Today's front pages

In an interview with the weekly, the president of the German central bank, Jens Weidmann, has reaffirmed his hostility to the proposal that the European Central Bank should buy the sovereign bonds of the most indebted countries, arguing that the measure would be “like a drug”.

Bundesbank revolt – Der Spiegel

Amid the debate raised by Jens Weidmann’s hostility to ECB president Mario Draghi’s plan to buy the bonds of struggling eurozone countries, German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave an interview urging politicians from her coalition to stop talking about the possibility of a Greek exit from the eurozone, and backed Weidmann’s warnings saying that “the Bundesbank is right”.

Germany attacks Draghi plan – La Repubblica

The campaign in the run-up to Dutch general elections slated for September 12 has been well and truly launched by a television debate between the leaders of the country’s four main parties – outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte (People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, VVD), Diederik Samsom (Labour Party, PvdA), Emile Roemer (Socialist Party, SP) and Geert Wilders (Party for Freedom, PVV). The SP, which is opposed to the European austerity policies advocated by the current government, has taken the lead in the polls.

Rutte targets lively debate – De Volkskrant

20 years after the racist riots in Rostock-Lichtenhagen, in the north east of the country, German President Joachim Gauck has appealed for civic courage and a strong state. In the riots that took place from August 22 to 26, in 1992, a hostel for asylum seekers was attacked by extremists, who were applauded by 3,000 local people. A hostel for Vietnamese workers was later burnt down. The police did not intervene.

Gauck: "We are not afraid of you" – Die Tageszeitung

In the wake of the attacks perpetrated by Anders Behring Breivik in Oslo and Utøya, staff from Norway’s military intelligence agency conducted an investigation of extreme right circles and monitored their presence on the Internet. The initiative, undertaken by the military because the civil intelligence agency lacked the necessary resources, was illegal under Norwegian law, which forbids the military from investigating civilians.

Military intelligence did the work of the civil intelligence after July22 – Aftenposten

Each year there are fewer marriages in Spain. Nevertheless, those held in courts and municipality offices continue to increase. Last year 97,666 civil marriages were held, almost double those celebrated in 2000. Religious weddings, by contrast, have decreased from 152,000 to 62,000 in just a decade. The fall confirms the gradual secularisation of Spanish society.

Civil weddings reach 60% while Church ceremonies collapse – El Correo

Every day tonnes of food, car parts and construction materials head east to the Ukraine, Belarus and the Kaliningrad district, in the car boots of ordinary people called “ants” by custom officers. These ordinary people cross the border back and forth, sometimes several times during the day. “Cross border trade has increased the value of Polish exports to the east by a quarter”, writes the daily.

The caravan of ants – Gazeta Wyborcza