A search operation has been launched in Bruges (West Flanders) for a 61-year-old woman Maria Decuyper from Koolkerke (West Flanders) has not been seen since New Year's Eve The Civil Protection Agency and the police are searching in the canal near the to the Kruispoort People in the area know Maria Decuyper as Bernadette The 61-year-old woman from Koolkerke celebrated the New Year’s Eve at Santa Cruz café in the Sint-Kruis area of Bruges She left the bar at around 00.45h on Wednesday morning The police and the prosecutor's office consider her disappearance to be alarming and have issued an appeal for information regarding Maria Decuyper’s whereabouts This includes a search of the Ringvaart Canal Maria Decuyper is around 1.67 metres tall and is of normal build she was wearing dark trousers and a patterned woolen jumper The body of a woman that had been missing since the early hours of New Year’s Day morning has been found near to the Dampoort in the West Flemish city of Bruges The woman’s body was spotted floating in the Ringvaart Canal by passer’s-by on Friday morning Police have confirmed that the body is that of the missing 61-year-old On Thursday police and emergency services searched for the missing woman all day The search centred around the Kruispoort areas of Bruges The 61-year-old woman from village of Koolkerke near Bruges saw in the New Year at café Santa Cruz She left the bar at 00.45h and had been missing ever since It had not been clear whether the police and the Civil Protection Agency intended to continue their search today (Friday) this proved to be unnecessary as walkers spotted a body floating in the canal early this morning Police and firefighters rushed to the scene and pulled the body out of the water Police have since confirmed that it was that of the missing 61-year-old Club Brugge Foundation organized the Club Brugge Schools Cup This year no less than 20 school teams from Bruges and neighboring municipalities participated in the Schools Cup The first Wednesday after the Easter vacations is traditionally the day when many pupils from the third grade of primary and special education travel to Jan Breydel for the Club Brugge Schools Cup In different competitions they compete against each other and compete not only for the cup with the big ears but also for the fair play cup and the supporters cup Each team had to send at least 2 girls to promote women's soccer Last year Sint-Andreas Sint-Kruis and de Fonkel faced each other in the final and this year they also battled each other for the final victory An exciting final was eventually decided by penalties Thus Sint-Andreas Sint-Kruis could take home the final victory for the second year in a row OLVO Ramskapelle was the team that provided the most fair play and was rewarded for that performance with the fair play trophy Christus Koning elementary school won the supporters' cup thanks to some nice banners and was thrilled to receive their trophy It was a fun and sporty afternoon on the Bruges practice fields Not only was football played but there were also various peripheral activities The students who had energy to spare could enjoy themselves on the climbing wall Max of Child Focus the rodeo bull and the mobile exergames of Sport Vlaanderen All pictures can be found here. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date about your favourite Club Become a member off the country's biggest supporter family Don't miss any important updates about your favourite Club The Michelin Guide Belgium and Luxembourg 2021 has landed today with news of one new three-star restaurant being listed in Belgium as well as two new two-star restaurants making the grade.  joining Peter Goossens’ Hof van Cleve in Kruisem which retained its three-star status.  Two new restaurants were also awarded two stars: restaurant Castor with Maarten Bouckaert in Beveren-Leie and Bartholomeus by Bart Desmidt and Philip Vandamme in Knokke-Heist There were also ten new one-star restaurants awarded in Belgium Luxembourg has no new stars to report in the 2021 guide A dangerous common snapping turtle was discovered in the Sint-Kruis borough of Bruges (West Flanders) this morning A walker noticed the animal in a nature area and alerted the SOS Reptile animal shelter in Ichtegem (West Flanders) Volunteers immediately decided to come and collect the turtle "A passer-by noticed the animal and immediately saw that it was not your average tortoise," explains Mario Goes of SOS Reptile "This person also immediately emailed a photo We could immediately see that it was a dangerous specimen." Volunteers from the shelter headed to Sint-Kruis straight away to collect the animal A snapping turtle is a very dangerous animal "A turtle like that can easily bite off your finger Even a dog's paw can be badly injured People often think it's just a turtle but believe me: this is a dangerous species." The turtle is now being cared for at the shelter in Ichtegem "We will first check to see if the turtle is healthy the animal will be given a permanent place somewhere Snapping turtles are very dangerous and should not be kept as pets This is why they are not eligible for our adoption programme." SOS Reptile currently houses 15 snapping turtles "But there are more snapping turtles in Flanders than you might think!" Mario says "They are mainly found at the bottom of ponds Other turtles stand out more because they are more willing to swim."