Heavy thunderstorms and strong winds have pounded Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, tearing the roofs off homes and bringing down trees.

IRISH rower Paul Griffin is attempting to join an elite group of athletes to compete at both a summer and winter Olympics.

SAN MARINO fell to another humbling defeat, conceding their 20th goal in two Euro 2008 qualifiers as the Czech Republic ran out 7-0 winners in Liberec.

Ireland’s Huang Bing is second seed at the Czech International Badminton Championships which gets underway in Liberec today.

Gerard Houllier has vowed to meet fire with fire when Liverpool confront the power of Porto in the Uefa Cup quarter-final on Thursday night.