The lawyer for Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam has said that it will take some weeks before his client can be extradited from Belgium to France.

Schools and much of the Brussels metro system reopened yesterday as the Belgian capital started to return to normal after four days of lockdown, but troops on the street were a reminder it remains on alert.

Many people were agitated on Wednesday evening, but to many others there was great comfort on offer on RTE 2.

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal maintains he has complete faith in Wayne Rooney despite his indifferent start to the campaign.

It is often overlooked that Bruges is about one hour’s train journey from Brussels city centre.

If there’s one lesson United fans have long since learned about season openers, it’s not to pay too much attention to first impressions.

A proud member of the Irish Food Writers’ Guild, The Menu is delighted to bring news of the Guild’s new Social Responsibility Award. 

Bored of London and Brussels? Then try Oxford and Bruges instead. Tony Clayton-Lea picks the best destinations 30 miles from Europe’s top airports. 

One of Somalia’s most notorious pirate leaders, known as “Big Mouth”, has been arrested in Brussels and placed in custody pending charges, judicial sources said.

Painted in 1434 The Arnolfini Portrait still influences contemporary painters and writers. Peter Murray on a new history of the masterpiece

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Newcastle boss Alan Pardew tonight insisted there is no rift between himself and striker Demba Ba.

So, we know now how the Czechs felt, watching Martina Navratilova slip away from them.

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AS CHANGEABLE as the weather depending on the criteria, Dublin may or may not be one of the world’s most expensive cities.

A FORMER bishop’s televised admission that he sexually abused two of his nephews has caused an uproar in Belgium, with the prime minister, senior clergy and a prosecutor expressing shock at the way the ex-prelate made light of his offences.

JOINING forces once again, South-west France holiday rental specialists The Gascony Secret and Simply Périgord offer a range of striking properties at prices for different pockets, the high range including historically important Chartreuse set in about 180 acres of land.

Adrian Russell roots out 2010’s weirdest and wackiest sports videos from the world wide web

THREE young sailors who were aboard tall ships as trainees this summer have given the experience a “thumbs-up” and encouraged others to sign up for next year.

Two men were jailed today after a dissident republican gun smuggling plot was uncovered by an MI5 sting operation.

THE Belgian Roman Catholic Church yesterday acknowledged widespread sexual abuse over years by its clergy and pleaded for time to set up a system to punish all abusers and provide closure for victims.

The former Belgian bishop who resigned in April after admitting he sexually abused a nephew for years said he would go into hiding to assess his future, despite calls for him to leave the church immediately.

HUNDREDS of sex abuse victims have come forward in Belgium with harrowing accounts of molestation by Catholic clergy that reportedly led to at least 13 suicides and affected children as young as two, a Belgian commission said yesterday.

Hundreds of sex abuse victims gave harrowing accounts of abuse by Catholic priests that reportedly led to at least 13 suicides, an independent Belgian commission said today.

THE bishop of the Flemish city of Bruges has resigned after admitting sexually abusing a young boy several years ago, the Roman Catholic Church in Belgium announced yesterday.

ST PATRICK’S day in Brussels is unavoidable.

Lynn Barber

Three more prisoners were on the run from Belgian jails today, bringing the total to 12 in the past two weeks.

THE 20-year-old man charged with knifing to death two babies and a carer in a Belgian nursery has no memory of the crime, according to his lawyer.

Dimenticata gained a deserved success at Listed level in the Belgrave Stakes at Fairyhouse.

PLANES, trains and automobiles, intrepid Blues (and Reds) are utilising any means available to get to Moscow.

McDonagh brings us a class thriller set in Belgium and a cast that enjoys every minute of an enjoyable, dark, funny and clever crime caper.

Acting confuses Colin Farrell too much to go into directing, the actor revealed tonight.

Moviemaker Martin McDonagh was so concerned that comments Colin Farrell's character makes about picturesque Bruges in his new film would upset Belgians, he insisted on screening it for tourism bosses.

HOLLYWOOD bad boy Colin Farrell is back — with a bang.

David Myerscough is considering his unbeaten colt Bruges for the £100,000 Group Two Urban-i Champagne Stakes at Doncaster on September 15.

WHEN Bertie Ahern wants to spur the masses, he turns to the Iron Lady rather than the Republican men of steel.

English actor Ralph Fiennes, recently involved in a mile-high incident with an Australian stewardess, is at the centre of another scandal.

Two people in their 80s died today in the Bordeaux region, victims of the soaring temperatures across France that recall the summer of 2003 when 15,000 people, mostly elderly, died.

Udinese had a night to remember on Wednesday as a Vincenzo Iaquinta hat-trick gave them a 3-0 win over Panathinaikos in their first ever Champions League tie.

Almost 2,000 people braved frigid weather early today to go naked in the centre of gothic Bruges in an art ”happening” organised by photographer Spencer Tunick.

Sporting Lisbon ended Dinamo Tbilisi’s interest in the UEFA Cup with a crushing 4-0 victory at the Boris Paichadze stadium in Georgia.