1. Therefore check forever who binds himself
A test order is the answer of politicians to Sartre's wisdom, according to which we cannot not decide.
The new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has now issued an inspection order to check the inventory of Leopard 2 tanks in the Bundeswehr and in industry.
However, it is unclear whether these main battle tanks would then also be delivered to Ukraine.
"There are good reasons for the delivery, there are good reasons against it," said the SPD politician on the sidelines of the Ukraine contact group's deliberations at the US base in Ramstein.
(All current developments here in the news blog.)
Photo:
John Macdougall/AFP
It sounds a bit like the tank count is only just beginning.
As if the Ministry of Defense had to do more than look in an Excel file to see how many main battle tanks the German armed forces have.
After everything that has been read about the Bundeswehr in recent weeks, that would not be a surprise.
(More here.)
Pistorius again: The decision on a Leopard 2 delivery will be made "as soon as possible" in coordination with the partners.
In addition, Germany will supply Ukraine with additional weapons and equipment worth one billion euros, bringing the total volume of German military aid since the beginning of the war to 3.3 billion euros.
And again Jean-Paul Sartre: »By making decisions, we are also responsible for our decisions.«
You can read more background information here: In the year of the leopard
And here is more news and background information on the war in Ukraine:
Off to battle made in Germany?
Russia's invasion is against international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defense.
Nevertheless, one should think twice before, of all things, German battle tanks headed eastwards at the head of the good guys.
Mourning under police surveillance: taking a
stand against the war in Russia is risky.
Nevertheless, some people dare to commemorate the Ukrainian victims of the rocket hit in Dnipro.
Observations at a memorial in Moscow.
"We are preparing for the worst case scenario":
At the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine contact group at the US base in Ramstein, a new weapons package for Ukraine is put together.
Battle tanks are not included for the time being - here is the statement from Defense Minister Pistorius.
“If Ukraine is not strengthened now, it will bleed to death”
Chancellor Scholz is coming under increasing pressure because of his hesitation.
Bundeswehr expert Hans-Lothar Domröse explains in the video why Kyiv urgently needs the tanks.
2. Send with terror
The post office is on strike.
“Does that make a difference?” asks a colleague at our editorial conference.
In the past few months, thousands of customers have complained about late letters and canceled delivery tours.
Subscribers keep calling us, too, because the printed version of SPIEGEL is not in the mailbox on Saturday, as it used to be, but only on Monday, Tuesday or even Wednesday.
(Should you not receive your SPIEGEL issue on time due to the current strike, please contact our subscription service here – or read here how you can still use your subscription.)
Enlarge image
Deutsche Post letter center: Unsent, too much to ask?
Photo: Felix Heyder/ picture alliance/ dpa
Unfortunately it makes a difference.
The warning strikes are to last until Saturday and further strikes are to follow.
Very, very, very many letters and packages will be left behind.
So far, the post has suffered from a lack of staff, and now a large part of the remaining staff is not working.
After all, that's the only leverage they have left to get more of the record profit that Post made last year.
Because this company, which keeps its core promise less and less, makes billions.
The Ver.di union is demanding 15 percent more wages.
"There are tens of thousands of people working at Swiss Post who receive below-average salaries," says my colleague Benedikt Müller-Arnold from our business department.
»Many of them feel the high inflation in everyday life.« That is what is exciting about the collective bargaining dispute, also beyond the post office: »How much consideration can and should a large corporation take it?
Especially since Swiss Post makes most of its profits abroad.«
Read more about the background here: What makes the collective bargaining dispute at Swiss Post so complicated
3. They always come back
Rudi Völler made his first appearance as the new sports director of the national soccer team today.
The head of the German Football League, Hans-Joachim Watzke, called him "the ideal choice" when he was introduced;
However, Völler himself admitted that he allowed himself to be persuaded.
My colleague Peter Ahrens from our sports department says we can't expect him to break out: "a discouraged decision by the old establishment".
Apparently they are hoping for a, gnihi, Völler feeling at the DFB.
On the fact that the man who is probably the most praised in German football will brighten the mood before the EM in his own country.
That he arrives at the base with sayings like: "Never latte macchiato!
It's a woman's drink!'
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Rudi Völler, the new DFB sports director
Photo: IMAGO/Bernd Feil/MiS / IMAGO/MIS
Völler's return confirms two things: On the one hand, the coffee-cultural discourse zombie who locates latte macchiato as a somehow left-progressive wimpy drink on the gender toilet for Kreuzberg hipsters cannot be killed.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has already tried to score with him at carnival and Friedrich Merz in the "Zeit" interview: When the journalist offers him a latte macchiato, Merz flinches: "Huah, no, no way."
On the other hand, Shirley Bassey's song line is correct: »It's all just a little bit of history repeating«.
The nineties are making a comeback (more on that here), now the zeros are slowly coming.
Merz leads the Union faction in the Bundestag, Thomas Gottschalk moderates “Wetten, dass ..?”, Madonna announces a big tour.
The question then arises: How do we take revenge on ourselves who are about forty today?
Who from our generation will be able to make a comeback in 20 years?
Does Sarah Connor sing the anthem at the ceremony for 50 years of German unity?
Is Bastian Schweinsteiger flying to North Korea as sports director with the national team for the 2050 World Cup?
Is Christian Lindner heaving the FDP 2049 again into the Bundestag with the promise to reduce the price of gas to under 42 euros?
One thing is certain: they will be received on Thomas Gottschalk's »Wetten, dass..?« sofa.
Read more about Rudi Völler in his new position here: »Rudi, that would actually be something for you«
What else is important today
»Leads to a blatant distortion«:
The traffic light wants to reform the electoral law.
The corresponding draft law is "unacceptable," parliamentary group leader Merz is said to have said, according to participants.
And the new Union proposal?
"Completely unacceptable," they say back from the traffic light.
CDU Vice supports Greens Habeck against FDP Minister Wissing:
Gas guzzlers should become more expensive, vehicle tax should depend on CO₂ emissions: With this demand, CDU Vice Andreas Jung is on the side of the Greens – and against the liberal Minister of Transport.
Student employees often work for weeks without pay:
overtime, no vacation and waiting for salary: A study reveals the precarious conditions under which scientific employees at universities are sometimes employed.
My favorite story today: Elon – Eloff
How does someone who burns up to 200 billion dollars of private wealth tick like no one before him?
How did Elon Musk manage to get so rich and then dismantle himself in front of the world public?
»Self-destruction of a superstar – How Elon Musk jeopardizes his life's work« is the title of the new SPIEGEL.
You can get the issue digitally here and from Saturday at the kiosk.
A team led by my colleague Anton Rainer investigated these questions.
In the new SPIEGEL cover story, it paints a picture of a man without impulse control.
»He seems to me like a child playing entrepreneur«, says Anton.
»Cheeky and brilliant at initiating new ideas, but often chaotic in management.«
My colleague Simon Hage thinks that Tesla is the best example of Musk's ambivalence.
»First he drove the global auto industry before him.
No sooner has the brand established itself as the world market leader than he threatens to seriously jeopardize it,” says Simon.
"But Tesla is already strong enough to survive the disruptive fire."
On Twitter, Musk is dealing for the first time with advertisers who respond to his madness with terminations, with a workforce that sees him not as a visionary but as a right-wing troll, and with investors who realize that the money is slipping through his fingers .
"Furthermore, Musk became a political actor through Twitter," says Anton.
"Now everyone can see that the Emperor is wearing less and less."
Read the whole story here: Psychogram of an entrepreneurial genius on a course to self-destruction
What we recommend at SPIEGEL+ today
“What happened to the party?” – “What would you have done in my place, Luisa?”
In Lützerath, the split between the Greens and the climate movement became all too clear.
Here, activist Luisa Neubauer and parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge argue about whether the Greens have been ripped off by RWE and the coalition partners.
Easy Rider, the original:
he founded two formative bands of the hippie era, sang like an angel, fell into a drug hell - and survived as a combative free spirit.
David Crosby was one of the most influential songwriters of his generation.
The Snow King:
Climate change is making snow scarce.
Ski resorts like Kitzbühel therefore spend millions on artificial slopes.
Elsewhere, guests stay away.
Will skiing holidays become a pleasure for the upper class again?
Which is less important today
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Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
Just fine again:
The CEO of Axel Springer Verlag,
Mathias Döpfner
, 60, excuse me, Dr.
Mathias Döpfner, does not lose the two letters in front of his name.
After months of examination, the responsible investigative commission at the University of Frankfurt am Main has now determined that "due to the multiple verbatim or intellectual assumption of intellectual authorship by others" there is scientific misconduct" in the media manager's dissertation - the individual findings are "however in their sum and in terms of their importance for the scientific core of the work, not sufficient to justify a revocation of the doctoral degree".
Mini concave mirror
You can find the whole concave mirror here.
cartoon of the day
And on the weekend?
Of course, if you can't think of anything else, you could watch the jungle camp on RTL.
From my point of view, it is much more enriching to read the contributions of my colleague Anja Rützel about the trash TV show (all can be found here).
If only because of Anja's neologisms such as Krakeelquizzer and Psychoshowmasterin.
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Photo: RTL
And because of maybe unsavory but entertaining heels like this one: »Gigi doesn't want to go poop because he'll lose weight.
›Otherwise my vitamins will run out‹, he explains, and you can already see legions of dietary supplement influencers writing new coaching programs for successful digestion suppression in front of his mental cultural pessimist dry eye.
Sounds exaggerated?
Just wait and see, feces make you inventive.”
to forest.
Have a relaxing weekend, cordially
Yours sincerely, Oliver Trenkamp, Editor-in-Chief
