Tony Blair has taken a part-time post with US investment bank JPMorgan.

Mr Blair, who stood down as UK prime minister in June last year, has been employed "in a senior advisory capacity", the bank said.

He said he looked forward to advising the bank on the "political and economic changes that globalisation brings".

It is not known how much JPMorgan will pay him, but some estimates say more than $1m (£500,000) a year. The bank said he had a "unique perspective".

Flood alerts remain in force in the UK and the Netherlands, but latest reports suggest fears of storm-driven tidal surges have not materialised.

Despite some flooding along Britain's North Sea coast, authorities said the peak of the surge had passed without major incident.

A tidal surge in 1953 killed more than 2,000 people in the two countries.

Overnight, thousands of people were evacuated in England and surge barriers closed at the Dutch port of Rotterdam.

Several oil platforms were closed off the Norwegian coast and gales are forecast in Germany and Denmark.

French police have arrested 310 people suspected of having downloaded images of child pornography on the Internet, police said on Friday.

Police said 144 of those detained across France since Monday had admitted they had downloaded pornographic videos of young girls. Some also confessed that they had raped or sexually assaulted children. Around 20 people had been cleared.

"There's no specific profile," a police spokesman said, adding that the arrests had been conducted upon a tip-off from an Italian association for the protection of victims.

Gordon Brown has led tributes to the "inspirational" Dame Anita Roddick, who has died from a brain haemorrhage.

The prime minister said the 64-year-old founder of the ethical cosmetics chain Body Shop was "one of the country's true pioneers".

Her husband, Gordon, and daughters Sam and Justine were with her when she died at 1830 BST on Monday at St Richard's Hospital in Chichester, West Sussex.

She had been taken to hospital on Sunday after complaining of a headache.

Dame Anita set up the first Body Shop in Brighton in 1976. She pioneered cruelty-free beauty products and turned them into a highly profitable business.

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* Merger between utility giant Suez and Gaz de France agree to new conditions
* GdF Suez will have market value of $123.3 billion and revenues of $98.7 billion
* Suez CEO Gerard Mestrallet will be chairman and chief executive

The long-stalled merger between utility giant Suez and state-owned Gaz de France has been approved after the boards of both companies agreed to the creation of a second national energy giant, the two companies said Monday.

The new company, called GDF Suez, will have a combined market value of €90 billion ($123.3 billion) and revenue of €72 billion, making it one of the top three listed utilities worldwide, GdF and Suez said in a joint statement. The deal includes a spin-off of Suez' environment activities.

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* Mittal wraps up first part of its US$41B takeover of rival Arcelor SA
* Merge has created the world's largest steel company
* company will control 10 percent of the world's steel market

Mittal Steel Co. NV wrapped up the first part of its $41 billion takeover of rival Arcelor SA by combining with ArcelorMittal.

When the second phase of the deal is completed, it will create the world's largest steel company with about 10 percent of the global steel market.

Story Highlights
* 32 suspects arrested in Italian crackdown on organized crime clans
* Feud believed to have led to killings of 6 Italians in Germany this month
* Police carry out 40 arrest warrants, mostly in tiny Calabrian town of San Luca
* Arrested suspects not believed to be directly involved in German killings

Hundreds of police raided a small town in southern Italy on Thursday and arrested 32 suspected members of organized crime clans believed to be involved in a feud that killed six Italians in Germany earlier this month.