The LÜBECKER NACHRICHTEN warn: “Year after year, new temperature records are measured. Heat waves occur more frequently, last longer, and become more intense. Particularly at risk are older people and those with chronic illnesses. Heat is not a private challenge. It is a societal risk. Cooler cities with more green spaces are needed. Heat protection plans are needed – for municipalities, but also for hospitals, nursing homes, and schools. And mandatory – not as a nice addition. That this is possible is shown by France as a role model. After the deadly heat wave of 2003, the country learned its lessons and has since relied on early warning systems, emergency plans, and targeted calls or visits to older people. In Alsace, the second-highest heat warning level is currently in effect – which has also led to the cancellation of all sports events. Not to annoy people, but to protect them. In Germany, however, we are still being fobbed off with the same behavioral tips,” complain the LÜBECKER NACHRICHTEN.
Regarding the problems of the railway, the FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE SONNTAGSZEITUNG writes: “Admittedly, this weekend the railway is suffering from high temperatures that no one expected when the tracks were laid. A rail can deform, or a bush on the embankment can catch fire. The railway must gradually learn to cope with such temperatures. But the fact that no train ran at all for more than an hour late Tuesday evening is solely the fault of the railway. According to them, it was a routine maintenance that paralyzed the train radio. In recent weeks, so many things have gone wrong with communication technology alone that it cannot be dismissed as coincidence. With the Stuttgart 21 station project, the ambitious plan to digitalize the signaling and safety technology went wrong. Between Hamburg and Berlin, the tracks have been completely renovated in recent months, but the digital train control technology will not arrive there until the 2030s. The only saving grace for the railway is that it is not alone. The Bundeswehr has been wanting to introduce digital radio communication for years. 20 billion euros have been spent on it, but the army has so far failed to connect four tanks,” criticizes the FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE SONNTAGSZEITUNG.
The federal and state governments have agreed on a new structure for financial relations. From September, the federal government will cover 80 percent of the costs when federal laws cause expenditures in states and municipalities. The principle is also described as “whoever orders, pays.” The WELT AM SONNTAG finds: “Sounds plausible. But it is not. Because the fact that states and municipalities take on state tasks has always been part of federalism. For this, they have always received the lion's share of tax revenue. There is no objective reason to shift money from one level of government to another. The generous attitude with which Chancellor Merz confronted the state premiers had already been adopted during the election campaign. At that time, the clever CDU state politicians smuggled the phrase into the inexperienced candidate's government program: ‘Whoever initiates or expands a service must be responsible for its financing.’ This would make any tax cut twice as expensive in the future. Because the federal government would not only have to shoulder its share but also that of the states. When economic growth subsequently picks up and new tax revenues flow in, the states are again at the cash register. Such an automatism would simply be unconstitutional. That does not mean that the states will not hold out their hands again during the next income tax reform. In a week, when the coalition agrees – it could already be that far,” warns the WELT AM SONNTAG.
The Austrian newspaper PRESSE AM SONNTAG sheds light on relations between the USA and the European Union: “250 years after the American Declaration of Independence, Europeans must prepare their own ‘Independence Day,’ meaning the day they overcome dependence on the USA. For Europe's independence to succeed, it must acquire a few qualities and abilities commonly attributed to Americans. These include a willingness to take risks and engage in big bets on the future – as the USA has done with space travel, digitalization, and AI. One does not have to sacrifice the European rule of law for that. Europeans should look at the USA the way the USA looks at the world: pragmatic and interest-driven, though without putting power above rules, as the USA has often done. From a cool distance, it becomes clear: The Americans will remain an unreliable partner in many areas and may become a rival in others. This long-distance relationship will not end after 250 years; it will only be conducted differently in the future. Perhaps one day even on an equal footing,” hopes the PRESSE AM SONNTAG from Vienna.
The Swedish newspaper DAGENS NYHETER looks at the situation in Britain ten years after the Brexit referendum: “The country has significantly lost economic strength, investments have declined, costs due to new trade barriers have risen. The price for an alleged regaining of control was high, and people have naturally noticed. Only a minority now believes that Brexit was good. One immediate consequence of the vote ten years ago was a dramatic increase in overt racism. Brexit supporter Nigel Farage now leads the country's largest party. His ‘Reform UK’ is now even being challenged by the even more openly racist ‘Restore Britain.’ Brexit has led to people being worse off, and more and more of them blame this development on immigrants and non-whites,” observes DAGENS NYHETER from Stockholm.
The Swiss NZZ AM SONNTAG comments on Ukraine's military successes in the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula: “Fuel is scarce, the power supply is shaky, hotels are empty. It is another spectacular turn that the Ukrainian army has achieved in this defensive war now lasting over four years. Early on, it forced the Russian Black Sea Fleet to withdraw from Crimea, later made the airspace over the peninsula unusable. Now it is cutting off Crimea's supply by land. The Russians did not see it coming. For Russia's dictator Vladimir Putin, the blow against Crimea must be painful. The annexation of the peninsula was his prestige project. Will the strangulation of Crimea finally move him to negotiations? That is uncertain. But what else? A just peace for Ukrainians will only come from a position of strength,” the NZZ AM SONNTAG is certain.
The Turkish online newspaper T24 writes about Ukrainian drone attacks that also reach deep into the Russian hinterland: “Oil production and processing centers are particularly affected. A gasoline shortage has arisen in Russia, which is spreading increasingly, while prices rise. In addition to the drone attacks and the gasoline crisis, internet restrictions justified by ‘national security’ are causing discontent among the population. This situation is increasingly putting pressure on Russia's President Putin, who is in his 26th year in office,” notes T24 from Istanbul.
