Latest news with #AscensionDay
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Climate
- Indian Express
Swiss village of Blatten buried by glacier collapse, raising climate concerns
The village of Blatten in southern Switzerland has been destroyed after a large section of mountain collapsed onto a glacier, sending rocks and ice crashing into the valley. Scientists had been monitoring the Nesthorn mountain above Blatten and had noticed signs of instability in recent weeks. Small slides of rocks and ice had already begun, prompting the evacuation of all 300 residents and their animals. Officials hoped the danger would pass slowly, but on Wednesday, a massive landslide hit the area. According to BBC, about nine million cubic metre of ice and rocks fell onto the Birch glacier and into the valley. The impact was strong enough to be recorded by geological monitoring stations across Switzerland. Blatten was completely buried. Its homes, church, and Hotel Edelweiss were all destroyed. Only the roof of the hotel is now visible above the debris. Breaking: A glacier collapse has buried the Swiss village of Blatten under mud. 💔 The Lonza River is dammed and large parts of the town have been evacuated. Tragic — but thanks to early warnings from scientists, lives were likely saved.#Switzerland #Blatten #ClimateCrisis… — The Curious Quill (@PleasingRj) May 29, 2025 In the nearby village of Kippel, residents Barbara and Otto Jaggi described the moment the disaster happened. 'There was loud banging, and the lights went out,' Barbara told. At first, they thought it was their chimney repairman, but soon he ran upstairs shouting, 'the mountain is coming.' Glacier expert Matthias Huss from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich said the disaster was the worst-case scenario. 'I was speechless,' he told the BBC, adding that while Blatten is the most serious event in recent years, it is not the only one. 'We are seeing many,' he said. 'A lot of these events in the last years in the Alps are linked to global warming.' Experts believe melting permafrost is playing a key role. Permafrost helps keep mountains stable, but as temperatures rise, it thaws. When that happens, the ground weakens, and slopes begin to collapse. Glaciers are also shrinking, uncovering unstable rock faces. 'These changes used to take centuries,' Huss explained. 'Now they are happening in just a few decades.' Although the village had been evacuated in time and no major injuries were reported, one man aged 64 is missing. Authorities say the clean-up is on hold as the debris has blocked the River Lonza, creating a flood risk for other villages like Wiler and Kippel. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter visited the area and met with people who had lost their homes. Local residents gathered for Ascension Day prayers in Wiler, expressing both grief and solidarity. 'They've lost everything,' one woman said. 'It's terrible. There's nothing we can do.' An elderly man added, 'We can cry, but we cannot cry forever. We must believe in God, that He will help us, so that life can go on.' Matthias Huss believes the Blatten disaster could shape how Switzerland thinks about living in mountain areas. 'This event will be decisive for how we perceive the mountains,' he said. 'And I wouldn't exclude that other villages might be destroyed in future.'
Engadget
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Engadget
Google Maps falsely told drivers in Germany that roads across the country were closed
Chaos ensued on German roads this week after Google Maps wrongly informed drivers that highways throughout the country were closed during a busy holiday. Many of the apparently closed roads were located near large German cities and metropolitan areas, including Berlin, Düsseldorf and Dortmund. As reported by a locally based journalist for The Guardian , drivers opening Google's navigation app would see a swarm of red dots used to indicate no-go areas, which resulted in people looking for alternative routes that caused traffic pile-ups nationwide. The Guardian also reported that police and local authorities were contacted by people confused (and presumably pretty annoyed) about the supposed standstill. To compound the issue, the Google Maps error coincided with the beginning of Germany's Ascension Day public holiday on May 29, which meant the roads were even busier than usual. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. The problem reportedly only lasted for a few hours and by Thursday afternoon only genuine road closures were being displayed. It's not clear whether Google Maps had just malfunctioned, or if something more nefarious was to blame. "The information in Google Maps comes from a variety of sources. Information such as locations, street names, boundaries, traffic data, and road networks comes from a combination of third-party providers, public sources, and user input," a spokesperson for Google told German newspaper Berliner Morgenpost , adding that it is internally reviewing the problem. "In general, these sources provide a strong foundation for comprehensive and up-to-date maps." Technical issues with Google Maps are not uncommon. Back in March, users were reporting that their Timeline — which keeps track of all the places you've visited before for future reference — had been wiped, with Google later confirming that some people had indeed had their data deleted, and in some cases, would not be able to recover it.
Local Germany
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Local Germany
Why drivers in Germany learned they can't always trust Google Maps
The German Automobile Club (ADAC) had warned that there would be problems on the roads on Thursday due to Ascension Day and the start of a four-day holiday weekend for many, but no one expected that a Google Maps glitch would exacerbate the problem. Google Maps indicated that multiple sections of motorways around Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, and other major German cities were closed on Thursday, but at the time the roads were open with traffic flowing as expected. Parts of the Netherlands and Belgium were also affected. Social media quickly filled with complaints as commuters detoured for miles, delivery drivers missed appointments, and holiday travellers took to backroads, zigzagging unnecessarily on smaller regional roads. "They can't have closed ALL the motorways," Bild quoted one Facebook user as posting. "Especially because the traffic news isn't reporting anything." Google acknowledged the issue by midday, attributing the false closures to erroneous data feeds from third-party sources. The company urged users to report inaccuracies and promised a swift resolution. By late afternoon, most of the phantom closures had disappeared from the app. 'The information in Google Maps comes from various sources (including) a combination of third-party providers, public sources, and user input,' a spokesperson told N-tv . 'In general, these sources provide a strong basis for comprehensive and up-to-date map material.' Screenshots from the Google Maps app shared by N-tv show red dots that indicate traffic disruptions scattered around Dortmund and Essen, as well as on highways going and coming from Frankfurt. Thursday's incident came at an awkward time for many road users, with traffic already heavy on account of the Ascension Day public holiday. Congestion and delays are expected on the network again on Sunday – as holidaymakers who have taken advantage of the long weekend begin returning home. READ ALSO: Where drivers in Germany can expect the worst traffic around Ascension Day Is Google Maps reliable in Germany? This isn't the first time that Google Maps has created problems for motorists in Germany in recent weeks. At the beginning of the month, the app informed users that motorway tunnels in Thuringia were closed. The complaint was corrected following complaints from the police. Until Google confirms that it has identified and definitively fixed the issues with its software, drivers are advised to double-check their journey plans. Advertisement What are the alternatives to Google Maps? Google Maps is not the only navigation tool available in Germany. HERE WeGo offers robust offline maps and real-time traffic updates. For people who value their privacy and / or prefer open-source solutions, OsmAnd and MapFactor Navigator both use data from OpenStreetMap, as well as community updates.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Google Maps causes 'chaos' in Germany by pretending motorways closed
It was the start of a four-day weekend for many families, and roads across Germany were already set to be clogged by people heading off on a May holiday break. Then Google Maps decided to redirect drivers away from Germany's famously fast "autobahn" motorways due to dozens of unexpected closures on crucial roads. In a day of what German media called "autobahn chaos", the Ascension Day public holiday on Thursday was marred by lengthy detours for many after it turned out Google Maps was falsely reporting motorway closures across the country. The online navigation service displayed red dots on road sections around Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt and other major German cities. However police in Hamburg, Frankfurt, Mainz and the highly populated state of North Rhine-Westphalia could not confirm the closures to dpa. Parts of the Netherlands and Belgium also appeared to be affected by the error on Google Maps. "They can't have closed ALL the motorways," tabloid Bild quoted one Facebook user as posting. "Especially because the traffic news isn't reporting anything." Google told dpa the information was being reviewed and that it was removing closures that were incorrect. "We cannot comment on specific cases," a company spokesman said, noting that the information on Google Maps comes from a combination of third-party providers, public sources and user inputs. "In general, these sources provide a strong basis for comprehensive and up-to-date map material," he said. Google Maps also allows users to report errors being displayed. It's not the first time Google has invented a road closure in Germany, and at the beginning of May, the tech giant's service incorrectly displayed motorway tunnels in eastern Germany's Thuringia state as closed. Following a complaint from the police, the navigation instructions were corrected. Germany's motorways are normally famed for their speed, having many stretches without a speed limit where drivers can go as fast as their Audis, BMWs or Porsches can carry them. In the context of the climate crisis, lawmakers have long been debating efforts to stop drivers speeding on one of the world's few remaining motorways where you can legally - and considerably safely - reach speeds of over 300 km/h.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Oxford choirs sing from rooftops to mark Ascension Day
Rooftops were alive with the sound of singing on Thursday morning in what is an Oxford Ascension Day choirs and those from Oxford University dotted the tops of buildings around the city centre to sing hymnals and Day is an important moment in the Christian calendar, marking Jesus' return to heaven after his Chris Williams said: "It's always tricky singing outside, but it was really good fun." Ascension is "a really important day for me", he said, "with Jesus going up to heaven and leaving the world to put into practice what he has spent his time preaching".Charles Hellens, a student and choir member, said: "I don't know what it is about Oxford but we love getting up early in the morning to hear people sing choral music."It feels important to have a presence on days like Ascension Day and keep these traditions going."They're so at risk of dying out, but as long as we keep waking up early in the morning and coming up to sing choral music then I think Oxford is in safe hands." This year, one of the usual spots of Saint Michael at the North Gate was under scaffolding, so a group decamped to the roof terrace of The Store Hotel on Broad manager Simon Drake said the best moment "was seeing the guests we've got in the hotel actually drawn to come and hear it"."Seeing people crying to choral music at eight o'clock in the morning is always eye-opening," he Nightingale is a student at Oxford University and a member of one of the said: "It's been a really lovely morning. It's always good to spend some time with these people and sing something - although it feels slightly bizarre to be up and singing at this time in the morning." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
