UK’s Burnham, Merz to talk security in Berlin

Police have so far been unsuccessful in their search for a suspicious animal sighted near Munich airport on Tuesday that is thought to possibly be a puma.

Thermal imaging cameras employed in an overnight aerial search failed to detect any sign of the animal in the Notzingermoos nature reserve in the district of Erding, a police spokeswoman said.

During the light hours of Wednesday, police also scoured the area with the help of a helicopter and drones in addition to officers on the ground but in vain.

There was one false alarm after a security guard spotted a suspicious animal on surveillance footage, with a helicopter sent to investigate.

That animal is believed to have been a domestic cat, police said.

The searches began after a hunter spotted and filmed a suspicious animal using a night-vision device late on Tuesday evening, with an expert who viewed the footage later saying it was possibly a puma.

However, local authorities have noted that there has so far been no definite identification of the animal.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is to be welcomed by French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday with military honors at one of the French capital’s best-known landmarks, the Arc de Triomphe, at the start of a state visit.

Following the ceremony, the German head of state is to hold talks with Macron at the Elysee Palace, with an ensuing joint press statement.

Steinmeier will then be received for a state banquet at the palace, the official residence of the French president.

On Friday, Steinmeier is to travel with Macron to the southwestern city of Bordeaux, where the two will visit two facilities connected with atomic deterrence.

Before leaving for France, Steinmeier said he saw the trip as a kind of farewell visit to Macron, whom he described as a “committed European and a good friend.”

Both men took office in 2017 and both will be stepping down early next year.

However, their roles are very different despite their having the same title: The German president has, in the main, ceremonial duties, while Macron holds wide-ranging executive powers.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is to visit Berlin on Thursday for his first face-to-face meeting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, during which the two leaders will launch a new UK-Germany joint security partnership.

The partnership aims to counter sabotage, cyberattacks and other hybrid threats by enhancing information-sharing and establishing coordinated monitoring, deterrence and disruption capabilities.

The initiative comes as Europe is faced by a multitude of hybrid security threats from various adversaries, especially Russia.

Ahead of the visit, Burnham said: “Attacks on our infrastructure, our businesses and our democracies are not a distant threat.”

 “They reach into people’s homes and workplaces, and they are designed to make us weaker and more divided,” he continued.

 “Britain and Germany are joining forces to find, expose and disrupt this activity.”

The two leaders are also to discuss support for Ukraine as it faces the ongoing Russian invasion, as well as the conflict in the Middle East and the economic disruption it has caused.

They will also convene a UK-Germany Regional Growth Forum.

The platform aims to bring together British and German chief executives in a bid to promote investment and strengthen industrial partnerships between the two countries.  

The DW newsroom in Bonn bids guten Tag to all its faithful readers!

In another sign of growing renewed UK rapprochement to the European fold years after Brexit, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is visiting Berlin to launch a joint UK-German security partnership.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is also off to the neighbors with a trip to France that he sees as a kind of “farewell visit to a really committed European and good friend,” President Emmanuel Macron, who, like Steinmeier, is nearing the end of his final term in office.

And the German parliament, or Bundestag, is to discuss a reform of the tax system that aims to benefit families and those on lower incomes.

Read on for more on these and other stories in our blog dedicated to all things German.