Latest news with #GermanAuthorities
National Post
04-07-2025
- Automotive
- National Post
Germany's autobahn cracks as heat wave strikes Europe
Germany will carry out emergency repairs on its autobahn this weekend after extreme heat in recent days blew up large chunks of concrete along key stretches of the highway. Article content Temperatures of up to 39C caused the material to expand and crack open roads in various parts of the country, leading to hours-long traffic jams. With summer breaks beginning in many German states on Friday, repair works over the weekend are set to impact traffic flows further. Article content Article content Article content The phenomenon known as 'blow-ups' occurs when concrete expands and has nowhere to go, leading to sudden fractures or cracks. It mostly affects older, heavily used or previously repaired highways during high temperatures, especially ones that aren't layered with asphalt. German authorities have prepared for the event by lowering speed limits along older sections of the road during summer — a noticeable measure in the only industrialized nation without a general speed limit on highways. Article content Article content Germany and the wider region have faced increasingly intense and frequent heat waves, with Europe warming twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s as a result of climate change. The scorching temperatures pose risks for critical infrastructure as well as human health. Article content While works to repair the damage in Germany have started, a highway section in the heavily-trafficked Ruhr area will be closed completely in one direction from Friday night until Monday morning to cover up remaining cracks and holes. In the western-central state of Hesse, five metres of the road were 'chiseled up and the broken pieces removed,' the local representation of Germany's highway authority said on Thursday. Workers have since replaced it with new asphalt. Article content Article content While the fallout from the heat is likely to cause frustration for German drivers as they embark on their summer holidays, high temperatures have also led to more grave consequences in parts of Europe this week, with the Greek island of Crete battling wildfires that have forced thousands of residents and tourists to evacuate. In Spain, Italy and France, several heat-related deaths have been recorded. Article content
BBC News
27-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Leeds fans told not to travel to Germany
Leeds United have apologised "unreservedly" to fans after German authorities refused fans permission to attend their pre-season Whites travel to Germany for the second year in a row as part of their preparations for the upcoming season. However, the club said police and local authorities have requested they discourage supporter travel and will have the games played behind closed doors.A statement on United's website said: "This result is deeply frustrating to all of us, just as it is sure to frustrate and anger you, our loyal supporters, to whom we apologise unreservedly for this outcome."
The Independent
12-06-2025
- The Independent
‘Very productive' search for Madeleine McCann ends as planned
The latest search for Madeleine McCann has been described as 'very productive' by Braunschweig head prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters. German and Portuguese authorities concluded their search as planned in Atalaia, near Lagos, after three days of scouring scrubland and abandoned structures. Reports indicate that samples, including possible bones and clothing fibres, were taken during the search for forensic examination. German prosecutors requested the search as part of their continued attempts to source evidence to implicate prime suspect Christian Brueckner, who is currently in prison for raping a 72-year-old woman in Praia da Luz in 2005. Brueckner, who is due to be released from jail in September if no further charges are brought, has reportedly sent letters to police and Mr Wolters regarding the investigation.
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Madeleine McCann detectives discovered two buried GUNS during search of Portuguese land last week - with the firearms now being analysed by forensic experts
Investigators looking for new clues relating to Madeleine McCann 's disappearance found two buried guns near the resort where she vanished from, it has been revealed. German authorities who flew to Portugal last week launched fresh searches through Atalaia - a stretch of scrubland littered with rubbish and graffiti-covered buildings linked by a network of dusty tracks known in Portuguese as the Fisherman's Trail. Connecting Praia da Luz with the nearby town of Lagos, the track is a popular hiking route for tourists, but for several days last week it was cordoned off for members of the BKA - Germany 's equivalent of the FBI - to conduct searches. Olive Press reported that the two firearms have now been sent back to Germany for analysis, along with bone fragments and 'bits of old adult clothing.' But not everyone is happy with how the operation, estimated to have cost £300,000, went. One officer told MailOnline: 'We always knew it was going to be a waste of time but we have to show cooperation. 'What did they expect to find after 18 years? We were happy to work with them but we knew it would be a waste of time.' But Portuguese media reported the search turned up enough material that investigators deemed worthy of further analysis at a laboratory. 'During the search, several items were seized that will be examined further by the German police,' reported CNN Portugal. The materials will now be carefully analyzed in the police laboratory 'to assess their potential relevance to the investigation', according the newspaper Correio da Manha. It comes as convicted rapist and paedophile Christian Brueckner - the man who German prosecutors believe was behind Madeleine's disappearance - draws closer to his release from prison. German police announced in 2020 that it had opened an investigation into Brueckner, 48, connecting him with Madeleine's abduction and murder. But he has not been charged – and the sands of time are running out. He has vehemently denied the allegations. Brueckner is serving a seven-year sentence for raping a 71-year-old woman, but is due for release in September and has already vowed to leave Germany. It means prosecutors will have trouble bringing him to court should they find enough evidence to charge him in connection with Madeleine's disappearance. His earliest possible release date is September 17 - though his lawyer said he would have to pay €1,500 (£1,300) in outstanding fines from a series of motor offences to leave then. Brueckner's lawyer Philipp Marquort told MailOnline: 'I haven't had a chance to speak with him yet about the searches and I am not going to comment on what has been happening in Portugal. 'What I will say is that I don't think he will be coming out in September as he doesn't have any money to pay the fines because it went on his legal fees, so I can't see him leaving prison until early next year. 'He will probably see the news on the TV in his cell and he will talk about it when he calls me next time but I still do think when he is freed he will leave Germany.' Meanwhile, German prosecutors have been accused by Portuguese media of failing to properly investigate a claim that Madeleine was run over by a drunk driver. Portuguese officers allegedly received a tip about a British man who was 'covering up a dark secret' about his German wife running over the young girl while drunk, then hiding the body. But German authorities rejected a Portuguese request to use an undercover police officer to try to befriend the wife and firm up their suspicions, Correio da Manha claimed. The report - which says a sister of the British husband made the tip-off to UK police in 2018 - said: 'German prosecutors were asked to authorise a covert police operation with someone posing as a friend of the woman's and trying to get her to confess, but the courts refused. 'It was decided to continue solely with the investigation into suspect Christian Brueckner, rejecting other possibilities.' Correio da Manha said the mystery couple were 'alcoholics' and the wife had been drinking near the Ocean Club on the night Madeleine went missing. It also claimed the couple's neighbour had told police she heard them having a row the day after the three-year-old disappeared. She said she heard the man repeatedly yelling 'Why did you bring her?' Portuguese police are said to have got the knock-back from the Germans after urging them to look more closely into the possibility the 'German wife' had driven home 'drunk' with Madeleine after running her over, then enlisting her husband's help in disposing the body at sea.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Yahoo
Madeleine McCann suspect ‘told police questions about him can never be answered'
Christian Brueckner, the key suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, reportedly wrote a letter listing 'decisive questions' that 'can never be answered' regarding his alleged involvement in the case. The 48-year-old German national reportedly sent the letter to officers saying questions which would implicate him in the case of the three-year-old British girl, who vanished from the Praia da Luz resort 18 years ago, cannot be answered. Brueckner is currently in prison for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same resort in 2005. In the note, seen and translated by The Sun newspaper, Brueckner reportedly wrote: 'It is the important questions, the decisive questions that can never be answered. 'Was I or my vehicle clearly seen near the crime scene on the night of the crime? 'Is there DNA evidence of me at the crime scene? Are there DNA traces of the injured party in my vehicle? 'Are there other traces/DNA carriers of the injured party in my possession? Photos? 'And, don't forget, is there a body/corpse? All no, no no.' It is not clear when the letter was written. Brueckner spent time in the Praia de Luz area between 2000 and 2017 and had photographs and videos of himself near a reservoir. It comes as German and Portuguese investigators finished three days of searching a 120-acre stretch of land near Lagos, Portugal, on Thursday as part of attempts to source evidence to implicate Brueckner. In the searches, requested by German authorities, crews spent three days scouring scrubland and abandoned structures. Brueckner is due to be released from jail in September if no further charges are brought. In October last year, he was cleared by a German court of unrelated sexual offences, alleged to have taken place in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
