The foreign affairs minister was last night urged to intervene in a custody battle involving two Limerick children. They are in the care of a woman in the US who has been questioned by police about a head wound which claimed the life of their father.

Kuwaiti television has trumpeted the joy of Iraqis after the fall of Baghdad to US troops, with a presenter saying it is a “slap in the face” to those Arabs who sided with Saddam Hussein.