We are now looking to London in disbelief, dealing with the Chancellor's trip to China and smelling into the forest.
United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum Chess
Alberto Pezzali / AP
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Issue 36/2019
Can we be rescued?
How much FOREST the human needs to surviveDigital Edition | Printed Edition | Apps | SUBSCRIPTION
It's a strategy game , like chess or risk: One wrong step, and you're far behind. A clever one, and your opponent starts to sweat. Who's in the lead right now - Boris Johnson or his opponents in the British House of Commons?
Of course, the British prime minister has seen the greatest shame , with the renegade from his own ranks, with a parliament that is working against him, with the provisional failure of his no-deal Brexit, which will now be prohibited by law. It almost sounded like checkmate.
However, with his call for new elections, Johnson is now putting the Labor Party under pressure, and as my colleague Kevin Hagen notes in a summary of the extremely complicated situation on the island, the opposition feels he is in a trap. So who is strategically ahead?
Oh England, are you ever going to rest?
- Brexit Dispute and Elections: The Dilemma of Johnson Opponents
Plain text in China?
CLEMENS BILAN / EPA-EFE / REX
The Chancellor has been to China eleven times, yesterday she started her twelfth trip, it will be exciting days. It is primarily about economic interests, a large business delegation travels with Angela Merkel. At the same time there are the protests in Hong Kong , Merkel can not leave unmentioned.
We do not know the diplomatic path the Chancellor will choose to address the unpleasant without leaving the frame of respect. Maybe this time, however, the circumstances will help her : China is currently not suffering well in the US, the two powers are in a trade war and are upgrading each other with punitive tariffs. But also over Germany hangs the Damocles sword of the American penalty.
The common threat welds together , China and Germany are approaching, in fact there are already agreements on better cooperation in the first few fields. In such an atmosphere of new, cautious friendship, sensitive issues may be easier to address. And so we may experience a chancellor in the next two days, we did not know that yet: one who speaks plain text.
- Leaders of the democracy movement in Hong Kong: China's rulers tremble in front of their smiles
Mass Forest attitude
Julian Stratenschulte / dpa
The Greens are holding their retreat in Weimar today. Among other things, it dealt with the role of Europe, the danger of right-wing terror and, what a surprise, the climate.
It had become somewhat quiet these days around the topic, the elections in Saxony and Brandenburg dominated the news, Boris Johnson requires our full attention, the fires in the Amazon, however, are already victims of our sinking perception curve.
But now there are important dates . On September 23, there will be a UN climate summit in New York, to which the Chancellor will also travel. The Climate Cabinet of the Federal Government is meeting three days ago to propose concrete steps on how to reach the climate goals. As you can hear, the fronts between the ministries and the two GroKo parties have not yet been overcome.
Maybe the negotiators should postpone their trial in the forest, it should definitely have a calming effect. In any case, my colleague Gerald Traufetter was recently on such a walk in the woods and talked to Peter Wohlleben, the forester and book author, who should know the forest better than anyone else. It has become a great conversation, about "factory farming" of trees, about how a tree experiences stress, and what mistakes forestry policy has made and is still making.
- The forester and his forest, read the interview here: What would trees tell us at the moment, Mr. Wohlleben?
Winners of the day ...
Andreas Arnold / DPA
... are the 15 candidates who are applying for the SPD party presidency . When they have finished their performance marathon tonight at the 2nd Regional Conference in Hanover, only 21 such events are waiting for them, in these beautiful cities:
Bernburg an der Saale, Bremen, Friedberg, Nieder-Olm, Erfurt, Nuremberg, Filderstadt, Oldenburg, Baunatal, Berlin, Hamburg, Neubrandenburg, Neumuenster, Ettlingen, Brunswick, Kamen, Troisdorf, Potsdam, Duisburg, Dresden, Munich.
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
- How a very polite man Boris Johnson teased : when angry voters meet politicians, things can get hot. A man in the north of England, however, now shows in dealing with Boris Johnson how to criticize British.
- China's prime minister has received Angela Merkel with military honors : First, there was trouble for the admission of journalists. And in the evening, the Chancellor faces further difficult talks.
- Caught in the endless ironic loop : After his mediocre political prank in terms of SPD presidency Jan Böhmermann tries to spin the joke juridically. He will not become a democracy-renewer.
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
- The red Woodstock: "Some went to birds, others wanted their fun"
- New Body Positivity Studies: Love Every Gram in You!
- If a Syrian comes to Rotenburg (Wümme): I am impressed by the German work ethic
I wish you a nice start to the day.
Your Martin Knobbe
