Skip next section Cabinet agrees policing amendment to boost drone defense
10/08/2025October 8, 2025
Cabinet agrees policing amendment to boost drone defense
German Chancellor ‘s ministers have agreed on an amendment to policing legislation that would boost the federal police’s defense capabilities — if passed by parliament.
A draft of the revised legislation, as reported by the Reuters news agency, reads:
“In order to combat a threat posed by unmanned aerial systems on land, in the air or on water, the federal police may deploy appropriate technical means against the system, its control unit or its control connection if other means of combatting the threat would be futile or otherwise significantly more difficult.”
In other words: the police will be allowed to destroy drones in the air, water or on land as it sees fit.
In the coming weeks, amendments to aerial security legislation are expected to clarify the role of the German military, the , in helping police combat drones – as was requested when .
Among the questions will be whether the Bundeswehr would be permitted to shoot down a drone which has been identified as a threat above German territory, for instance if the drone was at an altitude beyond the reach of police capabilities.
According to the , the Bundeswehr is strictly a defensive army whose role is explicitly limited to protecting the state from external military threats in war-like scenarios.
https://p.dw.com/p/51eu3
Skip next section Finance minister promises ‘marathon of reforms’
10/08/2025October 8, 2025
Finance minister promises ‘marathon of reforms’
German Finance Minister has promised a “marathon of reforms” as the government looks to plug a hole of over €30 billion ($34.6 billion) in federal finances.
“I believe our citizens know that there have to be changes; they can handle straight language and understand that we can’t plug that gap without cuts,” said Klingbeil, the most senior in the conservative-led .
“But, as a Social Democrat, I also say: These reforms have to be fair,” Klingbeil said. “If the impression emerges that only one section of society is doing its part, we will lose trust.”
Klingbeil said the SPD would support cuts to welfare and unemployment benefits and also push for higher taxes on high earners in a “mutual package” with Chancellor ‘s Christian Democrats (CDU) and the allied Christian Social Union.
But, Klingbeil said, the “autumn of reforms” proposed by General Secretary Carsten Linnemann is insufficient.
“To be honest, that is not ambitious enough for me,” Klingbeil told media outlet t-online on Wednesday.
“We can’t just have one autumn, three months, in which we put our foot on the gas and then that’s it,” Klingbeil said. “The dismantling of bureaucracy and the acceleration of planning and authorization processes will keep the coalition occupied for the entire parliament.
“And I will be pushing for everyone to play their part.”
https://p.dw.com/p/51eJj
Skip next section Attack on town mayor not politically motivated, police say
10/08/2025October 8, 2025
Attack on town mayor not politically motivated, police say
Local police say they do not believe that a knife attack on Tuesday that left the newly elected mayor of a German town with life-threatening injuries was politically motivated.
Iris Stalzer, of the Social Democrats (), was found seriously injured at her home after suffering several stab wounds just a week after being elected as the new mayor of Herdecke in the postindustrial Ruhr Valley in in western .
But investigators suspect the background to the incident may be domestic rather than political.
“Given what we know so far, there are no signs that this was a politically motivated act,” said police.
The 57-year-old Stalzer is a mother of two teenage children, aged 15 and 17, who police say were taken in for questioning by investigators.
According to the German dpa news agency, citing sources from security circles, neighbors reported hearing a heated argument between the 15-year-old and his mother prior to the incident.
Stalzer’s husband was reportedly abroad at the time and only returned on Tuesday evening.
Police would not confirm whether the two children were being treated as witnesses or suspects, saying only that the pair were being looked after.
Stalzer was reportedly still in a critical condition on Tuesday night.
https://p.dw.com/p/51e9I
Skip next section Welcome to our coverage10/08/2025October 8, 2025
Welcome to our coverage
Sean Sinico
Guten Tag! Welcome to DW’s coverage of what is talking about on Wednesday, October 8, 2025.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil has warned of a “marathon of reforms” as the government looks to plug a gaping hole in the state’s finances.
Meanwhile, police are not treating the stabbing that left a newly elected town mayor critically injured on Tuesday as politically motivated.
https://p.dw.com/p/51eQc
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