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By Jane Merrick and Dominic Ball PA NewsPrime Minister Tony Blair today

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By Jane Merrick and Dominic Ball, PA NewsPrime Minister Tony Blair today briefed senior MPs on Britain's role in the war on terrorism following the attacks on the US. At a Downing Street meeting Mr Blair brought influential backbenchers up to date on his trip to Washington and on what the next steps in the international crisis would be.The MPs called the briefing "unprecedented and very useful" and added that it was increasingly likely that Afghanistan – believed to be harbouring prime suspect Osama bin Laden – was the target in any military action.The meeting was held amid increasing speculation that Parliament will be recalled early in order to debate the crisis. Mr Blair also briefed Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith in Downing Street.Following the talks, Donald Anderson, chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, said the Prime Minister had been "extremely reassuring" during the briefing."He was surprisingly relaxed given the schedule he has had over the past few days," he said."We are showing our solidarity, the next phase is to come."And Bruce George, chairman of the defence select committee, said that the Prime Minister had been as frank with committee members as he could be."It seems increasingly likely that the target is in Afghanistan."Mr George said that he had neither asked nor been told the timing of any attack against targets in Afghanistan."It was a confidential, off–the–record briefing."Mr Blair invited members of the House of Commons committees on foreign affairs,home affairs, defence and intelligence to Downing Street to brief them ondevelopments.He was also holding talks with Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith later today.Before the meeting of MPs, Mr Blair's official spokesman said the Prime Minister wanted to take the opportunity "both to brief them on his trip to Washington, and discussions within the European Council and to be as open as he can be as to where we are at the moment".But he also wanted to hear the views of the MPs.Mr Blair would be "in briefing and listening mode", the spokesman added.Chris Mullin, chairman of the home affairs select committee, said after the meeting that he was confident "long–term thinking" was taking place.The Labour MP said he believed the Prime Minister was acting as a "moderating influence" in discussions over the response to the terrorism in America."I think it's fairly obvious that the trail leads back to .. Osama bin Laden. The question is, how do we get hold of him? I think that force is going to have to be used."But there were calls for Parliament to be recalled so that an open debate could take place.Labour MP Dr Tony Wright, chairman of the public administration committee, said it was inevitable that Parliament would be recalled early to debate the international crisis."I suspect there's been a shift of mood on the part of Number 10 about this," Dr Wright told BBC Radio 4's World at One."Parliament is supposed to be the great forum of the nation, and it is absurd that this is something which is being discussed in every other forum across the nation, yet the one great forum is being denied debate – that can't be right."A private meeting is no substitute for Parliament itself meeting."The House of Commons and House of Lords sat for one day in the wake of the attacks on Washington and New York to debate the crisis.The Prime Minister's spokesman confirmed earlier that a second recall of Parliament was being kept under review.And deputy prime minister John Prescott said it had not been ruled out.He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It's always a matter for consideration and the Prime Minister is calling together the main parliamentary committees today, of course, to explain the kind of actions he is taking and what he is doing, and no doubt parliamentary political leaders will be consulted in these processes.". Billy Connolly, the Glasgow-born comedian, revealed yesterday how he was sexually abused by his father as a child. Billy Connolly, the Glasgow-born comedian, revealed yesterday how he was sexually abused by his father as a child. Connolly spoke out in a biography written by his wife, Pamela Stephenson – a trained psychologist and fellow comedian – which is being serialised in a Sunday newspaper.The comic disclosed how his childhood was scarred by a father who frequently "interfered with him" and an aunt who subjected him to violent physical and verbal attacks.Now aged 59, Connolly described how he was abandoned by his mother when he was three and his sister, Florence, was five. Taken in by two aunts, he grew up in an overcrowded flat where he had to share a bed with his father, who often came home drunk and molested him over a period of about five years from the age of 10.Connolly said he was only able to confront his "dark secret" by telling his wife when his father, William, died in 1989.Describing how he was haunted by a sense that his father had been disloyal, he added: "I love his memory now as much as I loved him when he was alive It was disloyal of him to do that to me. But there were other facets of his character that were great."But still, I kept thinking if I'm troubled by this I need someone to tell me how to get rid of this great weight.".

The body of a five-year-old boy has been found floating in the river Thames with his limbs and head hacked off. The body of a five-year-old boy has been found floating in the river Thames with his limbs and head hacked off. The body is believed to have been in the water for up to 10 days, police said.Detective Superintendent Adrian Maybanks said the body of the boy, of Afro-Caribbean descent, was spotted by a person crossing Tower Bridge on Friday afternoon. A police launch recovered the body and a search of the river and shoreline for other body parts was continuing yesterday.Detectives said they were going through missing person files to try to discover the boy's identity. He was wearing only orange shorts, labelled Kids and Company, with German washing instructions printed inside.Detectives are contacting their counterparts in Germany for help to trace the source of the clothing. A few outlets in Britain also sell the shorts.Det Supt Maybanks said: "The child died a very violent death. It's very tragic and traumatic." He said the body could have been thrown into the river at any point from Teddington Lock in the west to the Thames estuary in the east.. The gay scene in industrial Salford and Bury is not quite a match for Paris, Rome and Vienna but both are anticipating the prospect of following those cities as a host for Europe's biggest gay festival.

The gay scene in industrial Salford and Bury is not quite a match for Paris, Rome and Vienna but both are anticipating the prospect of following those cities as a host for Europe's biggest gay festival. The host city for the 2003 Europride festival, which attracted 200,000 to Vienna last year, will be revealed today and by rights it ought to be heading to Manchester, a city basking in international awareness created by the Channel 4 drama Queer as Folk, which was filmed in its gay village.After a week of lobbying at last week's Europride organisers' association in Cologne, where the 2002 festival is to be held, the city is the favourite to beat Copenhagen and Marseille to the 2003 event.But a long-running spat between the city's council and gay community over the direction of Manchester's annual Mardi Gras festival has resulted in a council declaration that Europride may not be welcome, and prompted gay leaders to approach neighbouring municipal authorities instead.The Mardi Gras festival was founded in 1989 with a few stalls around a pub on Canal Street, but fell under the aegis of the council in 1998. To many it seemed the gay element was being erased by municipal influence, particularly when the words "gay" and "lesbian" were removed from its official title. "They wanted to make the event more of a party for Manchester," said Julian Lyons, a Europride bid co-ordinator.Manchester city council's representatives on gay and lesbian issues are demanding greater involvement than they are being offered by the gay community if they are to support the Europride bid.Bury, surprised by the prospect of following in Cologne's footsteps, has said it will consider hosting the festival, and Salford council's leader, Bill Hinds, is "ready to listen to what they have to say".The Manchester bid team showed Europride organisers the delights of Salford, Trafford and Bury when they visited during last month's GayFest festival in Manchester.. Almost two-thirds of Britons want"surgical" air strikes against countries harbouring terrorists, although there is less support from women than men, according to a poll published yesterday.The survey showed that voters have been impressed with the Prime Minister's reaction to the crisis but have far less confidence in the American President.

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