1.
Uefa will probably prevent the EM arena in Munich from shining in rainbow colors on Wednesday - the officials themselves show highly questionable political preferences
Cultural journalists like me generally admire the expertise of colleagues from the SPIEGEL sports department when it comes to five-man chains and offside traps. But I'm really amazed when my colleagues also show the courage to make aesthetic judgments. "I think the stadium in rainbow colors looks really cool," my sports colleague Gerhard Pfeil told me today. In fact, it is a great picture of the
brightly colored Munich stadium
that illustrates Gerhard's story about the idea of the city council of the Bavarian capital to set a political example at the European Championship game Germany against Hungary. As a signal against the
LGBTQ-hostile
- i.e. against lesbians, gays and other non-heterosexual minorities -
The Hungarian government's censorship law
is supposed to light up the Munich arena in rainbow colors.
The European football association,
Uefa,
will
probably not allow
the demonstration, which the
German national player Leon Goretzka supported
today.
Sports associations traditionally act and react hesitantly when their events are to be used for political statements.
Uefa is particularly strict on this.
Because the
German national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer
wore a captain's armband in rainbow
colors
in the games against Portugal and France, the association had it examined whether this was permissible.
On Sunday, Uefa came to the conclusion that the armband was a "symbol of diversity" and stopped investigations.
The discussion about a European Championship stadium shining in rainbow colors is, among other things, about a law that was approved by the Hungarian parliament last Tuesday. It restricts the information rights of young people in matters of homosexuality and transsexuality. Actually, the law also contradicts the tolerance spirit of Uefa, which had launched a campaign against discrimination in football before the European Championship.
In a comment, my colleague Peter Ahrens attacks the morale of Uefa officials who are politically and questionably committed.
They cuddled with the homophobic regime of the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
And they were exerting undue pressure to move the European Championship final from London to Budapest.
"The Hungarians are Uefa's new cuddly children," writes Peter.
The association is unmasking itself at the current European football championship.
"They are the games of the hypocrites."
Read the full story here: Doesn't Uefa want to snub Orbán?
Read the comment here: The Sanctuaries' Games
2.
Five years after the Brexit vote, Boris Johnson conjures up the new greatness of Great Britain, but the country lurches ominously
It was on June 23, 2016, five years ago on Wednesday, when 17.4 of a good 66 million Britons took their country off its hinges in a referendum. So few eligible voters were enough to vote to
kick off Great Britain's departure from the European Union
. In the end, it was 51.9 to 48.1 percent for those in favor of
Brexit,
which has finally been completed since January 1 of this year. For the current UK Prime Minister
Boris Johnson,
My colleague Jörg Schindler, SPIEGEL's London correspondent, reports that Brexit is primarily »the opportunity to promise people the blue sky.
Blue passports, for example, which the British have been able to order since leaving the EU. «The passports were among the few visible signs of national independence.
Photo: NEIL HALL / EPA-EFE / REX
For many EU citizens living in the UK, passports are also a symbol of exclusion. My colleague Isabella Reichert reports that since Brexit and during the corona crisis, a number of foreigners have left the country and service organizations such as the national health service NHS have been hit by staff shortages. At the end of 2020, the UK was living almost a million fewer non-Kingdom born people than a year earlier. The EU foreigners who remain in the country still have just under two weeks to settle in Great Britain with the so-called
EU settlement program
to apply for a right of residence.
This is intended to grant those who lived in the country before the end of 2020 similar framework conditions as before Brexit, i.e. the right to work, live and use the health system.
However, if you do not register by July 1st, you will generally lose your right of residence.
The great promise that Johnson and his Brexit clique are trying to implement is aimed primarily in one direction, according to Jörg: "To make Britain great again - or at least to make it appear that way." During the
corona pandemic
As an excuse for practically all economic and political needs, billions are being poured into a new United Kingdom Space Command, which is to launch British satellites into space from 2022 onwards. The prime minister promises that the country should become a “science superpower” and attract the “smartest and best” from all over the world. Johnson wants to increase the number of British nuclear warheads from 180 to 260 in order to substantiate his claim to old military size. Johnson is even building a high-tech command center based on the Situation Room in the White House in a government basement.
Some time ago, Johnson compared his country to a comic book hero when he said, “Hulk always escaped, no matter how deep he was in a mess.” He may now consider himself such an invincible comic book hero.
Read the full story here: Britain deserves better - just what?
3.
The election manifesto of the CDU and CSU formulates many ambitious plans, but it is full of funding gaps and uncovered promises
In the music world, at least among many young people, the rock genre is a discontinued model that can no longer be taken seriously, so I had to smile instinctively today when Markus Söder said the beautiful sentence: "We'll rock it together." The
CSU boss Söder
talked about himself and the CDU
chancellor candidate Armin Laschet, but
above all about the
common election program of the Union parties
presented today
.
It promises, among other things, that the CDU and CSU, if they are allowed to govern Germany, want to convert the country into a "climate-neutral industrial country", despite the massive national debt, no tax increases are planned.
The riffs and tricks with which Söder and Laschet want to get their electorate going also include rather unsexy-sounding numbers such as "the introduction of a fourth pillar in old-age insurance".
It also occurs to me that the rock musician Lenny Kilmister once said: "Only when you think that you are too old for rock'n'roll, then you are."
Enlarge picturePhoto:
Kay Nietfeld / dpa
My colleague Christian Reiermann has analyzed the Union's election manifesto. In the 139-page text entitled "Program for Stability and Renewal - Together for a Modern Germany", he recognizes the work of politicians in a spending mood. The Union parties want to keep the black zero of the debt brake, but at the same time enforce tax cuts and spend a lot of money on investments. They want to completely abolish the solidarity surcharge, relieve the burden on companies and expand climate protection, for example by promoting photovoltaics and hydrogen technology. And the railway should also get a lot of fresh money. But has it all been properly calculated? Rather not.
"The election program of the two sister parties is full of funding gaps, uncovered promises and air bookings," writes Christian.
That is by no means unusual; other parties also deal casually with the relationship between what is desirable and what is feasible in their election platforms.
"But with the CDU and CSU the accusation weighs more heavily, they calculated too generously," said the colleague.
"After all, they take credit for the fact that they can supposedly handle the money better than the competition."
Read the full analysis here: Courage to face a large funding gap
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What else is important today
Abolition of spouse splitting could get hundreds of thousands into jobs:
According to a study, the abolition of spouse splitting could boost economic growth in Germany.
Poor couples who are dependent on it face disadvantages.
Banks must disclose ineffective clauses in premium savings contracts:
The financial supervisory authority Bafin has obliged banks to do so.
Consumer advocates praise the intervention of the authorities.
Distance lessons are just as effective as summer holidays:
"Stagnation with a tendency to
decline
in skills" - according to a new educational study, distance lessons could actually have been given away.
But the researchers also see reason for cautious optimism.
ARD and ZDF are merging their media libraries:
those who access Böhmermann get Kebekus recommended - the public broadcasters network their digital platforms.
Can the institutions that are currently under attack reach the young people in this way?
My favorite story today: A sample of millions shows extreme unequal distribution in EM stickers
For a while, my sons were also very enthusiastic about collecting
Panini football stickers
, perhaps that's why I was attracted to the story of my colleague Holger Dambeck about the
sample of a swap platform
warmly amused. While the Panini company has repeatedly assured that there is no uneven distribution of EM stickers, which would make collecting particularly expensive, the findings of the sticker experts seem to prove otherwise. You checked for 3.9 million stickers - and found not just 134 of the 678 EM motifs, which are apparently packaged much more often (on average 7691 times), but also as the most common a real »outlier«, as Holger writes. It is the portrait of the Welsh soccer player Wayne Hennessey, of whom exactly 10,181 were offered among the 3.9 million images. I guess I'm not the only one wondering: Why Hennessey? Was it possible that a particularly sophisticated EM oracle predicted the man would play a special role in the tournament?
Read the full story here: Sample of millions shows extreme unequal distribution in EM stickers
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +
"If it gets too hot, we have to spend the summer in Germany":
Italy wants to become a green pioneer in Europe and invest 70 billion euros for it.
Prime Minister Draghi therefore appointed the physicist Cingolani as super minister for the environment.
How does he intend to make the ambitious turnaround?
How Corona has changed our flirting:
In the pandemic, more people were active in online dating than ever before.
And the trend is continuing, says psychologist Wera Aretz.
One of the portals is already proclaiming the "summer of love".
The Nazi lawyer who is in custody:
Dirk Waldschmidt defends right-wing extremists in court, now he is accused of drug trafficking and money laundering.
Above all, his proximity to the right-wing extremist »Turons« raises questions.
Which is less important today
Royal model father: Prince William,
39, the grandson of Britain's Queen
Elizabeth II
, 95, who is
celebrating his birthday today,
publicly practiced the art of countdown with his two oldest children on the eve of the jubilee day. A video recording, which is unfortunately presented on YouTube, among other places, without sound, shows how William, together with son
George
, 7, and daughter
Charlotte
, 6, speak the countdown start signal for a half marathon into a microphone at the weekend. The race took place on the occasion of the British Father's Day at the royal estate of Sandringham in the east of England. On today's birthday, Prince William thanked his father
Charles
as heir to the throne
, 72, (if he ever becomes king) is supposed to inherit, kindly "for all congratulations and friendly news."
Typo of the day
, corrected in the meantime: "The New York opera audience showed little interest in a work that takes place in a ghetto environment, with almost exclusively African singers and dancers."
Cartoon of the day:
intergenerational contracts
And tonight?
Photo: Thorsten Jander / NDR
Could you watch the
"Tagesschau"
again
.
My colleague Tobias Rapp wrote a story about the news program of the first and its spokespersons, in which it is mainly about the
"Tagesschau" spokesman Constantin Schreiber
and whose part-time job is as an entertainment writer.
Tobias apparently likes Schreiber and his work, but reminds us all that, for heaven's sake, the men and women of the news presentation shouldn't be taken too seriously: »The people who have accompanied viewers through world events over the decades: They are just the speakers.
They bring the good and bad news, they don't write it. "Tobias calls this a" strange paradox ".
What do we learn from it?
Wherever people act as waitresses, it would be better not to mistake them for the cooks.
Incidentally, this also applies to the serving staff who serve you the "Lage am Abend".
A lovely evening.
Sincerely
yours, Wolfgang Höbel
Here you can order the "Lage am Abend" by email.