of two Chinooks returning to Bagram Air Field north of Kabul from a mission in southern Afghanistan, Moore said. The other arrived safely at Bagram.

Heavily armed insurgents have launched an audacious attack on the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, wounding 44 American soldiers and 12 prisoners, the US military said. The raid on Saturday night, which the self-proclaimed "al-Qa'ida wing in Iraq" claimed to have carried out, targeted an outbuilding with two suicide car bombs, American officials said, and followed up with small-arms fire and grenades.

Pope John Paul II's funeral will take place on Friday at 1000 (0800 GMT) in Rome, the Vatican has announced. His body will lie in state in St Peter's Basilica from Monday afternoon until Friday morning, with the church staying open late into the night.

A fierce firefight between Saudi security forces and suspected Islamic militants raged on in the north of the kingdom for a second straight Monday, leaving as many as eight militants dead and at least 15 security personnel wounded, media reports said. Saudi commanders said the death toll among the militants remained unclear as security personnel had yet to enter parts of the complex where they were holed up in the northern town of Al-Rass. They said at least three militants had been killed since the gunbattle erupted early Sunday but Saudi-owned media put the toll as high as eight.