Police launch new searches in Portugal in Madeleine McCann probe
Sicily's Mount Etna has erupted again with an intensity not seen since February 2021. The eruption has sent a cloud of ash, smoke and lapilli a few kilometres above Europe's largest active volcano.
Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) says the spectacle was caused when part of the southeast crater collapsed, resulting in hot lava flows. It was the 14th eruptive phase in recent months
Volcanic material, according to preliminary observations, have not crossed the the Valley of the Lion, the end point for tourist trips on the approach to the summit. INGV also noted in a social media post that "explosive activity from the Southeast Crater has become a lava fountain."
The volcanic tremor reached very high intensities during the eruptive peak, but according to experts, it has dropped again, signalling that the activity may be diminishing.
The national institute said changes in the volcano's activity were first recorded at 00:39 CET on Monday. The designation later changed to a "Strombolian" eruption.
Strombolian eruptian are usually characterised as discreet moderately explosive bursts which can eject pyroclasts hundreds of meters into the air.
"I am following with the utmost attention, through the head of our Civil Protection, the evolution of the situation on Etna. The partial collapse of the southeast crater is a phenomenon that we are following with extreme caution," said Renato Schifani, President of Sicily.
"At the moment, from the first surveys, the material would not have exceeded the rim of the Valley of the Lion and, as they assure me, there is no danger for the population," he added.
The head of the regional civil protection, Salvo Cocina, has recommended the utmost precaution to hikers in the vicinity of Mount Etna and urged them to avoid the volcano's summit area until further official notice, as risks of further eruptions and activity loom.
Catania airport, despite the Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation's (VONA) warnings, has remained operational.
Portuguese and German police are carrying out fresh searches for British toddler Madeleine McCann in Portugal's Algarve region, where she went missing 18 years ago.
The three-year-old disappeared from her bed while on holiday with her family in the Praia da Luz resort, in southern Portugal, on 3 May, 2007. She has not been seen since.
Detectives acting on a request from a German public prosecutor will carry out "a broad range" of searches this week in the Lagos area, a Portuguese police statement said.
German investigators have taken the lead in the case since identifying 48-year-old Christian Brückner as their prime suspect in 2020. Brückner is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for raping a 72-year-old woman in Portugal in 2005.
He is under investigation on suspicion of murder in the McCann case but has not been charged. He spent many years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz, around the time of the child's disappearance. Brückner has denied any involvement in her disappearance.
Prosecutors in Braunschweig, Germany, who are responsible for the investigation, didn't give details of the "judicial measures" taking place in Portugal. They said the measures are being carried out by Portuguese authorities with support from officers from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office.
London's Metropolitan Police said it was "aware of the searches being carried by the BKA (German federal police) in Portugal as part of their investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann".
"The Metropolitan Police Service is not present at the search, we will support our international colleagues where necessary," the force added, without giving more details.
According to a report by CNN Portugal, searches could begin on Tuesday and will focus on an area between Praia da Luz and one of the houses where Brückner lived at the time of McCann's disappearance.
The McCann case received worldwide interest for several years, with reports of sightings of her stretching as far away as Australia as well as books and television documentaries about her disappearance.
Nearly two decades later, investigators in the UK, Portugal and Germany are still piecing together what happened on the night she disappeared. She was in the same room as her brother and sister — 2-year-old twins — while their parents, Kate and Gerry, had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant.
The last time police resumed searches in the case was in 2023, when detectives from the three countries took part in an operation searching near a dam and a reservoir about 50 kilometres from the Praia da Luz resort.
The victory of conservative Karol Nawrocki's victory in Poland's weekend presidential runoff is likely to cause further division and political instability between the centrist government and the new president, according to analysts and citizens alike.
Nawrocki, who was backed by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party at home and endorsed by US President Donald Trump, won 50.89% of votes in Sunday's race against Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, who received 49.11%, according to election commission data published on Monday.
The 42-year-old nationalist has pledged to hinder Prime Minister Donald Tusk's centrist, pro-EU government until its term ends in late 2027, just as the outgoing President, Andrzej Duda, has done during his presidency. Nawrocki is set to take office on 6 August.
Tusk announced on Monday that he will call for a parliamentary vote of confidence in his coalition government.
While his government exists separately from the presidency, the president holds power to veto laws, and Nawrocki's victory will make it extremely difficult for Tusk to press his pro-European agenda and push through key promises including a civil union law for same-sex couples and a less restrictive abortion law. Nawrocki opposes such measures.
Euronews spoke to several residents of Warsaw about whether relations between Tusk's government and the new president-elect would improve compared to the current reality.
"There is no agreement between the government and the president. There are two different worlds," one resident of Warsaw told Euronews.
Another person said: "They are on opposite sides and don't agree. But Nawrocki is a big unknown."
However, another individual said: "I hope, however, that wisdom will win out and somehow these relations will settle down. And this nation will not be as divided as it is at the moment."
Election data results show that he difference between Nawrocki and Trzaskowski was fewer than 370,000 votes, or 1.78 percentage points — the smallest gap in a presidential run-off since 1989.
"Poland remains a deeply divided country," said Jacek Kucharczyk, the president of the Polish Institute of Public Affairs.
"Although the electoral turnout was highest ever in history of presidential elections, Nawrocki's margin of victory is very small, which means that half of Poland will be cheering his presidency, whereas half of Poland, the other half, remains deeply worried or even disturbed," he added.
Nawrocki, a conservative historian and amateur boxer with no prior political experience, had presented the election as a referendum on Tusk's 18-month-old government. In his first public comments since his victory was announced, Nawrocki thanked those who voted for him and said he would work for the causes that are important to them
"We want to live in a safe country with a strong economy, one that cares for the most vulnerable. A country that matters in international, European, and transatlantic relations. A country that cherishes its centuries-old traditions and respects its history," he wrote on social media.
Trzaskowski conceded defeat and congratulated Nawrocki. "I fought for us to build a strong, safe, honest, and empathetic Poland together," he wrote on social media.
Speaking on Monday, President Duda said he hoped the election result would be "an unambiguous signal" to Tusk and the government that the majority of Poles expect to see the "kind of policy ... that Nawrocki proposes and preached during his campaign".
Following the election result, Nawrocki has received congraulations from leaders including Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
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For Adenauer, the protection, aid and military presence of the United States are indispensable for the democratic development of Germany as well as peace and prosperity in Europe. Adenauer develops close personal relations with Eisenhower and especially his Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, which benefits German-American relations as a whole. In contrast, Adenauer's relationship with John F. Kennedy (1961-63) is not without problems. The two are far apart in terms of both age and politics. In 1963, his last year in office, Adenauer is already 87 - and Kennedy, 41 years his junior, sees him as a man of the past. Kennedy feels that the Chancellor's stance on the German question is too rigid and lacks flexibility in the face of changing conditions in Europe. Conversely, Adenauer harbours mistrust of American-Soviet negotiations. He believes that a rapprochement between the two superpowers could only take place at the expense of Germany and its political goal of reunification. Ludwig Erhard (1963-66) vs. Lyndon B. Johnson After the discord between Adenauer and JFK, relations between Chancellor Ludwig Erhard and Kennedy's successor Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69) become very friendly again. German foreign policy is by now characterised by the conflict between 'Atlanticists' and 'Gaullists', with the latter wanting a close alliance with France, which Erhard rejects in favour of nuclear protection of the US. Erhard and Johnson meet sympathetically from the outset and come together five times during Erhard's short time in office. The first time was just one month after Johnson's inauguration, when the Texan invited the German to his ranch in Texas, a particular honour, especially for a foreigner. Willy Brandt (1969-1974) vs. Richard Nixon Willy Brandt is the first Social Democrat to become Federal Chancellor in 1974. Brandt sees himself as a self-confident partner of the USA. However, his 'Ostpolitik', which seeks an understanding with the GDR, Poland and the Soviet Union, is viewed with great suspicion in Washington. US President Richard Nixon (1969-74) distrusts Brandt, whom he considers to be a 'German nationalist'. Brandt, on the other hand, tries to maintain a good relationship with Nixon and avoids open criticism of the war in Vietnam. Personally, the two have practically nothing to say to each other. Alluding to Brandt's illegitimate origins, Nixon occasionally calls him 'the bastard' behind closed doors. Helmut Schmidt (1974-82) vs. Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter In the mid-1970s, German-American relations are better than ever before. US President Gerald Ford (1974-77) and German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt know and appreciate each other and are close friends in their private lives. There is a great deal of agreement on key issues, as well as a trusting openness in discussing differences. However, Ford loses the 1976 election to his challenger Jimmy Carter (1977-81). Carter is inexperienced on foreign policy and relies on a team of advisors disconnected from the think tanks of the East Coast - where Schmidt has been well connected for decades and enjoys a high reputation. Schmidt, who has a tendency to lecture people, sees Carter as a novice who has only a limited understanding of the world's complex problems. This does not go unnoticed by Carter - relations quickly hit rock bottom. When it comes to the deployment of the neutron bomb, there are serious disagreements. Schmidt, amid great domestic political difficulties, advocates the weapons system desired by Washington. When Carter stops its production at the last minute for domestic political reasons, Schmidt feels exposed and abandoned. Helmut Kohl (1982-1998) vs. Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton Unlike Schmidt, Helmut Kohl has no personal connection to the United States and does not speak English. Nevertheless, he shows transatlantic solidarity from the outset and endeavours to establish a personal relationship with every US president he deals with. His relationship with Ronald Reagan (1981-89) even has friendly traits that outlasts even the embarrassing Bitburg controversy. In 1985, Kohl invites Reagan to visit the Bitburg military cemetery in the Eifel region during his stay in Germany - as a sign of reconciliation between former enemies. When it is discovered that not only Wehrmacht soldiers but also members of the Waffen SS are buried at the cemetery, a storm of indignation breaks out in Washington. The White House wants to cancel the visit, but Reagan remains stubborn and thus supports the German Chancellor. Kohl also develops a friendly and close relationship with Reagan's successor George Bush (1989-93), which facilitates communication between the two governments during the collapse of the GDR and the German reunification process. In the 1990s, German-American relations are determined not least by the question of how much responsibility Germany should assume in the world. US President Bill Clinton (1993-2001), with whom Kohl has an even better relationship than with Reagan, reacts positively to the German decision to send Bundeswehr soldiers to the Balkans as part of an international peacekeeping force. In his memoirs, Clinton speaks almost affectionately and with great respect about his appreciation for Kohl. He was 'not only physically' the most impressive political leader in Europe for decades, according to Clinton. Gerhard Schröder (1998-2005) vs. George W. Bush The relationship between German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and US President George W. Bush develops quite differently. The atmosphere between Bonn (later Berlin) and Washington is probably never as icy as in those years. The reason: the red-green government's no to the war in Iraq. Mistrust, personal animus, blatant dislike - the rift between the two leaders is total. This becomes apparent again years later, when both are no longer in office and both accused each other of lying on the occasion of the publication of Bush's memoirs in 2010. Angela Merkel (2005-21) vs. Barack Obama Under Chancellor Angela Merkel, German-American relations relax again. Unlike with Schröder, Bush gets on well with Merkel and calls her 'a friend'. In contrast, the Chancellor's relationship with Barack Obama is slow to warm. In 2008, she refuses to allow the then presidential candidate to give a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin - Obama has to make do with the Victory Column. But after Obama's election, the relationship is increasingly characterised by mutual trust. Both cultivate a sober and pragmatic political style and a liberal view of the world, which facilitates cooperation. Olaf Scholz (2021-25) vs Joe Biden In a way, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is lucky: US President Joe Biden is probably the last great old-school US Atlanticist. This makes cooperation easier. Both like each other, work together in a spirit of trust and describe each other as friends. In fact, Scholz consults with Biden more frequently and more closely than with his European colleagues. When it comes to aid for Ukraine, Scholz does nothing without obtaining Biden's approval. At their last meeting, both warned against ending aid to Ukraine. This is now a matter for their successors.
