1.
As a climate policy expert, the young CDU politician Wiebke Winter is supposed to give the CDU election campaign more credibility - it is uncertain whether this will help Armin Laschet
She is young and a bit progressive - and thus stands for something that many do not associate with the Union and its candidate for Chancellor Armin Laschet:
The CDU politician Wiebke Winter is committed to more decisive climate policy measures and is now supposed to help the election campaigner Laschet
. The CDU campaign has so far been disappointing, and the SPD has overtaken the polls. Shortly before the general election, Laschet's target, the chancellorship, is in danger. "This is also due to his bad personal popularity ratings," writes my colleague Kevin Hagen in his portrait of the young politician. “So let others from the Union step forward now. People like winter. "
The politician Winter, who was elected chairwoman of the Junge Union in Bremen in 2018, now appears as one of the so-called
climate faces of the CDU
, alongside Union parliamentary deputy Andreas Jung and member of the Bundestag Thomas Heilmann. The three form one of the specialist teams who, alongside the people around Friedrich Merz, are supposed to spruce up the CDU's election campaign. Winters colleagues are experienced professional politicians; she herself falls out of line. Since the Federal Constitutional Court in April declared the current climate protection law unconstitutional in a spectacular ruling, the Union has changed its course in climate policy. That is why a new organization is gaining importance internally: the KlimaUnion. The group, which currently has around 800 members, has only existed since March. Winter was one of its founders.
"The question will be whether Winter's image can really rub off on the Union, whether it helps to bind voters who are on the move to join the Greens," writes Kevin.
It is also unclear how much influence she is really allowed to exert.
"She is just a fig leaf, is an accusation that Winter has to listen to again and again - an election campaign trick to conceal the programmatic construction sites of the Union." Despite such criticism and some skeptical voices from her own party, the politician Winter seems to be confident that she can fulfill the election campaign mission that was assigned to her at short notice, she says: "I bring passion with me."
Read the full story here: How a 25-year-old is supposed to save Laschet's election campaign
2.
Vodafone has to admit that in shops operated under the company name, customer data was sloppily bypassed - and is taking legal action against the informant
The man who afflicts the Vodafone Group with his revelations is called Inan Koc and was himself the sales manager of several Vodafone partner shops.
He gave SPIEGEL more than 6,000 emails, voice messages, screenshots and other documents from his research in the franchise stores for evaluation.
The records give the impression of a company making sales while its customers are being betrayed.
It takes a long time to take action and "steals out of responsibility when its franchise partners act criminally," said my colleagues Theresa Locker and Sara Wess and my colleagues Rafael Buschmann and Christoph Winterbach in their story about the gaping data gaps in Vodafone stores .
Enlarge image
Informant Inan Koc: More than a thousand emails have already been sent to Vodafone
Photo: [M] DER SPIEGEL: Marcus Simaitis / DER SPIEGEL;
Heorshe / Alamy / mauritius images
The ex-shop manager Koc, 48, describes in detail how the operators of Vodafone sales outlets apparently cheat customers, give them expensive contracts and sell products that they have never ordered.
Apparently serious security gaps in Vodafone's shop systems make this possible.
For almost two years, Koc informed Vodafone about business partners who were obviously acting criminally. It was only in the past few months that the company finally parted with ten franchise partners and closed 53 branches. Upon request, Vodafone declares that it is "following up on every indication of irregularities", examining submitted contracts and requesting statements from sales partners in individual cases. "Random satisfaction calls to new customers" are also carried out.
During the pandemic, the group encouraged its sellers to use questionable methods: In view of the closed branches, Vodafone executives asked their franchise partners to obtain copies of their customers' debit cards and ID cards by e-mail or post and to conclude contracts by telephone. The letter is signed by the Vodafone sales directors Claudia Lenders and Javier Gonzalez. It was only months later, according to Vodafone, that the "creation of EC card copies" was discontinued and "expressly prohibited". Previously, franchise partners with criminal energy apparently had the option of storing consumer ID and account data - apparently without any control over what happened to the sensitive information that is actually not allowed to be stored in the shops.
The Vodafone Group sued the informant Koc, and at the end of August, Koc and Vodafone met in court.
The appointment was a disgrace for the global corporation.
One of the group's lawyers thanked Koc for his educational work and admitted that there were "grievances in the area of our sales representatives" that Koc had uncovered.
Read the entire research here: "Your systems are open like a barn door"
3.
Rewards apparently help to motivate so far undecided to vaccinate - but Federal Health Minister Spahn rejects financial incentives
A few days ago I saw an amazing photo in a local Hamburg newspaper: previously unvaccinated people lined up in a long line in front of a snack bar in a trendy district of the city that had been converted into a pop-up vaccination center for the day.
Everyone who wanted to be vaccinated received a slice of pizza for free.
Obviously, such incentives help to motivate those who have not yet made up their minds to be vaccinated.
Today, however, Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) refused monetary bonuses in order to get more people to be vaccinated against the corona virus.
He wonders what the 55 million people who have already been vaccinated would say, he said in an interview.
The German employer president Rainer Dulger had previously spoken out in favor of cash bonuses in order to "accelerate the vaccination rate".
He understands the approach behind it and thinks it is good that companies or retailers offer discount campaigns to increase vaccination readiness, says Spahn.
But state premiums are also a question of fairness.
According to the Robert Koch Institute, around 62.8 percent of the total population in Germany is currently fully vaccinated.
67 percent received a first vaccination.
According to experts, this is not enough to prevent a fourth corona wave.
A current week of action, including snacks like the one in Hamburg, is campaigning for more people to be vaccinated.
Everything you need to know about the pandemic: The Corona news of the day in the live blog
(Would you like to receive the »Situation in the evening« conveniently by email in your inbox? Here you can order the daily briefing as a newsletter.)
What else is important today
Taliban replace women's ministry with a "ministry of virtues and vice": a
good three weeks after they came to power, the Taliban are apparently again establishing a ministry to monitor the enforcement of Sharia law.
The Ministry of Women remains closed.
Murder trials can be resumed more easily:
Once acquitted, there is basically no need to fear a new trial.
The Federal Council has now decided on a controversial new exception.
E-car drivers should be able to pay with EC cards in the future:
The chaos of payment at the charging stations for electric cars should come to an end.
Soon it will be possible to pay with debit or credit cards everywhere - even if it will take a while.
Harsh criticism comes from the car manufacturers.
Nancy Pelosi sets conditions for trade agreement with Great Britain:
Great Britain and the EU argue over the implementation of the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol.
US Democrat Pelosi has now linked a trade agreement with the kingdom to an agreement on the matter.
My favorite story today: This is how the Greens botched their chance at the Chancellery
The new SPIEGEL: from tomorrow at the kiosk, here digitally.
And here is the cover story.
In the current SPIEGEL cover story, a team of colleagues describes in a concentrated and vivid way how the project of a green chancellor was put to the ground by the candidate and her party - among other things through a hastily put together book full of embarrassing sloppiness.
What I like best about this impressive text, which comes with many interesting details, is the assessment of Annalena Baerbock's current state of mind.
You no longer believe in chances for chancellorship.
"The situation has changed, Scholz is now a chef again, Baerbock must hope to be able to serve as the waitress," said the SPIEGEL team.
“Something has turned in her, too, for the better.
Since the Chancellery seems unreachable, Baerbock has been triumphing in her appearances.
Suddenly she is relaxed and quick-witted. "
Read the SPIEGEL cover story here: Annalena Baerbock's fatal mistakes
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +
What is really behind the raid in the finance ministry:
Shortly before the election, investigators search Olaf Scholz's ministry.
Does the SPD candidate for chancellor have political responsibility for a scandal or is he the victim of a dirty campaign?
The CDU politician, his noble friend and the € 249,000 vote:
Andreas Mattfeldt encouraged local politicians to apply for funding - which should benefit his business partner.
In the budget committee of the Bundestag he voted for it himself.
»I have freedom now, not justice«:
Jens Soering sat in prison in the USA for around three decades - and always protested his innocence.
Now he's trying to build a new life for himself.
How does he do it?
Which is less important today
Enlarge image
Canceled for the time being: Kingsley Coman
Photo:
Matthias Hangst / Getty Images
Football star freed from heart problems
:
Kingsley Coman
, 25, a winger from France at Bayern Munich, had to undergo a heart operation. According to Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann, 34, the operation took place on Thursday because of a "minor cardiac arrhythmia". Coman recently complained about breathing problems or a short drop in performance. Investigations had found that his heart was occasionally activated to an additional beat. The OP served to prevent this blow. "It's not so blatant, several people have that," says Nagelsmann, "but it makes a difference whether I make the greatest effort to go to the refrigerator and get myself a cool light - or whether I'm a competitive athlete."
Typo of the day
, now corrected: "It was the most moving day so far," he says. "
Cartoon of the day:
He even lost that triell
And on the weekend?
Could you once again listen to great contemporary pop music by engaging with the work »Black Encyclopedia of the Air«, recommended by my colleague Andreas Borcholte as album of the week.
The American musician Camae Ayewa works under the stage name Moor Mother and has teamed up with underground rappers I don't really know for individual numbers on her new album.
My colleague Andreas also has a tip on which song to listen to first.
It's called »Shekere«, is named after the West African drum, and, according to Andreas, is »almost something of an alternative hit that is based on popular encouragement narratives from younger R&B and hip-hop«.
(Read the full music review here.)
From Monday you can read again the "Situation in the evening" from my colleague Oliver Trenkamp.
Have a good weekend.
Sincerely
yours, Wolfgang Höbel
Here you can order the "Lage am Abend" by email.
