Britain and the US have pressed the G8 to agree to a new effort to curb the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Despite French opposition to what the Sun describes as an attempt to "hijack" the Evian summit, the two nations urged world leaders to back the Proliferation Security Initiative.

Tony Blair said that the G8 must send "a very clear signal" to nations such as North Korea.

The decision to press the weapons issue so soon after the war with Iraq threatens to strain relations between the representatives of the eight biggest industrialised economies.

An awkward meeting between the US president George W Bush and France's Jacques Chirac served to show that all is still not well between the world's big players.

Bush, who appears to have cast his differences with Russia's President Putin aside, also called on European to show its "conscience" in dealing with issues such as the Middle East peace process.

The prime minister and the US president are today leading calls for a fresh focus on the African aid effort.