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.

COMEDIENNE Maeve Higgins decamped to New York at the end of January, having spent the previous year living in London, and the dozen before that in Dublin.

Forest Avenue,

I never thought I’d replace Cork Coffee Roasters after moving to New York.

Joan Wasser, who records as Joan As Policewoman, is going her own way with a new, groovy, soulful sound, says Ed Power.

So what new trends did I see in the US this time? Well as ever there’s lots going on and New Yorkers are always on the lookout for the new ‘big thing’.

LAST time I was in New York a friend told me about a Smorgasburg.

Lana Del Rey has appeared to slam Lady Gaga in a leaked track posted online.

They're this great new band straight out of Williamsburg. Except they're not.

A baby delivered after his parents were killed in a Brooklyn hit-and-run accident died yesterday, a community spokesman said.

Doctors successfully delivered a baby boy from a young woman after she and her husband were killed in a horrific hit-and-run car crash.

In a spirited debate that laid out stark choices, Joe Biden and Paul Ryan teed up pointed arguments on the economy, social policy, and America’s place in the world that US president Barack Obama and rival Mitt Romney now will drive forward into the campaign’s final stretch.

Halle was rushed to hospital after an accident last night.

Kristin Chenoweth has been released from hospital after being injured on the set of 'The Good Wife'.

The New York melting pot was overflowing in Lower Manhattan yesterday morning, all manner of people brought there by their champion football team.

Germany has agreed after a year of tough negotiations to pay pensions to about 16,000 additional Holocaust victims all over the world.

SLEIGH BELLS may be one of the buzziest acts of the moment but guitarist Derek Miller isn’t getting carried away.

IN NEW YORK, I lost track of the number of people who told me that the most exciting and diverse food scene was out in Brooklyn, so needless to say I sped over the bridge in search of the supercool foodie set.

Norway’s Solheim Cup star Suzann Pettersen is looking forward to a new experience as the defending champion at the Michelob Ultra Open in Williamsburg which starts tomorrow.

A corn flake shaped like the US state of Illinois will join Jack Ruby's hat and Marilyn Monroe's datebook in a travelling exhibit.

Gareth Shaw was the leading Irishman in the individual standings after the opening round of the NCAA Championships in Williamsburg, Virginia on Wednesday but Niall Turner's University of Minnesota team were right in the hunt for the team title.

Plans are being made for the Queen to visit with some survivors of last week’s shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, according to reports from the US tonight.

A judge has relaxed restrictions on John Hinckley, the man who shot former US president Ronald Reagan, to allow him his first overnight visits outside the Washington area in almost 25 years.