Ships to head to Med for possible Hormuz role

German Defense Minister Pistorius has said German naval ships will deploy to the Mediterranean.

Berlin has pledged support in the Strait of Hormuz, post-war.

DW has more.

Keep reading for the latest headlines from Germany for the weekend of April 25-26:
Hot chocolate?

Authorities find illegal medication in Cologne kiosk
Authorities in the city of Cologne discovered an unusual item during a routine check of a kiosk, public broadcaster WDR reported on Saturday.

Namely, a bar of chocolate containing the active ingredient in Viagra: Sildenafil.

The sweet is from a Turkish brand, Evelle Hilti, and the bar is called "Make Love."
The product was illegally imported into Germany.

The erectile dysfunction medication is normally only obtainable with a doctor's prescription.

The recent growth in the black market sale of arousing products has led to authorities seizing honey and Ginseng teas containing sildenafil.

They warn that such products can be dangerous due to the lack of clarity over dosage.

According to WDR, in a healthy person, the side effects of an overdose include headaches, dizziness, impaired sight and painful erections that can last for hours.

For men with previous health conditions, especially heart conditions, an overdose can be lethal.

WATCH — Germany's housing crisis: Loopholes for landlords
Germany's housing market is in crisis.

People who rent are feeling the pinch, with a shortage of affordable housing making tenants easy targets for exploitation, as landlords bend and break the rules and regulations.

German airports decry high costs as Ryanair pulls out of Berlin
The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair is planning to halve its number of flights from Berlin Airport and to shut down its base there, citing a plan by the airport to increase charges by 10%.

Berlin Airport has said that the airport and airline were still in talks.

Germany's ADV airports association has reacted with concern over the airline's withdrawal.

"Following the Ryanair announcement, Germany is looking at BER airport, but it is in fact not a decision taken against Berlin, but against the German aviation sector as a whole," ADV chief executive Ralph Beisel said.

"Excessive taxes and charges are preventing German airports from participating in the dynamic growth of European aviation," he added.

Beisel blamed aviation taxes and insurance fees, saying airport charges were lower than the European average.

According to the ADV, a flight from Berlin to Palma de Mallorca would cost the airline around €7,600 ($8,900) in fees and taxes, whereas a flight from Warsaw to Palma costs only around €4,400.

Similarly, long-haul flights from Germany were also more expensive.

A flight from Germany to New York would incur fees and taxes of some €23,500, while other European airports charged an average of €13,900.

Frankfurt Airport's Terminal 3 faces crucial stress test
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Rescuers to use sandbags to block Timmy the stranded whale from shallow water
The whale, referred to as Timmy in German media, is currently stuck in shallow waters off the island of Poel, close to the town of Wismar.

The rescuers have been digging a 100-meter channel to help Timmy swim back out to sea.

They hope to have the channel finished on Saturday and to start the guiding process on Sunday or Monday.

However, Kirsten Tönnies, the vet working with the private initiative, said the barge to be used for the rescue has been delayed and could not say when the operation would begin.

The whale has been stuck in Wismar Bay since March 31.

It had previously been freed from being stranded further up the coast but was unable to make its way out to the North Sea.

Official rescue attempts were halted after Timmy got stuck again, with experts saying further attempts would likely just distress the animal.

However, permission was given to a last-ditch rescue mission funded by a private initiative last week.

Humpback whale stranded again off German coast
Employers' association warns of 'deep and growing' disappointment in Merz's government
The president of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA), Rainer Dulger, has lambasted the coalition government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, calling it worse than the three-party coalition government that preceded it.

"It's been a long time since I last witnessed so much disappointment among employers in the work of a German government," Dulger told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper.

"This disappointment is deep and keeps growing," he added.

Not for the first time, he warned that employers were threatening to move their operations abroad, complaining that it is no longer profitable to work in Germany.

"Germany's unique levels of social security contributions, massive bureaucracy and expensive energy are seriously weakening the competitiveness of our country," Dulger told the newspaper, adding that the coalition's inability to bring about major reforms was "highly problematic."
Two ministers caught in Signal phishing scam
A new report from Der Spiegel news magazine has revealed that more top figures from the German Bundestag have been compromised on the Signal messaging app, following reports that parliamentary speaker Julia Klöckner had been hacked.

The two government ministers named in the Spiegel report were Education Minister Karien Prien (CDU) and Construction Minister Verena Hubertz (SPD).

The offices of both ministers declined Spiegel's request for comment, citing security issues.

It is unclear what hackers gained access to, but according to reports, the Cabinet ministers have a Signal group chat that includes Chancellor Merz, although his device appeared to be uncompromised.

Signal has been favored as a means of communication due to its high levels of encryption and security.

However, there has been an alleged phishing campaign that seeks to gain access to accounts by tricking users rather than hacking the app itself.

Federal Public Prosecutor Jens Rommel has been investigating the campaign since February as a suspected case of espionage.

CDU lawmaker Marc Henrichmann, the chair of the Parliamentary Control Panel in the Bundestag, responsible for overseeing the intelligence services, said on Friday that Russia was behind the campaign.

Berlin planning Mediterranean naval deployment to be ready for Hormuz
"A deployment in the [Strait of Hormuz] is only possible when we have a mandate from the German Bundestag," he told the newspaper.

He remarked that the government had followed a similar course of action ahead of the EU's Aspides mission in the Red Sea that began in February 2024 as a response to Houthi attacks on shipping.

"That substantially accelerated the beginning of the deployment," Pistorius said.

Without signalling when the deployment would take place, he said a minesweeper and support ship would be sent, with deployments in other areas being reduced, in agreement with partners.

Iran effectively blocked all traffic passing through the narrow Strait of Hormuz in response to attacks by the US and Israel that began on February 28.

Despite a ceasefire, Iran has kept the key waterway due to a US blockade of Iranian ports.

Around a fifth of the world's oil and gas passes through the strait and its almost two-month closure has had major impacts on economies worldwide .

Germany, like other NATO allies, drew the ire of US President Donald Trump by refusing to join the war, but pledged to help secure shipping through the strait with minesweeping and reconnaissance support.

EU leaders weigh options to deal with Iran war
IN DEPTH: Is the far-right AfD misusing its parliamentary questions?

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has submitted thousands of official questions in state parliaments — a right of any elected party.

But critics argue that their focus is meant to pressure political opponents.

Read more about how the AfD may be gaming parliamentary questions .

Guten Morgen and thank you for joining us today.

Germany, like everywhere now, is reeling from the impacts of the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The German government has cut its own economic growth forecasts in half , down to 0.5%, as soaring energy prices torpedo hopes of a recovery from Germany's economic malaise.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has also cast doubt on Germany's environmental credentials, saying climate protections must not hold back growth .

Meanwhile, for some in Germany, the top story remains the fate of Timmy the stranded whale , with rescue efforts continuing weeks after experts said there was no hope left for the maritime mammal.