Clear for Klitschko

1. In good times and in bad

Love is one of the greatest forces of nature in the world - yet as a news organization we rarely report on it.

If so, then usually only at the moment when it has vanished into thin air in the lives of two people.

As in the case of Natalia and Vitali Klitschko, who, as it became known today, want to divorce.

Yesterday, the news of the marriage between "Tatort" commissioner Maria Furtwängler and Hubert Burda was one of the most read texts of the day.

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Vitali and Natalia Klitschko (2017 in Kyiv): »That is the wish of both sides«

Photo: Julian Stratenschulte / dpa

Presumably more people fall in love than divorce each day, because secret heartbeats usually become real faster than clear dividing lines.

The divorce of the Klitschkos and the Furtwangler-Burdas also attracts less attention because of the drama involved – both couples credibly appear to be parting on good terms.

What makes both cases comparable and sadly special is the separation after such a long time.

Natalia and Vitali Klitschko have been married for over 25 years, Maria Furtwängler and Hubert Burda have even been married for over 30 years.

In times when almost every second wedding in Germany is canceled again one day, that is quite a lot.

In only 16 percent of all divorces in this country, the couples were married for more than 25 years.

On average, marriages in this country break up after 14 years and six months.

In the case of the Klitschko separation, the point in time, in the middle of the Ukraine war, naturally attracted attention.

Not long ago, Natalia Klitschko sang the ballad »Better Day« at a peace concert in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

She has been living in Hamburg for a long time and is involved in the media for refugees from the Ukraine.

As mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko is not just a symbolic figure, but an important player in the fight against Putin's attack.

Those who have made it their goal to be there for each other in good times and bad will surely have good reasons to end their marriage in the middle of a war.

Alone, I don't know her.

But what I do know: After more than 30 years of relationship, you can not only separate - you can also get married.

Did my neighbors a month ago.

The reason for the marriage of the around 50-year-olds after such a long time: issues such as power of attorney, living wills or the right to emergency representation in medical emergencies are easier to regulate between spouses.

This marriage will certainly never fail due to a lack of romance.

• Read more here: »The children are already grown and life goes on«

And here news and background information on the war in Ukraine:

• Moscow blames "saboteurs" for the explosion in Crimea:

  Another explosion, again in the annexed Crimea: An ammunition depot is on fire and train services have come to a standstill.

  The Russian Ministry of Defense allegedly sees saboteurs at work.

• The Russian fleet can apparently no longer control the Black Sea:

  According to London, the Russian naval forces are only able to support the invasion of Ukraine to a limited extent.

  This is also due to the loss of the flagship "Moskva".

  Odessa is no longer in danger from the sea.

• Military expert from Russia admits significant weaknesses of the Kremlin army:

  Outdated Soviet tanks against modern NATO systems, barely enough soldiers: Analyst Ruslan Pukhov, who is loyal to the Kremlin, has criticized his own army with unusual sharpness.

  And outlines when it could fail completely.

• "He was only arrested to exchange prisoners":

  American Paul Whelan has been in Russian custody since 2018.

  Here his brother David tells how he is doing - and what chances he has of being released together with basketball player Brittney Griner.

• Finland drastically cuts visas to Russians:

  Russian tourists are only welcome to a reduced extent in Finland: the country is restricting visas to a tenth of the previous amount.

  The costs are also expected to increase.

• Find all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine here: The News Update

2. About gain in times of need

Not everything is getting more and more expensive: Last week there was at least a brief glimmer of hope when it became known that the price of popsicles would remain stable despite inflation.

Today, however, I had to read that fountain pens, exercise books, satchels or exercise books will be up to 14 percent more expensive when school starts.

And that the burden of rising prices is particularly high for low-income families.

The Hans Böckler Foundation warns that the social imbalance could worsen when the 9-euro ticket and fuel discount expire.

And what is the government doing?

It increases the gas surcharge – only by a cent, but this will add up to several hundred euros on the energy bills of many tenants.

One can find it fair that the burdens of the war in Ukraine are being shared on the shoulders of all citizens.

But one can also find it unfair that the government does not want to introduce an excess profit tax in order to make the crisis winners more responsible.

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Price board at a Munich gas station

Photo: Wolfgang Maria Weber / IMAGO

While in winter "millions of Germans face massively rising energy costs, corporations are making billions in profits from the price increases in the wake of the Ukraine war," writes my colleague David Böcking from our business department.

The energy supplier RWE has already announced that it will not pass on the so-called gas surcharge to its customers for the time being.

"Such concessions may also have been a reaction to calls for a so-called excess profits tax, which could be used to siphon off additional revenues resulting from the war," writes David.

From a purely legal point of view, an excess profit tax would also be possible in Germany, according to the scientific services of the Bundestag.

According to a new study by the Tax Justice Network, it could »generate revenue of around 30 to 100 billion euros per year«.

One thing is clear: the fact that the government is announcing burdens faster than the content of a new relief package that has been announced weeks ago will not make them more popular.

• Read more here: Excess profit tax could bring in up to a hundred billion euros 

3. What remains when everything dies

Less water flows through the Rhine than ever before.

Germany is experiencing a drought catastrophe this summer.

Whether the low water levels are also responsible for the fish deaths in the Oder remains unclear to this day.

Conspicuous metal values ​​could not be detected in the water, according to the first laboratory results from the Brandenburg State Environment Agency.

"The studies on nutrients that are not yet complete and not yet comprehensive and completed do not yet allow any indication of a single cause for the fish die-off in the Oder," says Sebastian Arnold, spokesman for the Ministry of the Environment.

»Furthermore, high salt loads and a high oxygen content are determined.«

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Dead zander near Lebus in Brandenburg (picture from August 11)

Photo:

Winfried Mausolf / IMAGO

My colleague Hannes Schrader from our Germany department was traveling with the nature conservationist Christian Sahm on the Oder north-east of Lebus.

“It started a week ago, August 9th.

The phones of nature conservationists from the Frankfurt an der Oder region suddenly rang,” recalls Sahm: At first, he told Hannes, he hadn’t thought anything about it – it could happen that fish die in the river when the water is low and it’s too hot.

But then more and more calls came.

»So he got into his dark blue Dacia Logan, drove to the Oder himself, and then he saw it: the whole river was full of dead fish.

Nobody fishes here anymore.

Not in Germany – and not in Poland either,” writes Hannes.

Much that lived in the Oder died.

Politicians are calling for clarification, researchers are still looking for answers, and there is a lot of anger at the Polish authorities, who have probably known since the end of July that something was wrong with the river.

Conservationist Christian Sahm believes it could take up to 15 years for the river to recover.

• Read more here: Fish deaths in the Oder - measured values ​​have already changed significantly at the beginning of August

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What else is important today

• “German anti-discrimination law is very weak”:

  The federal anti-discrimination agency recorded fewer cases in 2021, but this is apparently related to fewer complaints about the corona mask requirement.

  The new Federal Commissioner Ferda Ataman is pushing for reforms.

• Life imprisonment and psychiatric treatment for the Trier amok driver:

  he drove his car through the pedestrian zone and killed six people: the Trier Regional Court imposed the maximum penalty on the 52-year-old amok driver.

• Media manager Hans R. Beierlein is dead:

  He was one of the string pullers in the German entertainment business: Hans Beierlein made Udo Jürgens a star, brought folk music to television and traded football rights.

  He has now died at the age of 93.

My favorite story today:

cold turkey

My colleague Marco Evers from the science department reports today on a spectacular political project in New Zealand: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's social democratic government has set itself the goal of making the country largely smoke-free by 2025.

Ardern, respected around the world for her corona policy, believes it is possible that she can at least halve the number of remaining tobacco users in less than three years.

"New Zealand has adopted a truly radical tobacco control strategy, the likes of which no state has attempted before," writes Marco.

Specifically, the government intends that all people born after a certain date (possibly January 1, 2009) should never be able to legally buy tobacco in their lifetime.

In addition, the number of sales outlets for tobacco is to be reduced considerably.

From 2024, cigarettes will no longer be sold in kiosks, petrol stations or supermarkets.

Thirdly, the nicotine content of legal cigarettes should be drastically reduced; a reduction of up to 95 percent is under discussion.

From now on I will always think of New Zealand whenever a conservative in Germany complains that the Greens are a ban party.

While the federal traffic light is working on cannabis legalization, the Greens in the capital recently proposed decriminalizing party drugs such as ecstasy and cocaine.

• Read the full story here: New Zealand is going cold turkey 

What we recommend today at SPIEGEL+

• How a student lost all her savings to a Europol rip-off:

  Millions of people are currently being contacted by alleged criminal prosecutors who are putting massive pressure on their victims.

  A recent case from Leipzig shows the tricks that scammers use to snatch away people's assets.

• How to sell drugs online without getting caught:

  Sam Bent once sold drugs on the dark web and ended up in prison for it.

  At a hacker conference, he told how criminals go about it.

  Some measures are dangerous – for others .

• The paragon:

  During the pandemic, Rishi Sunak, the 'maharaja of the Yorkshire Dales', became the country's darling.

  But now he is fighting an almost hopeless battle.

  One of the main reasons is called Boris Johnson.

Which is less important today

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Entertainer Schmidt: »Deal with the state«

Photo:

Rudolf Gigler / IMAGO

Schmidt takeover

effects :

soon to be 65, knows his pension data.

Because he mostly worked freelance, he only paid into the pension fund for 15 years.

But what comes out of it, he wants to collect "hard-hitting", said the entertainer and actor of the dpa news agency.

It is 272 euros.

“It's not charity, it's a deal I made with the state.

Bring it on!« Although he had been a freelancer most of the time, he had »paid in full for 15 years«, which at least entitles him to this »mini-pension«.

Typo of the day

, now corrected: »Smoke spreads over shopping center in Yerevan after explosion.«

Cartoon of the day:

Energy surcharge

And tonight?

A few weeks ago, while we were celebrating our neighbors' late wedding on their roof terrace, just before midnight, the ISS flew through the clear night sky directly above us.

Shining bright and fast like a shooting star, she hovered over us.

It was a magical, almost romantic moment – ​​in any case, I find the idea of ​​astronauts from different nations living and researching together up there very comforting in dark times like these.

The news today that the future of the International Space Station (ISS) has been uncertain since the beginning of the war in Ukraine made me all the more concerned.

Russia has now shown the design of its own space station in Earth orbit - fueling speculation about an exit.

Scene from "For All Mankind"

Photo: Apple TV+

Highly recommended for ISS fans is the Apple TV series »For All Mankind«, which deals with the question of what would have happened if the Russians had landed on the moon before the Americans.

Without wanting to reveal too much: John Lennon would still be alive – and the ISS would be a hotel for space tourists and couples with very unusual wedding ideas.

I wish you a nice evening.

Cordially,

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