Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
- Boris Pistrorius says there’s no rush to move on a new next-generation combat jet project as a German consortium volunteers
- A nine-year Franco-German project, FCAS, collapsed this week after longstanding tensions
- Federal police temporarily shut down sections of Hamburg airport on Friday, halting all flights and sparking evacuations after a man wandered into a restricted security area
- A postmortem report on a stranded humpback whale dubbed Timmy by the German media found that the mammal drifted some 200 kilometers (125 miles) over the course of four days after being transported to open waters where it subsequently died
- German inflation sank temporarily after the introduction of fuel rebates according to federal statistics, yet economic recovery in the country remains slow
Read this and more from Germany on Friday, June 12
Tired of missing our real-time updates? Click here to add us as a Preferred Source on Google. Then tap the “Star” or “Preferred” to keep DW News at the top of your feed.
Skip next section Pistorius: No rush to decide on new Gen 6 jet project after FCAS collapse06/12/2026June 12, 2026
Pistorius: No rush to decide on new Gen 6 jet project after FCAS collapse
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said at the annual Berlin air show on Friday that the government would need time to consider a new consortium’s bid to build a next-generation, multirole combat jet for the German military.
This follows just days after the 9-year-old Franco-German FCAS presitge project collapsed, amid bickering between French aviation giant Dassault and Airbus in Germany.
The vultures promptly started circling the FCAS carcass, eying fresh government grants. A consortium of eight companies calling themselves “Team Gen 6” put their names forward to cooperate on a sixth-generation combat jet.
“I am very pleased about this initiative, initiatives of precisely this kind are now needed,” Pistorius said at the ILA air show. “But we must look very carefuly at what can be done with whom, and how quickly, and at what cost, and with what involvement from German industry.”
There was still some ground to cover to reach a decision, Pistorius said.
The Team Gen 6 alliance that issued the application incorporates Airbus, MTU, Hensoldt, MBDA, Autoflug, Diehl Defence, Liebherr and Rohde und Schwarz.
The head of Airbus Defence and Space, Michael Schöllborn, said at the ILA that he was interested in a new “compact” solution that would be focused on military needs and not plagued by excessive complexity because of too many countries wanting to pack too many desires into one design. He said he thought the mid-2030s or 2040 could be a realistic completion date.
“In contrast to last time, we should bring political, military and industrial interests into harmony,” he said.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
https://p.dw.com/p/5FIlNSkip next section Bavarian court holds Google liable for fake AI answers06/12/2026June 12, 2026
Bavarian court holds Google liable for fake AI answers
A court in the Bavarian capital, Munich, has ruled that search engine operator Google can be held directly liable for incorrect answers generated by its “AI overview” feature.
The legal dispute had centered on whether the service should receive the same legal treatment as conventional search results.
Read more about the story here.
https://p.dw.com/p/5FIl7Skip next section German town authorizes hunters to shoot wolf after more than 56 livestock attacks06/12/2026June 12, 2026
German town authorizes hunters to shoot wolf after more than 56 livestock attacks
The small rural municipality of Olpe in western Germany has issued a permit to hunters in four hunting areas to kill a specific wolf accused of dozens of attacks on livestock.
Local hunting authorities, in conjunction with the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) state Agriculture Ministry, issued the authorization for the “removal of the damage-inducing Wolf ‘GW1896m.’”
The license has a limited validity, provisionally until the end of July. Olpe authorities said they had informed local hunting authorities of the move on Thursday as they issued the order.
This decision was taken in accordance with recent alterations to German hunting laws pertaining to wolves, which came into force in NRW this April, aiming to strike a “durable balance between the return of wolves, protecting livestock and public safety.”
States are allowed to designate a wolf as a hunting target if they can demonstrate it has been posing a threat to public safety, public interest and agricultural interests.
“Wolf ‘GW1896m’ has attacked numerous livestock animals in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, as demonstrated beyond any doubt by genetic analysis,” Olpe municipality said in a press release. “In total, wolf ‘GW1896m’ can be attributed to 56 attacks in NRW alone in which livestock came to harm.”
The animal came under renewed scrutiny this April in particular, when a series of attacks on April 9, 10, 19 and 25 in two nearby areas led to the death or injury of a total of 35 sheep and lambs. Genetic tests showed it was the same wolf in each case, authorities said.
Wolf numbers in Europe have been rising sharply in recent years amid rewilding efforts and improved protections. But this has led to questions about the safety of livestock, pets, and in extreme cases, people.
Animal rights activists have criticized the German and EU reforms making it easier to shoot so-called “problem wolves” in exceptional circumstances.
https://p.dw.com/p/5FIi8Skip next section Germany head coach Nagelsmann coming under fire for decisions in run up to World Cup06/12/2026June 12, 2026
Germany head coach Nagelsmann coming under fire for decisions in run up to World Cup
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
https://p.dw.com/p/5FISKSkip next section Germany shows signs of slow recovery as inflation drops due to fuel tax cuts06/12/2026June 12, 2026
Germany shows signs of slow recovery as inflation drops due to fuel tax cuts
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.
https://p.dw.com/p/5FIE4Skip next section Stranded whale Timmy drifted for days as it died06/12/2026June 12, 2026
Stranded whale Timmy drifted for days as it died
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.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
https://p.dw.com/p/5FHykSkip next section Apparently lost man causes massive travel chaos at Hamburg airport06/12/2026June 12, 2026
Apparently lost man causes massive travel chaos at Hamburg airport
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.
https://p.dw.com/p/5FHXGSkip next section Welcome to our coverage06/12/2026June 12, 2026
Welcome to our coverage
Jon Shelton | Wesley Rahn Editor
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.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
https://p.dw.com/p/5FHX3Show more posts
About The Author
