Overview
- Federal prosecutors in Karlsruhe are leading the probe into the arson on a cable bridge that cut power to roughly 100,000 residents in southwest Berlin.
- Authorities are examining a claim of responsibility by a group calling itself the Vulkangruppe, which security services classify as left-wing extremist.
- Elements under discussion for the package include IP-address retention, lower thresholds for source-telecommunications surveillance, and permission for federal police to use Palantir-style data analysis and automated online facial recognition.
- The KRITIS framework would require operators of electricity, water and telecoms networks to implement stricter security concepts and emergency plans, with legislative details still contested in parliament and the states.
- Stromnetz Berlin says full repairs will take months, though a second provisional high-voltage line is stabilizing supply, while cities push for a national mobile blackout reserve and Berlin’s crisis handling faces scrutiny.