Ambassadors at large

The political agonising over what to do about Iraq and Iran was ratcheted up by two American ambassadors with outspoken remarks on the potential for further disaster in both countries. John Bolton, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told a congressional committee that a military strike could halt Iran's nuclear programme if diplomatic efforts failed, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to Baghdad, admitted a Pandora's box had been opened in Iraq that could lead to regional war and religious extremism.

The US vice-president, Dick Cheney, chipped in with the thought that Iran could face "meaningful consequences" over the nuclear stand-off, and Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, claimed Iran was sending Revolutionary Guards into Iraq to stir up trouble.

The Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, another politician not noted for a low profile, managed to keep in the headlines ahead of the Italian elections by becoming involved in a controversy over a protocol-breaking meeting with the Pope and then telling poor Italians that if they wanted to improve their lot they should simply work harder.

The architect Lord Rogers became embroiled in a row over the £1bn project to extend the Jacob Javits convention centre in New York when Jewish leaders in the city objected to his association with a pro-Palestinian group, and there was controversy around the appointment of Daniel Bethlehem, previously an adviser to Ariel Sharon during the battle of Jenin, to head the foreign office legal team.

French students occupied campuses to protest against a new law that was intended to relieve crippling youth unemployment but which, they said, took away their job protection.

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