Trial by cobbles could further unsettle Tour de France contenders who are already battered and bruised So, after two quiet, uneventful days of the 2010 Tour de France, the riders head for the cobbles. With almost all the major contenders nursing bumps and scrapes, some more serious than others, the last thing any of them wants to do today is ride across nine miles of bone-jarring pavé .
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Riders prepare for bump and grind
Victims groups say Vatican criticism of police shameful, as pontiff calls raid deplorable and demands church role in investigations Groups representing the victims of clerical abuse tonight expressed outrage after the pope criticised raids on the Catholic church by Belgian police . Last week, police raided the home of a retired bishop, opened the grave of at least one archbishop and detained Belgium’s nine current serving bishops as they met, seizing their mobile phones and only releasing them after nine hours.
Pontiff describes raids as ’surprising and deplorable’ and demands church is allowed role in investigating abusers in ranks The Pope today criticised raids on the Catholic church by Belgian police investigating sex abuse claims.
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Pope condemns Belgian police raids
The Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens picks his top European music festivals, from loud and crowded to quiet and quirky Couleur Café, Belgium, 25-27 June Sadly the words Belgium and vibrant don’t always sit together comfortably, but for the past 15 years Couleur Café has been changing perceptions of what the country’s festival scene has to offer. It’s set in the centre of Brussels, and some 80,000 people turn up to rave here over three days, getting on down to world sounds from hip-hop to Balkan beats. This year, heavy hitter Snoop Dogg (also set to be a Glastonbury highlight) and Nas & Damian Marley will bring the noise, and there’s a fireworks display on the Saturday night.
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Guide to European music festivals
Party that wants to split Belgium won a parliamentary election, a result that could complicate efforts to form a coalition that can deliver reforms of the state A party that wants to split Belgium won a parliamentary election tonight, a result that could complicate efforts to form a coalition that can deliver reforms of the state and tight budgetary control. Projections and early results showed the Flemish separatist N-VA (New Flemish Alliance), which advocates the gradual dissolution of Belgium, was to be the largest party in Dutch-speaking Flanders and the country. Flemish public broadcaster VRT estimated it would win 30 of the 150 seats in the lower house of parliament, from just eight until now
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Flemish separatists win in Belgium
Critics claim PM Silvio Berlusconi is merely protecting himself by imposing curbs on the publishing of wiretap transcripts Italian newspapers and opposition politicians protested today after the senate approved a bill limiting police wiretaps and punishing journalists who publish leaked transcripts. As journalists threatened a news blackout to coincide with the bill’s final reading in the lower house of the Italian parliament, the daily La Repubblica ran an empty front page with the message: “The gagging law denies citizens the right to be informed.” The Turin daily La Stampa also blanked out a front-page column, while Corriere della Sera called the bill a “dark page for lawmaking”
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Italian media row over ‘gagging law’
Do you have any plans to enjoy your summer vacation with a beer bottle in your hand? Well, for the true beer lover it’s not a secret! Beer lovers around the world do not sit on the lawn with a bottle of beer in their hands; they prefer to spend time in some cozy spots- beer garden, huge places with thousands of guests, cafes in open air
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Best Open-Air Pubs
More than 50 of the ships that took part in the Dunkirk evacuation returned to France today on the 70th anniversary The Little Ships are heading back to Dunkirk again today, a celebratory jaunt marking the 70th anniversary of the desperate nights when coal boats and barges, luxury private launches and paddle steamers built for holiday trips around the lighthouse joined naval and military craft in an eccentric fleet of 900 vessels which repeatedly crossed the Channel to evacuate more than 338,000 troops from the beaches around the French port. Operation Dynamo, carried out between 27 May and 4 June 1940, under continuous German bombardment, was described by Winston Churchill as “a miracle of deliverance” and put the phrase Dunkirk spirit into the language. At least 5,000 died in the operation
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Dunkirk spirit revived after 70 years
More than 50 of the ships that took part in the Dunkirk evacuation returned to France today on the 70th anniversary The Little Ships are heading back to Dunkirk again today, a celebratory jaunt marking the 70th anniversary of the desperate nights when coal boats and barges, luxury private launches and paddle steamers built for holiday trips around the lighthouse joined naval and military craft in an eccentric fleet of 900 vessels which repeatedly crossed the Channel to evacuate more than 338,000 troops from the beaches around the French port. Operation Dynamo, carried out between 27 May and 4 June 1940, under continuous German bombardment, was described by Winston Churchill as “a miracle of deliverance” and put the phrase Dunkirk spirit into the language
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Dunkirk spirit revived after 70 years
Company doubling number of engineers The company that made millions when it discovered a new way of sucking is doing it again with a revolutionary range of blowers.
