IT WAS as Tony Blair posed for the "family photo" with European leaders at yesterday's summit in Cologne, that the news came through from Belgrade that the Serbs had finally caved in.

WILLIAM HAGUE provoked a new Tory civil war over Europe yesterday by urging the Government to scrap its plans for business to prepare for Britain to join the single currency.

Phantasialand, Germany's best known theme park, is eight miles (13 km) from Cologne. The park has different themes from around the world; you can stroll through life-size mock-ups of Mayan Mexico, Petit Paris, China and Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. At the Silverado Theatre you can watch a spaghetti western in German or, at the Arena de Fiesta, an ice show on the miniature indoor ice rink.

Ring Rail Europe and be prepared for the Housemartins' greatest hits

ROTT-WEISS COLOGNE won the women's European Club Championship in the Netherlands yesterday in a remarkable steal from the host club, Den Bosch, who had led 2-0. The Germans came back to score twice in the closing five minutes and then win the penalty shoot-out 3-1, with Scotland's Susan Gilmour scoring both the equalising goal and winning penalty.

THE GOVERNMENT has entered confidential talks with Ford amid serious concerns that the car giant might close its Bridgend plant in Wales.

As Cologne gears up for Carnival, Darius Sanai puts Kolsch, customs and costumes to the test

Barcelona

THE ANNALS of German history froth with attempted crimes against the nation's favourite tipple, but never have mores sunk so low as now. In a protest against a hike in beer prices, 200 landlords in the Rhineland are resorting to the ultimate weapon - by staging Germany's first beer strike.

The source of Europe's mightiest river is in a back garden - albeit a duke's. From such small beginnings it gathers pace to wend its way through Germany.

Visible Worlds

SWOLLEN BY a week of uninterrupted downpour, the Rhine and its tributaries burst their banks, claiming at least six lives and inundating historic towns in western Germany.

"THEATRE HAS become more difficult." In a recent interview, the 93-year-old German actor Bernhard Minetti said that not age but the increasing distraction of other media, the refined vocabulary of the acting profession and the demands made by writers such as Harold Pinter and Thomas Bernhard had made his profession more challenging.

Thirst-quenchers, comforters, a midnight tipple ... the perfect beers for every mood, and any occasion. Illustration by Madeleine Floyd