A Bavarian tax inspector has demonstrated he can hold his drink better than most, by breaking the world record for the number of beer tankards carried over 40 metres (130ft). Oliver Strümpfel carried 29 litre vessels, weighing almost 70kg (154lbs) at a Bavarian beer festival on Sunday. He would have managed 31, had one glass not fallen at the last minute, and another not lost more than 10% of its contents, contravening the rules of Maßkrugtragen – or beer tankard carrying.

The 45-year-old was cheered on by 1,500 spectators shouting “Oli, oli”, at the Gillamoos Fair in Abensberg, which evolved from a 14th-century pilgrimage and is one of Bavaria’s oldest beer fairs. A competition judge from Germany’s record institute and a notary were present to witness Strümpfel’s feat. The most difficult part of the operation was to avoiding excessive spillage before placing the beers on a table at the end of the 40-metre stretch. Strümpfel has been working on his barman skills for almost 10 years, initially taking up the sport in order to oust an Australian who held the record as the Meister of Maßkrugtragen. He managed to beat him in 2010, when he carried 21 tankards. By 2014 he had upped the number to 25.(theguardian)…[+]

A man charged with kidnapping a nine-year-old French girl during a wedding in the Alps has admitted to police that she got into his car but he denies abducting her, his lawyer has said. A week after Maëlys de Araujo went missing in the eastern village of Pont-de-Beauvoisin, a 34-year-old man was remanded in custody on Sunday on charges of “kidnapping, illegal confinement or arbitrary detention”.

The man was a guest at the wedding that Maëlys was attending with her parents when she went missing in the early hours of 27 August. Her DNA was found in his car, which was parked next to the community hall where the celebrations were held and was cleaned the day after. The suspect’s lawyer, Bernard Meraud, said his client told police that Maëlys “got into his car with a little boy, onto the back seat, to see if his [the suspect’s] dog was in the boot.” Meraud confirmed a trace of her DNA had been found on the dashboard but that his client “completely denied” kidnapping her. Meraud said several DNA traces, including that of his client, had been found on the dashboard and that someone who was in contact with the child could have “transferred” her DNA into the vehicle.(theguardian)…[+]

The Turkish government has accused Angela Merkel and Martin Schulz of practising the politics of populism and exclusion after the German election frontrunners agreed that the EU should break off negotiations over future Turkish membership.

In a televised debate on Sunday evening, the German chancellor said she did not believe Turkey should become a member of the EU, and that she would take up with her EU partners the issue of ending accession talks with Ankara. Schulz, her Social Democrat rival in elections on 24 September, said if he became the next chancellor, he would be much more candid than Merkel in his criticism of Turkey’s contravention of human rights under the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Turkey, he said, had “crossed all the red lines” and therefore it could no longer become a member of the EU. He added that as German chancellor he would break off EU accession talks with Ankara. İbrahim Kalın, a spokesman for Erdoğa, said Merkel and Schulz had focused on Turkey in their television encounter – which was watched by between a third and a half of German voters – to divert attention from more pressing problems.(Theguardian)…[+]