The situation on Thursday: white smoke over Rome

That's the point today: The candidate marathon at the SPD reaches the first intermediate goal, an emergency alliance is formed in Italy and Germany is caught up in its history.

Walter how?

DPA

First three puzzles for the small talk in the coffee kitchen:

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Issue 35/2019

So Isser, the Ossi.

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1. How many candidates for the SPD presidency were there again?

2. And what are they called?

3. When is the winner certain?

And the bonus question: who stands for what?

It has become confusing in the SPD : who is still Minister, who is already a candidate? 19 women and men want to the top so far, a majority of the names are likely to be as well known as the staff list of the local tax office: Maier, Brunner, Lange, Ahrens, Wallow, Scheer, Swan, Stegner, Mattheis, Hirschel, Lauterbach, Roth , Kampmann, Pistorius, Köpping, Geywitz, Scholz, Walter Borjans, Esken.

Not all applicants have the necessary support from at least five SPD sub-districts, a district or a national association. Still more candidates can apply until Sunday.

After that, it gets complicated : from the beginning of September to the middle of October, the candidates in 23 regional conferences of the discussion. Afterwards there will be a member survey, the result of which will be announced on October 26th. This is followed by a second survey with a possible runoff election. At the party congress from 6th December the top will be formally elected.

There is a lot of noise around a party, which is possibly in the single-digit percentage range in Saxony on Sunday.

Now Kevin Kühnert has also spoken up. He will not compete, he told my colleagues Christoph Hickmann, Veit Medick and Christian Teevs. "You should only be able to run for the competition with the clear conviction that you want to be able to fulfill the office in the best possible way and to be able to do so", said Kühnert.

But what does it say about a party and its current candidates when the news of NOT being in the news dominates the headlines.

• He does not do it: The interview with Kevin Kühnert in full length

An alliance of despair

Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP

White smoke has risen at the Palazzo Chigi in Rome. In Italy, the five-star movement and the Social Democrats have agreed on a government . The new Prime Minister will be the old one: Giuseppe Conte . He is likely to receive a government mandate this morning from President Sergio Mattarella. And ex-Interior Minister Matteo Salvini , the right speaker, will roar from the Opposition Bank in the future. Does some more deliberation enter Italian politics? Everything will be fine?

Italy's government is moving to the left, and one may expect the tone of the public debate to become more civilized. Although - what did the founder of the Five Star Movement once call the Social Democrats? A "container full of liquid shit".

No, this is not a bond of affection, it is an alliance of pure despair . Parties who hate each other come together to isolate a party they hate even more. Such motifs could soon be in Germany, in Saxony, for example. According to the polls so far, a coalition between the Union, the SPD and the Greens could keep the AfD out of government. The only problem is that the Union and the Greens are about as good together in Saxony as a polar bear and the Côte d'Azur.

The pressure to ally against the AfD forces the other parties to compromise. Their profiles water down, making them even more unattractive to those who are about to say goodbye to them anyway. It's the famous vicious circle.

• The populist Salvini is out: What does Italy's change of power mean for Germany and Europe?

Guilty or only responsible?

AFP / NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF NAMIBIA

Between 1904 and 1908 the soldiers of the German colonial power brutally defeated the uprisings of the two shepherds of the Herero and Namas resident there in what was then German South-West Africa . The Herero people were nearly 80 percent wiped out, the Namas 50 percent. A dark chapter of German history that is hardly taught in school. Even in politics, it has still not arrived.

After years of negotiations for possible compensation were unsuccessful, in 2017, representatives of the two ethnic groups filed a lawsuit in a court in New York. It is about the debt recognition of Germany and the compensation for its historical crimes. The Federal Government does not answer at first, later she used the CDU politician Ruprecht Polenz as a negotiator.

Today, German Development Minister Gerd Müller (CSU) meets representatives of the two ethnic groups in Namibia. It would be good if he finally ended the shameful sitting of the government.

• We gentlemen: Germany's colonial history - and its consequences

Winners of the day ...

LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP

... is Boris Johnson . Polterig and loud he comes therefore, flair for the fine seemed to him alien. And yet, one must say today, do not underestimate this man! Johnson has duped his opponents with his idea of ​​sending Parliament into forced vacation to prepare undisturbed for the hard Brexit. It was a daring move in Brexit chess, now the others are back - or are they already dull?

The compact news overview in the morning: current and opinionated. Every morning (weekdays) at 6 o'clock. Order directly here:

The latest news from the night

• Lots of rage over Boris Johnson's actions : The British prime minister wants to outmaneuver parliament at Brexit. That does not work well
• Racing driver Jessi Combs is dead : she was considered the "fastest woman on four wheels" - now the American has been fatally injured in a rocket car
• Weapons of the Federal Police are missing : Actually, the officials should take good care of their service weapons. But currently there are eleven pistols untraceable

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Have an exciting day and enjoy the sun!

Your Martin Knobbe