News of the day: How big are Biden's poll marks?

1.

Corona - The new stop

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First a test, then to the party?

Photo: Martin Meissner / AP

Christmas

, how was it a year ago?

A look at the archive:

• On Christmas Eve 2019, the Chinese city of Wuhan appears in our reports - but only because the tax authorities collected millions of Chinese tax fraudsters.

• On New Year's Eve, another message from Wuhan appears, the local health commission informs about a new, mysterious lung disease.

  Rumors stir up fear of the Sars virus and soothe China's authorities.

• On January 9, 2020, there was another message from Wuhan, this time the word is in it that was printed, sent and posted millions of times today, ten months later, and that hardly anyone wants to hear: A new type of corona virus is causing the lung disease.

A look at the current headlines destroys any hope that this virus could be controlled by next Christmas.

The number of

registered daily

has doubled within a week, the

are hardly keeping up,

more Covid 19 patients are landing

in the

, there are local

(all current developments here).

Now the

has

preferred a meeting with the Prime Minister: instead of Friday, she will meet with them on Wednesday to discuss new measures.

, everyone is aware of that, said government spokesman Seibert.

A look into the displays and shop windows shows that Christmas is of course still approaching (dominoes and speculoos have been there for about two months as usual).

If you want to celebrate with grandparents or in-laws, you should probably already think about how

to do

a kind of

.

And clarify whether you can be tested as a precaution.

"On the one hand, we are becoming increasingly routine in dealing with the pandemic," writes my colleague Katherine Rydlink from our health team.

"On the other hand, all the regulations, recommendations and measures - to put it mildly - have become very confusing."

She tried to sort out the essentials.

• You can find an overview here: How do I get a corona test?

2.

Poll mark

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The fault tolerance is different

Photo: BRIAN SNYDER / REUTERS

Joe Biden leads

, Joe Biden in front, Joe Biden increases / decreases his distance to

- such poll reports are to be read all the time.

But wasn't that true of Hillary Clinton four years ago?

How reliable are the polls this time?

My colleague Alexander Sarovic spoke to Christopher Borick, the political scientist heads the Institute for Demoscopy at Muhlenberg College in Allenstown, Pennsylvania, and his surveys are nationally renowned in the USA.

He says:

“There were a number of reasons why the 2016 polls were wrong - although they weren't really as far off as some have suggested - for a variety of reasons. One important factor: a significant proportion of the electorate were undecided and didn't like either candidate. "

And today?

• You can read the whole interview here.

3. Tipping points and hope values

Icon: enlargePhoto: 

Stefan Boness / VISA

Corona worries and interest in the US elections sometimes obscure what is probably the biggest problem that humanity is facing:

.

Yes, word got around that CO2 emissions have fatal consequences for the planet.

But no one can answer the question of whether global warming can still be brought under control.

However, it can be answered what has to happen

in politics and business, in the everyday life of the individual and in the interplay of states so that humanity still has a livable world in 2050.

The reports, analyzes, and background information will have a permanent place on our website in the future, in a separate section.

"As a journalistic mega-topic, climate change breaks the boundaries of classic departmental logic - and deserves special attention," says our editor-in-chief Barbara Hans.

There is also a permanently updated graphic: The

shows at a glance how much jungle has already been cleared, how much ice in the Arctic has already melted and how much CO2 emissions we can still afford.

Barbara comments: "The data speak for themselves. They show that doing nothing is a conscious decision and it has consequences."

(Read more here.)

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From tomorrow at the kiosk, here digitally.

And here is the cover story.

Photo: 

Giordano Poloni

In addition, a

, on which colleagues from all departments and departments have worked.

My colleague Kurt Stukenberg, who largely designed the magazine and the climate section, deals in the leading article with a question that I have asked myself since reading "We are the climate" by US author Jonathan Safran Foer: How much can i do as an individual?

Does it really help if I not only avoid meat, but also eat a large portion of a vegan diet?

"Every personal contribution to climate protection is important

, every gram less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere counts," writes Kurt.

But then there is a big but: "Anyone who primarily demands the abandonment of the individual lets the real cause of climate change get away with it too cheaply."

If everyone is supposed to be a little to blame, the discourse about responsibility shifts.

It will be privatized - and thus depoliticized.

"It is a historic task that can only be organized by governments in international cooperation and implemented by companies, engineers and scientists - with the support of civil society."

• Read the cover story from the climate magazine here: The feat

• And here you can order our new weekly climate newsletter: Stories, research results, and the latest developments on the greatest topic of our time

What else is important today

• The bass player:

  Thomas Oppermann is dead. About a social democrat who was denied the last step in his career - without whom the SPD would not have been able to function for a long time.

• Friedrich Merz and the canceled CDU party convention:

  The party

  canceled

  its planned December meeting due to Corona - to the annoyance of Friedrich Merz.

  He thinks the decision is against him.

  The Christian Democrats face troubled weeks.

• Turkish lira falls to a record low:

  The Turkish national currency continues to collapse.

  For the first time, more than eight lira are due for one dollar.

  President Erdoğan called for a boycott of French goods - and could have fueled the decline.

• "We must not leave the process to the politicians":

  High voter turnout, clear vote: The Chilean constitution from the dictatorship will be abolished.

  The population is celebrating their victory - and, out of distrust of the elites, urges them to be vigilant.

My favorite story today: Life threatening election campaigns

We have got used to the fact that election campaigns are largely peaceful

, sometimes rough, but mostly civilized.

In

however, it is a life-threatening, yes, fight.

Opposition politician Tundu Lissu survived an attack three years ago, seriously injured.

Nonetheless, he is now facing President John Magufuli, the man who is believed to be behind the attack.

Lissu has to fear for his life again, Magufuli rules more and more dictatorially.

The work for journalists is correspondingly dangerous.

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Schaap, Ramazzotti

Photo: Sergio Ramazzotti / DER SPIEGEL

My colleague Fritz Schaap, our Africa correspondent, and the photographer Sergio Ramazzotti proceeded cautiously in their research into the struggle of the opposition.

"It was a constant weighing of how visible we want to make ourselves," says Fritz.

They broke off an interview to be on the safe side, once their driver had to shake off a car that was chasing them.

A journalist advised them to leave the country.

They stayed.

"We were neither arrested nor deported," says Fritz, "but it shows very clearly how great the fear is in Tanzania." 

• Read

  the full story here: Escaping Death

• Hear

  the full story here: Escaped Death

  
  

What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +

• How Walmart attacks Amazon:

  Walmart wants to know: Can an aging retail group hold its own against the e-commerce giant Amazon?

  CEO McMillon has the answer cost billions.

• How dangerous is life in Germany?

  Many crimes are not reported and therefore do not appear in any statistics.

  Now the police want to shed light on the darkness.

• "In Germany there are players willing to manipulate":

  Michael Bahrs has been investigating organized crime for years.

  Here he talks about the influence of the betting mafia in Germany.

• Make the lottery millions happy?

  Elaine and Derek Thompson won the lottery in 1995.

  How do you live with it today?

Which is not so important today

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Half-me

Photo: NBC / NBCU Photo Bank / Getty Images

• Weight shown:

  British

  singer Adele

  , 32, hosted the US show "Saturday Night Live" at the weekend and joked about her lost pounds: "I know that I look very, very different than when you looked at me last time you saw it, "she said.

  "But because of all the Corona and travel restrictions, I had to travel with little weight and could only bring half of myself."

Typo of the day

, now corrected: Scientists discover previously unknown coral reef.

Cartoon of the day:

Drink longer

Icon: enlarge Photo: Klaus Stuttmann

And tonight?

Could you

listen to

the new

"Hell" (click here for the record tip from my colleague Andreas Borcholte).

Or you could read a text by my colleague Anja Rützel about how doctors' songs once helped her to escape "during puberty from the narrowness of the Franconian provinces" - and why everything is different today (here is Anja's text).

Or you could think about how you feel about the fact that the band was allowed to play the daily theme intro on the weekend ("Here is doctors German television").

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No malpractice

Photo: Hot Action Records

Have a nice evening.

Until tomorrow.

Sincerely, Oliver Trenkamp

Here you can order the "Lage am Abend" by email.