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David Cameron has arrived in Canada for his first international summit as prime minister, calling for them to be "more than just grand talking shops".

Mr Cameron said they should be tightly focused on key priorities.

Political leaders from the G8 are meeting in Muskoka, Ontario on Friday to discuss trade, aid and maternal health in the poorest countries.

The G20 group of nations gather in Toronto on Saturday, with the global economy on the agenda.

Mr Cameron, writing in Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper, called himself the "new kid on the block".

He said there should be "fresh thinking and renewed political leadership" on issues like trade, aid and the global economy, and said the summits should focus on delivering concrete results.

"Too often, these international meetings fail to live up to the hype and the promises made. Good intentions are shared in productive talks.

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I believe we must each start by setting out plans for getting our national finances under control

David Cameron UK Prime Minister World 'cannot rely as much on US'

"Then, somehow, those intentions rarely seem to come to fruition in real, tangible global action. When we meet again a year later, we find things haven't really moved on," he wrote.

He said the "the biggest promise" to deliver was fixing the global economy.

"The question is how we will deliver. Of course, there must be the flexibility for countries to act, taking account of their own national circumstances.

"But I believe we must each start by setting out plans for getting our national finances under control."

His comments came as US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the BBC that the world "cannot depend as much on the US as it did in the past".

Mr Geithner said that other major economies would have to grow more for the global economy to prosper.

The US and Europe would take "different paths, at a different pace" in order to reach the common goal.

"It's going to require different things as we have different strengths and weaknesses," he said.

High-level talks

Mr Cameron will meet US President Barack Obama, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Chinese Premier Hu Jintao later and is expected to hold one-to-one talks with President Obama on Saturday.

It will be his first meeting with the president since taking office last month and is likely to be dominated by the military campaign in Afghanistan and BP's continuing efforts to stop the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, following the fatal explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

The two leaders are expected to reaffirm their commitment to Nato's strategy in Afghanistan despite the sacking of its top military commander in the country, Gen Stanley McChrystal, for criticising White House officials.

In a phone call on Thursday, No 10 said Mr Cameron had impressed on the US president the determination of Lt Gen Nick Parker, the British officer who has taken acting command of operations, that the mission should not "miss a beat" during this period.

Mr Cameron met Navy personnel on board HMS Ark Royal

The G20 meeting is expected to focus on efforts to support growth in the global economy while reducing national deficits as well as individual countries' proposals for bank taxes.

Before heading to Toronto, Mr Cameron met British servicemen and women aboard the HMS Ark Royal, which is taking part in an international fleet review in Nova Scotia.

The prime minister paid tribute to troops who had lost their lives in Afghanistan and reiterated his commitment to renewing the military covenant - the duty of care that the government has to support the armed forces and their families.

"I want all of these things refreshed and renewed and written down in a new military covenant that we write into law so we show how we stand up for our armed services," he said.

"I want our military once again to be front and centre in our national life."

Australia's new Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has assured US President Barack Obama that she supports the military campaign in Afghanistan.

She said she had told him by phone "he should expect to see Australian efforts in Afghanistan continuing".

Australia has about 1,550 soldiers in Afghanistan, mostly training Afghan National Army recruits.

Mr Obama sacked his commander in Afghanistan this week after Gen Stanley McCrystal mocked his officials.

Appointing Gen David Petraeus in his place, the US leader said US strategy would not be affected.

Ms Gillard became Australia's first female PM after ousting her predecessor Kevin Rudd in a leadership challenge.

She is due to preside over her first cabinet meeting later on Friday.

"I assured President Obama that my approach to Afghanistan will continue the approach taken to date by the Australian government," she told reporters.

'Enduring alliance'

Ms Gillard said Australia and the US had a strong and enduring relationship.

"We are close as nations, we are in an enduring strategic alliance, we are close as peoples. We have fought together around the world, and we continue to fight together in Afghanistan," she said.

"We spoke about the cost this causes to our nations, but our determination to continue the deployment continues."

The recent deaths of five Australian soldiers have brought Canberra's involvement in the campaign under closer scrutiny at home.

Ms Gillard said President Obama had expressed regret at having to twice postpone a visit to Australia.

She told him that "any time he chooses to travel to Australia he would be very welcome".

Ms Gillard, who was born in Barry, Wales, was sworn in as prime minister after a surprise leadership vote in the ruling Labor Party on Thursday.

Mr Rudd chose not to take part in the ballot knowing he would suffer an embarrassing defeat to his deputy, correspondents say.

The Labor Party has suffered a sharp drop in support and Ms Gillard vowed to revive its fortunes ahead of a general election due in October.

The Indian government's new $280m package to compensate the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster falls short of expectations, campaigners say.

The government has said the money will also go into cleaning up the polluted factory site and improve medical treatment of the victims.

The move follows public outrage after seven former managers at the plant were given two-year jail sentences.

Some 3,500 people died within days and more than 15,000 in the years since.

The convictions are the first since the disaster at the Union Carbide plant - considered to be the world's worst industrial accident.

Amid rising public and media pressure the government appointed a group of senior ministers to look again at issues such as compensation for those affected, and what to do about continued pollution at the now abandoned plant.

Campaigners and groups working for the gas victims are meeting in the capital, Delhi, on Friday to protest against what they call the failure of the government to give "enhanced compensation" for the victims.

'Not satisfied'

"We are not satisfied with the compensation, we are not satisfied with the rehabilitation [plan for victims] and we are not satisfied about the approach to corporate liability [in the new compensation package]," Ms Rachna Dhingra told the BBC.

BHOPAL'S DEATH TOLL

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• Initial deaths (3-6 December): more than 3,000 - official toll
• Unofficial initial toll: 7,000-8,000
• Total deaths to date: over 15,000
• Number affected: Nearly 600,000
• Compensation: Union Carbide pays $470m in 1989

Source: Indian Supreme Court, Madhya Pradesh government, Indian Council of Medical Research

Bhopal voices: 'Justice denied' 'Travesty': Indian papers react

The government announced the new compensation package on Thursday.

Minister Ambika Soni said the government would also gather new evidence against Warren Anderson [the then chairman of the US-based Union Carbide parent group] and "thereafter press the request for [his] extradition".

Mr Anderson is retired and lives in the US.

The new compensation will help double the payout for the families of the dead to $22,000, and increase payments for those with health defects.

"More than 45,000 victims who were affected most severely by the tragedy will receive additional ex gratia payments," Ms Soni was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

The funds will be also used to upgrade local medical facilities and set up a research centre in Bhopal.

They will be used to clean up the polluted factory site which will be dismantled by 2012, Ms Soni said.

Twenty years ago Union Carbide paid $470m (£282m) in compensation to the Indian government.

Dow Chemicals, which bought the company in 1999, says this settlement resolved all existing and future claims against the company.

But campaigners like Satinath Sarangi, who heads a group of survivors, said that the government must take "strong action" against Dow Chemicals.

"The government has failed to understand the scale of damage," Mr Sarangi said ahead of Thursday's announcement.

"There is no mention of the second and third generation victims and the constant medical complications being caused by the contamination," he added.

Correspondents say the fact that the Bhopal tragedy is back in the news at the same time as the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has added to the sense that victims of the 1984 disaster have been terribly let down.

Commentators in India have pointed out that the US government appears far more concerned about a disaster in its own back yard than one which took place years ago in the developing world.

There has also been trenchant criticism of the Indian government response over the years, and of Union Carbide - now owned by Dow Chemicals - for failing to do more to help.

An extradition treaty does exist between India and the United States - but so far all requests by India for Warren Anderson's extradition have been turned down by the American government.

The organisation that controls the international diamond trade has failed to agree whether Zimbabwe should be allowed to resume diamond sales.

Following talks in Israel, members of the Kimberley Process said discussions had been "clouded" by the arrest in Zimbabwe of a human rights activist.

Farai Maguwu had alleged that forced labour was being used to develop Zimbabwe's new Marange diamond field.

Zimbabwe has accused the West of trying to hold back its economic development.

The diamonds from the Marange field could see the country become one of the world's top six exporters and generate $1.7bn a year.

But human rights groups want Zimbabwe to remain banned from selling "blood diamonds" - those which are used to fuel a conflict.

'Impasse'

Despite extending their deliberations in Tel Aviv by a day, Kimberley Process chairman Boaz Hirsch announced on Thursday evening that they "could not reach consensus" regarding the work at Marange.

"As such, the meeting ended at an impasse," a statement said.

"This situation is unprecedented in the Kimberley Process meeting but all parties are committed to further engagement."

Further talks on whether to lift the worldwide ban on Zimbabwean diamonds would take place next month in the Russian city of St Petersburg, Mr Hirsch added.

The organisation angered human rights groups this month when a monitor it appointed to assess the mining operations at Marange said Zimbabwe had met the minimum conditions to resume exports.

On Tuesday, a Zimbabwean judge denied bail to Mr Maguwu after he was arrested for "peddling falsehoods" about the diamond trade.

The Kimberley Process suspended diamond exports from Zimbabwe last November in response to allegations of atrocities committed by security forces since 2008 against those who flocked to the Marange field when it was discovered.

Some 200 miners have allegedly been killed, while many have complained of harassment, torture and forced labour. Officials deny the allegations.

Zimbabwe's government said on Wednesday that it planned to sell diamond stockpiles from Marange regardless of the Kimberley Process decision.

The organisation was set up in 2002 after the diamond trade was accused of fuelling conflicts in Africa.

A bomb blast at the offices of Greece's public order ministry in Athens has killed a close aide to the minister responsible for counter-terrorism.

Police said the victim had opened a parcel bomb.

The explosion happened only metres away from the office of the minister, Michalis Chryssohoidis, who was unhurt.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said the bombing was a terrorist attack. So far no group has said it was beind the bomb.

'Cowardly murderers'

The blast was so powerful that some in the heavily guarded building thought it had been struck by an earthquake, the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens reports.

The victim was later identified as Giorgos Vassilakis, a 50-year-old father of two.

Visibly shaken, Mr Chryssohoidis said he had "lost a valuable and beloved colleague".

"We cannot be scared and we cannot be terrorised. These cowardly murderers will be brought to justice."

The minister added that the parcel had been meant for him.

Mr Papandreou also branded the bombers "cowards", adding: "They will get the response that they deserve not only from the state but also from all of society. The terrorists will not reach their objective."

Greek terrorism expert Dr Athanasios Drougas told the BBC that the bomb was probably the work of Revolutionary Struggle, the country's most deadly active guerilla group.

In recent months police have made major breakthroughs against Revolutionary Struggle and another militant organisation, Conspiracy of Fire.

Dr Drougas said Revolutionary Struggle was sending a message that its was not defeated and was still capable of striking at the heart of the Greek government.