A plane carrying skydivers has crashed in southern Belgium, killing all 11 people on board.

THE winning feeling returned for Mark Cavendish on the fifth stage of the Tour de France after a fraught and forgettable period on and off the bike.

One train driver survived the head-on crash that killed at least 18 people outside of Brussels and will be questioned as soon as his serious injuries permit it, railway officials said today as the search resumed for more victims.

Documents sought from the Belgian justice authorities by a Meath aviation broker accused of attempting to import heroin valued at €10m have been received, a court has been told.

Counsel in the case of a Meath aviation broker accused of attempting to import heroin valued at €10m have agreed on a letter to be sent to Belgium authorities seeking information on his alleged co-conspirators.

Judge Tony Hunt is to write to Belgium authorities requesting information concerning an attempt to import €10m worth of heroin into Weston Airport in Kildare.

Nato’s top commander today renewed an appeal for allies to fill gaps in the international military force in Afghanistan, warning that the failure to send reinforcements was weakening the mission and jeopardising the lives of soldiers fighting the Taliban insurgents.

US Army Gen. Bantz Craddock, formerly head of the US military command responsible for Guantanamo Bay, today takes over as Nato’s supreme allied commander in Europe.

A 36-year-old aviation broker appeared before Dublin District Court today charged in connection with last week’s seizure of €10m of heroin at a small airport in Belgium.

A 36-year-old businessman is due in court this morning in connection with an international multi-million euro drug smuggling operation.

Gardaí are reportedly investigating whether smugglers may be using Ireland's small airports to get drugs into the country.

Nato today announced the recent counteroffensive it launched against Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan had achieved two-thirds of its goals.

Nato generals today struggled to persuade allies to provide an extra 2,000 troops urgently sought by commanders caught unawares by the ferocity of Taliban resistance to the alliance push into southern Afghanistan.

Nato was today debating a plan to send hundreds of military engineers to quake-hit Pakistan, as well as medical units to set up a field hospital for the injured there.

NATO agreed tonight to co-ordinate an airlift of aid supplies from Europe to the earthquake-ravaged areas of Pakistan.

Belgium’s King Albert and other dignitaries marked the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge today, honouring thousands of American soldiers who died fighting Nazi Germany’s desperate bid to stop the Allied advance across Western Europe.

NATO has launched its training mission for Iraqi forces by sending a small group of officers to the country to consult with authorities and to prepare logistics.

A confessed serial killer is willing to cooperate with Belgian and French investigators to find more bodies of his victims.

Confessed child killer Michel Fourniret has admitted killing two more teenage girls, bringing to nine the number of murders acknowledged by the former forest ranger, prosecutors said.

HOT on the heels of a paedophile murder trial that revived ugly memories for Belgium, a French forestry worker has confessed to the murder of six girls over a 14-year period and has been accused of killing several other people.

Marc Dutroux, a paedophile on trial for rape and murder in a case that has horrified Belgium, apologised today to the two victims rescued alive from his basement cell eight years ago.

FOR the first time in almost 40 years, I visited Charles Fort on Saturday, September 13, and was very much surprised to see not only the well run military displays and reenactments but a truly beautiful and well preserved fort.

FOUR EU countries opposed to the US war in Iraq agreed yesterday to boost their military co-operation, aiming to make Europe’s defence less dependent on the United States.

NATO is hastening preparations to create elite rapid response units as the alliance expands its reach to include peacekeeping in Afghanistan and, perhaps, Iraq, the top allied commander in Europe said today.

SEVERE winter weather has wreaked havoc across Europe, with nearly 200 people freezing to death in Poland, two killed by storms in Germany and floods threatening several European countries.

Ryanair is under investigation by the European Commission over cash benefits which may breach EU rules on fair competition.

Unions at Charleroi airport in southern Belgium, where Ryanair is the major operator, have warned they may strike on December 12 over labour conditions, Belgian radio reported.