FRANK GILES, an editor of The Sunday Times during the ’80s wrote: “The welcome at Russborough was invariably warm. Alfred and Clem, warned no doubt by the sound of the Jaguar’s tyres on the gravel, would be at the ready in the great hall, genuinely delighted by the sight of their guests.”

United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan urged Israel to “do their utmost” to protect civilians after two Palestinian women were killed as they marched into a Gaza combat zone to help free gunmen besieged at a mosque.

Israeli police today found a bomb on a college campus near the coastal city of Tel Aviv.

Gardaí are appealing to the public for help in tracking down the raiders of the Beit art collection.