Expected to attend: Angela Merkel, along with many thousands of German fans. Francois Hollande was also at the France-Germany match on Friday night when the bombs started going off. If these aren’t outright assassination attempts, they’re at least attempts to lay horrendous terrorism right at the leader’s feet.

The match was all set to go until two hours before game time. Then things changed.

“We received a serious tip that an explosive attack was planned for the stadium,” Hannover police chief Volker Kluwe said in an interview on ARD public television…

Police evacuated the stadium and the surrounding area. Outside, on the street, police were exhorting people to leave, according to television footage from Hannover.

“Please immediately make your way home,” the police said over the loudspeakers. “There is no reason for you to stay here any longer.”

Was it just a threat or was a bomb actually found? Deutsche Welle quotes the city’s chief of police as saying “There was a device intended to be detonated inside the stadium.” Fox News, citing Sky News, claims that police found a suspicious suitcase. Other news outlets claim something … larger:

https://twitter.com/Conflicts/status/666697205500243969

The rescue vehicle is supposedly an ambulance but I haven’t seen any confirmation of a truck bomb yet. In fact, apart from the vague reference to a device, I haven’t seen confirmation of any sort of bomb yet. Stand by for updates.

Update: Still nothing confirmed. But if this is legit, it’s a curious change in M.O. from Paris.

BREAKING: Police in Hanover have closed a section of the city's central train station as another object has been discovered." #GERNED

— DW Sports (@dw_sports) November 17, 2015

Update: They found a “device” but they haven’t found explosives?

https://twitter.com/pzf/status/666718329638375425

Some awfully credible evidence must have been in front of them to get them to cancel an international match attended by the chancellor for fear of an explosion. What was the evidence?