Nobody is (yet) accusing Merck of covering up hard evidence that Vioxx was unsafe: the allegation is that neither Merck nor the FDA seemed inclined to investigate suspicions of a problem.

ECONOMIST: Big trouble for Merck

So far, their main evidence has been a spate of posters accusing Frepaso of links to terrorism, and the noisy launch of several new magazines, allegedly subsidised by a government slush fund, that specialise in tendentious attacks on opposition figures.

ECONOMIST: Challenging the Peronists

The report has sterner criticism for Douglas Hogg, Agriculture Minister 1995-97, accusing him of not acting quickly enough when confronted with evidence of a link between vCJD and contaminated meat.

CNN: Britain's BSE: Where the blame is laid

Mrs Ahmed gave evidence on Monday which supported claims made by her daughter accusing her husband's family of making threats to kill.

BBC: Yaseen Ali Ege: Sara Ege was 'good mother', court told

Afterwards Mr Clegg said he "would have been a distraction" if he was there but several Conservative MPs criticised his decision to stay away, one accusing him of "cowardice", while Labour said it was evidence that the government was irreparably divided over Europe.

BBC: PM: Coalition will emerge 'very strongly' from EU row