Austrian wine has come a long way in the last 30 years and if you haven’t been exploring their wines you are missing out.

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

The French president Francois Hollande is calling for an investigation into the death of a protester during a demonstration against a dam project in south-west France.

Terroir is one of those frustrating French terms that is beloved of winemakers and wine-writers but remains little understood by most of the wine-buying public. 

Faulty maintenance on a signal and hot weather may have played a role in a collision between two trains in south-west France in which 25 people were injured, the country’s transport chief has said.

High winds whipping across France have killed two people and, in an unusual measure, pushed the capital, Paris, into closing all parks and cemeteries.

APRIL is Real Wine Month which focuses on minimal intervention “natural” wines and also low intervention organic and biodynamic wines.

AS YOU may have noticed in recent weeks the autumn seems to be French Wine Sale time in Irish supermarkets.

Floods in south-west France have forced the closure of the Catholic pilgrimage site in Lourdes and the evacuation of visitors from nearby hotels.

Connacht 22 Biarritz 14

Eight of Lidl’s wines have picked up gongs at this summer’s

France will bar radical Muslim preachers from entering the country to participate in an Islamic conference next month as part of a crackdown after shootings by an al Qaeda-inspired gunman, president Nicolas Sarkozy said.

A father, his two sons and another child were shot dead in front of their school in France by a lone gunman today.

At least four people - three of them children - have died after a shooting at a Jewish school in south-west France.

There are reports at least three people - two of them children - have died after a shooting at a Jewish school in France.

Several people are reported to have been killed after a gunman opened fire in front of a Jewish school in south-west France.

Spain has ruled out talks with the Basque separatist group Eta even as it welcomed an end to four decades of bombings and shootings following the group’s announcement it was laying down arms.

Often derided as evidence of a backward nation, Ireland’s bogs reveal instead that our ancient ancestors were a sophisticated people rich in culture — albeit with a taste for savage ritual killings. Dan Buckley goes back in time

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.

Guillaume Macaire struck with his first British runner for nearly three years as Royal Tune danced 17 lengths clear in the Walters UK Ltd Handicap Chase at Ffos Las.

The Tour de France concludes in Paris this weekend with the duel for the race leader's yellow jersey set to end in Alberto Contador's favour.

A FRENCH civil servant, who wrote a book portraying her colleagues as slackers who hold long meetings without ever coming to a decision, risks being suspended from her job.

The leader of the armed Basque group ETA was arrested in France today, officials said, in another setback for the separatists, who have seen five of their commanders taken into custody in the last two years.

The armed Basque separatist group Eta today claimed responsibility for a series of recent attacks, including a car bomb in Madrid.

Sacked factory workers at a Sony factory in south-west France today released two executives they had taken hostage in protest at the size of their redundancy payments.

Montauban 16 Sale Sharks 12

FARMERS were urged not to import animals from any country or region affected by the bluetongue disease.

Spain is on full security alert for retaliation from Eta terrorists after the group’s leader was arrested this week.

The suspected head of the Basque militant group ETA was arrested in France today.

At least 15 people were injured by a car bomb at a university in the Spanish city of Pamplona today.

A powerful car bomb exploded at a university in the Spanish city of Pamplona today wounding at least one person.

Whisky producer Glenfarclas has been unveiled as the new sponsor of Cheltenham’s cross-country race series.

Gloucester head coach Dean Ryan is determined not to abandon his attacking principles in the cauldron of a Heineken Cup quarter-final against European heavyweights Munster.

The son of the couple whose house was destroyed in Sunday’s plane crash said their parents were “thankful” to be alive.

A Spanish civil guard was shot and killed today in a clash with members of Basque separatist group Eta in south-west France, the first death involving the group since it abandoned a cease-fire in June, police said.

French police have today arrested a seventh man suspected of belonging to a network recruiting Islamic fighters to send to Iraq.

FRANCE’S best-known mercenary Bob Denard, who had a hand in numerous African wars and coups d’etat over 30 years, has died at the age of 78.

A Spanish judge jailed 17 members of Batasuna – the banned political wing of the armed separatist group ETA.

A judge today began questioning 23 senior members of Batasuna – the banned political wing of the armed separatist group ETA – arrested in raids in the northern Basque region.

MANY Irish rugby fans who are anxious not to miss a second of World Cup 2007 action will have to pay up to €400 for the privilege.

Toulouse 0 Liverpool 1

French police found an arms cache allegedly belonging to the armed Basque separatist group Eta, officials said.

Maurice Papon, a former Cabinet minister who became a symbol of France's collaboration with the Nazis for his role in deporting Jews during the Second World War, has died. He was 96.