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What you need to know
- Merz-Trump phone call expected over the weekend to discuss Hormuz patrols
- Police say 500 people wanted for links to right-wing extremism have not been detained
- German government to investigate rising food prices due to Iran war
- Berlin stages ‘Nureyev’ ballet banned by Russia
- Final preparations for Sunday’s state election in Rhineland-Palatinate
Keep checking back for the latest updates from across Germany on Saturday, March 21.
Banned Nureyev ballet set for Berlin opening night
A ballet chronicling the life of legendary Soviet-born dancer Rudolf Nureyev, banned in Russia over “gay propaganda” allegations, makes its international premiere in Germany on Saturday evening.
“Nureyev,” which was created by Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov, will be performed at Deutsche Oper (German Opera House) in Berlin. The performance is a sellout but can still be watched live online.
Originally premiered at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre in 2017, “Nureyev” was pulled from Russian stages in 2023 after tightened anti-LGBTQ legislation, due to its explicit depiction of same-sex relationships.
Serebrennikov, who fled Russia in 2022 and now lives in exile in Germany, is staging the work for the first time outside his homeland.
The ballet traces Nureyev’s extraordinary career as one of the 20th century’s greatest male dancers, his dramatic 1961 defection from the Soviet Union to France and his death in 1993 from AIDS-related complications.
It features scenes highlighting his relationships with men and immersion in Paris’s gay scene, including sequences with dancers in high heels and drag.
Brazilian dancer David Soares, formerly with the Bolshoi, performs the title role.
The ambitious production blends ballet, opera and drama with a large ensemble, including vocalists and a jazz band.
Task force to consider measures to curb food inflation
The task force set up by Germany’s government to tackle soaring fuel prices from the Iran war is also to consider measures to help against potentially rising food costs.
Esra Limbacher, the Social Democrats’ (SPD) deputy parliamentary group leader, told the Rheinische Post that the committee was considering aid for domestic fertilizer producers as well as tax relief for the food industry.
Like oil and gas, fertilizer prices have shot up in recent weeks due to the conflict, as Gulf countries are also major producers of nitrogen-based soil nutrients, including urea and ammonia.
Around a quarter of the global fertilizer trade typically passes through the Strait of Hormuz for export. Iran has effectively shut Hormuz and carried out attacks on shipping.
“Higher prices for fertilizer and transportation threaten to lead to rising food prices,” Limbacher said, adding that the task force will consider “measures to curb inflation” next week.
He warned that without countermeasures, life will become noticeably more expensive for many German residents.
“Inflation is poison for people with average incomes and for our economy. We must protect our population,” Limbacher said.
The Iran war has driven up the cost of energy, which in the food production sector, is raising costs for farmers, food factories and transportation.
Hundreds of far-right extremists at large despite arrest warrants
More than 500 right-wing extremists are wanted in Germany on outstanding arrest warrants, data from the Interior Ministry showed.
Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND), a shared newsroom for dozens of regional and local newspapers across Germany, published the data after a parliamentary request from the Green Party.
The ministry said as of September 30, 2025, a total of 688 arrest warrants were outstanding against 515 individuals from the right-wing extremist scene.
Meanwhile, 185 so-called Reichsbürger (citizens of the Reich) and members of similar groups were wanted on a total of 242 outstanding arrest warrants.
The Reichsbürger is a loose network of extreme right supporters and conspiracy theorists who reject the legitimacy of the modern German state.
Ministry data showed that German police registered 36,951 right-wing extremist crimes nationwide last year, a 13% fall on the previous year. Nearly 1,400 crimes were violent offenses.
Irene Mihalic, the Greens’ parliamentary representative on interior affairs, said there was no reason to believe support for far-right extremism is on the wane.
“Almost 37,000 offenses demonstrate how massive the problem remains. Six attempted homicides and around 1,400 violent acts prove the scene’s unbroken willingness to use violence,” Mihalic was cited by local media as saying.
She called for outstanding arrest warrants to be executed.
Merz-Trump weekend call scheduled amid Hormuz crisis
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz is due to speak with US President Donald Trump over the weekend amid rising pressure that European NATO allies help the United States to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
The Strait, which is a major chokepoint for global oil trade, has been effectively closed to most shipping since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran.
Speaking at a campaign event for his Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) on Friday in Rhineland Palatinate, where state elections are taking place on Sunday, Merz confirmed he would be speaking to the US leader over the weekend.
Germany has joined several NATO allies in refusing to help patrol Hormuz, insisting that the conflict was started by the US and Israel and is “not NATO’s war.”
Recent reports, however, suggest a softening in tone, with Germany and France, expressing “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait” once the fighting has stopped.
Merz, who held bilateral talks with Trump at the White House earlier this month, said he would repeat his invitation for the Republican to visit Germany, including Rhineland-Palatinate, where the US president’s ancestors originated.
Welcome to our coverage!
Guten Morgen from the banks of the Rhine River in Bonn, western Germany.
Transatlantic ties remain tense this weekend as Germany declines a US request to help to secure the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that, until recently, carried a fifth of the world’s oil trade.
Iran’s effective closure of Hormuz has sent oil prices skyrocketing, prompting US President Donald Trump to label European NATO allies “cowards” for refusing to help open the Strait while the Iran war continues.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is scheduled to speak to Trump by phone over the weekend, amid a softening in language over the dispute on Friday. Germany and France have expressed a “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait,” they said a couple of days ago.
In other news, more than 500 suspected right-wing extremists are wanted in Germany on outstanding arrest warrants, according to a local media outlet.
And in Germany’s “super election” year, it’s the turn of Rhineland-Palatinate to vote in state elections on Sunday — one of five being held in 2026.
- Merz-Trump phone call expected over the weekend to discuss Hormuz patrols
- Police say 500 people wanted for links to right-wing extremism have not been detained
- German government to investigate rising food prices due to Iran war
- Berlin stages ‘Nureyev’ ballet banned by Russia
- Final preparations for Sunday’s state election in Rhineland-Palatinate
Keep checking back for the latest updates from across Germany on Saturday, March 21.
Keep checking back for the latest updates from across Germany on Saturday, March 21.
A ballet chronicling the life of legendary Soviet-born dancer Rudolf Nureyev, banned in Russia over “gay propaganda” allegations, makes its international premiere in Germany on Saturday evening.
“Nureyev,” which was created by Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov, will be performed at Deutsche Oper (German Opera House) in Berlin. The performance is a sellout but can still be watched live online.
Originally premiered at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre in 2017, “Nureyev” was pulled from Russian stages in 2023 after tightened anti-LGBTQ legislation, due to its explicit depiction of same-sex relationships.
Serebrennikov, who fled Russia in 2022 and now lives in exile in Germany, is staging the work for the first time outside his homeland.
The ballet traces Nureyev’s extraordinary career as one of the 20th century’s greatest male dancers, his dramatic 1961 defection from the Soviet Union to France and his death in 1993 from AIDS-related complications.
It features scenes highlighting his relationships with men and immersion in Paris’s gay scene, including sequences with dancers in high heels and drag.
Brazilian dancer David Soares, formerly with the Bolshoi, performs the title role.
The ambitious production blends ballet, opera and drama with a large ensemble, including vocalists and a jazz band.
A ballet chronicling the life of legendary Soviet-born dancer Rudolf Nureyev, banned in Russia over “gay propaganda” allegations, makes its international premiere in Germany on Saturday evening.
“Nureyev,” which was created by Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov, will be performed at Deutsche Oper (German Opera House) in Berlin. The performance is a sellout but can still be watched live online.
Originally premiered at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre in 2017, “Nureyev” was pulled from Russian stages in 2023 after tightened anti-LGBTQ legislation, due to its explicit depiction of same-sex relationships.
Serebrennikov, who fled Russia in 2022 and now lives in exile in Germany, is staging the work for the first time outside his homeland.
The ballet traces Nureyev’s extraordinary career as one of the 20th century’s greatest male dancers, his dramatic 1961 defection from the Soviet Union to France and his death in 1993 from AIDS-related complications.
It features scenes highlighting his relationships with men and immersion in Paris’s gay scene, including sequences with dancers in high heels and drag.
Brazilian dancer David Soares, formerly with the Bolshoi, performs the title role.
The ambitious production blends ballet, opera and drama with a large ensemble, including vocalists and a jazz band.
The task force set up by Germany’s government to tackle soaring fuel prices from the Iran war is also to consider measures to help against potentially rising food costs.
Esra Limbacher, the Social Democrats’ (SPD) deputy parliamentary group leader, told the Rheinische Post that the committee was considering aid for domestic fertilizer producers as well as tax relief for the food industry.
Like oil and gas, fertilizer prices have shot up in recent weeks due to the conflict, as Gulf countries are also major producers of nitrogen-based soil nutrients, including urea and ammonia.
Around a quarter of the global fertilizer trade typically passes through the Strait of Hormuz for export. Iran has effectively shut Hormuz and carried out attacks on shipping.
“Higher prices for fertilizer and transportation threaten to lead to rising food prices,” Limbacher said, adding that the task force will consider “measures to curb inflation” next week.
He warned that without countermeasures, life will become noticeably more expensive for many German residents.
“Inflation is poison for people with average incomes and for our economy. We must protect our population,” Limbacher said.
The Iran war has driven up the cost of energy, which in the food production sector, is raising costs for farmers, food factories and transportation.
The task force set up by Germany’s government to tackle soaring fuel prices from the Iran war is also to consider measures to help against potentially rising food costs.
Esra Limbacher, the Social Democrats’ (SPD) deputy parliamentary group leader, told the Rheinische Post that the committee was considering aid for domestic fertilizer producers as well as tax relief for the food industry.
Like oil and gas, fertilizer prices have shot up in recent weeks due to the conflict, as Gulf countries are also major producers of nitrogen-based soil nutrients, including urea and ammonia.
Around a quarter of the global fertilizer trade typically passes through the Strait of Hormuz for export. Iran has effectively shut Hormuz and carried out attacks on shipping.
“Higher prices for fertilizer and transportation threaten to lead to rising food prices,” Limbacher said, adding that the task force will consider “measures to curb inflation” next week.
He warned that without countermeasures, life will become noticeably more expensive for many German residents.
“Inflation is poison for people with average incomes and for our economy. We must protect our population,” Limbacher said.
The Iran war has driven up the cost of energy, which in the food production sector, is raising costs for farmers, food factories and transportation.
More than 500 right-wing extremists are wanted in Germany on outstanding arrest warrants, data from the Interior Ministry showed.
Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND), a shared newsroom for dozens of regional and local newspapers across Germany, published the data after a parliamentary request from the Green Party.
The ministry said as of September 30, 2025, a total of 688 arrest warrants were outstanding against 515 individuals from the right-wing extremist scene.
Meanwhile, 185 so-called Reichsbürger (citizens of the Reich) and members of similar groups were wanted on a total of 242 outstanding arrest warrants.
The Reichsbürger is a loose network of extreme right supporters and conspiracy theorists who reject the legitimacy of the modern German state.
Ministry data showed that German police registered 36,951 right-wing extremist crimes nationwide last year, a 13% fall on the previous year. Nearly 1,400 crimes were violent offenses.
Irene Mihalic, the Greens’ parliamentary representative on interior affairs, said there was no reason to believe support for far-right extremism is on the wane.
“Almost 37,000 offenses demonstrate how massive the problem remains. Six attempted homicides and around 1,400 violent acts prove the scene’s unbroken willingness to use violence,” Mihalic was cited by local media as saying.
She called for outstanding arrest warrants to be executed.
More than 500 right-wing extremists are wanted in Germany on outstanding arrest warrants, data from the Interior Ministry showed.
Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND), a shared newsroom for dozens of regional and local newspapers across Germany, published the data after a parliamentary request from the Green Party.
The ministry said as of September 30, 2025, a total of 688 arrest warrants were outstanding against 515 individuals from the right-wing extremist scene.
Meanwhile, 185 so-called Reichsbürger (citizens of the Reich) and members of similar groups were wanted on a total of 242 outstanding arrest warrants.
The Reichsbürger is a loose network of extreme right supporters and conspiracy theorists who reject the legitimacy of the modern German state.
Ministry data showed that German police registered 36,951 right-wing extremist crimes nationwide last year, a 13% fall on the previous year. Nearly 1,400 crimes were violent offenses.
Irene Mihalic, the Greens’ parliamentary representative on interior affairs, said there was no reason to believe support for far-right extremism is on the wane.
“Almost 37,000 offenses demonstrate how massive the problem remains. Six attempted homicides and around 1,400 violent acts prove the scene’s unbroken willingness to use violence,” Mihalic was cited by local media as saying.
She called for outstanding arrest warrants to be executed.
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz is due to speak with US President Donald Trump over the weekend amid rising pressure that European NATO allies help the United States to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
The Strait, which is a major chokepoint for global oil trade, has been effectively closed to most shipping since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran.
Speaking at a campaign event for his Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) on Friday in Rhineland Palatinate, where state elections are taking place on Sunday, Merz confirmed he would be speaking to the US leader over the weekend.
Germany has joined several NATO allies in refusing to help patrol Hormuz, insisting that the conflict was started by the US and Israel and is “not NATO’s war.”
Recent reports, however, suggest a softening in tone, with Germany and France, expressing “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait” once the fighting has stopped.
Merz, who held bilateral talks with Trump at the White House earlier this month, said he would repeat his invitation for the Republican to visit Germany, including Rhineland-Palatinate, where the US president’s ancestors originated.
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz is due to speak with US President Donald Trump over the weekend amid rising pressure that European NATO allies help the United States to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
The Strait, which is a major chokepoint for global oil trade, has been effectively closed to most shipping since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran.
Speaking at a campaign event for his Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) on Friday in Rhineland Palatinate, where state elections are taking place on Sunday, Merz confirmed he would be speaking to the US leader over the weekend.
Germany has joined several NATO allies in refusing to help patrol Hormuz, insisting that the conflict was started by the US and Israel and is “not NATO’s war.”
Recent reports, however, suggest a softening in tone, with Germany and France, expressing “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait” once the fighting has stopped.
Merz, who held bilateral talks with Trump at the White House earlier this month, said he would repeat his invitation for the Republican to visit Germany, including Rhineland-Palatinate, where the US president’s ancestors originated.
Guten Morgen from the banks of the Rhine River in Bonn, western Germany.
Transatlantic ties remain tense this weekend as Germany declines a US request to help to secure the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that, until recently, carried a fifth of the world’s oil trade.
Iran’s effective closure of Hormuz has sent oil prices skyrocketing, prompting US President Donald Trump to label European NATO allies “cowards” for refusing to help open the Strait while the Iran war continues.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is scheduled to speak to Trump by phone over the weekend, amid a softening in language over the dispute on Friday. Germany and France have expressed a “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait,” they said a couple of days ago.
In other news, more than 500 suspected right-wing extremists are wanted in Germany on outstanding arrest warrants, according to a local media outlet.
And in Germany’s “super election” year, it’s the turn of Rhineland-Palatinate to vote in state elections on Sunday — one of five being held in 2026.
Guten Morgen from the banks of the Rhine River in Bonn, western Germany.
Transatlantic ties remain tense this weekend as Germany declines a US request to help to secure the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that, until recently, carried a fifth of the world’s oil trade.
Iran’s effective closure of Hormuz has sent oil prices skyrocketing, prompting US President Donald Trump to label European NATO allies “cowards” for refusing to help open the Strait while the Iran war continues.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is scheduled to speak to Trump by phone over the weekend, amid a softening in language over the dispute on Friday. Germany and France have expressed a “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait,” they said a couple of days ago.
In other news, more than 500 suspected right-wing extremists are wanted in Germany on outstanding arrest warrants, according to a local media outlet.
And in Germany’s “super election” year, it’s the turn of Rhineland-Palatinate to vote in state elections on Sunday — one of five being held in 2026.
[analyse_source url=”https://www.dw.com/en/germany-news-merz-to-call-trump-amid-hormuz-standoff/live-76465368″]