Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Louise Kerton went missing in 2001 after travelling to stay with her boyfriend’s family in Germany
Twenty years since the disappearance of Louise Kerton, who travelled to Germany to holiday with her boyfriend’s family and disappeared, her father is looking for fresh leads.
Phil Kerton is hoping publicity to mark the anniversary might trigger memories or encourage police in Germany, the UK or Belgium – which she is supposed to have travelled through via rail and sea – to reopen the case.
The southern Belgian town of Dinant was hit by the heaviest floods in decades on Saturday after a two-hour thunderstorm turned streets into torrential streams that washed away cars and pavements. It was the second time in just over a week that downpours have affected the region – more than 200 people died in flooding across Belgium and Germany last week. Although the latest flooding has been described as worse than previous weeks, no deaths or injuries have been reported
Belgian government under pressure to offer residence permits to hundreds of migrants on hunger strike
The Belgian government is under pressure to offer residence permits to several hundred migrants, some of whom are “between life and death” after a weeks’ long hunger strike in Brussels.
Undocumented migrants have been on hunger strike in a central Brussels church and university buildings for nearly 60 days in an attempt to secure residency papers.
CDU leader Armin Laschet caught laughing on camera as president delivered solemn address
More flash-floods have devastated towns in Austria, Bavaria and eastern Germany, as the frontrunner to replace the chancellor, Angela Merkel, was forced to apologise after seeming to make light of a catastrophic situation that has claimed the lives of more than 150 people.
The Alpine district of Berchtesgadener Land declared a state of emergency on Saturday evening after heavy rainfall led to flooded streets and landslides, leaving at least one person dead.
Belgian TV station VTM recorded the partial collapse of a house in the town of Pepinster while interviewing its mayor, Philippe Godin, on Thursday. The back wall of the flooded house began to cave in as he spoke, with the situation deteriorating quickly as furniture and other household goods fell through the collapsing floors. Moments later cameras caught two people jumping from the rooftop of the house into a neighbouring building.
At least 110 people have died in devastating floods across parts of western Germany and Belgium. Search and rescue operations are continuing with hundreds still unaccounted for
Search for missing continues, with Netherlands, Switzerland and Luxembourg also affected
The death toll from catastrophic floods in western Germany and Belgium has risen to more than 170, as emergency services continued their search for hundreds still missing.
The German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said he was “stunned” by the devastation caused by the flooding and pledged support to the families of those killed and to cities and towns facing significant damage. It is Germany’s worst natural disaster in more than half a century.
Drone and helicopter footage shows the extent of flood damage in towns across Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands after heavy rainfall caused water levels to rise in large parts of western Europe. Footage from local Belgian TV station RTL shows cars submerged in water and flooded streets and shops in the small town of Esneux, on the River Ourthe, just south of Liege. In Germany 18 people died and dozens were missing around the wine-growing hub of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate state, police said, after the Ahr river that flows into the Rhine rose and brought down half a dozen houses
Raging floods caused by heavy rain devastated parts of Germany and Belgium on Thursday, killing more than 40 people, destroying buildings and sweeping away vehicles. The full extent of the damage remains unclear because many villages were cut off by floodwaters and landslides
Researchers warn ‘phenomenon is probably underestimated’ after the death of woman in Belgium
A 90-year-old Belgian woman who died after falling ill with Covid-19 was infected with both the Alpha and Beta variants of the coronavirus at the same time, researchers have said.
The unvaccinated woman was admitted to the OLV hospital in the city of Aalst after a spate of falls in March and tested positive for Covid-19 the same day.
A couple of beauties from Nicolo Barella and Lorenzo Insigne saw off Belgium’s golden generation
Jonathan Wilson was in Munich to witness this fine match in person. His report has just landed ... and here it is. Get clicking, people. Congratulations to Italy, commiserations to Belgium, and thanks to you all for reading this MBM. Hope to see you again tomorrow. Nighty night!
The one downer for Italy - and it’s a big one - is the loss to injury of the hamstrung Leonardo Spinazzola. The marauding left-back has been one of the sensations of the tournament, so entertaining to watch in full flight, and one of those nice late-blooming career stories to boot. His presence will be missed, though you’d still back these exciting Italians to see off unconvincing Spain at Wembley next week. But it’s tournament football, so, well, y’know.
Elderly man detained on suspicion of killing fellow resident in Destelbergen
Belgian authorities have detained an elderly man, reportedly 99 or 100 years old, on suspicion of killing a fellow resident of the retirement home where he lived, the Belga press agency has said.
No details of the fatal assault which took place on Monday were immediately available, but the Ghent prosecutor’s office confirmed in a statement that a resident of the home was in custody.
Initial evidence indicates body found in woods is that of Jurgen Conings
Belgian police have said a body has been found in the search for a fugitive far-right soldier who was the target of a huge manhunt.
Hundreds of security forces scoured a swath of north-east Belgium after the disappearance on 17 May of Jurgen Conings, who was on an anti-terrorism watchlist, had threatened a senior virologist involved in the country’s Covid-19 programme and had hoarded heavy weaponry.
Nine other people were injured when the Antwerp school, which was still under construction, collapsed
Five building workers have been confirmed dead after a school construction site partially collapsed in the Belgian city of Antwerp.
The last two bodies were pulled out the rubble on Saturday afternoon, Antwerp’s fire department said, meaning that all the missing victims were now accounted for.
Judges say state’s failure to meet climate targets breaches civil law and human rights convention
Belgium’s failure to meet climate targets is a violation of human rights, a Brussels court has ruled, in the latest legal victory against public authorities that have broken promises to tackle the climate emergency.
The Brussels court of first instance declared the Belgian state had committed an offence under Belgian’s civil law and breached the European convention on human rights.
Police will not pursue case after boutique staff alleged they were slapped and hit on head in row over shoplifting
The wife of Belgium’s ambassador to South Korea will exercise her diplomatic immunity to avoid criminal charges on allegations she hit two boutique staff in a row over shoplifting, police have said.
The ambassador, Peter Lescouhier, previously said that he “sincerely regrets the incident involving his wife”, adding that he “wants to apologise on her behalf”.
David and Goliath legal battle ensues as silent religious order seeks to protect the taste of its beer
For a decade the monks of Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy, in Rochefort, south Belgium – one of only 14 abbeys in the world producing Trappist beer – have been fighting with a quarry owner over the purity of the local spring water.
The monks have doggedly claimed that plans by Lhoist, an international company run by one of Belgium’s richest families, to deepen its chalk quarry and redirect the Tridaine spring risked altering the unique taste of their celebrated drink.
French farmer could theoretically face criminal charges for moving 200-year-old marker
The boundary between France and Belgium is believed to have been inadvertently redrawn by a farmer who found the 200-year-old border stone marking the divide in an inconvenient location for his tractor.
The French farmer could theoretically face criminal charges after making Belgium bigger by moving the stone that has marked the border since after the defeat of Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo.
The restaurant and cafe terraces spilling out into the streets of the pretty Dutch medieval town of Sluis were teeming over the weekend with smiling people clinking glasses under the spring sun.
The Netherlands reopened alfresco hospitality last Wednesday and Belgians, ignoring official advice, had driven a short distance across the border in huge numbers to enjoy their neighbour’s freedom over the long Labour day weekend. “We could have filled 400 tables,” said an apologetic waiter at the Resto de Eetboetiek, as he turned away the latest family arriving without a reservation.
Police in Paris fire teargas as protesters in trade union-led march smash windows of bank branches
Thousands rallied on Saturday across France and Spain to hold May Day rallies in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic as police scuffled with protesters in Paris and fired teargas.
A police source told AFP that far-left “black bloc” protesters had repeatedly tried to block the trade union-led march in the French capital, with 34 people detained.