Former President George Bush Snr was in good spirits as he gave a speech last night, a day after being overcome by the sweltering desert heat and staying overnight at a Southern California hospital.

Former US president Gerald Ford could be released as soon as tomorrow after responding well to treatment for the pneumonia that put him in hospital over the weekend.

Former US President Gerald Ford, suffering from “a horrible cold”, was in the hospital in California today for what his chief of staff called routine medical tests.