ISRAELI warplanes violated Lebanese airspace yesterday, triggering retaliatory anti-aircraft fire that Israeli sources said sent shrapnel over the border into Israel.

THE US and Britain denounced the abuse of Iraqi detainees by US forces and vowed to punish those responsible as the Arab world reacted angrily to photographs from inside an Iraqi prison shown by CBS television in America.

Tony Blair was gearing up today for another week of hectic diplomacy in an efforts to maintain the international consensus for the military action against Afghanistan.