Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in a region of eastern Germany where the Elbe river has flooded and burst through a dam, while a swollen Danube was approaching Budapest where soldiers and volunteers are building flood walls, officials said yesterday.

Those expecting stories of all-night partying from Ireland’s gold medal winning European Cross Country team are set to be disappointed.

At least five people have been killed in the Balkans after freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall caused travel chaos across the region.

The words of encouragement from coach Chris Jones will fill Fionnuala Britton with confidence as she defends her European cross-country title in Budapest tomorrow.

Austrian police have seized 9.5 tons of stolen garlic.

You know you’re entering the unique atmosphere of an international tournament your country is actually involved when, as you take your seat on a plane, a middle-aged woman walks down the aisle bedecked in a full Irish kit (yes, shorts and socks too) and a green twiggy wig.

Ireland have built a reputation as a team that is bloody difficult to kill off under Giovanni Trapattoni so it was strangely fitting that they should share a hotel yesterday with the man who is best known for starring roles in the ‘Die Hard’ movies.

Hungary 0 Republic of Ireland 0

The Republic of Ireland’s schedule for the build-up to the European Championship finals has been finalised, with confirmation from the FAI that Giovanni Trapattoni’s team will take on Hungary in a friendly in Budapest on June 4.

THE wall of a reservoir filled with caustic red sludge will inevitably collapse and unleash a new deluge of red sludge that could flow about 1 kilometre to the north, a Hungarian official said yesterday.

Officials in Hungary have said the size of the toxic sludge disaster is almost as big as that of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Angelina Jolie has enrolled her children at a school in Budapest.

LIVERPOOL crashed out of the Champions League after a bitterly disappointing victory in the Hungarian capital last night. They needed to win to give themselves any chance of reaching the last 16, but events in Florence ended those dreams with Fiorentina achieving the victory they needed to qualify.

Debrecen 0 Liverpool 1

A HUNGARIAN national who downloaded sexually explicit video clips of children from the internet while he was living in Kinsale, Co Cork, last year, was jailed for nine months yesterday — one of the first to be imprisoned for such offences.

DENTAL patients looking for the perfect smile could have more reason for cheer if they go abroad for treatment — and enjoy thousands of euro off their normal bills.

Fifteen protesters were injured, including two seriously hurt by tear gas canisters, during protests in Hungarian capital Budapest this morning.

Police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators demanding the prime minister’s resignation today, but the chaos gripping the Hungarian capital appeared to be ebbing after two straight nights of violence.

A Slovak military plane carrying troops back from Kosovo crashed into a mountainside in north-eastern Hungary, killing at least 42 people, officials said today.

An easyJet airliner with 105 passengers on board made an emergency landing at Budapest’s international airport today. No injuries were reported.

Celbridge sprint star David McCarthy missed out on his bid to make consecutive World Indoor finals this afternoon in Budapest, as he faded over the final lap to clock a poor 47.34s in fifth in the first 400m semi-final.

DAVID BECKHAM admitted he must ‘raise the bar’ if he is to avoid being dumped from the Manchester United line-up.

David Beckham has admitted he must ’raise the bar’ if he is to avoid being dumped from the Manchester United line-up.

Four men have been arrested in Budapest accused of planning to pass three counterfeit US treasury bonds worth $100m each.