Obama in Berlin Ahead of Speech

Barack Obama arrived in Berlin this morning, where he met Angela Merkel at the German chancellery ahead of a major speech this evening. The Europe leg of the candidate's tour followed an early-morning stop at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Obama will speak to the chancellor and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, her foreign minister and chief rival, before his address at the Siegessäule at 7:00pm local time.

Before departing for Germany, Obama told reporters that his speech will consist of a "substantive articulation of the relationship I'd like to see between the United States and Europe." The visit to Berlin has dominated the news for weeks in Germany; this week's cover of Der Spiegel features a grinning Obama captioned "Germany Meets the Superstar." (More Barack Obama stories.)