Germany news: Lost man triggers shutdown at Hamburg airport

As sports fans turn their attention to the FIFA World Cup getting underway in North America, Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann is being scrutinized for his inability to articulate his decision-making process when it comes to the squad.

DW's Jonathan Harding's article on the coach points out that Nagelsmann's waffling might just be a true reflection of overall German sentiment rather than possible personal shortcomings and a lack of optimism from the coach himself.

Read Jonathan's full article here: Julian Nagelsmann: The coach struggling to speak to Germany

Germany's Federal Statistical Office on Friday announced that inflation in the country had dropped slightly in May, likely as a result of cuts to fuel taxes.

Inflation dropped to 2.6% in May, down from 2.9% in April — the highest since January 2024.

Year-on-year energy prices were 6.6% higher than in May 2025; but were, nevertheless, lower than April's 10.1% year-on-year rate.   

The Statistical Office pointed to the German government's decision to cut fuel taxes by €0.17 ($0.20) per liter on diesel and gas as a possible reason for the improved inflation numbers.

"Energy prices remained at a high level as a result of the Iran war, although the reduction in the tax on motor fuels, which has applied since the start of May, is likely to have had a dampening effect on the rise in prices," said Federal Statistical Office President Ruth Brand.

Annual inflation in Germany is expected to end the year around 3%, but the German Council of Economic Experts warns the number could jump to 3.5% if the Strait of Hormuz — a major global oil transport chokepoint — remains closed as a result of the ongoing US and Israeli war on Iran.

The continued closure of the strait and the temporary status of the fuel tax cut — which is set to expire in June — could ultimately lead to a continuation of rising food and services prices for German consumers.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Environmental Minister Till Backhaus on Friday announced that a stranded humpback whale that made headlines in Germany and around the world between March and May before dying had drifted as many as 200 kilometers (125 miles) over the course of four days after being transported to open waters.

The 12-meter (40-foot) long whale, dubbed Timmy by German media, was first spotted in the northern German state's Wismar harbor in early March and remained locked in the waters of the Baltic Sea for weeks, repeatedly stranding.

Experts argued that the creature would not survive and advised against attempts to transport it into the open waters of the North Sea but Backhaus approved a private initiative designed to move the weakened mammal nevertheless, a decision he stood by on Friday.

Backhaus defended the attempt and said no evidence indicated the transport had contributed to the whale's death.

Backhaus said the signal from a tracking device affixed to the whale's fin disappeared between May 6 and 7, adding that it had "more or less drifted" after being released into the North Sea on May 2. 

The whale's dead carcass was later sighted and identified off the island of Anholt, between Denmark and Sweden, on May 14.

Federal police in Hamburg say they initiated a partial lockdown of the city's airport on Friday out of an abundance of caution when a man erroneously opened the facility's escape routes and entered a restricted security area around 9:45 a.m. local time (0745 GMT).

Police say it was unclear what the man's intentions were when he hit the button that opened escape routes, allowing him to wander into the restricted area. 

The incident caused a major evacuation of both the security area and planes.   

An airport spokesperson later confirmed that "the precautionary measure taken by federal police has ended and passengers are now passing through security again," adding that "flight operations are resuming."

Nevertheless, the spokesperson noted that significant delays and flight cancellations would continue throughout the course of the day.

Guten Tag from the DW newsroom in Bonn where we begin our coverage of the day's news with travelers in Hamburg being forced to deal with evacuation, flight cancellations and massive delays after a passenger erroneously opened escape routes by hitting an emergency button and entering a restricted security area.

Police say flights have now resumed but added delays will continue throughout the day.

In the northern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, State Environmental Minister Till Backhaus presented a postmortem report on a humpback whale that provided weeks of headlines after it became stranded in German waters in March. 

Backhaus said the creature drifted for days before scientists lost the signal transmitted from a tracking device attached to its tail fin. The cause of the whale's death remains unclear.

Inflation numbers declined slightly in Germany according to statistics, though economic recovery remains anemic. The dip is reportedly due to the introduction of fuel rebates designed to ease pressure on consumers still struggling with global oil shortages caused, among other things, by the war that the US and Israeli launched against Iran on May 1 and the subsequent ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil transit route.