The UN cultural agency’s chief said she is alarmed by developments in Syria, where clashes with IS militants are getting closer to the ancient city of Palmyra — one of the Middle East’s most famous Unesco world heritage sites.

Enda Kenny has refused to comment on allegations by a minister that the Taoiseach effectively misled the Dáil.

Enda Kenny has arrived in South Lebanon for the first visit by a Taoiseach to Irish peacekeeping troops in the dangerzone since 1999.