London  - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is hoping to shore up his flagging political fortunes by offering videos of his speeches and media appearances on his office's own TV channel, to be called Number10TV.

The new online channel, accessible via the website of 10, Downing Street, the seat of the British government, will offer "exclusive video of the prime minister's speeches, press conferences, media appearances and news archives," according to the company providing the technology.

The initiative fits in with Brown's broader strategy of trying to reverse the sharp fall in his poll ratings by reaching out to the public.

Lisbon  - Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva has ordered the closure of the airspace over the southern Albufeira district where he is holidaying, the daily Diario de Noticias reported Thursday.

The measure, which is unprecedented in Portugal's recent history, affected especially the beach of the village of Sao Rafael, where Cavaco Silva has a summer residence. The airspace will remain closed until August 31, when the president returns to work.

National security coordinator Leonel de Carvalho justified the measure by saying that being a president represented a permanent security risk.

Warsaw  - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet with his Polish counterpart in September despite recent tensions and threats from Moscow over a proposed US anti-missile shield to be hosted in Poland, it was reported Thursday.

Citing anonymous sources Wyborcza, Poland's largest daily, said that Lavrov is to discuss the Russian-controlled Strait of Baltiysk with Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski.

The waterway is the Vistula Bay's only connection with the Baltic Sea, and the only route from the sea to the Polish port of Elblag.

Russia has on several occasions blocked access for Polish vessels and closed access completely in 2006.

Baghdad  - The leader of Iraq's Islamic Party was shot and killed in an apparent assassination in Mosul province, a party spokesman said Thursday.

Beirut  - Lebanese judicial authorities on Wednesday turned down a request to free four army generals who have been held without charge since August 2005 in connection with the assassination of ex- premier Rafik Hariri, a judicial source said.

"The judicial authorities refused to free the four men, who have pleaded their innocence in the assassination," the source said.

Paris  - French President Nicolas Sarkozy will not meet the Dalai Lama during the latter's upcoming visit to France, the Elysee Palace said Wednesday.

The Tibetan religious leader had given current circumstances not requested a meeting with the French president, a palace statement said.

According to Le Figaro however Sarkozy's wife Carla Bruni will attend a religious ceremony led by the Dalai Lama for the opening of a Buddhist temple in Roqueredonde in southern France.