Sick note: Which sick note is coming now?

The Federal Government wants to abolish sick leave over the telephone and demands a certificate from the first day. How exactly employees should report sick in the future is apparently not yet clear: Up to now, employees have contacted their family doctors and reported sick after about three days. According to the federal government, this should happen on the first day of illness in the future. Family doctors strongly criticize this decision. They expect an enormous rush on their practices and a lot of bureaucracy. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) said in the broadcast Maybrit Illner on Thursday evening: “You don’t have to go to the doctor’s office on the first day, you have to have a certificate of incapacity for work from the first day.” And Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil (SPD) has promised a pragmatic solution. What does it look like and what will family doctors face? Carla Neuhaus, health editor at ZEIT, answers these and other questions.

The federal government wants to make access to government information more difficult. The reform paper presented on Thursday states, among other things, that in the future only Germans and EU citizens who actually live in Germany should have access to information. The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider, calls the project an “attack on freedom of the press.” The previous Freedom of Information Act particularly helps journalists to understand corruption or abuse of power by state actors. Lisa Hegemann, head of the digital department at ZEIT, knows how much impact the reform actually has here.

National soccer coach Julian Nagelsmann resigns. The German Football Association (DFB) announced this on Friday afternoon. Accordingly, Nagelsmann himself asked to terminate the contract after the failed World Cup. The DFB also confirmed that it would “seek a conversation with Jürgen Klopp.” The former Dortmund and Liverpool coach is considered a possible successor to Nagelsmann. The national team was surprisingly eliminated from the World Cup in North America last Tuesday. Immediately after the failure, Nagelsmann had ruled out resigning. In the podcast, ZEIT sports editor Oliver Fritsch gives his assessment of the resignation.

Also in the update: Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is ending his trip to South America. After visits to Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, he is returning to Germany. The federal government has been working on closer ties to South America for some time, primarily to secure new markets and raw materials. But: In South America the political mood is turning towards the right. Alice Bota, political editor at ZEIT, knows why Wadephul ignored politics on his trip and focused so heavily on economics.

And otherwise? Stuttgart is building a mobile swimming pool.

Moderation and production: Erica Zingher

Editor: Hannah Grünewald

Cooperation: Benjamin Probst

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