The world is in the grip of a "virulent" new strain of anti-Semitism, says the Chief Rabbi of Orthodox Jews in Britain. Britain itself is facing an increasing number of anti-Semitic attacks.

Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks joined representatives from different religious communities at the Holocaust Educational Trust’s ‘Lessons from Auschwitz Project’ this week.

Both the Vatican and the UK government have declared themselves pleased with the private audience that UK Chancellor Gordon Brown enjoyed with Pope Benedict XVI in Rome last week.