Cornelius Gurlitt, a reclusive German whose long-secret hoard of well over 1,000 artworks triggered an international uproar over the fate of art looted by the Nazis, died yesterday, aged 81.

The success of The Sound of Music has ensured its return to Cork Opera House, Colette Sheridan reports

Ireland show jumping manager Robert Splaine says that as a “pragmatic” manager he had no qualms in allocating the World Cup slot in Geneva to Denis Lynch at the weekend.

Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, the design chief credited with the classic 911 sports car and grandson of the carmaker’s founder, has died.

SHOWJUMPINGIRELAND (SJI) has decided that its regions can use their 2012 allocation of sports development funding for non-sporting activities, including administration.

EUROPEAN Central Bank executive board member Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell has said “strong vigilance” is necessary to keep a lid on inflation — indicating policy makers may raise interest rates next month.

Gardaí first suspected Oliver Hayes in the disappearance of Cork widow Anne Corcoran after officers recognised his distinctive walk in CCTV footage taken when her bank account was being cleared out, it emerged today.

THE quality and diversity of European food and drink is being promoted in China this week by Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel.

YOU don’t have to be an aeronautics engineer but it would certainly help.

A forgotten melody, sketched in black ink in a swift, but sure hand, has been verified as the work of Mozart, the apparent underpinnings for a Mass he never composed.

CLASSICAL music fans are reaching a crescendo of excitement following the discovery of a previously unknown piece of music handwritten by Mozart.

A teenage prostitute is suspected of killing her new-born baby by throwing it out of a brothel window.

Portugal’s Jose Filipe Lima shares a four-way lead at the top of the leaderboard in the second round of the Volvo China Open after firing a three-under-par 69 at the Honghua International Golf Club.

Senior European Union officials stressed that a diplomatic solution over Iran’s nuclear programme is still possible but also appeared to leave open the possibility of Tehran being hit by sanctions.

Rock legend David Bowie was rushed to hospital in Germany on Friday, after suffering a pinched nerve in his shoulder.

The European Commission is proposing to create a single rural development fund with one programming and one control instrument from 2007 onwards.

Extreme heat defeated efforts by firefighters today to tackle a blaze in the world’s second-longest road tunnel which killed up to 20 people.

Protesters were arriving in the Italian city of Genoa today to find it transformed into a fortress.