Lufthansa profits plunge amid rising costs; hedgehog triggers police alarm in Mühlheim

Lufthansa profits have plunged in the second quarter.

Here is a roundup of top stories from and about Germany on Tuesday, August 4, 2026:

Germany's flag carrier, Lufthansa, says its profits have fallen sharply in the second quarter, citing higher fuel costs, geopolitical instability and employee strikes as reasons for the plunge.

Core profit fell almost 56% to €383 million ($440 million) in comparison with the same period last year, Lufthansa said.

The fall came despite sales rising 10% to €11.1 billion in the three months to the end of June.

Lufthansa said higher fuel prices had increased costs by about €750 million.

"The second quarter was characterized by exceptionally high fuel costs and heightened geopolitical uncertainty," Lufthansa chief financial officer Till Streichert said.

The airline group said it now expects its adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) to come in at €1.7 billion and €2.2 billion this year.

It had previously predicted that adjusted EBIT would surpass last year's €1.96 billion in spite of the rising cost of fuel amid the Iran war.

Officers who deployed to a supermarket in the town of Mühlheim am Main in the central state of Hesse after a burglar alarm went off in the early hours of the morning did not have to deal with a dangerous criminal but a rather confused animal, police said on Tuesday.

"In the entrance area of the supermarket, the police discovered who had set off the alarm: four-legged, small, round and obviously lacking any criminal energy," they wrote in a statement.

"The suspected 'burglar,' caught in the act, turned out to be a hedgehog that had probably already snuck into the supermarket the day before," they said.

They said the animal was shut into the store by accident at closing time and had ended up "triggering the alarm while off exploring the place."

The hedgehog was briefly examined and found to be unharmed before being set free to continue its nocturnal wanderings, they said.

A schönen guten Tag from the DW newsroom in Bonn!

We are deep into what in Germany is known as the Sommerloch (summer hole), or "silly season," but we will still be doing our best to bring you some interesting and entertaining reading.

At a time when wars and wildfires are dominating the headlines, news of a hedgehog-triggered police deployment in central Germany could, for example, provide some welcome relief.

But is relief in sight for Germany's best-known airline? The latest news on its finances shows that it is facing some major challenges.