BELGIUM: People agree on few things in linguistically divided Belgium, but an effort to get Belgian potato fries recognised as cultural heritage, putting them on a par with Peking opera and the Argentinian tango may get unequivocal support.

The backdrop to last night’s events in Dublin had been a negative one, despite the Stockholm result, focused as it was on past defeats to Austria who have found encounters with Ireland, more often than not, to their liking.

Worst ever.

THE first of May, a cold, wet day, a grey sky and trees still leafless across the field.

This weekend's World Indoor Track and Field Championships in Istanbul are surely going to whet the appetite in terms of what lies ahead for the rest of the year.

The Woodies DIY Irish indoor championships will be a vital element of Derval O’Rourke’s build-up to next month’s world indoors according to her coach, Seán Cahill.

Serena Williams is unlikely to play again this year after failing to shake off a foot injury.

Swansea have confirmed that striker Besian Idrizaj has died at the age of 22.

Former Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo has confirmed her retirement from professional tennis.

Third seed Yanina Wickmayer won the Generali Ladies tournament in Linz after seeing off unseeded Czech Petra Kvitova in the final.

The Vatican has praised the latest Harry Potter film, saying it made the age-old debate over good versus evil crystal clear.

A COUNTY Limerick harp orchestra will represent Ireland at the European Youth Festival in Austria starting tomorrow, where 198 music schools from all over Europe will be performing.

IT IS early April and the train from Budejovice in the Czech Republic to Linz in Austria takes us through a wintry countryside, not a wild flower, weed or blade of new grass yet to be seen.

An Austrian priest who created a controversy by suggesting that God punished New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina because of the city’s sins said he will ask the Pope to rescind his promotion.

JOSEF Fritzl, the man who imprisoned his daughter in a cellar and fathered her seven children, has admitted to locking up his mother until her death.

Top seed Ana Ivanovic confirmed her return to form today, routing Vera Zvonareva in the final of the Generali Ladies Linz.

Irish rowing star Sinead Jennings, a native of Letterkenny in Co Donegal, is today competing in the final of the single sculls at the World Championships final in Linz and Ottensheim in Austria

CROATIA boss Slaven Bilic has backed Luka Modric to take centre stage at Euro 2008 in the absence of Eduardo — and the Tottenham midfielder is confident he can live up to expectations.

An Austrian father slaughtered his wife, daughter, parents and father-in-law with an axe then surrendered to police.

Police in Austria were today questioning a 39-year-old man who said he killed his wife and seven-year-old daughter.

The wife of an Austrian man accused of holding their daughter captive for 24 years fought to keep the troubled family together, but never knew their child was in a soundproofed cellar beneath the apartment, her sister said.

The wife of Austria’s accused “horror father” Josef Fritzl never believed her husband was involved in the 24-year disappearance of their daughter, even though he had already served an 18-month prison sentence for a 1967 rape conviction, her sister said.

AUSTRIAN authorities investigated reports yesterday that ‘house of horrors’ father Josef Fritzl had previous sex crime convictions as public outrage mounted over the incest abuse case.

ARCHIE KNOX is hoping to stay as coach under new Bolton manager Gary Megson.

Seven Irish boats; five of them in Olympic classes will take to the water in Lucerne, Switzerland this weekend for the final leg of this year’s Rowing World Cup series.

The Irish men’s heavyweight four (M4-) of Alan Martin, Sean Casey, Cormac Folan and Sean O’Neill were on form in this morning’s heats at the second leg of the Rowing World Cup in Amsterdam to finish second and advance directly to tomorrow’s semi-finals.

The Irish rowing team embark on the second outing of their international season tomorrow when they take to the water in the second of the three leg Rowing World Cup Series at the Bosbaan regatta course in Amsterdam.

Serbia’s rise as a power in world tennis could be confirmed tomorrow when Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic bid to set up a date in the final of the French Open.

A jubilant Chef d'Equipe Tommy Brennan announced Ireland's triumph in the Austrian Nations' Cup in Linz this afternoon when the team of Conor Swail, Commandant Gerry Flynn, Ryan Crumley and Shane Breen proved unstoppable in both rounds, finishing on 12 faults, with Italy the nearest challengers on 24 faults.

Cian O'Connor took first blood for Ireland at this morning's speed class in Copenhagen, Denmark, where the Irish team will do battle in the Nations' Cup tomorrow.

MICK MARTIN remembers playing there for St Vincent’s Glasnevin CBS as a 13-year old. Liam Brady recalls the afternoons he spent watching the likes of Lar Foley and Jimmy Keaveney strut their stuff for the Dubs.

MANY have noted it, but it was this column, in this paper, which named it.

Flood victims waded into their homes to shovel out mud and clean-up crews cleared the debris from streets after heavy rains deluged central and southern Europe, killing 34 people.

A large truck slammed into a packed school bus in western Austria today injuring up to 30 children, some critically.

One of the thousands of victims of the Nazi regime’s programme to kill mentally ill people was a relative of Adolf Hitler, two historians said today.

A Dutch citizen is suspected of selling as much as €1.3m worth of heroin, cocaine and other drugs in Austria, authorities said today.

He may have been on a pressing affair of state, but police were not impressed when Slovakia’s deputy prime minister shot past them at 146 mph on an Austrian motorway.

Lindsay Davenport (pictured) shook off a lethargic first set to storm past Serena Williams 3-6 7-5 6-1 in the season-ending WTA Tour Championships at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

AMERICAN Shawn Crawford won the men’s 200 metres gold medal amid astonishingly hostile scenes in the Olympic Stadium as the Greek public vented their spleen against the Games organisers.

WITH Athens looming, Irish athletics got another much-needed boost in advance of the Olympic Games when Mark Carroll finished second in the 3,000m at the Gugi Meeting in Linz on Monday night where Freda Davoren turned in another superb performance to finish third in the women’s 1,500m.

Freda Davoren, of Ireland, produced her best performance of the season when claiming second place over 1,500 metres in tonight’s Gugl-Meeting in Linz.

A mother has been accused of starving her 17-year-old daughter to death after her emaciated body was found in the family’s home in western Austria.

RYANAIR is scrapping nine routes where seat-sells are less than 80% of capacity and reallocating aircraft to new ones.

Ryanair today launched four new daily routes from London Stansted to Austria, Italy, Germany and Spain.